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'They wanted us out': young masculinities and school exclusion in England

Research Output:
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
Chapter
 Peer-review

Abstract

School exclusion in England is highly gendered, racialised and classed, boys are three times more likely than girls to be excluded from school and certain groups, including Black Caribbean boys are subject to disproportionate levels of exclusion. Against this backdrop, I explore the context and consequences of exclusion from English mainstream schooling for young masculinities. The arguments presented also have broader international significance due to a global tendency towards punitive measures in schooling. Through bringing masculinities scholarship into conversation with childhood studies, the chapter aims to present a nuanced theorisation of young masculinities which foregrounds lived experience and is located within the interdisciplinary field of childhood studies. It examines ways in which exclusion and schooling in alternative settings, such as a Pupil Referral school, can shape the identities of boys and their subjectivities. The empirical data demonstrates that excluded boys face severe constraints arising from ways in which they are positioned. Drawing on original qualitative data it is argued that boys who are categorised in this way demonstrate highly agentic ways of ‘doing boy’. The chapter is underpinned by two questions, firstly, how can we theorise boyhood and school exclusion in ways that recognise excluded boys as agentic and constrained subjects? Secondly, what possibilities for change might our theorisation reveal? The chapter concludes by arguing for intersectional masculinities and strengthened theorisation of childhood studies which explicitly recognises lived experience. Through this discussion, I seek to illuminate the emotional costs of school exclusion and insights into ways to achieve change.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output:
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
Chapter
 Peer-review

Host publication Subtitle

Rethinking the Interplay of Age, Gender and Social Change

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 95-114 (20 pages)

Publication milestones

  • Published - 27/08/2024

Publication status

Published - 27/08/2024

Publisher

Emerald Publishing, United Kingdom

Publication series

  • Publication series name: Emerald Advances in Masculinities

ISBN (Print)

9781804553916

ISBN (Electronic)

9781804553909

Chapter Number

5

Publication IDs

  • handle.net: 10547/626311
  • Scopus: 85206667185

Host publication title

Debating Childhood Masculinities

Host publication editors

  • Utsa Mukherjee

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