Working Class Girls, Education and Post-Industrial Britain: Aspirations and Reality in an Ex-Coalmining Community (Palgrave Studies in Gender and Education)

This book explores the aspirations of 'working class' girls' in an ex-mining community in the UK. It highlights the difficulties present in these 'post-industrial' settings, which are often areas of severe deprivation, and questions whether these place limitations on the achievements of the girls within the community. Based on an eight-year longitudinal study of girls in three primary schools and two secondary schools which differed in levels of attainment, the book examines the girls' initial aspirations, decision-making, and later achievements when in post-compulsory education. It will be compelling reading for students, academics and practitioners in Education, offering a unique appreciation of how working-class girls balance their own aspirations with the educational opportunities perceived to be available to them. Annotation This text explores the aspirations of 'working class' girls' in an ex-mining community in the UK. It highlights the difficulties present in these 'post-industrial' settings, which are often areas of severe deprivation, and questions whether these place limitations on the achievements of the girls within the community. Based on an eight-year longitudinal study of girls in three primary schools and two secondary schools which differed in levels of attainment, the work examines the girls' initial aspirations, decision-making, and later achievements when in post-compulsory education Front Matter ....Pages i-x Introduction (Gill Richards)....Pages 1-7 What Do We Know About Girls’ Aspirations and Achievement? (Gill Richards)....Pages 9-24 Methodology (Gill Richards)....Pages 25-33 Aspirations and Expectations (Gill Richards)....Pages 35-55 Achieving Aspirations: What Did the Girls Do? (Gill Richards)....Pages 57-76 What Else Can Schools Do? (Gill Richards)....Pages 77-91 Back Matter ....Pages 93-99