Marketing Montessori: The Institutional Logics of School Branding and Competition

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 5:25 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Policy and Competition in Private School Choice (Table 9)

Abstract

In an education environment shaped by school choice, schools have increasingly sought to distinguish themselves through marketing. This paper investigates two public Montessori schools in Texas, one, a charter school, the other, a traditional public school at risk of closure. Through document analysis and stakeholder interviews, our preliminary findings illuminate the institutional logics that guided school leaders’ values and behavior as they responded to competitive pressures by adopting specialized pedagogy in school marketing

Authors

• Lauren C. McKenzie, University of Texas at Austin

• Daniel Dawer, University of Texas at Austin