Stephanie King (s.king2@derby.ac.uk)
Nottingham Trent University, 2024
Abstract
This thesis is a qualitative study bringing together lived experiences of school exclusion with a novel use of theory. The analysis deepens understanding of how school exclusion both represents and reproduces social inequalities. Governments and other organisations have demonstrated concern about school exclusion and its links to poor outcomes and life chances, but the problem persists. In England, young people from marginalised groups are consistently over-represented in the school exclusion statistics. These young people are then more vulnerable to the poor outcomes associated with the loss of a school place and so school exclusion becomes both a symptom and a cause of wider social inequalities. In this thesis, a composite theoretical framework is developed and applied. Data is collected through interviews with school-excluded young people aged 13 to 16 attending an East Midlands alternative provision. A thematic analysis examines their experiences of school, school exclusion and future plans. The seminal text, Learning to Labour (Willis 1977) is used as a counterpoint for analysis. Critical realist concepts of stratified ontology and the morphogenetic approach are used to critique the role of structure, culture and agency in school exclusion in England. This study takes the empirical lived experience of school exclusion but looks for explanation in the domain of the real. Findings show that school exclusion arises from a complex interplay of structure, culture and agency. Neoliberal school systems, based on individualism, measurable outcomes and linking school to work seem to hold little relevance for the young people in this study. Neoconservative behaviour policies further weaken the ability of schools to be inclusive, meet needs or to inspire young people from marginalised groups to engage in education. Instead, this thesis calls for a school system based on education for liberation and human flourishing.
Methods
Qualitative: Interviews