Parity of participation? Primary-school children reflect critically on being successful during schooling (original) (raw)
Related papers
‘I got rejected’: investigating the status of ‘low-attaining’ children in primary-schooling
Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 2019
This text makes a significant contribution to the debate on within-class attainment grouping in primary schools, by portraying the views and perspectives of children themselves, labelled as "low-attaining". Extensive, active individual interviews plus observations over three terms of schooling facilitated rich insights into whether, and if so, how 23 "lowattaining" primary-school children assimilated cultural values designating them as having subordinate status to other children. We consider the implications of our findings for social justice, employing an innovative analysis framework which takes Nancy Fraser's conceptualisation of justice as "parity-of-participation". Our research illustrates that these children had absorbed some values about "success" that posed considerable obstacles to them, which led to feelings of isolation and lack of social participation. In particular, the children found some aspects of attainment grouping obstructive to social interaction. Reactions to these discomforts sometimes led them towards subtly subversive behaviour or alternatively to flat denial of difficulty.
Intersectionality and social space: Educational justice in deprived schools
Improving Schools, 2017
Drawing upon a broad concept of inclusion, the first section of this article is dedicated to a critical discussion of the principle of ‘equal opportunities’, which currently dominates the social justice discourse in Germany. Specifically, this section examines how far this principle, which focuses on the role of the individual in socially unequal educational outcomes, could itself contain elements which reinforce inequality. It examines two versions, ‘talent-based’ and ‘attainment-based’. In the second section, this article discusses, from an intersectional perspective, how cumulative disadvantages in segregated social environments can increase inequalities in the educational participation and attainment of school pupils. The third section points to areas for action that have a real potential to address inequalities in the German school system. It draws on observations and findings which are grounded in the theory of justice and that emerge from cases of ‘overperforming schools in s...
Inclusion and Equity in Australian Secondary Schools
Journal of International Special Needs Education, 2014
This paper presents findings from a large-scale, in-depth study of secondary schools in one Australian state that were achieving exceptional outcomes. The element of that study on which this paper focuses is equity and inclusion. We examine the Equity programs operating in seven sites where schools were including students experiencing some form of disadvantages significant enough to hinder their engagement with the school curriculum. These forms of disadvantage included students with intellectual disabilities as well as students from Aboriginal, non English-speaking and low socio-economic status backgrounds. At these sites, schools implemented equity programs targeting a range of student needs. It was noted that the success of those programs was largely dependent on the relationships between teachers and students and between teachers and their colleagues. Four themes emerged from analysis of interview and observational data; i) teachers focused on students' learning needs, ii) t...
HOW YOUNG PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION IN SCHOOL SUPPORTS ACHIEVEMENT AND ATTAINMENT
In the seven schools visited, pupils said that opportunities to participate in all areas of school life were highly valued. From young people’s perspectives, a rights-based education was integral to their achievement and attainment. It was noticeable that in these seven schools, across all arenas of school life, pupils had substantial opportunities to formally and informally take part in a variety of meaningful activities, to take responsibility for events, make contributions to school life, and have their views considered in matters that affected them. Our findings suggest that from young people’s perspectives, rights-based experiences and a good education cannot be easily separated; they were intimately connected in the lives of the young people. We conclude, therefore, that it is less useful to see a rights-based education as an add-on to mainstream education; it is better understood as a way of working across all school life. Supportive relationships count for a lot Positive pupil-pupil and pupil-teacher relationships were mentioned in all schools as really important for supporting pupils participation, influencing change, and doing well. Across the arenas of school life, young people felt that relations among pupils, teachers, and their communities needed to involve power sharing and be caring, respectful, trusting, and purposeful to ensure achievement and attainment was supported. Meaningful and purposeful activities, respectful communications, and inclusive relations came together to support pupils’ achievement and attainment, creating a sense of belonging at school, and bringing a rights-based dimension to educational experience.
The discourses of social justice in schools
British educational research journal, 1998
In this article I argue that it is possible to use and then build on contemporary theoretical and practical discourses surrounding issues of social justice in order to improve matters in schools. The research method is based in philosophical educational research: developing and generating theory in an iterative process of theorising in relation to specific practical circumstances and their problems. The argument shows that theoretical underpinnings of social justice need not be liberalhumanist, just as practical strategies need not be couched in the language of 1980s-style equal opportunities. It describes a method of formulating, in collaboration with practitioners, a set of theoretically informed social justice principles for managing schools. It then shows how these draw on, and contribute to, a set of discursive constructions related to social justice and its improvement.
Researching educational disadvantage: Concepts emerging from working in/with an Australian school
Improving Schools, 2020
This is a conceptual article arising from, and grounded in, research with a government-funded primary school serving high-poverty communities in Queensland, Australia. It is one response to the last 10 years of participatory research work led by the three authors of this article (the school principal and two academics). In this article, we write about three concepts that have emerged out of our joint work: (1) communities-in-formation, (2) emerging equalities, (3) material participation. We discuss how and why we have undertaken this kind of partnership and conceptual research and offer some suggestions for others who are interested in undertaking similar work.
Student voices on social exclusion in general primary schools
European Journal of Special Needs Education, 2018
Advocates of inclusive education argue that the social inclusion of students with special educational needs (SEN) increases when they are educated with typically developing peers. However, research indicates that this is not apparent for all students with SEN. Students with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) are often socially excluded. To understand the situation of these students, their voices should be heard. The aim of the current explorative study was to gain insight into: (1) the experiences of students with SEBD regarding victimisation and social exclusion, and (2) the approaches they applied and preferred resolving social problems. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 28 socially excluded students from grades 5 and 6, attending general (N = 6) and segregated special (N = 21) primary education. The participants were prompted to talk about their own experiences using hypothetical scenarios. The interviews were analysed using a multi-grounded theory approach. The results show that students preferred different approaches to resolving these social problems than the applied approaches. They would have liked to have seen their peers and teachers to show more initiative. In line with these results, the need to listen to the students' voices are emphasised.
Educational Review, 2021
This paper explores the peer relationship experiences of 23 primaryschool children who had been designated as "lower-attaining". It is written against the backdrop of the mental health crisis among young people in Britain. Using John Macmurray's principles of equality and freedom as underpinning positive personal relationships, it investigates how "lower-attaining" children experience their peer relationships in a climate where attainment in mathematics and English is politically prioritised over the nurturing of positive relationships. We drew on the recent literature pertaining to peer relationships in general; and peer relationships among "lower-attainers" in particular. We build on the assumption that positive personal relationships support creative learning and high attainment. Using 107 extended individual and paired/triad activity-interviews as well as lesson observations every term over six school terms, we carried out research in four sample primaryschools. Our findings illustrated the high value put on friendships by sample children, despite a strong emphasis in schooling on individual competition. The children described instances of feeling troubled by their relationships; and their "low-attainment" status appeared to be linked to some, if not many, of their troubles. They sometimes felt excluded from the main body of their classes due to emphasis on high-attainment. We conclude by proposing a greater emphasis on collaboration and the nurturing of relationships in schooling, which in turn could support these children's creative learning and attainment.