A School Choice Experience at the Age of 'Parentocracy': Impressions from a Public Primary School in Turkey

Abstract

This article investigates the school choice practices of middle-class[1] parents. It aims to find out what kind of strategies and practices parents have in the school choice process. For this aim, data were obtained through interviews with parents of students attending a primary school in an affluent area in Ankara. The results of the study show that parents with adequate economic, social and cultural capital are influential in their children's educational processes and develop various strategies for school choice. They strive to choose the best school they think will contribute to their children in gaining a better position in the labour market in the future. It is noteworthy that the most important factor in primary school choice is teacher quality. This is followed by features such as the location of the school, teacher-student relationship, security and the physical facilities in the school. The social capital of parents has an important part in the school choice process and the social networks in which they are involved determine the school choice processes considerably. Since the enrolment of students in primary schools in Turkey is address-based, parents wishing to enrol their children in other schools develop various strategies during the enrolment process, notably “address change”. [1] Although defining middle class is quite difficult and controversial, an operational definition can be made with reference to lifestyle, education, occupation, income, culture and consumption habits. In this study, middle class refers to people who are educated, having a profession, having middle income, living in an affluent area and joining cultural activities.