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SUMMARY:A Qualitative Study of Gender and Class Negotiations of White Work
 ing-Class Boys and their Educational Experience - Garth Stahl\, University
  of Cambridge
DTSTART:20100216T130000Z
DTEND:20100216T140000Z
UID:TALK23370@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Filio Constantinou
DESCRIPTION:The disaffection of white working-class boys has been a major 
 concern in the British education system since the 18th century. While the 
 quality and provision of education for the working-classes has increased d
 isaffection remains a persistent - and alarming - problem for educators an
 d policy makers. Although the work in the area is diverse in terms of theo
 retical perspectives (Marxist\, Foucauldian\, psychological\, etc)\,\nmeth
 odologies (participant observation\, interviews\, focus groups\, etc) and 
 foci (literacy\, subcultures\, laddish behaviour\, hegemonic masculinity) 
 my research will concentrate on the heterogeneity of white working-class b
 oys educational experience in a high-achieving secondary school in London 
 in which white working-class boys are consistently the lowest performing g
 roup. Specifically\, what can we learn from white working-class boys' educ
 ational experiences and attitudes today? What does their experience tell u
 s about white working-class education failure? In the gendered and classed
  identity construction of white working-class boys\, what makes them engag
 e or disengage with education and with learning? The study includes close\
 nanalysis of where identity formation is a barrier to academic engagement.
  Utilizing an ethnographic approach\, a combination of methodologies was u
 sed: classroom observation\, one-on-one semi-structured interviews (in whi
 ch participants commented on video-recordings of themselves in lesson) and
  focus groups. Data from the cohort of fifteen participants - identified t
 hrough FSM (Free School Meals) status - was analysed using Bourdieu's conc
 epts of habitus\, field\, agency\, structure and capital. The findings sho
 w the diversity of white working-class boys' experiences. Through my dialo
 gues with participants\, I was able to see how the peer group contributed 
 to identity construction and how attributes consistently\nassociated with 
 white working-class boys - such as arrogance\, idleness\, rebellion - were
  largely facades masking high levels of anxiety over a lack of power. Addi
 tionally\, through my qualitative approach I saw that while white working-
 class boys were the lowest performing ethnic group\, they were still doing
  quite well\, "getting on\," working to "maintain command of their own liv
 es" (ibid)\, whether it was socially or academically.\n
LOCATION:Room GS3\, Donald McIntyre Building\, Faculty of Education\, 184 
 Hills Road\, Cambridge
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