A Study On The School Choice Mentality And Class Difference Among Parents Of Primary And Middle School Students

Education is the foundation of the Centennial plan.The development of education is an important condition for social stability,national prosperity and strength,and national rejuvenation,among which primary and secondary education,as the important means to improve the quality of people,is the foundation for the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.In the process of compulsory education development and reform,China has made great achievements in the popularization of education,but also faces the problem of unequal allocation of resources,people’s demand for education "quantity" has gradually changed into the desire for "quality",coupled with various fierce competition in society,so that parents fully perceive the uncertainty risk of their children’s future development,so school choice has become an important means of competing for high-quality resources at the starting point of education,and It gradually evolved into a"popularization" behavior.Although the national education administrative department has various governance policies,the school choice behavior is still"prohibited",and the resulting attitude of parents to school choice has also occurred certain psychological changes,which in turn affect their understanding and thinking about school choice.What is the mentality of these parents towards school choice?What factors influence this mentality?In the context of class differentiation,are there differences in the school choice mentality of different classes?These are the core questions studied in this article.Guided by social stratification theory,social identity theory and reference group theory,this paper uses literature research,questionnaire surveys and case interviews to distribute 450 questionnaires to parents of grades 4 to 9 in Chongqing by multi-stage sampling method.After excluding invalid questionnaires,a total of 409 valid questionnaires were obtained.Then use statistical analysis software,descriptive analysis,regression analysis,and variance analysis of the raw data to explore and analyze the basic conditions,influencing factors,and performance and reasons of class differences in the parents’ school choice mentality of primary and secondary school students.The study found:First,parents of primary and secondary school students generally have a more positive attitude towards school choice.This study investigates the basic situation of the school choice mentality of primary and secondary school students from three aspects:school choice cognition,school choice emotion,and school choice behavior.Survey data show that the average value of school choice cognition is the highest,followed by the average value of school choice emotion,and the average value of school choice behavior tendency is the lowest,reflecting that parents have a high understanding and belief in school choice,but also have strong emotions,but in the preparation for children’s school choice,the attitude trend is set in the table.However,in general,the parents of primary and secondary school students have a positive attitude towards school choice.Second,the factors that influence the mentality of parents of primary and secondary school students include family factors,policy perception factors,parent peer group factors,and class factors.Specifically,among the family factors,the lower the age of the parents,the higher the score of their school choice mentality;the higher the score of the school choice mentality of urban parents relative to rural parents;the higher the school choice mentality score of junior high school parents relative to the primary school parents;and the better the children’s academic performance,the higher their school choice mentality score.The gender of parents and the presence or absence of only children have no significant impact on school choice mentality.Among the policy perception factors,the more parents understand the local education policy reform,the higher their school choice mentality scores.Among the parents’ peer group factors,the more frequently parents communicate with each other about their children’s school choices,and the more people who understand the school choices around them,the higher their school choice mentality scores.Among the class factors,the more the total annual income of the family or the higher the education level of the family,the higher the score of the parents’ school choice mentality,and the highest occupation status of the family does not have a significant impact on the school choice mentality,but it affects the parents’ school choice feelings.And the higher people subjectively think they are in,the higher their school choice mentality scores.In short,the higher the score of the parents of primary and secondary school students,the more positive they are about to choose a school,and they are more likely to choose a school for their children.Third,there are class differences in the school choice mentality of parents of primary and secondary school students in various dimensions.There are class differences in school choice cognition,and the average values of each indicator generally increase with the rise of class.In contrast,the dominant class is more fully aware of the educational benefits of school choice for children,and the disadvantaged class is less aware of the"peer effect".There are certain differences in the emotion of school choice,but there is no obvious law between the overall mean change and the class change.Disadvantaged groups prefer public schools,while dominant groups are more willing to collect school information.There are class differences in the tendency to choose schools,and the average of the indicators increases with the increase of class.In contrast,the disadvantaged class is less likely to make financial preparations for their children’s school choice,while the dominant class is more likely to make strong preparations for their children’s school choice.Fourth,the reasons for the class difference in the mentality of parents of primary and secondary school students include the difference in the family’s pre-endowment resources,the functional evaluation of education by society,and the gradual clarification of identity within the class.From the perspective of the difference in the family’s pre-endowment resources,the mentality of the dominant class to choose a school is often manifested as "come very naturally ",the middle class is "doubly stressed",and the weak class is more”let nature take its course";from the perspective of the functional evaluation of education in society,the school choice of the dominant class is to pass on and occupy the dominant position,the middle class forms obvious anxiety,and the weak class is more willing but not able;from the perspective of the identity within the class,the school choice of the dominant class is to identify and strengthen their own identity,the middle class is afraid of the disappearance of the existing identity,and the weak class is eager to achieve the transcendence of identity.Based on the above findings,this paper believes that guiding the parents of primary and secondary school students to choose a school and maintain a harmonious and healthy educational environment requires the cooperation of multiple subjects such as the government,the society and parents.On the one hand,the government needs to continue to strengthen the rational allocation of educational resources,on the other hand,the society also needs to change the way education is evaluated and guide the good atmosphere of education,and at the same time,parents themselves should also understand the essence of education and support national policies,so as to promote the rational flow of contemporary society and promote the full realization of educational equity.