Ball

• Ball et al. focus on


  • The effects that parental choice and competition between schools has on the education system
  • Whether it leads to greater inequality
• With the publication of examination league tables, schools want to attract 'motivated' parents and 'able' children
• More resources are directed towards students who are likely to perform well in examinations
• Middle-class parents


  More likely to know how to deal with secondary school choices
• Working-class parents


  More likely to prefer to send their children to local schools
• Material resources


  Bring advantages in the education market (e.g. parents with their own transport have a wider choice of schools)
• Cultural capital


  Helps parents to play the market (brings knowledge of the education system and confidence in how to work it)
• Ball et al. argue that marketisation and educational reform reinforce the advantages of middle-class parents and make education less equal
• Schools are now more concerned with attracting gifted and advantaged students than with helping disadvantaged ones