Abstract:
A tale of two markets, Tindertown and Tinseltown is an exploration into the community experiences and opinions of seventeen Auckland schools, staff and families. In particular 1 focus on the housing and education sector and examine ways in which the two markets intersect. The broader patterning of the market strategies as a response to the global world market and internal pressures ensured the adoption of the neo-liberal tendency towards the construction of market conditions across all modes of state regulation in New Zealand. This was witnessed in the radical reforms in the housing and education markets in the mid 1980's through to the early 1990's. The consequences of the introduction of competition and choice into the education and housing sectors was unknown. It is this gap that this empirical study and thesis seeks to address. A juxtaposition of the two populations and the differences in the communities and their experiences is reported and presented in both table and analytical form. The articulation of the community and school views has enabled the telling of a long silenced and ignored story. An historical overview of the state housing and education provision in New ~ Zealand is attempted in Chapter Three and Four. These provide a backdrop to the subsequent market driven changes that were introduced in those separate spheres during the 'Rogernomics' era. In the main these market type competitive strategies adopted by the state place a significant emphasis on the ability and assumption of freedom and individual choice. Thus the notion of choice is discussed in the context of the school and housing market. The next two chapters are given over to the analysis of the ideology that framed the study and identifying the ethnic, social and economic variables between schools in the two communities. Chapters Seven through to Nine report the findings from the data collected and examine the combined impact of the two markets on the Tindertown and Tinseltown region. The thesis seeks to further identify main trends and themes that have emerged as a result of the consequences of these markets on the education of individual students, their families and the schools in their immediate locale.