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Teaching Documents by Gill Crozier

Karagiorgi, Y., SYMEOU, L. & Crozier, G. (for English)

Papers by Gill Crozier

Whiteness and education, Jan 2, 2016

Abstract In spite of the relative success of the Widening Participation policy and strategies to ... more Abstract In spite of the relative success of the Widening Participation policy and strategies to increase the numbers of students from Black and Minority and White working-class backgrounds going to university, universities in Britain continue to be White and middle-class-dominated institutions. We found, in our two-year qualitative Higher Education Funding Council England/Higher Education Academy-funded study (2010–2012), the existence of fear and raced, gendered and classed antagonisms, underpinned by White middle-class student attitudes and perspectives towards those they constructed as the Other. In the article, we discuss the development of ‘us and them’ from the perspective of White middle-class, mainly male, students, and demonstrate dysconscious racism and racialised social segregation, which in some disciplines is replicated in the learning context. The context of the research is that of a highly competitive, neoliberal, British higher education system where competitiveness for individual success is paramount. Within this context, anxieties around success and notions or perceptions of authenticity: the ‘authentic university’ and the ‘authentic student’ are palpable. These perspectives combine with White privilege and a sense of ‘supremacy’ and entitlement leading to a desire for distancing from the ‘Other’.

The parents in our study reside in three urban locales which differ in a variety of complex ways.... more The parents in our study reside in three urban locales which differ in a variety of complex ways. These include size of city, ethnic diversity and global links. London is the key global, cosmopolitan city which in turn offers a rich variety of resources and experiences to those in a position to exploit them, leading Butler with Robson (2003) to describe the London middle-classes as embodying a ‘metropolitan habitus’. Whilst we do not set out to explore the existence of a ‘metropolitan habitus’ in Riverton and Norton, we draw on this idea to compare and contrast the similarities and differences for the families in our study, extant across the three sites. In particular we explore how different geographical spaces impact on the parents’ choice of school. We look at the ways that geography gives rise to differential distribution of goods and resources which in turn exacerbates the competitiveness between social classes and class fractions. This aspect is particularly salient for our parents in terms of the availability of the ‘acceptable’ local school and the supplementary educational support they often felt they needed to provide for their children.

Palgrave Macmillan eBooks, Apr 1, 2011

Routledge eBooks, Nov 18, 2016

International Studies in Sociology of Education, Sep 1, 2011

The white middle-class parents who chose to send their children to urban comprehensives largely r... more The white middle-class parents who chose to send their children to urban comprehensives largely rejected engaging in the usual competitiveness for educational success. Nevertheless the parents in our study still found themselves wittingly or otherwise captured by that same discourse. Their children are high achievers and are regarded as a valuable resource for their comprehensive schools generating high volume capital. However, in spite of this, the parents do not leave such success to chance. Drawing on an ESRC-funded ...

The Sociological Review, May 1, 2008

Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2011

... cover. Bicultural Parent Engagement: Advocacy and Empowerment. by Edward M. Olivos, OscarJime... more ... cover. Bicultural Parent Engagement: Advocacy and Empowerment. by Edward M. Olivos, OscarJimenez-Castellanos & Albert M. Ochoa. reviewed by Ramona Fruja Amthor. ... by Maya A. Beasley. reviewed by Mikaila Mariel Lemonik Arthur. Archival Access Icon Sign-up for access ...

An appreciation of the practices and consequences of ‘against the grain’ secondary school choices... more An appreciation of the practices and consequences of ‘against the grain’ secondary school choices needs to be set within some understanding of the wider policy framing of choice, and indeed the nature of ‘mainstream’ choosing, in relation to schooling. Accordingly, this chapter looks briefly at the emergence and recent development of choice in educational policy in the context of neoliberal thinking. It then focuses on practices of school choice, arguing that a finer distinction (that between commitments and preferences) is necessary for understanding the gulf between the rhetoric of choice and the much more nuanced sets of practices and effects revealed in the research. We then discuss the nature of general orientations amongst our sample of parents, highlighting in particular the low incidence of communitarian commitments and the prevalence of instrumental orientations. Finally, the chapter looks at the related issues of ‘hot knowledge’ and parental intervention. Finally, the chapter looks at the related issues of ‘hot knowledge’ and parental intervention.

Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2011

The main focus of this chapter is the frequently overlooked anxieties, conflicts, desires, defenc... more The main focus of this chapter is the frequently overlooked anxieties, conflicts, desires, defences, ambivalences and tensions within middle-class identities, what we have termed the psycho-social. Although they are rarely made explicit, either by Bourdieu himself or the many scholars drawing on his theory, there are strong links between the psycho-social and Bourdieu’s concept of habitus (also see Bourdieu 2007; Steinmetz 2006). As Bourdieu himself asserts, habitus as the interiorisation of social history is fundamentally about the degree of integration across the disparate experiences that make up a biography (Bourdieu 1990). However, although he writes powerfully about his own ambivalence at being in an unfamiliar field (Bourdieu 2007) and the defences of the working-classes whose ‘habitus of necessity operates as a defence mechanism against necessity’ (Bourdieu 2000 pp. 232–233), he does not engage with the psycho-social manifestations of middle-class habitus. It is these we are attempting to uncover in this chapter.

Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2011

Mike Savage (2003 p. 536) argues that ‘the unacknowledged normality of the middle-class needs to ... more Mike Savage (2003 p. 536) argues that ‘the unacknowledged normality of the middle-class needs to be carefully unpicked and exposed.’ This book unpicks the unacknowledged normality of both whiteness and middle-classness. It does so through an analysis of white middle-class identities and privilege and the importance of personal and family histories in this. We take the globally topical and salient issue of school choice as the central lens through which we examine the ‘normality’ and identity formations of the middle-classes. School choice is a particularly apposite lens for examining contemporary white middle-class life. Choice and the ability to make choices across a wide range of areas lies at the heart of white middle-class identity. And as social reproduction becomes a more risky and uncertain process for the middle-classes, greater psychological, social and economic resources are invested in making the ‘right’ school choice. School choice then is used here as an analytical tool for understanding white middle-class identities and identity formation in a global age characterised by uncertainty, financial crises and the hegemony of self-interest.

Research papers in education, Jun 1, 2008

White Middle-Class Identities and Urban Schooling, 2011

Contemporary theorizations of class, unlike many of their predecessors, are less concerned with c... more Contemporary theorizations of class, unlike many of their predecessors, are less concerned with class as a form of socio-economic classification, a position in the labour market or as a relationship to the means of production, and more concerned with the ways class as an identity is forged and experienced.

Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 2018

Palgrave Studies in Race, Inequality and Social Justice in Education

Irish Educational Studies, 2010

Countries such as Britain, France, the Netherlands, the US and Australia have been multicultural ... more Countries such as Britain, France, the Netherlands, the US and Australia have been multicultural and multiethnic societies for many years, partly due to their colonial histories. Others such as Spain and Greece have become so relatively recently, and while Ireland was never completely ethnically homogeneous, nonetheless it has shifted from being a country characterised historically by waves of emigration, to one of immigration from countries with which there has been no prior link. However, for all of these countries, irrespective of their histories, migration, emanating from war, famine and poverty, together with the opening up of Europe, has resulted in substantial change to the demographic make-up of nations. The issue of migration has thus moved centre stage in international discourses on globalisation, with migrants simultaneously positioned as key contributors to economic development on the one hand, and on the other, constructed as a potential threat to the social stability a...

Whiteness and Education, 2016

Karagiorgi, Y., SYMEOU, L. & Crozier, G. (for English)

Whiteness and education, Jan 2, 2016

Palgrave Macmillan eBooks, Apr 1, 2011

Routledge eBooks, Nov 18, 2016

International Studies in Sociology of Education, Sep 1, 2011

The Sociological Review, May 1, 2008

Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2011

Research papers in education, Jun 1, 2008

White Middle-Class Identities and Urban Schooling, 2011

Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 2018

Palgrave Studies in Race, Inequality and Social Justice in Education

Irish Educational Studies, 2010

Whiteness and Education, 2016

White Middle-Class Identities and Urban Schooling, 2011

This chapter examines the democratic possibilities that emanate from middle-class identities whic... more This chapter examines the democratic possibilities that emanate from middle-class identities which are grounded in sociality and openness to difference. In what ways might these identities work against, and disrupt, normative views of what it means to be ‘middle-class’ at the beginning of the twenty-first century? In the US context Kahlenberg (2001p. 62) argues that middle-class parents constitute powerful resources within state schools, intensely involved in their children’s schooling, driving up standards and drawing in additional resources. For Kahlenberg middle-class parental involvement not only has a positive influence on their own children’s educational experiences and achievements, it enhances the experience of all children in the school (p. 63). We interrogate Kahlenberg’s assertion in the light of our own UK-based data. There is also an examination of the role of social mix in parents’ understandings of, and levels of commitment to, notions of ‘a common good’, and the extent to which the idea of the school being an extension of the local community is valued but more importantly put into practice in their actions. While the focus is on processes of ‘thinking and acting otherwise’ in order to uncover some of the commitments and investments that might make for a renewed and reinvigorated democratic citizenry, what also emerges strongly are the difficulties of turning these commitments and investments into more equitable ways of interacting with class and ethnic others. The chapter explores some of the possible reasons why the translation of sentiments into practices is a real challenge for this left leaning, pro-welfare segment of the middle-classes, concurring with Cucchiara and Horvat (2009) that the benefits of middle-class parental involvement in disadvantaged inner city schooling are more limited than its proponents have argued. The wider political culture and discourses of neoliberalism that valorise competition, individualism and the market are seen to make it increasingly difficult to convert inclinations into actions, even for these white middle-classes who express a strong commitment to community and social mixing.

Springer International Handbooks of Education, 2017

The educational landscape in Britain in the early twenty-first century is constantly changing. It... more The educational landscape in Britain in the early twenty-first century is constantly changing. It shifts according to changes of government, economic instability and global pressures. The key concerns around race and anti/racism of the 2000s have waned into the policy background. The focus now is once again on sameness – on assimilation, an emphasis on the so-called and nebulous ‘British values’ and ‘community cohesion’, although the latter of these is now more in the guise of ‘counter terrorism’. The targeted initiatives to address Black and Minority Ethnic underachievement have been cut, and the blame for poor educational performance is laid at the feet of parents, the children themselves, teachers or ‘failing’ schools. Thus the emphasis is on individual responsibility: not structures or more specifically structural racism. Britain, as elsewhere, is also caught up in the global competition for a top place in the educational stakes. Initiatives are thus driven by school effectiveness rather than addressing inequalities. In addition, over almost 30 years we have seen the development and entrenchment of a marketised Education system, which has led to an atomised system of schooling and individualisation giving rise to competitiveness. All of this has consequences for urban education and race issues. Underpinning this scenario however, theoretical understanding of racism/s has developed and in the twenty-first century a clearer recognition of Whiteness and its implications for racist oppression has developed. These are some of the central issues that will be explored in this chapter, in relation to published key research and ideas, in a discussion and analysis of inequalities and possibilities for progressing social justice.

This article considers how the nature and effects of neoliberal policy in education are illuminat... more This article considers how the nature and effects of neoliberal policy in education are illuminated by the outcomes of a study of white middle-class families choosing ordinary state secondary schools in England. Having described the main features of the study and some of its findings, consideration is given to specific ‘global’ dimensions – one in terms of parental perceptions and the other drawing upon analysis of the global effects of neoliberalism, an example of which is illustrated with reference to an influential UK policy. The article concludes that the conditions so generated not only provide advantages to those making conventional choices in keeping with a marketized service, but that they may also bring advantages to middle-class families making ‘counterintuitive’ choices as well.

Struggles over the right to higher education have become increasingly entangled with a moral pani... more Struggles over the right to higher education have become increasingly entangled with a moral panic over a “crisis of masculinity” and assumptions that higher education has become “feminized.” Such assumptions have contributed to the reproduction of dualistic thinking about gender and a “battle of the sexes,” re- asserting problematic constructions of masculinity/femininity and reason/emotion. This has had profound implications for higher educational cultures and practices, shaping discourses of teaching and learning. Despite this, there has been limited research attention to the relationship between gendered formations and HE pedagogies and the work/ing and mark/ing of the emotional on different gendered subjects in pedagogical space (Ahmed, 2004). This article examines the complex formations of gender at play in students’ and academics’ accounts of pedagogical relations and practices, paying particular attention to the emotional, embodied, subjective and lived experiences of teaching and leaning in HE. Drawing on qualitative data of students’ and lecturers’ pedagogical experiences from the UK Higher Education Academy funded project ‘Formations of Gender and Higher Education Pedagogies’ (Burke, Crozier et al., 2013), it examines the mis/recognition of emotion and the impact of this on gendered embodied subjectivities.