Valerie Wigfall

SCHOOLBOYS AND SCHOOLWORK : GENDER IDENTIFICATION AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

This paper discusses the educational biographies of a group of young men who, at secondary school, had been part of a larger sample of pupils identified as ‘academically able’. Through examining their personal accounts of schooling, we argue that processes of gender identification have significant implications for the ways in which academic ability is perceived, developed and displayed. In particular, the development of masculine identities may foster but also jeopardize academic achievement. For some boys, such jeopardy can be contained or overcome through drawing on cultural and material resources. For others, the development of a relationship to certain masculinities within particular institutional contexts can lead to impeded educational progress. We illustrate this through three case studies. Finally, in the light of the current emphasis placed on educational certification and the changing climate within the labour market, the paper asks whether, for such boys, disrupted school lives will have more f...

Schools, families and academically able students: contrasting modes of involvement in secondary education

Abstract Over the past few years, we have been gathering data on the educational careers of a previously researched group of students who were identified as ‘academically able’ in their early teenage years. The 347 young men and women who have taken part in this later research attended 18 different secondary schools and are now in their mid‐twenties. This paper attempts to make sense of their school experiences using Basil Bernsteins theorisations on the ‘sources of consensus and disaffection in education’. Despite a number of recent critiques directed at theories of ‘socio‐cultural determinism’ in general, we argue that Bernsteins framework provides a useful means to unravel some of the varied biographies of our sample of students. More specifically, in this paper we compare and contrast different levels of student involvement at two of our 18 research schools. Data from these schools, our sample of students and some of their parents are used to make connections between the cultures of the schools, fam...

Destined for success? Educational biographies of academically able pupils

Abstract The research reported here has explored the different pathways and prospects of a group of young people considered to have been ‘destined for success’. The 347 men and women involved in this research were all identified as ‘academically able’ when, in the mid‐1980s, they joined 18 different secondary schools that ranged from inner‐city comprehensives to some of the most prestigious independent schools in the country. Their retrospective accounts provide a unique opportunity to explore the extent to, and the manner in, which early educational ‘promise’ is translated through a variety of pathways into further opportunities and educational destinations. Questionnaire and interview data gathered from them in their mid‐20s reveal that, in terms of conventional measures of performance, most have fulfilled their educational promise irrespective of the type of school attended. The majority of our respondents have pursued the ‘prime trajectory’ for young people through A levels into higher education and t...

Finding the right man: recruiting fathers in inter-generational families across ethnic groups

Accessing research participants is often presented as unproblematic. However, the authors’ experiences of recruiting 30 chains of grandfathers, fathers and grandsons, spanning three different ethnic groups, Polish, Irish and white British, highlighted the realities of research practice. This article draws on a study of fathers across three generations in three ethnic groups to explore the sampling challenges and complexities. The recruitment methods used raised particular issues for each of the three groups and had to be adapted accordingly. Key methodological issues for inter-generational research with specific ethnic groups include gender and ethnicity of the researchers, modes of access to potential participants, gaining trust, and flexibility in approach. The authors conclude that the amount of time, resources and ‘emotional labour’ called for when recruiting a sample in this type of research should not be under-estimated.

Fathers and intergenerational transmission in social context

This article takes an intergenerational lens to the study of fathers. It draws on evidence from two economic and social research council-funded intergenerational studies of fathers, one of which focused on four-generation British families and the other which included new migrant (Polish) fathers. The article suggests both patterns of change and continuity in fatherhood across the generations. It demonstrates how cultural forces and material conditions need to combine to facilitate change in fathers’ exercise of agency and how social class and the conditions of being a migrant shape fathers’ practices. It argues that in seeking to recast the public debate about parenting, it is necessary to penetrate below the discursive level of talk about parenting to examine the habitual nature of many family practices, an endeavour to which an intergenerational approach is well suited. This approach enabled us to tease out the horizontal pull of within-generation influences on fathers, the vertical pull of inheritance from older to younger generations and the material and cultural conditions of fathers’ current locations, all of which shape their practices. This analysis also alerted us to changes in conceptual language – not only from fatherhood to fathering – but also to the historical resilience of the concept of childcare as reserved largely for the role and practices of mothers.

The impact of employment on fatherhood across family generations in white British, Polish and Irish origin families

This paper draws on data from an intergenerational study of fatherhood to consider how fatherhood has changed and how employment conditions and occupational status shape fatherhood, particularly their involvement with their children and, via an analysis of four cases, continuities and discontinuities are identified across the family generations. The study involved three generational chains of men which included grandfathers, sons and grandsons from three ‘ethnicities’; those of white British origin, Polish origin and Irish origin. While most agreed that fatherhood had changed, in particular the way fathers communicate and express affection to their children, other changes were also seen as important – increased material consumption, changes in childrens lives and child-focused parenting. On the other hand, employment commitment and working conditions continue to constrain mens involvement with their children in both generations. A different pattern was also evident among a minority of the fathers who modified their employment to take on some childcare responsibilities, while a handful in low-status jobs had wives who were the main earners in the household, a situation that enabled them to take on a significant role in childcare.

‘One-stop shopping’: Meeting diverse family needs in the inner city?

SUMMARY The term ‘one-stop-shop’ has become absorbed into everyday language in Britain, used to describe a particular form of social organisation, but what exactly do we mean by ‘one-stop-shopping’ for family support? How does the concept fit within the context of mainstream service provision and can this model of multi-agency practice make a real difference in terms of the families it reaches and the quality of support it provides? This paper examines the Coram Community Campus, an innovative model of service provision for young children and families, located on a site in a multi-ethnic area of Inner London. The Campus was set up to provide a ‘one-stop-shop’ for local parents and their young children, bringing together onto one site a range of services which offer care, education, support and other facilities. The Campus has been evaluated during its first two years. The paper presents some of the findings of the research, drawing on case study material and interview based work with families who use the services, in order to shed light on the ways in which this model of multi-agency working is endeavouring to meet diverse family needs.