The Role of Educational Philosophy in School Choice A Study of Montessori, Waldorf, and Traditional Private School Parents

Date of Award

2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Hernandez, Sarah

Keywords

Alternative Education, Sociology of Education, School Choice, Socialization, Montessori Education, Waldorf Education

Area of Concentration

Sociology

Abstract

My thesis examines the factors that motivate parents' choice of school for their first graders. I look at three types of schools: a Montessori school, a Waldorf school, and a traditional private school. I focus particularly on the role that educational philosophy plays in school choice, and on parents' perceptions of the socialization aspect of education. In order to explore this topic, I conducted semi-structured interviews with seventeen first grade parents. I found that, on the whole, parents seemed to seek out the school that they felt was the "best fit" for their child. Often educational philosophy was an important component in determining which school was the "best fit", but usually it was not the only factor or the most significant factor for parents. While parents from all three schools tended to consider some of the same types of factors in selecting a school, I did find that certain unique school choice factors were particularly salient for each of my three groups of parents.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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