Individual strategies of school choice with state or minority language of instruction in Southeastern Lithuania: between maintenance of ethnic identity and prospects of social mobility?

Abstract

The paper interprets the empirical data collected in the framework of qualitative sociological research in Southeastern Lithuania in 2013–2014. The research was funded by a grant (No. VAT-50/2012) from the Research Council of Lithuania. The paper overviews and discusses how the informants of different social status (teachers and school administrators, parents, graduate school pupils) and ethnic belonging (Lithuanians, Poles, Russians) prioritize schools with state or minority language of instruction and what is the perceived interrelation of ethnic belonging, choice of school sector and prospects of social mobility in the Lithuanian society. The individual strategies to choose a school with state or minority language instruction are interpreted in relation to a broader social context.