Abstract:
School choice and parental involvement policies have been a dominant feature of the past decades in Australia. But as with such travelling policies, there is little consideration about how they impact on the historical and cultural context, nor on the ways in which schooling and school systems and educational opportunities have been structured, A significant amount of international research, particularly in the UK, on school choice has been undertaken in large metropolitan cities. This study which draws on survey and interview data, investigates a regional rural education market. The study explores how historical legacies, economic factors, distance and school provision produce a particular set of practices around school choice. The study draws on the field of social geographies and policy sociology to inform an analysis of how families living in rural regions experiencing greater employment precarity perceive and act upon their options.