Conditions culturelles et politiques du choix de l'école à Berlin

Abstract

This article examines how Berliners, from their subjective and objective determiners, choose a school for their chidren. A survey with about thirty families who have chosen a Gymnasium reveals their limited interest in the 'level'of each school as the pupils at that level are already (self-) selected and as the emphasis is laid on the non-stressing atmosphere of the school, the extra-curricular activities, the relational qualities of teachers and the intuitive rather than strategic modalities. However, the analysis of how pupils are split between the different schools reveals that proximity is given prominence when selective entry and residential segregation serve the academic and social interests of the group in question. On the other hand, in the West Berlin districts with a high number of immigrants, it is a fact that parents try to dodge catchment areas both in primary schools and Gymnasiem where a considerable number of pupils from foreign descent are schooled. © De Boeck Université.