Kirstin Lewis

White working class achievement: an ethnographic study of barriers to learning in schools

This study aims to examine the key barriers to learning to raise achievement of White British pupils with low‐income backgrounds. The main findings suggest that the worryingly low‐achievement levels of many White working class pupils have been masked by the middle class success in the English school system and government statistics that fail to distinguish the White British ethnic group by social background. The empirical data confirm that one of the biggest groups of underachievers is the White British working class and their outcomes at each key stage are considerably below those achieved by all other ethnic groups. One of the main reasons for pupil underachievement, identified in the case study schools and focus groups, is parental low aspirations of their children’s education and social deprivation. It is also perpetuated by factors such as low‐literacy levels, feelings of marginalisation within the community exacerbated by housing allocation, a lack of community and school engagement, low levels of parental engagement and lack of targeted support to break the cycle of poverty and disadvantage, a legacy of low aspiration that prevents pupils from fulfilling their potential across a range of areas. The study concludes that the main obstacle in raising achievement is the government’s failure to recognise that this group has particular needs that are not being met by the school system. The government needs to recognise that the underachievement of White British working class pupils is not only a problem facing educational services but profoundly a serious challenge. Policy implications and recommendations are discussed in the final section.

Pupil mobility in schools and implications for raising achievement

This paper examines the causes of pupil mobility and good practice in schools to address mobility issues. Pupil mobility is defined as ‘a child joining or leaving school at a point other than the normal age at which children start or finish their education at that school’. The first part draws upon evidence of a survey, which explores the views of headteachers on the nature and causes of pupil mobility in schools and the priority they give to addressing pupil mobility issues in their schools. It examines the cause of mobility in schools in the context of mobile groups. This is followed by the challenges for managing mobility and strategies to address pupil mobility in schools. The second part of the paper outlines successful strategies that minimize the effects of mobility in schools. Evidence is drawn from case‐study research and focuses on the school systems, pastoral care and access to learning which combine to support the induction, assessment and monitoring of newly arrived pupils in school and effective use of data for self‐evaluation. Examples of flexible curriculum organization, innovative approaches to additional support and effective administrative procedures are drawn upon. Evidence reflects the views of a range of school staff, parents/carers and pupils in the case‐study school, as well as the judgements of senior researchers. Policy implications for government and for all concerned with school performance are highlighted, as well as many practical suggestions for raising achievement of mobile pupils

Raising the achievement of Portuguese pupils in British schools: a case study of good practice

The aim of the research was to study the experiences of Portuguese heritage pupils in British schools. The main findings from empirical data suggest Portuguese children are underachieving at the end of primary education but the case study confirms that in good schools Portuguese pupils do well and have made huge improvements over the periods. The findings show that the case study schools have adopted a number of strategies to overcome some of the barriers to achievement including parental engagement, effective use of a more diverse workforce, developing an inclusive ethos and curriculum, effective English language support for Portuguese pupils, monitoring performance of Portuguese pupils and good and well‐coordinated targeted support through extensive use of teachers, teaching assistants, learning mentors and Portuguese classes. The study argues that the worryingly low‐achievement levels of many Portuguese pupils in British schools have been masked by Government statistics that fail to distinguish between European ethnic groups. Policy implications for all concerned with school improvement are highlighted in the final section.

Helping mixed heritage children develop ‘character and resilience’ in schools:

Recent UK government policy suggests that all schools have a key role to play in building ‘character and resilience’ in children. This article draws on data from a wider research project, exploring the school experiences of mixed White/Black Caribbean and mixed White/Black African children in two London secondary schools. Because data from this project suggest that many children experienced adversity at school, a theoretical framework previously developed by Ungar et al. was used to assess how they coped with adversity and to what extent their schools supported them with it. Findings revealed that although positive relationships with adults were essential, teachers could not offer the necessary support and guidance because they were unaware of mixed heritage children’s needs and any challenges they faced. This article asks whether such a framework might prove useful in supporting teachers to understand what factors develop ‘character and resilience’ and the ways in which they might therefore support children to cope.

Raising achievement of English as additional language pupils in schools: implications for policy and practice

Abstract This study looks at schools that serve English as an additional language (EAL) pupils and examines the factors behind their successful achievement. A complementary methodological approach of case studies and focus groups was used to explore performance and the views of teachers, governors, parents and pupils, and to evaluate and gather evidence on how well all pupils are achieving and the factors contributing to this. The main findings of the research identified strategies where schools were successful in raising achievement of pupils with EAL. Each case study school has its own character and emphasis but it is clear, from the evidence of the study, that they have common characteristics which underpin their success. These include providing strong leadership on equality and diversity, an understanding of pedagogy that best supported pupils with EAL, targeted support towards their progress, an inclusive curriculum which recognised and celebrated pupils’ cultural heritage and the use of performance data for school improvement which included the tracking of individual pupils’ progress and achievement. There are, however, some limitations to this study. While we do not aim to make generalisations from these case studies, we would argue that learning from the good practice in the case studies can make a difference to schools. The recommendation from this study is that there is a need for further research in different schools, Local Authorities (LAs) and regions in England to explore in detail what schools do differently, or more intensively, to support pupils with EAL.