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Unlock This CourseStephen Ball is a British sociologist who has extensively researched how parents choose schools for their children. His work shows that school choice isn't simply about picking the "best" school - it's a complex social process heavily influenced by social class.
Key Definitions:
Stephen Ball is a Professor of Sociology of Education at University College London. His research focuses on education policy, social class and school choice. His studies in the 1990s and early 2000s revealed significant differences in how parents from different social backgrounds choose schools.
Ball's research revealed that parents from different social classes approach school choice very differently. These differences help explain why educational inequality persists despite policies intended to give all parents "choice".
Ball found that middle-class parents are:
Working-class parents tend to:
Ball introduced the idea that different social groups move in different "circuits" of schools. Middle-class families often consider a wide range of schools across a large geographical area, while working-class families typically choose from a smaller, more local set of options.
Ball's research in London found that middle-class parents would travel across the city for selective or high-performing schools, creating what he called a "cosmopolitan circuit" of schooling. Working-class families, meanwhile, typically chose from a "local circuit" of nearby schools. This created distinct educational pathways that rarely crossed.
Ball draws on Pierre Bourdieu's concept of "cultural capital" to explain differences in how parents navigate school choice. Middle-class parents possess forms of knowledge, confidence and social connections that help them make more "successful" choices in educational terms.
Understanding how schools work, what makes a "good" school and how to interpret league tables and Ofsted reports.
Networks of friends, colleagues and acquaintances who provide insider information about schools.
Financial resources to live in expensive catchment areas or pay for transport to distant schools.
Ball identifies different types of parents based on how they approach school choice:
Typically middle-class parents who:
Often working-class parents who:
Ball argues that the marketisation of education (treating schools as competing businesses and parents as consumers) has increased inequality rather than reducing it. When education becomes a marketplace:
Ball observed how middle-class parents approached school open evenings differently from working-class parents. They asked more questions about academic results, teaching approaches and university progression. They were also more likely to arrange additional visits and meetings with senior staff. Working-class parents, meanwhile, often felt intimidated in these settings and asked fewer questions.
An important insight from Ball's work is that school choice works both ways - parents choose schools, but schools also choose students. Popular schools can be selective about which students they admit, often favouring those from more advantaged backgrounds who are likely to achieve good results.
This creates what Ball calls a "double selection process":
Ball's work has important implications for understanding educational inequality:
Ball suggests that parental choice policies often:
In your exam, you could use Ball's research to:
While Ball's work is influential, some critics argue that:
"Choice emerges as a major new factor in maintaining and indeed reinforcing social-class divisions and inequalities."
This summarises Ball's central argument - that giving parents "choice" doesn't create equality of opportunity because the ability to make effective choices is unequally distributed.
To summarise Ball's perspective on parental choice:
Ball's work helps us understand why, despite policies intended to give all parents equal choice, patterns of educational inequality persist in the UK education system.