Miseducation

In this substantially revised and updated edition of her bestselling book, Diane Reay, herself working class turned Cambridge professor, examines the benefits and costs of educational success for the working classes, comparing working class and middle-class experiences and outcomes of education.

Drawing on over 500 interviews from working class children and young people, she looks at class identity, the inadequate sticking plaster of social mobility and the effects of wider economic and social class relationships on working class educational experiences.

She charts the impact of the rise of academies on education in the UK, the new emphasis on pedagogy, control and discipline and includes two all-new chapters offering a global perspective on education worldwide.

Addressing the still pressing question of why we have ended up with a system that educates the different social classes in fundamentally different ways, she provides clear recommendations for improving education to meet the needs of all children.

“Miseducation would benefit anyone interested in social mobility and education in the UK… Reay’s contribution to debates on education and social background is to personalise everyday working-class experiences of school and university, something usually absent from current discourse. This, combined with statistical evidence of the extent of inequalities, makes for particularly engaging reading.” LSE Review of Books

“Incredibly insightful and passionate - Diane Reay really does get class. Mandatory reading for anyone proclaiming greater equity in education.” John Smyth, University of Huddersfield

"Diane Reay's compelling analysis synthesises memoir, a wealth of personal testimonies and statistics to reveal a hidden story of Britain's education system. Her sharply argued book demonstrates why selective education is bad for all of us." Selina Todd, St Hilda's College, Oxford

"This searing critique of how schools and universities fail the working class and reproduce inequalities should be at the heart of contemporary debates on education." Andrew Sayer, University of Lancaster

“No one has done more than Diane Reay to confront the complex emotions in living class inequalities in education. Her heartbreaking volume bears damning witness to neoliberalism’s contributions to the injuries of class.“ Lynne Layton, Harvard Medical School

"Passionate, provocative and deeply troubling, this book examines contemporary working-class education.... should be required reading for politicians of both the left and especially the right." Tim Strangleman, University of Kent

"Excellent text, highly relevant and accessible to all." Caroline Lewis, UWTSD

"Intellectually compelling and inspiring in the way it systematically exposes the myth of meritocracy in economically unequal societies. It will inspire those who read it to work cooperatively for social justice both in education and society." Kathleen Lynch, University College Dublin, School of Education

“A trenchant portrayal of class processes in twentieth and early twenty-first century England…. a must read for all those interested in educational opportunities, the global economy, and the ways in which working class individuals and collectivities construct and live under conditions of massively intensifying inequalities.“ Lois Weis, State University of New York, University at Buffalo, USA, Author of Class Reunion: The Remaking of the American White Working Class

Introduction: a personal reflection

1. What is social class, and why it matters both inside and outside of education

2. The history of class in education

3. Class in the classroom

4. The mis-structuring of state education: the rise of the academies

5. Behaviour and discipline: education as control

6. Social mobility: a problematic solution

7. Lessons from other countries

8. Towards an educational system that develops all children’s potential

Conclusion: Still Miseducating

Notes

References