‘I Know There Are Smart People There’ – Private Schools as an Investment in Children’s Social Capital

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14410%2F25%3A00144222" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14410/25:00144222 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://sreview.soc.cas.cz/getrevsrc.php?identification=public&mag=csr&raid=441&type=fin&ver=4" target="_blank" >https://sreview.soc.cas.cz/getrevsrc.php?identification=public&mag=csr&raid=441&type=fin&ver=4</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.13060/csr.2024.017" target="_blank" >10.13060/csr.2024.017</a>

Result language

čeština

Original language name

„Vím, že jsou tam inteligentní lidi.“ Volba soukromé školy rodiči jako investice do sociálního kapitálu

Original language description

The rapid growth of private schools in the Czech Republic raises the issue of equal access to education. Czech research on external differentiation in education has mainly focused on multi-year gymnasiums, while private schools have not yet received the same attention. Private schools in the Czech Republic tend to appeal to middle-class parents with liberal views and an orientation towards personal development. Our research focuses on the choice of a private school from the perspective of students' parents. The research question was: How are the advantages of private school for their child constructed in the narratives of students' parents? We chose a narrative research design. Twelve parents of students from two private schools were the participants in our research. In contrast to existing research, which has focused mainly on the importance of social capital in relation to the reproduction of social inequalities, our research focuses more on the importance of social capital in the education process itself. Our research results show that parents of students place greater emphasis on the social capital associated with private schools than academic skills. At the same time, they understand social capital as both a tool and a goal of education. In the narratives of the parents, a theme that surfaced in the parents' narratives was the reproduction of educational inequalities. Parents consider this issue through the reasons they give to justify using a private school. Parents generally do not regard private schools in the education system as a very good solution but consider it good for their children, especially in terms of the individual support provided to students.

Czech name

„Vím, že jsou tam inteligentní lidi.“ Volba soukromé školy rodiči jako investice do sociálního kapitálu

Czech description

The rapid growth of private schools in the Czech Republic raises the issue of equal access to education. Czech research on external differentiation in education has mainly focused on multi-year gymnasiums, while private schools have not yet received the same attention. Private schools in the Czech Republic tend to appeal to middle-class parents with liberal views and an orientation towards personal development. Our research focuses on the choice of a private school from the perspective of students' parents. The research question was: How are the advantages of private school for their child constructed in the narratives of students' parents? We chose a narrative research design. Twelve parents of students from two private schools were the participants in our research. In contrast to existing research, which has focused mainly on the importance of social capital in relation to the reproduction of social inequalities, our research focuses more on the importance of social capital in the education process itself. Our research results show that parents of students place greater emphasis on the social capital associated with private schools than academic skills. At the same time, they understand social capital as both a tool and a goal of education. In the narratives of the parents, a theme that surfaced in the parents' narratives was the reproduction of educational inequalities. Parents consider this issue through the reasons they give to justify using a private school. Parents generally do not regard private schools in the education system as a very good solution but consider it good for their children, especially in terms of the individual support provided to students.

Type

J_SC - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the SCOPUS database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

50301 - Education, general; including training, pedagogy, didactics [and education systems]

Project

<a href="/en/project/GA20-12828S" target="_blank" >GA20-12828S: Narrative identities of participants in education at private alternative schools</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Sociologický časopis

ISSN

0038-0288

e-ISSN

2336-128X

Volume of the periodical

61

Issue of the periodical within the volume

4

Country of publishing house

CZ - CZECH REPUBLIC

Number of pages

25

Pages from-to

375-399

UT code for WoS article

001538951600001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-105028593630