The Role of Nostalgia in School Choice

This paper looks in some detail at the strength and diversity of factors which influence choice of a new school in the present generation, but which stem from a previous age. The stories presented to the researcher about the process of choosing show clearly that the 'domino' effect sometimes covers three generations, and that decisions made today reflect, but are not identical to, those made in the past. Simple reproduction cannot explain the diversity found here, while responding to 'consumers' and their influences from the past is likely to lead today's schools to conservatism and restorationism. These findings have implications for the study of the micro-politics of choice at the family level, and for the validity of any form of public choice theory based upon current performance indicators.