Municipal schools parents choosing the right educational institution in the Metropolitan Region: a subjective experience

Abstract

The Chilean Education System has been built on the basis of the model known as school choice. However, when it comes to choosing freely the educational institution for their children some parents are just coerced to exercise this right due to budgetary reasons. The main educational research trend has paid little attention to the subjective experience underlying this process of choice. It is precisely that lack of knowledge the reason behind the Semantic Structural Analysis which has been made on twelve in- depth interviews taken to a group of parents from Municipal Schools in the Metropolitan Region. From their answers it can be stated that on the one hand, parents strongly value the private educational system but, on the other hand, they experience painful feelings of frustration when not being able to access it. These feelings give birth to a double experience in regard to the school on the part of parents. Nevertheless, this experience could be lessened depending on the perceptions that they have on both the professional performance and human quality of the teacher.