There is no doubt that school credentials are at the centre of the stratification process in meritocratic societies and there is evidence that the starting point is well ahead of the primary (compulsory) education (Lareau, A., 2003; Kalil, A., Ryan, R. & Corey, M., 2012). Through early childhood education parents not only invest in their offspring’s future chances to maintain or increase their relative position in the social ladder by investing in their human and social capital (Keys et al., 2013), but also perceive that educational decisions as providing a framework that will influence child development in terms of life goals, life values and attitudes (Galán, 2009; Ballantine & Hammack, 2011; Ryan, 2001). However, how much parents are able to determine children school characteristic is dependent on the institutional arrangements and the welfare regime where their educational system is set (Feito, 1994; Mancebón Torrubia, 2007; Fernández Enguita, 2008). At some regions, such as for instance the Valencia region in Spain, there has been a consistent policy promoting the development of private early childhood educational facilities that have reinforced in recent years the already none-comprehensive school system (Sintes, E., 2012; Ancheta Arrabal, A., 2012; Fernández Enguita, M., 2002). In the present study we combine both an institutional and a case study analysis on the city of Valencia, to deepen the understanding on how the early childhood education choice operates.

1. Pursuing cumulative advantage
through early childhood education?
The paradox of the early childhood education
choice
Daniel Gabaldón-Estevan | Tallinn 11/09/2015
Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences,
University of Valencia- Valencia (ES) - daniel.gabaldon@uv.es
Cumulative Inequalities
in the Life Course
TALLINNA
ÜLIKOOL
10-12 September 2015, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia

2. 2
- merit (capacity, intelligence, effort, discipline, sacrifice)
- qualification (certifications, titles and credentials)
- formal education is the mean to obtain merit and qualification
- possibilities depend on preferences and capacities
- and capacities are randomly distributed
Education as distributor of social positions [Granados Martínez, A. (2003) Las funciones
sociales de la escuela. At Fernández Palomares, F. Sociología de la educación. Pearson, Madrid 117-141]
The distribution
of social positions
Is done through competences sanctioned by means of a
complex system of certificates, titles and credentials.
This mechanism is institutionalized in western
societies by means of universal, free and compulsory
education, which “guarantees” equality of
opportunity for all the population and pivots on:
The above implies the primacy of acquired status (due to merit)
over
inherited filiation or ascribed status (due to birth)

3. 3
Early Childhood Education: the starting point
On the way parents spend time with children: family life and child
development [Bianchi, Robinson & Milkie, 2006; Heckman, 2006]
On the effect of social position [Bourdieu, 1984; Lareau, 2003]
Highly educated parents not only spend more time but know
better what to do at certain age [Esping-Andersen, G. 2009; Kalil,
A., Ryan, R. & Corey, M. 2012]
Parents invest in their offspring’s future chances to maintain or
increase their relative position in the social ladder by investing in
their human and social capital [Keys et al., 2013]
Parents perceive that educational decisions as providing a
framework that will influence child development in terms of life
goals, life values and attitudes {Galán, 2009; Ballantine &
Hammack, 2011; Ryan, 2001]

4. Early Childhood Education: the starting point
4

5. Early
Childhood
Education:
the starting
point
5

6. 6
Does the school matter? the school choice
The use of double (and triple) network of schools reflects a strategy
of differentiation of those segments of the population with more
resources [Feito, 1994; Mancebón Torrubia, 2007; Fernández
Enguita, 2008]
The need to conciliate [Beck-Gersheim, 2003]
The process by which the selection is made [Fernández-Esquinas,
2004; Glaesser y Cooper, 2013]
The type of offer the system configures [Sintes, 2012; Ancheta
Arrabal, 2012; Fernández Enguita, 2002]
Strategies of class differentiation in education [Hatcher, 1998;
Reinoso & Grau, 2011; Rich & Jennings, 2015; Teese,1998]

7. Source: MECyD, 2014
7
Does the school matter? the school choice

8. 88
Does the school matter? the school choice

9. 9
What about school homogeneity?
The variability on the family-school interaction has been also very
much reported in the literature (Feito, 2010; Marí-Klose et al., 2008;
Meil, 2006).
School choice can affect classroom diversity (Hawley, 1995;
Teese, 1998)
Classroom diversity, in turn, affects classroom interactions at the
teacher-student level, at the family-school level and at the
student-student level (Ryan, 2000; 2001; Kiuru et al. 2008).
Anyon (1980) already in the 80’s showed the relevant effects of class
homogeneity and teachers-student interaction and goals settings.
A similar finding was shown in the work by Yates et al. (2014)
regarding ethnic teacher-student interaction.

10. Early Childhood Education in Spain [European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice/Eurostat, 2014.
Key Data on Early Childhood Education and Care in Europe. 2014 Edition. Eurydice and Eurostat Report.
Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.]
Demand
10

11. Early Childhood Education in Spain [idem.]
Participation
11

12. Early Childhood Education in Spain [idem]
Funding
12

13. Early Childhood Education in Spain [MECyD, 2014]
Participation
13

14. 876;
9%
648;
6%
8,495,
85%
Públicos
Privados
Concertados
Privados no
Concertados
In the city of
Valencia there
were 10.019 0-2
years old students
during the
2010/2011
academic year
Early Childhood Education in Spain (and Valencia) [MECyD, 2014; and MPyDE]
Participation evolution and type of centre
14

15. School choice in Valencia
Policy level
15
The Single School District [Resolución de 27 de marzo
2014 de la Dirección Territorial de Educación, Cultura y Deporte de
Valencia]
The Schools Rankings [Los ranking de El Mundo 2014/2015,
El Mundo 22/03/2014]
The Compact School Day [Mariano Fernández Enguita
http://blog.enguita.info/2014/02/todo-lo-que-siempre-quiso-saber-sobre.html]
The External, Standardised
Final Exams and Tests
[Francesc J. Hernàndez i Dobon]

16. 192 CEI (181 priv. & 11 pub.)
Contacted185 CEI
(96,35%)
Took part 17 CEI (9,2%)
Took part 252 families
(25%)
Valencia city 2012-13 academic year
Early Childhood Education choice in Valencia [UV-INV-PRECOMP12-80709]
sample
16

17. Universe: 192 CEI Sample: 17 CEI (9,2%)
Early Childhood Education choice in Valencia [UV-INV-PRECOMP12-80709]
sample
17

18. Upbringing practices
Family composition
Educational
demands (S&C)
Child care
distribution
Cultural equipment
Family Adaptability and
Cohesion Evaluation
Scale
Mobility
Socio-demographics
Household work
distribution
Respondent’s cultural
activities
Children cultural
activities
Early Childhood Education choice in Valencia [UV-INV-PRECOMP12-80709]
topics
18

19. Early Childhood Education choice in Valencia [Gabaldón-Estevan, 2015]
Main reason to select the centre [open question]
19

20. Early Childhood Education choice in Valencia [Gabaldón-Estevan & Täht, 2014]
Findings: Educational preferences when selecting a kindergarten
20
Bus service
Agreement with next level
Informatics
Music
Uniform
Parents school
Foreing languages
Language
Summer school
Other levels at that center
Calendar
Tariffs
Opening hours
Canteen
Facilities
Pedagogy
0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00
20

21. Early Childhood Education choice in Valencia [Gabaldón-Estevan & Täht, 2014]
Findings: educational demands FACTORS
Informatics
Foreign languages
Agreement
Uniform
Next levels
Calendar
Opening hours
Canteen
Summer school
Pedagogy
Language
Music
Parents School
Tariffs
Facilities
Bus
Distinction
Pedagogy
Immediate
ness
ɑ 0,77
ɑ 0,80
ɑ 0,62
21

22. Early Childhood Education choice in Valencia [Gabaldón-Estevan & Täht, 2014]
Findings: educational demands CENTRES
Centre N Distinction Immediateness Pedagogy
CEI 01 3 3,6 3,3 4,1
CEI 02 7 2,8 4,2 3,0
CEI 03 19 3,7 3,8 3,4
CEI 04 3 2,5 3,5 2,8
CEI 05 8 2,9 3,8 3,2
CEI 06 18 2,8 3,7 3,2
CEI 07 17 3,3 4,2 3,5
CEI 08 10 2,8 3,9 2,9
CEI 09 7 2,3 3,4 2,9
CEI 10 8 3,5 3,7 3,4
CEI 11 14 1,8 2,9 3,7
CEI 12 15 3,1 4,5 3,4
CEI 13 16 2,8 4,2 3,2
CEI 14 8 3,3 3,2 3,2
CEI 15 50 2,5 3,9 3,6
CEI 16 18 3,5 4,3 3,5
CEI 17 22 2,9 4,1 3,3
Total 243 2,9 3,8 3,4
22

23. 23
Concluding remarks: the paradox of the ECE choice
Studies on school selection highlight that school choice responds to a class-
strategy for differentiation of those segments of the population with more
resources (Teese,1998; Feito, 1994; Mancebón, 2007; Fernández Enguita, 2008)
rather than to a search a for better education:
«…the main reason is not a better quality of education, but the
socioeconomic characteristics of students in publicly financed private
schools, which are significantly different (and better to the
educational process) than those in public schools. This framework
implies the consolidation of a “vicious circle” of social segregation
that produces a very significant decline in equity and equality of
opportunity in Spanish education system» (Fernández-Llera & Muñiz,
2012, p. 97).
The degree of school homogeneity is very much affected by the way pupils are
assigned to schools affecting, therefore, the degree of comprehensiveness and
inclusiveness of a particular school system.

24. 24
Concluding remarks: the paradox of the ECE choice
In Spain, the triple school network characterises an atypical school system within
the European Union where one out of three students are enrolled in private
schools (31.7%), most of them State subsidised (25.4%; MECD, 2014).
At the Valencia Region the recent changes in the regulation together with other
political initiatives that are being implemented at the national level (LOMCE act)
supports the hypothesis that in the coming years segregation in school access will
reinforce school homogeneity and therefore negatively affect intergroup contact
and intergroup attitudes in children.
As reported by McGlothlin and Killen (2005, p. 694) findings suggest that
children’s experience with exclusion and diversity influence their decision-making
about friendship and therefore are very relevant for the construction of an
inclusive society.
Therefore, children in less heterogeneous schools might be less prepared for
dealing with diversity in their adult life.

25. Thank you for your attention!!!
Aitäh!!!
Daniel Gabaldón-Estevan | Tallinn 11/09/2015
Departament de Sociologia i Antropologia Social, Facultat de Ciències Socials,
Universitat de València- Valencia (ES) - Daniel.Gabaldon@uv.es
https://uv.academia.edu/DanielGabald%C3%B3nEstevan
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Daniel_Gabaldon-Estevan
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/daniel-gabad%C3%B3n-estevan/23/722/aaa
http://www.slideshare.net/DanielGabaldnEstevan
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2086-5012
http://www.researcherid.com/rid/B-5195-2011