This thesis considers the role of parents, teachers and peers in the school decision making processes of children at the end of compulsory education in England. This stage represents, in fact, the first and most important school transition when pupils will have to choose whether to enter post-secondary education or not, and in cases where they do, whether to choose an academic course or a vocational one, knowing that this will affect their next transition at the age of 18. This thesis is amongst the ones to most fully analyse the role of significant others in children’s education. All the quantitative analyses in this thesis are done using the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE). Most of the statistical modelling of this data is done using multivariate regression analysis. Some of the results are also based on evidence from qualitative interviews with children in their last year of GCSEs in two comprehensive schools in England and children attending an apprenticeship scheme in the London area. With regards to educational aspirations, minority students are those who show the highest and most stable aspirations during years 9 to 11, while White English working class students, especially boys, have lower and unstable aspirations. Among the explanatory factors for these results, along with social class and ethnicity, parental aspirations, friends’ plans and individual attitude to education have the strongest correlation with the intentions to stay on in school after year 11. Moreover, parental aspirations did not appear to differ with regards to social class, suggesting a different mechanism than the one indicated by Breen and Goldthorpe (B&G) (2000). Also, the fact that minority students have very high aspirations (and are high achievers), do not confirm the principles of the relative risk aversion theory by B&G. Among the types of parental involvement in children’s education, participation in school-related activities and feelings towards school and supervision of children’s school work seemed to have a positive impact on children’s entering A-levels in year 12, although the results did not highlight differences with regards to social class and ethnicity. Evidence from the qualitative interviews showed different results with regards to helping with homework - only educated parents do that – and with regards to supporting and encouraging their children’s aspirations, which is more effective with minority and middle class parents. Considering peer relationships, the evidence from qualitative interviews suggested a very small influence of peers, especially schoolmates, in children’s school decision processes; peers are, in fact, perceived as someone to share plans and common interests with, but not as well-informed and trustworthy sources such as family. Moreover, interviews suggest that school choices are not the results of long-term plans, and children treat school transitions as separate stages. This does not support Morgan’s model of prefigurative and preparatory commitment.

A l’indépendance de la Haute-Volta en 1960, la ville de Ouagadougou comptait au total 10 établissements secondaires dont 3 publics, 5 privés catholiques, 1 privé protestant et 1 privé laïc. Cette offre a considérablement augmenté depuis lors, de sorte qu’en 2013-2014, la ville compte plus de 390 établissements. Elle se caractérise surtout par une plus grande diversité des acteurs et une forte primauté des établissements privés laïcs. Par ailleurs, il apparaît qu’en dépit de cette croissance fulgurante de l’offre scolaire; en lien avec la croissance démographique, l’accès à l’éducation reste problématique pour une part importante de la population. Plusieurs facteurs expliquent cette situation et pourraient être examinés sur différents registres dont les politiques publiques et les stratégies mises en œuvre par les acteurs et les populations. Pour comprendre cette situation et voir comment elle se traduit sur le territoire de la ville, la présente thèse a opté d’interroger les pratiques des acteurs, ou plus globalement la gouvernance.Le processus d’urbanisation de la ville apparaît comme une porte d’entrée pertinente pour poser la question. En effet, l’urbanisation à Ouagadougou se caractérise aussi bien par une forte croissance démographique que par une importante extension spatiale. Dans un contexte de faible niveau d’investissement public dans le domaine de l’enseignement post-primaire et secondaire, cette situation a pour conséquence, une incapacité de l’offre scolaire publique à satisfaire la forte demande qui en résulte. Face à une demande scolaire de plus en plus importante, apparue avec le processus d’urbanisation en cours, mais aussi du fait des investissements pour le développement de l’enseignement primaire depuis les années 1990, on observe un développement du secteur privé (laïc, franco-arabe, catholique, protestant, associatif, etc.). Il regroupait pendant l’année scolaire 2014-2015, environ 91,6% des établissements de la capitale. Ce développement du privé engendre une diversité des acteurs avec une pluralité des modalités de prestation du service éducatif. Leurs interventions permettent d’améliorer une offre scolaire publique défaillante à travers un accroissement du nombre d’école. Cependant, elles comportent de nombreuses insuffisances en termes de respect des normes officielles liées à la carte scolaire et à la qualité de l’éducation.Dans ce contexte, les élèves et leurs familles développent plusieurs stratégies aussi bien dans le choix des écoles que dans la fréquentation scolaire. Ces mécanismes d’offre et de demande scolaire se traduisent sur le territoire de la ville et permettent ainsi de faire une géographie sociale urbaine au prisme de l’éducation. L’objectif de cette thèse est de décrire les inégalités spatiales d’éducation post-primaire et secondaire à Ouagadougou, de mesurer leurs intensités puis de les expliquer à travers les questions de gouvernance et d’aménagement du territoire. Les analyses portent sur les effets de la répartition spatiale de l’offre scolaire sur les pratiques de choix des écoles par les élèves et leurs familles. Pour y parvenir, nous avons procédé par une analyse mixte, recourant aux démarches qualitative et quantitative. Après avoir géo-référencé et cartographié l’ensemble des établissements de la ville, des entretiens qualitatifs, réalisés auprès d’acteurs de l’éducation, ont permis de comprendre les modalités d’intervention des différents acteurs. On a ainsi mieux cerné la transcription spatiale des mécanismes de gouvernance et d’aménagement du territoire dans le domaine de l’éducation post-primaire et secondaire à Ouagadougou. / At the independence of Upper Volta in 1960, the city of Ouagadougou had a total of 10 secondary schools, including 3 public, 5 private Catholic, 1 private Protestant, and 1 private secular. This offer got a sounding increase since then. So, in 2013-2014, the city had more than 390 establishments. It is characterized above all by a greater diversity of actors and a strong primacy of private secular institutions. Moreover, it appears that despite this meteoric growth in school supply related to population growth, access to education remains a problem for a large part of the population. Several factors justify this situation and could be examined in many ways, including public policies and strategies implemented by actors and populations. To understand this situation and see how it is reflected on the territory of the city, this thesis has choosed to question the practices of actors, or governance, in a general way.The process of urbanization of the city appears as a relevant gateway to ask the question. Indeed, urbanization in Ouagadougou is characterized by both high population growth and significant spatial expansion. In a context of low level of public investment in the field of post-primary and secondary education, this situation results in an inability of the public school supply to meet the high demand that results. With a growing demand for education, which has emerged with the current urbanization process, and also because of investments for the development of primary education since the 1990s, the private sector (secular, Franco-Arab, Catholic, Protestant, associative, etc.) got developed. In the school year 2014-2015, it accounted for approximately 91.6% of establishments in the capital. This development of the private sector diversifies the actors implying a plurality of the modes of provision of educational service. Their interventions help to improve a failing public school offer through an increase of schools. However, there are many shortcomings related to school mapping and the quality of education, in terms of respect for official standards.This is why students and families develop several strategies both in school choice and in school attendance. These mechanisms of supply and school demand are reflected on the territory of the city. They thus make it possible to make an urban social geography to the prism of education. The aim of this thesis is to describe the spatial inequalities of post-primary and secondary education in Ouagadougou, and measure their intensities, and then explain them through the issues of governance and regional planning. The analyzes focus on the effects of the spatial distribution of school supply on the choice of schools by students and their families. To achieve this, we proceeded by a mixed analysis which resorts to qualitative and quantitative approaches. After having geo-referenced and mapped all the establishments of the city, qualitative interviews, carried out with actors of the education, made it possible to understand the modes of intervention of the various actors. The spatial transcription of governance and regional planning mechanisms in the field of post-primary and secondary education in Ouagadougou has thus been better understood.