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'Unruly Places' : Inner-city Comprehensives, Middle-class Imaginaries and Working-class Children

Author

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  • Diane Reay

    (Faculty of Education, Cambridge University, 184 Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 2PQ, UK, dr311@cam.ac.uk)

Abstract

The White Paper on Education (2006) re-emphasises the importance of parents within education policy and, in particular, the key role of parental choice. However, this article argues that parental choice is an inequitable process in which privileged parents are far more likely to have and exercise choice than their less privileged counterparts. The consequences are geographies of schooling which are highly class differentiated. Compounding these inequitable geographies of schooling are invidious representations of inner-city comprehensives as unruly places, characterised by poor performance and bad behaviour. Drawing on Rob Shield's conceptualisation of 'places on the margin' and the voices of working-class students, this paper attempts to present a different perspective on inner-city comprehensives from those represented in dominant middle-class imaginaries.

Suggested Citation

  • Diane Reay, 2007. "'Unruly Places' : Inner-city Comprehensives, Middle-class Imaginaries and Working-class Children," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(7), pages 1191-1201, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:44:y:2007:i:7:p:1191-1201
    DOI: 10.1080/00420980701302965
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephen P. Jenkins & John Micklewright & Sylke V. Schnepf, 2006. "Social segregation in secondary schools: How does England compare with other countries?," Working Papers 27, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    2. Garry Robson & Tim Butler, 2001. "Coming to Terms with London: Middle‐class Communities in a Global City," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 70-86, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Paul Watt, 2008. "The Only Class in Town? Gentrification and the Middle‐Class Colonization of the City and the Urban Imagination," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 206-211, March.

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