ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is twofold. First, I provide a picture of the outcome of option choice in the two schools and, second, I explore the way in which the process of option choice was managed by the schools in order to promote an ideology of free choice and open access whilst at the same time selecting pupils on to particular courses on the basis of sex, class and achievement. Both schools also attempted to nod in the direction of equal opportunities, although I argue that the messages conveyed reveal a weak understanding of the issues, and amount to no more than tokenism. In order to analyse the precise nature of the ideological messages conveyed to pupils through the process of option choice, I examined the official brochures handed out to pupils at the beginning of their third year and attended occasions when parents were invited into the school to discuss their child’s choice of subjects.
