Class inequality and denied ambition in our schools

Jessie Abrahams' new book reveals the extent of class inequality in schools in the UK. By telling Jessie's story and that of one of the young people in her research, this episode untangles the role aspiration plays for young people in school and the significance of the different choices that are available to different pupils in different schools. Jessie puts forward ideas for changes that we can make, despite the limitations of what is a fundamentally unequal system. Jessie Abrahams is Lecturer in Education and Social Justice in the School of Education at the University of Bristol. Follow her on Twitter: @AbrahamsJJ.   The full transcript of the podcast is available here: https://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2024/03/20/podcast-class-inequality-and-denied-ambition-in-our-schools/   Resources: Find out more about the book: https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/schooling-inequality Read Jake's story for free: https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/asset/12446/jacks-story-schooling-inequality-abrahams.pdf Learn more about the Paired Peers project: https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/projects/paired-peers Explore the Russel Group’s Informed Choices: https://www.informedchoices.ac.uk/ Discover the facilitating subjects: https://successatschool.org/advice/subjects/what-are-facilitating-subjects/204   Timestamps: 01:58 – Jessie’s story and how she came to write the book 05:37 – It’s about resources given to schools, not individual teachers 08:24 – Jake’s story 22:04 – Aspiration and the surprising difference between working and middle-class children 30:39 – Blocking and the GSCE/A Level options available at different schools 40:19 – The missed chance to level the playing field during COVID 45:12 – Where can change be made?   Intro music: Cold by yoitrax | @yoitrax Music promoted by www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US   Follow the Transforming Society blog to be told when new articles and podcasts publish: https://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/follow-the-blog/   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.