The Contours for Researching Religion and School Choice

Abstract

This paper argues that contemporary conceptual frameworks for understanding religion may not be adequate for the arena of religion and school choice. Successive published research suggests that people are choosing religious schools for reasons other than religion. But what if the reasons why people might be religious and their motivation for choosing a religious school are more complex? This paper considers some of the latest theoretical conversations around religion and social science. In particular it discusses approaches developed by U.K. Catholic sociologist of education Gerald Grace. The paper proposes some new contours for researching religion and school choice in North America.