Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to consider how working-class boys constitute themselves as subjects of "value" through a close examination of their occupational aspirations. The authors consider two significant influences on the aspirations of these young men: "space" and "place"; and neoliberal discourses…

Existing international research suggests that widespread performative pedagogy has contributed to producing educational inequalities for "disadvantaged" learners. There have also been calls for alternative pedagogies, which can be characterised as child-centred. This paper analyses pupils' hierarchical positioning in a contemporary,…

Research into literacy and school subject performance focuses overwhelmingly on identifying and addressing risk factors associated with underachievement. Strenuous efforts are devoted to diagnosing the causes of literacy failure that are patterned by ethnicity, social class, and gender. This study explores the possibility that equal, or even…

Guardians have been implicated in the development of children's academic self-regulation. In this case study, which involved naturalistic observations and interviews, the everyday practices of a working class family were considered in the context of self-regulated learning development. The family's practices, beliefs, dispositions and home…

In this paper attention will be paid to issues arising from school-based research into the experience of working-class boys who are excluded. National and local school exclusion statistics indicate an overall gender imbalance: in the secondary school sector, for every four boys who are excluded only one girl is excluded. Furthermore, statistics…