Bottom of the Class: Children's Stories of Low Attainment in Primary School

1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-032-82628-8
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 208 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 453 g

Reihe: Foundations and Futures of Education

This book offers a much-needed look at the impact of our attainment-driven education system on those children considered ‘low attainers’. It reveals how difficult they find it to feel good about themselves, their capacity to learn and their futures, as well as shedding light on the role schools are playing in maintaining inequality and the illusion of meritocracy.

At the heart of Bottom of the Class are the engaging and thought-provoking stories of four children whom the author followed through three years of primary school. Concerned with friendships, getting ‘told off’ and struggling with schoolwork, they are in some ways very ordinary. Yet, caught between competing messages about who they ‘ought’ to be and their fears of failure, they are also extraordinary, showing impressive courage, creativity and integrity in the way they navigate their paths through school.

By bringing the voices of ‘low attainers’ into the centre of the debate around low attainment, this crucially important book is a must-read for anyone interested in educational inequality and school experience within education studies, policy studies, the sociology of education, initial teacher training and educational leadership.

Zielgruppe

Academic, Postgraduate, and Professional Practice & Development

Autoren/Hrsg.

Quick, Laura

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Schulen, Schulleitung Grundschulen, Hauptschulen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Foreword
Diane Reay

1. Setting the Scene

2. Researching Children’s Experiences

3. Sam: ‘A jigsaw with pieces missing’

4. Ellie: ‘It doesn’t matter about your work, it just matters about people doing good’

5. Clara: ‘Always convince yourself that you’re great’

6. Michael: ‘In the middle, that’s what I’m like’

7. Navigating School as a ‘Low Attainer’

Über Autor(innen)

Laura Quick is an Honorary Research fellow at University College London and Lecturer in Education at the University of Roehampton, UK. Previously a primary and SEND teacher, her research explores educational inequality, inclusion and children’s experiences in classrooms.