Parental decision-making factors for school choice: A South African middle class perspective

Abstract

The crisis in the quality of South African education is evident in a growing perception among South Africans that public schooling will not be able to enhance the educational outcomes and future of their children. This has resulted in a flight trend of learners across all types of primary and secondary education. Historically (pre-1994), South African parents were not actively involved in making choices regarding the schools their children would attend. Democracy opened the door to this possibility and parents are increasingly formulating their own ideas and preferences of what an ideal school should be and offer their children. In eliciting an understanding of this new trend this study aimed to develop a base of knowledge regarding the factors influencing the school choice decision in the South African context as perceived by middle class parents. To this end, a quantitative study utilizing questionnaires was used to establish parental perceptions regarding those aspects they valued, feared, desired, considered and followed in making the best possible school-choice decision for their children’s future. The results of the research point to a plethora of factors that drive decision-making emphasising agreement with international literature but unique and complicated in nature as often the decisions parents make in South Africa stem from consequences of apartheid policies and as such need to be understood in this specific context.

Keywords

School choice decision-making parents education quality cost

Introduction

The pace of change in the South African education system stems from the major political change that has taken place in the country since 1994. In spite of the many positive trends and educational policy initiatives (South Africa, 1998b), a more resilient legacy of the past is a quality of education that varies widely throughout South African schools. Inequalities between schools still exist today and many have maintained both their racial and economic character of the apartheid years (Du Toit, 2008). Jansen and Taylor (2003) describe three main reasons for this situation. Firstly, the sheer extent of the backlogs in apartheid education require a much greater investment than has been achieved through existing levels of budgetary allocation. Secondly, ex-Model C¹ schools have the capacity to leverage private funds from middle and upper-middle communities to supplement government grants in the form of school fees and thirdly, the management incapacity of provincial education departments to deliver on allocated budgets to schools have exasperated the inequalities. In response to this continued inequity, policy changes have resulted in parents being able to exercise school choice. This ‘right to choose’ has manifested itself in parental decision-making between public schools, private schools and the home schooling route. The removal of formal barriers to discriminatory admission in schools was hailed by the people of South Africa as the end to old apartheid educational practices. Subsequently, educational migration became a trend where black African and coloured learners moved to former Indian and white schools, which during apartheid were better resourced than those designated for them in the day (Van der Merwe, 2012). In response to this, an evident flow of mainly white learners from suburban schools to private schools has been noted and educational migration takes on both, a spatial and demographic character that is unique to South Africa (Govender, 2018; Malada, 2010; Sekete, Shilubane and Moila, 2001). These migration patterns are not simply a trend driven only by the lack of local access to educational opportunities but are a telling sign of the aspirations of learners’ and parents having no confidence in governments’ ability to provide a consistent standard of quality education throughout the system (Business Tech, 2018).

Much research is available highlighting the generally poor state of education in South African public schools and this provides credence to the disenchantment parents experience. However, it should be noted that pockets of excellence are evident among historically disadvantaged schools. Some of these schools have extraordinarily conquered the dysfunctionality quagmire and in some instances, are now even outperforming previously advantaged schools (Maringe and Moletsane, 2015). The authors concur with Maringe and Moletsane (2015), and assert that although these schools are a beacon of hope they still remain few and far between. In order to appreciate the dynamics of the South African educational system in which school choice takes place, it is essential to understand that the majority of South African parents making school choice decisions are a product of the apartheid era of education and as such carry either the scars or privilege of this ideological framework. School choice therefore is a problem in South Africa that is deeply ingrained in history, politics, economics and social intricacies (Maile, 2004; Pampallis, 2003).

The current school choice movement in South Africa has been brought about not only by the country’s foregoing history but also by the government’s inefficient management of and bumbling changes to the curriculum that have further disabled the education system. Parental expectations of schools providing quality education is driven by school choice, a policy reform idea developed to increase the involvement of parents in responsibly schooling their children by allowing them to take ownership of this decision. According to Du Toit (2008), the impact of school choice is two-fold. In the first instance, generally well-resourced and successful schools located mainly in formally ‘white’ areas allow children of parents who can afford to live in these areas to have first choice in attending these schools. A second consequence is the emergence of ‘unusual learner migration patterns’, where parents travelling long distances to schools in an effort to exercise choice are making enormous sacrifices, both financially and in terms of travelling time, in their quest for quality education. As South African parents increasingly value the importance of education for the life opportunities of their children, so the weight and cost of school choice intensifies. This is the dilemma many parents face when choosing a school for their children. ‘School choice’ for this study was thus defined as the process through which parents go when they choose one school over another in the quest for a quality education. In this context, the decision-making factors parents grapple with were considered.

Research on school choice, although not a new phenomenon globally, is limited in the South African context. As such, a number of secondary sources (which may be considered outdated) have been used intentionally for reference purposes since many issues highlighted in these studies, dating from the onset of school choice in the international context, were found to be relevant and encapsulated many of the challenges faced by South African parents in the current context. Because of the legacy of apartheid’s Group Areas Act (1950), school choice in South Africa is delineated largely in terms of class. Plank and Sykes (2003), indicate that school choice policies favour middle and upper income families. Research points out that well-off parents seek strategies to maintain their children’s privileges while aspiring parents seek strategies to escape from the schools to which their children are assigned in the quest for better opportunities (Carnoy and McEwan, 2003; Walford, 2003). South Africa presents itself with a similar state of affairs. According to Sekete et al., (2001), choice of perceived ‘better schools’ is limited to the middle class as most of these schools are found in formerly white suburbs. There are a number of different theories defining the middle class, and how much one needs to earn to fall into this category. Middle class in South Africa, is additionally complicated because of the low average and median levels of incomes in the country and the very wide distribution of income evident (Visagie, 2013). For this reason, this study describes the middle class as a household of four persons with a total income of between R5,600 and R40,000 per month after direct income tax.

Assumptions have been made about what middle class parents are looking for in the schools they select for their children to attend, but there has been little real evidence to show what really influences parents when choosing a school in South Africa (Evans and Cleghorn, 2014). What is clear is that parents have been voting with their feet over the past number of years (Msila, 2009). Traditionally, the concept of migration focused on labour and urbanisation trends in response to socio-economic pressures and there was little attention given to migration in education. Now, recent developments in this area have shown that educational migration patterns are driven either by a lack of local access to educational opportunities, or by the motivation to gain access to educational opportunities that are perceived to be ‘better’ (Paterson and Kruss, 1998). The increased mobility of the population combined with the school choice movement has resulted in increasingly large numbers of parents wanting to shop for schools as they do for consumer products (Bainbridge and Sundre, 1991; Govender, 2018). As such school choice has the ability to bring about a consumer-oriented approach to education that needs to be studied (Sekete et al., 2001). In such an approach it becomes imperative to sharpen the skills of parents as consumers of education.

Arising from the discussion, the emergent problem statement read: What are the perceptions of parents regarding the factors, anxieties, aspirations and strategies in making the best possible school choice decision for their children in the quest for quality education.

Aim of the study

Research priorities in education in South Africa are shifting from an emphasis on policy formulation to one of policy implementation and the implications of this on the wider school community (Kamper, 2004). The need therefore to explore school choice in the context of increased access, equality, opportunity and participation thus guided this investigation, the major aim of which was to determine the perceptions of parents regarding the factors, anxieties, aspirations and strategies influencing their school choice decision. The following objectives assisted the researchers in enabling the investigation to realise the aim of the study:

To develop a base of knowledge concerning parental influences in school choice for the middle class in South Africa.

To strengthen the capacity of parental decision-making with respect to school choice for quality education (if necessary).

Research methodology

The framework used to guide the design, collection and analysis of data was that of a conclusive research design with a post-positivist paradigm. A quantitative study making use of drop-off, self-administered questionnaires was used to collect data from parents. Through information gleaned from the literature review, a questionnaire containing 44 items was designed by the researchers to garner information on the preferred factors parents perceive as being influential in making school choice decisions. Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient was used in order to determine the internal reliability of the questionnaire. All values in this questionnaire demonstrated a coefficient alpha of above 0.60 and were thus considered reliable (Ary, Jacobs and Sorenen, 2010). Final trustworthiness of the data was established through statistical measures using the SPSS statistical package to ensure the integrity of data by means of correlation coefficients. Content and construct validity was ensured through pre-testing and expert advice from STATCON and exploratory factor analysis. In total, 600 questionnaires were distributed to middle class parents of urban schools in Western Gauteng, South Africa. A target population of parents who had recently being engaged in a school choice decision or were about to make a school choice decision were selected, as it was thought that they, as a result of the recency effect, would be able to make the best contribution to the study. This included Grade R, Grade 1, Grade 7 and Grade 8 parents incorporating choice factors for both primary and secondary education. With a 62% return rate and coupled with the analyses of the research groups’ biographical details, a reasonable middle class sample was established necessary to provide a representative profile of parents for this particular study.

Theoretical framework

The theoretical context for the exploration of parental decision-making and school choice for this study included the use of Cultural-Historical Activity theory (CHAT) (Engestrom, 2001), coupled with Glasser’s Choice theory (1999). Within the model of CHAT, subjects are participants in an activity, motivated toward a purpose or attainment of an object. The object can be the goal or outcome of an activity, the subject’s motives for participating in an activity, or the material products that subjects gain through the activity. Parents engaged in school choice decision-making are thus identified as the subject of the model, with school choice being the object of activity. Since a subject’s interpretation of the object will be shaped by the social practices of the situations in which the object is located, tools are defined as socially shared cognitive or material resources that subjects can use to attain the object. For school choice these include the myriad of factors that could influence a particular parent’s choice of school as each individual taking part in the activity will have a slightly different view and interpretation of the object and purpose of the activity.

The effectiveness of school choice hinges on parents making sound choices. With decisions touching everything we as humans do, Glasser’s choice theory (1999) posits that an individual’s behaviour or choices are driven by a never-ending quest to satisfy genetically driven and psychological needs. According to Glasser (1999), the key concepts that drive human behaviour include basic needs, the quality world, reality and perception, the comparing place and total behaviour. Parents have unique feelings and perceptions regarding the different types of schools available from which to choose in the distinctive South African educational environment as evolved over time. According to choice theory, these perceptions influence the choices parents make in the quest to meet their basic needs and compare their perception of reality versus the pictures of their individual quality worlds of what they want in an educational sense. This manifests itself in the myriad of factors influencing school choice.

Decision-making is a process, a series of value judgements, a sifting of information and a weighing of options influenced by different factors (Longfield, 2011). Accordingly, the combined use of CHAT and choice theory allowed the opportunity to uncover causal mechanisms structuring learning in activity systems that would otherwise be invisible. Applying a theoretical context of this nature provided in essence the structure for the investigation since parental decision-making could be seen as not only embedded within an activity system but also continuously influenced by tensions between the other elements making up the social construct of a parent.

Literature review

In countries on every continent, governments have decided that giving parents more choices among schools is an appropriate policy in response to local educational problems (Plank and Sykes, 2003). A wide diversity of policies exists across the globe in response to a wide range of problems experienced in different contexts. Generally speaking, school choice policies have emerged in response to changing educational preferences amongst parents. This flows from an ever increasing parental concern about the powerful connection between educational attainment and occupational success (Plank and Sykes, 2003). As a result, parents have become increasingly concerned that they cannot secure a quality education for their children at the public schools to which their children are assigned. Tired of being told by politicians to be patient and to support the efforts to improve local public schools, many parents are demanding greater access to other learning opportunities (Kelly and Scafidi, 2013). School choice policies have two essential features in common. Firstly, they allow parents to choose what schools their children will attend and in so doing, the power of government to assign children to a specific school according to some set of criteria, be it geographical or social, diminishes. Secondly, school choice policies result in competition among schools. Amidst the diversity of school choice programmes available to parents, it is held that the move to increase choice and competition in the education system is unlikely to be reversed and thus the challenge that faces policy makers is to devise policies that harness the power of choice and competition to bring about improvement in the educational opportunities provided for all children (Plank and Sykes, 2003). That being said, any meaningful discussion of parents’ preferences in choosing the most appropriate education for their children can only take place in the context of the difficult social and cultural conditions facing families in modern society today (Kelly and Scafidi, 2013). Depending on the academic, social and cultural needs of their children, parents have a variety of reasons for preferring one education model or school to others. In addition to this, the background, gender, education and ethnicity of parents themselves also influence the choices they make (Friedman, Bobrowski and Markow, 2007).

Historically (pre-1994), the majority of South African parents were not actively involved in making choices regarding the schools their children would attend. Instead, the school choice was simply determined for them by legislation. Children were enrolled in schools by residence, language and/or by colour. Very little thought or consideration for other factors were taken into account to determine the school that a child would attend. Democracy opened the door to many possibilities and, post-1994, parents started to formulate their own ideas and preferences concerning what they thought the ideal school should be and offer their children (Russel, 2006; Venter, 2011). Although research suggests that active parental involvement in a child’s education has a significant impact on a child’s educational achievement (Olsen and Fuller, 2008), a concern associated with this newfound freedom was the ‘ability’ of parents to make informed choices. The South African Department of Basic Education (DBE) in its 1999 annual report acknowledged this concern and indicated that, ‘Quite often parents are enticed by false expectations and as a result make poor choices if they have little experience of education or are of limited means themselves’.

Internationally, although school choice takes on a slightly different context to South Africa, factors that drive decision-making for parents have commonalities. In a survey administered to Georgia parents for the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice in the United States of America (USA) in 2013, key findings indicated that the top five reasons why parents chose a private school for their children to attend included ‘better student discipline’, ‘better learning environments’, ‘smaller class sizes’, ‘improved student safety’ and ‘more individual attention for my child’ (Kelly and Scafidi, 2013). What is interesting is that, similar to research in South Africa, the survey was conducted as a result of frustration expressed by parents of the failure of local public schools being able to educate their children adequately and their desire to consider alternative systems of delivery. In an effort to further explore the dynamics of public versus private school choice in the United States, and in a paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in 2006, it is further noted that American parents exercise choice in accordance with the priorities they place on academics, convenience or issues associated with the distance to and from school, and that of transportation, school characteristics, including school size, school neighbourhood, ethnic composition and safety (Goldring and Rowley, 2006). Goldring and Rowley’s research suggests that parents in the United States are not so much ‘pushed’ out of public schools because of dissatisfaction but are more likely to be ‘pulled’ towards private schools because in these schools the level of parental involvement and the amount of parent communication is more easily facilitated, and this is something that American parents value. A similar situation is evident in the South African context, where private schools are perceived to be ‘better’ than government schools in almost all dimensions and accordingly, many South African parents who are dissatisfied with the government system and have the means to do so, will opt to send their children to private schools (Immelman, 2013).

In 2007, the Independent Schools Council of Australia (ISCA) commissioned research to explore the factors that affected school choice among parents in terms of the educational outcomes they desire. Parents identified ‘educational excellence’, ‘good teachers’, ‘a supportive caring environment’, and ‘good facilities’ as significant factors that influenced their decision-making. Findings from the study suggest that parents have a range of priorities that differ according to individual circumstances and use more than one factor in determining their choice of school.

Taiwan, much like South Africa, has a compulsory education system with a neighbourhood school attendance plan where children are assigned to a school based on their area of residence. Of late, it has been reported that many schools in Taiwan have seen a drop in enrolment and an increased tendency on the part of parents to seek ‘out-of-district schools’ which they perceive to be better for their children. The research, which explored factors affecting parental choice of junior high schools, found high positive correlations between, among others, a school’s ‘educational environment and facilities’, ‘educational philosophy or curriculum’, and ‘specialities’, the latter referring to all aspects of teaching and learning and including management, leadership and administration, and parental choice (Hsu and Yuan-fang, 2013).

Closer to South Africa, findings from a study investigating intra-township migration by black African parents in search of better quality schools revealed that parents who were choosing certain schools over others were doing so in a quest for ‘good Grade 12 results’, ‘good management’, ‘improved school discipline’, ‘good school reputation’, and ‘teacher dedication’ (Msila, 2009). Also of significance were the negative pointers that repelled parents from certain schools in the findings. These included teachers and learners leaving school early, smoking by learners in school uniform, and teachers arriving at school late. In another South African study by Lombard (2007), research was conducted to determine the reasons why educator-parents based at township schools transfer their own children from township schools to former Model C schools. Lombard (2007:50-54) identified 10 emergent themes: ‘discipline’, ‘better quality or a higher standard of education’, ‘English proficiency’, ‘status or prestige’, ‘the availability of resources, facilities and equipment’, ‘educator commitment’, ‘a stable teaching and learning environment’, ‘school management’, ‘residence/relocation’ and ‘freedom of choice’, all incorporated in the findings. Remarkably, the research results showed that the reasons for school choice correlated with both the non-scientific information or general perceptions held by the public and formal available literature that relied heavily on reasons associated with quality education. Among the latter is Woolman and Fleisch (2006: 53–56), who maintain that parents are ‘capable of making choices that optimise the potential for positive outcomes for their children’ and that ‘parents who exercise their right to schools will move their children from schools with large proportions of poor and disadvantaged learners into schools with more advantaged learners’.

From the above, a pattern is clearly distinguishable in that parents across the world give the impression that they are able to distinguish between schools of varying quality and as such respond positively to this by sending their children to these schools, with the aim of enhancing the educational outcomes of their children (Goldhaber, 1999; Woolman and Fleisch, 2006). Choosing a school has become a complicated process in which local knowledge, interest in education and motivational levels of both parents and children have become vital processors (Plank and Sykes, 2003).

Findings

Analysis of data

The research questionnaire was subjected to explorative factor analyses. Exploratory factor analysis is undertaken by means of principal axis factoring (PAF, as the extraction method) and oblimin rotation with Kaiser normalization. In this study, the 44 items presented to parents in the questionnaire were subjected to PAF using SPSS statistical analysis software (v. 15). Prior to performing PAF, the suitability of data for factor analysis was assessed. An inspection of the correlation matrix revealed the presence of sufficient coefficients of 0.3 and above. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) value was 0.898, exceeding the recommended value of 0.7. The measures of sampling adequacy (MSA) were also all above 0.6 except for items B25 and B23. As a result, questions B25 and B23 of the questionnaire were omitted from the factor analysis since the data collected from these presented to be relevant to some parents but not to others and as such deemed unreliable.

Ranking of factors

In order to discern the main determinants in decision-making for school choice among middle class South Africans, parents were presented with 44 possible influencing factors and asked to indicate the level of influence for each item using a five-point Likert scale. These items were based on key factors that had been identified in the literature review as having had an influence on school choice. In the event of there being an influential factor that had not been indicated among the 44 items as presented, parents were also able to choose an item labelled ‘other’ to specify any additional factor or factors. Table 1 summarises how parents ranked the 44 items, resulting in the top 10 most influential factors for school choice as identified in this study.

Table 1.

The top 10 items influencing parental school choice in South Africa.

Item	Description from which parents were asked to indicate the level of influence:	Mean score	Rank order
21	Child will be happy at the school	4.48	1
13	The safety the school offers its learners in terms of security	4.41	2
31	Quality of discipline in the school	4.35	3
3	The academic curriculum offered by the school	4.35	4
16	The training and experience of staff at the school	4.33	5
18	Quality of professional leadership in the school	4.26	6
9	Academic facilities offered by the school (classrooms, equipment, books, computer center, library, etc.)	4.26	7
44	The school’s caring approach to teaching and learning	4.25	8
33	The safety of the neighbourhood in which the school is located	4.25	9
4	The school’s academic performance in terms of exam results	4.19	10
39	School fees	3.34	27

On consideration of these top 10 ranked factors, the findings suggest agreement with the international literature where school discipline and safety are rated highly by parents in the United States and Australia. Additionally, items relating to teaching staff, the teaching approach, school facilities and educational excellence also show congruency with parental attitudes in both these countries and Taiwan. All items, including those relating to professional leadership, are also prominent in other South African and African studies (Lombard, 2007; Longfield, 2011; Msila, 2009; Woolman and Fleisch, 2006) thus providing credibility to the data collected and presented.

Unique, and of interest, in the South African context is firstly the factor ‘Academic curriculum offered by the school’. This factor was ranked by 87.3% of parents as being the fourth most influential factor to school choice. ‘Curriculum’, referring to the academic content taught in a school is in South Africa designed by the Department of Education and compulsory for all public schools to implement. Most private schools in South Africa also use the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for curriculum denotation. Consequently, it is strange that such a high importance is associated with this factor when, strictly speaking, parents do not have curricula options to choose from. Possible explanations for this could be that parents perhaps associate the quality of curriculum delivery as a school choice factor rather than the curriculum itself or understand the word ‘curriculum’ to denote a variety of subjects offered in an educational environment. These, however, are assumptions that would require further investigation. Second to this, is the overwhelming 81.9% of parents indicating ‘Quality of professional leadership in the school’ as being the sixth most influential factor. Many South African schools are at present constrained by incompetent administrators and South African parents, it seems, are able to discern the positive correlation between quality education and school leadership as postulated by Van der Berg, Taylor, Gustafsson, Spaull and Armstrong (2011), in that effective schools require well-selected individuals as principals together with management teams that understand and fulfil their roles as leaders of the curriculum, ensuring that organised environments conducive to learning are present. Of further interest, with a definitive link to school management, is the seventh most influential factor, ‘the academic facilities offered by the school’. Once again it is probable that this particular factor rates highly among South African parents as a result of the apartheid legacy. Many schools throughout South Africa, and despite legislative changes, are still inadequately resourced, overcrowded and provide poor environments for teaching and learning (Maile, 2004). Consequently, parents who have the means to take their children to better resourced schools ‘with green lawns, beautiful flowers and notably luxurious buildings’ (Maile, 2004: 94) would do so enthusiastically.

Though all parents face the decision about where to secure the best education for their children, the decision takes place in the context of the unique biological, familial, cultural, economic and social conditions faced only by the parents and their child (Kelly and Scafidi, 2013). To this end, parents were provided the opportunity to express the factor that they felt was the most influential overall. Data revealed that 25.7% of the sample identified item 39, ‘school fees’, as being the most influential school choice factor identified independently. This finding was intriguingly curious since the sample represented an affluent middle class segment and ‘school fees’ only ranked 27th amongst all 44 items. Choice theory could possibly explain this anomaly. In essence, the theory suggests that as individuals live their lives, they build up an image of their perfect existence. This image is what they continually aspire towards (Sullo, 2011). For many South African parents, it could be that education, and as such school choice, forms part of this perfect existence, since education is seen as a liberator from poverty (Maile, 2004). Often, however, parents’ socio-economic status constrains the opportunities and perceived benefits of school choice (Hoadley, 1999) and thus becomes a focal point in decision-making. South African parents, it seems, tend to consider a variety of choice factors when confronted with a list, but when asked to identify one overarching factor for school choice, costs or the financial dimension take precedence. This could point towards the amplification of the financial strain linked to school choice for middle class parents, both internationally and in South Africa (Carnoy and McEwan, 2003; Hastings, 2005; Walford, 2003).

Factor Analysis

Assumptions have been made about what parents are looking for in the schools they select for their children to attend, but there has been little real evidence to show what really influences parents when choosing a school in South Africa (Evans and Cleghorn, 2014). In an effort to establish a base of knowledge regarding parental decision-making factors, the process of factor analysis was conducted to investigate the independent latent variables by collapsing the 44 variables into a few interpretable underlying factors to be considered the core factors influencing middle class parents in terms of school choice in South Africa. After conducting exploratory PAF the pattern matrix suggested the presence of eight factors that explained 48.19% of the variance, as presented in Table 2.

Table 2.

Factors constituting parental school choice in South Africa.

No.	Factor name:	No. of items	Factor mean score	Rank order	Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient
1	Intrinsic child-related influences	7	4.20	1	0.855
2	School infrastructure	6	3.62	5	0.882
3	Effective school leadership and governance	5	4.13	2	0.904
4	Value-added incentives	7	2.53	8	0.801
5	School culture	8	3.22	7	0.785
6	Academic excellence	4	4.03	3	0.807
7	Geography	3	3.74	4	0.698
8	School size	2	3.59	6	0.741

The degree to which a set of items measures a construct, is indirectly related to and indicated by the Cronbach alpha coefficient. This coefficient will increase with increased inter-correlation amongst items and will show increased internal consistency. A value of less than 0.6 typically indicates low internal consistency, whereas the closer the value to 1, the higher the internal consistency. It is evident from Table 2 that all the Cronbach alpha coefficients for all eight factors are higher than 0.6 and consequently the factors are considered reliable. A synopsis of the data with respect to parents in this study indicate that each of the eight choice factors realised an overall mean score of above 2.5. This indicates that all eight factors play an influential role for parents in making a school choice decision.

Three of the eight factors realised a mean score of more than 4, the highest being for factor 1, ‘Intrinsic child related influences’ (x = 4.20). Next was factor 3, ‘Effective school leadership and governance’ (x = 4.13) and in third place was factor 6, ‘Academic excellence’ (x = 4.03). These factors are to be considered the most influential for South African middle class parents. Eight of the top influencing factors as ranked by parents in Table 1 are encapsulated in these three factors mentioned and thus ratify the empirical evidence.

Choice is a socially and culturally constructed concept that has different meanings for different families. The emphasis of all items making up the factor ‘Intrinsic child related influences’ involve the unique perceptions of each parent with regards to safety, discipline, reputation, approach, involvement, happiness and preference important for and to the specific child for whom the school choice decision is being made (Bosetti, 2004; Burgess, Greaves, Vignoles and Wilson, 2010; Friedman et al., 2007; Goldring and Rowley, 2006; Goh and Dolnicar, 2006; Hsu and Yuan-fang, 2013; ISCA, 2008; Kelly and Scafidi, 2013; Longfield, 2011; Lombard, 2007; Msila, 2009; Planks and Sykes, 2003). That being said, schools are entities that have their own human, financial and physical resources that need to be managed. The principal as the head of the entity, has a definitive impact on the school and its effectiveness in providing quality education in accordance with the expectations of parents. Consequently, items culminating into the factor ‘Effective school leadership and governance’ is an important dimension of school choice that has the propensity to influence parental decision-making (Hsu and Yuan-fang, 2013; Lombard, 2007; Msila, 2009; Woolman and Fleisch, 2006). Education can be regarded as a service since it is essentially intangible, inseparable, variable and the purchase of this service is an interactive process aimed at creating customer satisfaction and not ownership (Immelman, 2013). Subsequently, the marketing implications of education as a service is a complex phenomenon that complicates the school choice decision for parents and is crucial for principals to ensure that the school is perceived as a quality institution with a positive image. The manner in which a school is managed and controlled is vested, according to section 16 of the South African Schools Act (South Africa, 1996a), in the school governing body (SGB). The school principal, by virtue of section 23(1)(b), is an automatic member of the governing body and has the ability to contribute to all the functions of this said body. One of these said functions is marketing. The opportunity for schools to market their attributes has arisen as a result of the South African Schools Act (South Africa, 1996a), and it seems that ex-model C schools are the standard bearers of what the South African government can provide in partnership with a committed parent body and broader school community (Williams, 2011). In an effort to attract parents to enrol their children in a particular school, the principal should be equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to manage the school and survive the new competitive environment. This factor is represented by the lower part of the triarchic model of CHAT that describes how activity can only exist in relation to rules, community and division of labour, as these societal dimensions effect the systemic organisation of human activity. The third most influential factor, labelled ‘Academic excellence’, flows from the ever increasing trend of parents constructing a connection between educational attainment and occupational success (Plank and Sykes, 2003). According to Goldring and Rowley (2006), parents emphasise and prioritise items associated with academic outcomes and student achievement. This is evident in the items constituting this factor, thus validating it as an important consideration in school choice decision-making.

Four of the eight factors realised a mean score in the vicinity of 3, indicating that they were somewhat influential for South African middle class parents. These factors included factor 7, ‘Geographic location’ (x = 3.74); factor 2, ‘School x infrastructure’ (x = 3.62); factor 8, ‘Size’ (x = 3.59) and factor 5, ‘School culture’ (x = 3.22). Although not as influential as factors 1, 3 and 6, these factors have been identified as items that parents would consider in addition to those highlighted above. Whether or not a school presents itself with these factors may be the supporting evidence parents need in choice decision-making situations.

The factor ‘Geography’ is made up of, firstly, the location of the school in terms of logistics, secondly the safety of the neighbourhood and thirdly the issue of school placement. These items all demonstrate relevance in both the international and national literature of Kelly and Scafidi, 2013; Goldring and Rowley, 2006; Goh and Dolnicar, 2006; ISCA, 2008; Burgess et al., 2010; Longfield, 2011; Msila, 2009; Lombard, 2007 and Hsu and Yuan-fang, 2013. Items associated with the factor ‘School infrastructure’ encompass a parent’s appreciation of the ‘sensory’ aspects of an environment, in that school infrastructure thus makes up all those aspects of a school that are clearly visible, spoken about and are physical and tangible in nature. Literature points out that parents the world over are able to distinguish between schools of varying quality and as such respond positively by regarding these attributes as important in terms of enhancing the educational outcomes of their children (Goldhaber, 1999). This factor accordingly, corresponds well with the dimension of parental decision-making as described by choice theory, where it is postulated that an individual’s choices are driven by a never-ending quest to satisfy individual human needs (Glasser, 1999). ‘School size’ is a factor that incorporates both the physical size of the school and the number of learners per educator assigned to an individual classroom. These elements are important in terms of parental school choice decision-making since research indicates that school size can sometimes be overwhelming for learners and smaller class sizes enable teachers to provide a better quality education (De Schipper, Riksen-Walraven and Geurts, 2006; Huntsman, 2008; Torquati et al., 2007). Democracy has led to parents in South Africa formulating their own opinions regarding what they think an ideal school should offer their children (Venter, 2011). ‘School culture’ as a factor thus exerts probably the broadest and deepest influence for parents in making a school choice decision (McDaniel, Lamb and Hair, 2012). Culture comprises a complex system of values, norms and symbols, all of which are evident in the items making up this factor. The overarching influencing item of ‘school fees’ is also encapsulated in this factor. Literature indicates that parents who actively choose schools are better educated, have higher levels of income and are less likely to be unemployed than non-choosing parents (Bosetti, 2004; Sekete et al., 2001; Woolman and Fleisch, 2006). This finding conforms with the widely expressed view that school choice favours middle and upper income families (Carnoy and McEwan 2003, Walford, 2003; Goldring and Rowley, 2006; Hastings, Kane and Staiger, 2005). This in combination with the legacy of apartheid and the environment in which school choice decision-making takes place in South Africa substantiates the factor.

The lowest mean score per statement was realised for factor 4, ‘Value added incentives’ (x = 2.53). This factor indicates a slightly influential extent in a parent’s decision to choose a particular school and thus the items making up the factor are considered to be the least important for parents in the empirical study. On examination of the items encapsulated in the ‘Value added incentives’ factor it is noted that many of the items speak towards the individual circumstances for which the school choice decision is made. Decision making with regards to uniforms, provision of transport, special educational needs and so forth would be important for some parents and not so important for others. These unique items thus explain why this factor registers the lowest factor mean score and once again ratifies the influence of CHAT and choice theory as individuals taking part in decision-making but having different views and interpretations for the purpose of activity.

The empirical study through factor analysis elucidate previous assumptions of school choice decision-making factors for middle class South African parents and point to the presence of eight independent choice factors that complicate the school choice decision. In general, results point to both positives and negatives in the policy of school choice. The positive is that school choice provides options for parents and learners to select schools that align with their values, preferences and aspirations. The negative of school choice is that it privileges middle class parents who have the social and cultural capital to navigate their way through the school selection process (Gorard, 1999).

Discussion and recommendations

Part of the general intention of the study was to strengthen the capacity of parental school choice decision-making. Thus, in an effort to aid parents in their decision-making processes with regards to school choice, the following recommendations in line with both the literature and empirical findings of the research are proposed for parents.

From the dimension of CHAT and choice theory, it is recommended that the first aspect in making a good school choice decision is for parents to determine the concrete aspects they expect to be offered by the school in terms of its ability to provide a quality education for their child, or children. In essence this means drawing up a list of what one wants from a school. This so-called inventory of expectations is then able to act as a check-list to assist parents in making a school choice decision. The idea is to put down in writing a utopia of ideals and then to proceed to find the best fit in terms of a school matching these unique characteristics. Since every child, every family situation or circumstance and related educational expectation varies, the fundamental burning question a parent has to answer is, ‘Which qualities making up the unique combination of my child really matter for choosing a school?’ Taking into consideration the most influential factor for parents being ‘Intrinsic child related influences’, parents are encouraged to deliberate on a number of aspects in realising the best school fit, unique to their individual situation and circumstance.

The second most influential factor for parents was identified as ‘Effective school leadership and governance’. Leadership and governance encompasses a number of aspects but at heart is all about how teachers and school management teams use inputs to frame meaningful learning experiences for children. From a psychosocial point of reference, parents need to determine whether the school looks welcoming and organised and if there is evidence of good management, according to their standards. In strengthening decision-making in this respect, it is recommended for parents to start by finding out about the principal, their qualifications and their management and leadership style. These aspects will automatically spill over into all operations of the school, and a parent needs to determine whether this ethos is what they want for their child or children. To assess this, parents could look at the school’s code of conduct and policies on aspects that are important to them, such as bullying, anti-discrimination, drug use, etc. Parents should determine whether the school addresses those particular issues that are important to them. Next, parents are encouraged to find out what type of teachers are employed at the school, and whether a minimum qualification requirement is adhered to. The value of a dedicated, committed, passionate teacher in the classroom cannot be underestimated. Regardless of all other factors, quality education depends largely on the teacher who is teaching one’s child. Finally, for this choice factor, parents should consider the quality of administrative support and the use of technology in the teaching environment to aid their decision-making.

‘Academic excellence’ was indicated as the third most influential decision-making factor for parents. In evaluating this choice factor, it is recommended that parents, as a starting point, consider the schools vision and mission statement. The question to be asked is, ‘Does the vision and mission of the school include outcomes that encompass knowledge, skills and attitudes, and are these linked to national goals for education and positive participation in society?’ Following this, it is proposed that parents take stock of the school’s curriculum. Any curriculum should emphasise deep rather than broad coverage of important areas of knowledge and should be based on clearly defined learning outcomes. These outcomes need to be assessed in terms of whether they include content and materials that work towards the acquisition of basic skills. Furthermore, the school’s academic success should also be assessed in terms of it working towards higher education or university entrance, if that is the trajectory for the parent and child. Lastly, parents are encouraged to seek out information to determine how the school compares academically to other similar schools in the area, across the province and on a national scale.

In terms of the factor ‘Geography’, which was identified as the fourth most influential choice factor, it is recommended that parents take careful consideration of their unique situations and circumstances regarding the logistics of a chosen school. The opportunity cost of distance from home to school needs to be carefully weighed up against the perceived benefits of attending a particular school. Often much sacrifice is involved in school decision-making and parents are recommended to evaluate the sustainability of these challenges.

‘School infrastructure’ was identified as the fifth most influential factor for parents. The recommendation for parents in this respect is to assess the school from a physical point of view. Usually, the way in which the school building presents itself is an indication of other school quality issues, such as the presence of instructional materials, working conditions for teachers and the ability of teachers to undertake certain instructional approaches. Parents need to assess whether the school provides adequate resources and facilities in terms of what is sought by both them and their child/ren in this regard.

‘School size’ is the sixth most important factor for parents evaluating a particular school. No magic number in terms of teacher–learner ratio has been identified but in general the lower the ratio the more advantageous to the individual learner. Accordingly, it is recommended that parents evaluate the schools policy on class size and furthermore investigate whether the school makes use of educator assistants and match this to the needs of their child or children.

As a school choice influencing factor for parents, ‘school culture’ ranked seventh overall. A school’s ‘culture’ is an expression of its religious ethos, its discipline structures, its established traditions, its general image throughout the community and its language of instruction. South Africa is a country of much diversity; consequently, it is recommended that parents actively seek out schools that are a relatively close match to that of their own belief systems or to seek our schools that are tolerant of and committed to diversity in general.

Conclusion

Each of us judges the school system in terms of the final goals we set for our children our community, our country and ourselves (UNICEF, 2000). Any meaningful discussion of factors influencing parent’s preferences in choosing schools for their children can only take place in the context of the different social and cultural conditions facing families in South Africa today. Although apartheid is to blame for some of the ills in education at present, there is ample evidence that government policy, lack of accountability and inaction have contributed massively to the current situation (Reprobate, 2012). Considering the inconsistency in providing quality education, it seems as if government, perhaps because of the complexities of the problems or the knowledge that, even with increased funding and programmes, dysfunctional government schools seem to be unable to navigate viable solutions, are leaving it to parents in terms of school choice decisions to best protect their children from being part of the alarming statistics. That being said and given that parents have the greatest interest in promoting the educational well-being of their children, it is common sense that they should be the ones to hold schools accountable. For this parents require reliable information on their child’s progress and on relative school performance. Receiving such information in an understandable format would serve to empower parents and communities and in this way improve the quality of education in South Africa through school choice (Van der Berg et al., 2011). The challenge that thus faces policy makers in South Africa is to devise policies that harness the power of choice and competition to bring about improvement in the educational opportunities provided for all children.

Footnotes

Note

Declaration of conflicting interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector

ORCID iD

Raj Mestry

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