Description

This book examines the impact that parents and schools have on disadvantaged children who perform against the odds. For a society aiming to 'narrow the gap' between the educational attainment of children from disadvantaged and more privileged backgrounds, we need to understand how and why certain children manage to succeed against the odds. This book examines the impact of social-class, parenting and education on fifty children sampled from a bigger longitudinal study. For a society aiming to 'narrow the gap' between the educational attainment of children from disadvantaged and more privileged backgrounds, we need to understand how and why certain children manage to succeed against the odds. This book examines the impact of social-class, parenting and education on fifty children sampled from a bigger longitudinal study. Social class is often seen as an intractable barrier to success, yet a number of children from disadvantaged backgrounds still manage to show resilience and succeed against the odds. This book presents the findings from fifty Child and Family Case Studies (CFCS) conducted with 13-16 year olds. The authors look specifically at the roles that people and experiences - at home, in schools and in the wider community - have played in the learning life-courses of these children; how these factors have affected their achievement; and explanations and meanings given by respondents to the unique characteristics, experiences and events in their lives. Featuring the voices of real parents and children, and backed up by a decade of quantitative data, this is a compelling record that will help readers to understand the complex nature of social disadvantage and the interplay between risk and protective factors in homes and schools that can make for a transformational educational experience. 1. Child and Family Case Studies in the context of the EPPSE study; 2. Studying learning life-courses; 3. Methods and sample of the Child and Family Case Studies; 4. Cultural repertoires of childrearing across and within social classes; 5. Children as active agents of their own learning; 6. Powerful parenting and home learning; 7. Parenting towards higher aspirations; 8. Inspiring success in the early years and school environment; 9. Gateways to enhanced social, cultural and emotional capital; 10. Concluding discussion: promoting agency and advocacy. 'This book is a stupendous achievement and deserves to be very widely read. The authors' large-scale longitudinal research into why some children succeed 'against the odds' and others do worse than expected given their relatively privileged start in life is already widely known. This book puts 'flesh' onto the bones of the data, providing case studies of fifty children (those who succeed and those who don't from both working-class and middle-class backgrounds) that exemplify their findings in a truly marvellous way. Equally impressive, Siraj and Mayo illustrate the power and importance of a solid theoretical foundation. They draw on scholars such as Urie Bronfenbrenner to show that the everyday activities and interactions that occur between children and their parents, their teachers, and people in the wider community have profound effects on academic performance from early childhood through adolescence. The authors also do a wonderful job revealing the way that these interactions also influence, and are influenced by, personal characteristics of the children themselves and of the various people with who