ABSTRACT
This chapter examines parents’ choice of school for their child, their aspirations and their involvement in their child’s education. It focuses in particular on parents with children in private schools, although in so doing makes comparisons with parents who have children in state schools. Comparatively little work has been undertaken either on why parents choose private schooling for their children or on how they are involved in their children’s education. The material reported here is based on interviews carried out with parents of children who had recently started state primary or private pre-preparatory school and with parents whose children were in the process of transferring to state secondary or private senior schools (see also West et al., 1998a, 1998b).
