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With the recognition of one’s own fallibility and hubris, personal bias and desire for cultural relativism, we are able to progress as members of society towards the ultimate goal of social and cultural literacy; a goal towards which this project has provided a respectful perspective. It is clear there is a wide spectrum of issues that influence the socio-cultural climate of education choice. My journey through this project has compared and contrasted these issues in a small rural context with the wider community.
With regard to my ultimate findings, I am quite satisfied that education choice has become much more values-based and individualistic, reflecting a reorientation of the education system, and recognition of its integral role in one’s socialisation. There has been a notable shift toward the private sector in recent years attributable to the perception that this sector is more abreast of socio-cultural opportunities than its public school counterpart. My own primary and secondary research appeared to validate the perception of occupational and intellectual stratification in education choice. However, while my primary research supported stratification based on socio economic grounds, the secondary material yielded conflicting conclusions. There were some notably consistent values with parents from each sector. Those who chose private education frequently cited culture, tradition and academia, whereas those who chose public education were more attune to rural (local), family values and local citizenship. The latter issue raised some alienation outcomes that was not evident in any secondary material sourced, suggesting a specifically rural parochialism, whereby the dominant majority of parents (public) are able to exercise some additional influence on school choice compared to their metropolitan counterparts …..
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