School Choice and Education

School Choices and Education 

What makes people decide which school they or their children are going to or do they really have the choices? Is it the results and ranks posted on My School website, the differences in social economic classes, the cultures or the social disadvantages which can influences the road to successes? 

School is the base for students to build their future under the guide of teachers. Most of the parents think that once their children get into a good school, they are a step closer to success. People choose school because of different factors. Some based on the levels of student achievement in schools, the social profile of students in that school and also about the school’s reputation, images, behaviors, teaching and school’s performance from the top range as high performance to ordinary and underperformance or failing. My School website and other school’s tests results are the popular tools to help parents choose school for their children but Chris Bonnor said that “it doesn't enable accurate comparisons between individual schools. The NAPLAN spotlight is too narrow and the socio-educational index (ICSEA) used still doesn't take enrollment selectivity into account.” (The Sydney Morning Herald website). School choice is exercised by parents with high economic status. They “use schools as positional goods in the class interests of their children and themselves.” (Kenway, J. & Bullen 2001, p.147). As parents, they concern about who their children going to contact with at school and create the barrier to different those rich and poor students. The choices of school may decided by access to money, student ability, location and networks. These factors may affect the choice of schools but do they really affect the learning of students? 

I think most schools are the same, they are the places for knowledges to share and learn. As Bonnor stated that there are three essentials things for learning. “The first is the development of an intellectual quality that produces deep understanding of concepts, skills and ideas. The second is the teaching environment itself: is it characterized by positive relationships where learning is expected and supported? The third is significance: learning needs to be meaningful to students.”. If Australian education is exercised by these three things, there wouldn’t be much of school choice and could increase the results in every school. However, most of the schools enter the education market, “schools seem to make little attempt to connect to the dreamworlds, interests, pleasures and yearnings of all students.” (Kenway, J. & Bullen 2001, p.148) Is it really the goal of education, to serve the student, parents or the nation? 

References: 

Bonnor, C 2012, ‘Good schools give a hoot’, The Sydney Morning Herald, July 16, viewed 9 October 2012, <http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/good-schools-give-a-hoot-20120715-223zb.html>

Kenway, J. & Bullen, (2001). Consuming children: Education-Entertainment-Advertising. Buckingham: Open University Press. Chapter 5: Designer schools, packaged students.