Abstract
The debate over who in the family makes the selection of a preferred new school is an important one for many reasons. This paper presents some of the positions in that debate and attempts to resolve some of the apparent contradictions and anomalies in previous findings by using a new three step model of choice. This model clearly suggests that the reported role of both parents and children are susceptible to variations over time during the process of choice and that some of the differences discernible in previous studies may be due to this. In addition the model predicts that a simple division of families into 'alert' and 'inert' or 'disconnected' and 'privileged' or parent-centred and child-centred will not work in making sense of the complex micropolitics of choice in most families.

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