Browsing by Author "Kuronen, Kaisa"

Objectives. The aim of this research was to address the school choices that are made during the comprehensive education and the parents who make the choices. I am going to clarify the parents’ reasons to apply for another school for their kids than the allocated and nearest school. I am also going to examine the features and possible similarities of the parents. The theoretical background of this study is based on the most relevant concepts for this research. Method. I conducted this research as a systematic literature review. The collecting of the material was conducted systematically from three different databases. The final material consists of 10 articles on school choice in Finland. After the search I organized the material based on the reasons for school choice. I also collected the describing features of the parents and then formed a synthesis according to the research questions. Results and conclusions. According to my results the main reasons for school choice were the weighted-curriculum and reputation of the school. Surprisingly, weighted-curriculum was used as an evasion strategy. The expected reputation of the schools was constructed mainly socially between the parents. Other reasons for school choice were the social structure of the school, as well as the children’s post-graduate studies and future. The parents who made a school choice were mainly middle- and upper-class parents that have cultural and social resources. The parents took advantage of these resources when acting on the school choice field. Cultural and social resources appeared as the ability to get information about the school choice procedure and as a possibility to use social networks. As a conclusion, it looks like the social class is somehow connected to making a school choice.