Perceptions of Public & Private Schools

The writer begins by recounting his experiences with other people over the topic of his schooling. She makes particular note of other people's perceptions of her schooling from her high school, Bowral High School located in the regional Southern Highlands. The point that the writer then presents is that people's perceptions and assumptions of a person's potential achievements are directly correlated to the high school they studied at.

The point the writer makes is that there is no difference between public and private (or more renowned selective high schools) in the opportunities given to the students. The writer then recounts her achievements during her high school tuition which are indeed quite remarkable, going against what other perceived of her potential. The writer then traces this back to her high school where she is very typical and average of a high schooler in a public high school that is not significant in any way but at the same time not disadvantaged.


Ho provides a valuable insight in the possible cause of these perceptions. The existence of both the private and public systems in schooling form the basis for a market-driven education economy. This is fuelled by consumer demand for the quality of schooling parents want their kids to have. It is now well known that private school funding has increased more proportionally compared to public school funding, as private schools not only receive funding from the government but also student fees. As is most typical in any market-economy there is a general rule of thumb that: if it costs more, its usually better quality. And, this rule of thumb is quite applicable in education. So, now we have the reasoning behind why more and more parents are sending their children to private schools. After some time and many enrolments from public to private, another public perception can be formed. In our modern society there is an emphasis of 'keeping up with the Joneses', which is more or less having equal or better things than the average of society. Normally this emphasis would stem to material aspects such as a house, car or consumer electronics etc. but since education is market-driven this spreads to it too. Now parents want to make sure their children are not being at a relative disadvantage to an overinflated average student's opportunities. So after all this we have large numbers of parents sending their children to private schools in their view that they will not be put at a relative disadvantage to all the other students enrolling in private schools. On the flip-side of this you then can deduce that overall public opinion would be that a public school is inferior and comparatively disadvantaged compared to a private school. And this, is where the issue that the writer confronts stems from.


The Sydney Morning Herald article can be found here:
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/society-and-culture/no-need-to-blush--public-schooling-can-be-first-step-on-road-to-success-20120105-1pmqe.html


Ho, C. (2011). Respecting the presence of others: School micropublics and everyday multiculturalism. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 32(6), 603-619.