Another School is Possible (BBOM): A case of parent co-op school as a claim on alternative educational assemblages

This thesis aims to explore the institutionalization of alternative education in contemporary Turkey through the construction of different educational assemblages based on the educational model developed by Another School is Possible Association (BBOM). Based on 14 interviews with educational professionals and parents who experienced this institutionalization process from the very beginning, this study aims to provide a holistic picture of diverse concerns and experiences of BBOM stakeholders. To reveal the socio-cultural and political factors behind the development of such different educational assemblages, I analyse the educational policies and discourses of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi) in contemporary Turkey. Although education in neoliberal times might seem to provide a wide range of possibilities which are adapted to competitive educational purposes, lately emerging educational alternatives demonstrate how a particular group of parents avoid performing typical parental preferences under the present conditions of the Turkish educational system. Therefore, the study documents how their perceptions on education, their subjectivities, and their relations with the collective efforts developed with other parents result in constructing such educational alternatives. Findings point out insightful reflections on the challenges of implementing BBOM's alternative education model mainly due to financial resources and the dichotomy of parents' academic worries versus alternative education. The findings particularly reveal the indications of isolated and exclusive class closure built through parent co-op initiatives.