Simpson, Emma;
(2023)
The Engagement and Achievement of White Working-Class Students in an Inner London Borough.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
The underachievement of White British pupils eligible for Free School Meals is a persistent local and national issue. Using data collected in three comprehensive schools, this research explores the factors that affect the engagement and achievement of this group in an inner London borough I call Burrington. It took a case study approach, involving a range of qualitative research tools: individual and focus group interviews with students, teachers and parents; student observation; and teachers’ notes. The research engages with Bourdieu’s (1977) ideas of social reproduction and uses concepts such as capital, habitus and field. It builds on the work of others (Ball, 2008; Reay, 2017; Warin, 2010) to explore how performance pressure and funding cuts have led schools to privilege academic attainment and side-line the social and emotional aspects of learning, even whilst official ethos claims to value diversity and well-being. My findings suggest that a narrow academic ethos pathologises working class culture and marginalises students who are not intelligible as learners, and some working-class families. I suggest that learner identity is affected by what happens in the classroom, the impact of students’ social identities, and the interaction between home and institutional habitus, and that many white working-class students have what I term ‘fragile’ learner identities. The current educational climate undermines teachers’ abilities to implement socially just pedagogies, exacerbates conflict between students’ learner and social identities and delegitimates working-class aspirations, prompting disengagement. To explore why the attainment of white British students is more adversely affected by poverty than that of other ethnicities, I take an intersectional approach to argue that class and race intersect with a particular socio-historical position which results in missed opportunities and suffering. I also suggest that other groups may face similar difficulties, such that my findings have the potential to be applied more widely.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | The Engagement and Achievement of White Working-Class Students in an Inner London Borough |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2023. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Centre for Doctoral Education |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10166367 |
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