2009 Volume 21 Issue 1 Pages 30-44
This study examines the relationship between parental strategies regarding school choice and class closeness, by using data from interviews and questionnaires given to parents with preschool, primary or junior high school children, conducted in Japan in 2006. Examining the data from such points of view as social closure, risk, toleration, cultural capital, and social capital, the analysis included here shows how contemporary families who select private school in Japan segregate or divide themselves relating to family socio-economic status through their school choice. I suggest the following: (1) The higher the mother's educational status, the more likely the children are to go to a private junior-high school or elementary school. (2) Parents who choose a private school show an attitude of intolerance to others. They expect cultural homogeneity and a similar class habitus within the group of parents with children at the same school. School choice by middle class parents relates to class closeness and social exclusion. Class closeness grows stronger according to parental school choice in Japan. (3) For parents, choosing a private school is a strategy to evade educational risk in the Japanese educational system. (4) The families that select a private school tend to reproduce their competitive attitudes and the value of upward-mobility in their children. They also expect generosity to their children.
