17-Oct-2019

Blake, Beverley Shannon (PhD)
Beverley Shannon Blake matriculated in 1990 and went on to study Education at the
Johannesburg College of Education and the University of Johannesburg (UJ), achieving
her Higher Diploma in Education, BEdHons degree and MEd degree, all cum laude by
2008. The pinnacle of her academic achievement was receiving the Vice-Chancellor’s
Award for the most meritorious master’s study in the Faculty of Education at UJ in 2009.
At present she teaches in the Economic Management Sciences division at the University
of Witwatersrand and when she is not teaching she spends her time trying really hard to
be a professional cyclist.
Historically (pre-1994), South African parents were not actively involved in making
choices regarding the schools their children would attend. Democracy opened the door to
this possibility and policy changes have resulted in parents being able to exercise school
choice. In eliciting an understanding of this new trend, the study aimed to develop a base
of knowledge regarding the factors, anxieties, aspirations and strategies influencing the
school choice decision in the South African context. The effectiveness of school choice
hinges on parents making sound choices, and to this end a quantitative study utilising
questionnaires combined with Cultural-Historical Activity theory was used to establish
parental perceptions. Findings point to a plethora of aspects that are most influential for
parents when selecting schools and integrates international school choice literature into
the South African post-apartheid context. Principals are able to apply these findings to
their marketing campaigns in working towards providing the quality education parents
desire.
Supervisor: Prof R Mestry
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