Marketization and School Choice: South Africa and the United States Compared

• In Event: 75.061 - Roundtable Session 34
  In Roundtable Session: 75.061-11 - Education Markets and Social Inequalities: A Global Perspective

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether markets in education can be used in different contexts to ameliorate inequitable educational opportunities particularly for marginalized students. Review of the development of these policies in the United States and South Africa shows that choice was first used as a mechanism by segregationists to avoid integration, although it has since been embraced by progressives. This paper shows how in both cases choice serve a primary function of advancing socioeconomic segregation within what are increasingly two-tiered systems, an initiative which is antithetical to advancing justice education for all students.

Theoretical Perspective. In the US many reformers argue against such a “one-size-fits-all” model for education and believe that market-style mechanisms of consumer choice and competition between autonomous schools will encourage innovative approaches for increasing students achievement (e.g., Bennett et al., 1998; Finn & Gau, 1998; Nathan, 1996). Yet in South Africa school choice is a fairly new phenomenon and it happens largely within Black communities. After apartheid, South Africa introduced legislative measures to end school segregation(Author, 2006; Pandor, 2004). However, comparative research on these dynamics problematizes the theoretical assumption that market dynamics will necessarily transfer into state-funded education, fostering innovation in classroom practice (CoAuthor, 2001).

Method and Data Sources. I reviewed all known research and scholarly studies available that reported evidence of organizational innovations in charter schools, one of the most prominent forms of choice now in the US. Following Light and Pillemer (1984), this exploratory review of research attempted to “cast as wide a net as possible” in accessing every study available on the topic, to consider a broad range of practices. The South African study is based on interviews which explored the common-sense assumptions that inform the school choices of South African parents. This study was conducted in Gauteng province. The focus group interviews consisted of four to five participants. The interview questions were open-ended, asking a range of issues, including why parents choose to send their children to certain schools; the good and bad qualities of these schools; the implications of culture, etc.

Results. In the US, charter schools have the potential for alleviating segregated residential patterns because they are open to students from across neighborhood and district boundaries. Yet the intentions of market theorists and policymakers, charters often adopt measures that effectively exclude poorer or minority students or, instead, encourage self-sorting of students by race. Like in the US, school choice in South Africa has hidden effects. While most Black parents support the practice of choice, they also realized that it has led to a renewed deep seated racism in schools.

Significance. This comparative paper is important because it shows that while neoliberalism elevates market mechanisms such as choice and competition; those devices can mean different things in different contexts. In these two cases, choice policies have the potential to be used to promote integration, since families can choose options across racial divides institutionalized by legal boundaries. But choice itself can also be used to avoid integration.

Author

• Bekisizwe S. Ndimande, The University of Texas - San Antonio