Scanning the Market

Abstract

The issue of whether schools immersed in a market culture will be more consumer responsive has been much debated in the UK and elsewhere. In this article, members of the Parental and School Choice Interaction Study examine the extent and ways in which school managers seek to identify parental viewpoints, so that these can influence school decision-making. It suggests that schools vary in openness towards the receipt of parental viewpoints, managers placing a great deal of reliance upon informal and ad hoc means of feedback as opposed to—though not necessarily more valid than—systematic and planned approaches.