Choosing schools, choosing selves: exploring the influence of parental identity and biography on the school choice process in Delhi, India

Abstract

Drawing on qualitative interview data from a group of lower income parents in Delhi, India, this paper focuses on the dynamic relationship between parental choice of a particular school and parents’ own identity construction. The data indicate that choice of school is for some parents a symbolic expression of identity, influenced by family dynamics and parents’ educational biographies. The paper outlines the concept of ‘forging solidarities’ and proposes it as an alternative way of understanding school enrolment decisions that recognises the social significance of such choices for the wider family unit. More generally, as school choice mechanisms in various forms become an increasingly important part of the educational landscape in many countries, the findings draw attention to the sociocultural nature of choice in real-world market settings and the contribution of schooling choices to processes of social and educational segregation.

Keywords:

• School choice
• India
• parental identity
• low-fee private schools

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Ravi Kaushal, Arpita Biswas, Yamini Agarwal and Rakesh Sharma for their research assistance. Thanks to participants at the British Sociological Association Conference in April 2016, who provided valuable food for thought on an early draft of this paper. I am also grateful to Professor Sharon Gewirtz, Professor Christopher Winch and two anonymous reviewers for their insights that greatly improved the manuscript.

Notes

1. School in India runs from Class I to Class XII (age 6–18). Elementary-level schooling comprises lower primary (Class 1–Class 5; age 6–11) and upper primary (Class 6–Class 8; age 12–14).

2. Jhuggi Jhopri is a term for a small, self-constructed dwelling.

3. Other languages spoken by interviewees during interviews were Bhojpuri, English and Tamil.

4. Schools that are privately managed but receive government funding for specific expenses such as teacher salaries (Goyal & Pandey, 2009).

5. All names used throughout are pseudonyms.

6. All interview data presented in this paper has been translated from the original Hindi (or other mother tongue language) into English.

7. This particular private-aided school, a Tamil medium school, is discussed further in the section of the paper entitled ‘Forging Solidarities’.

8. The emblem of Sikhism. The Khanda consists of a solid circle, two interlocking swords and a double-edged sword running through the centre of the circle.