Selection from the Perspective of Parents at the Point of Choosing a Day Care Center or Elementary School for Their Children

The authors examine the issue of selection from the perspective of parents grappling with having to choose the 'right' elementary school or the 'right' kindergarten for their children. In the parents' decision-making discourses, which were surveyed on the basis of narrative interviews, the selection of applicants by the institution often surfaces, is constantly thought about and anticipated. The parental positioning in face of this selection process is reconstructed and the authors argue that it can be regarded as work on concepts of parenthood. It is also apparent that a clear analytical distinction between parental selection and institutional choice in the parents' perspectives is lastingly irritated. Adapted from the source document.