’hanging in with kids’ in tough times: engagement in contexts of educational disadvantage in the relational school

This book brings a unique, innovative and refreshing perspective to one of the most protracted issues affecting young lives - disengagement from schooling. Rather than continuing to blame young people, as most educational policies do, this book examines disengagement from the vantage point of the lives, experiences, interests and aspirations of the communities from which young people come, and within which they are embedded. It uses a narrative and representational approach that gives detailed insights into the wider context of poverty, class, power, relationships and identity. A major and defining hallmark of the book is the emphasis it places upon a number of 'doings', - including community voice, identity formation, critical work education and education policy - all of which provide a very different set of scripts with which to reinvent the institution of high school.

The Authors: John Smyth is Research Professor of Education, School of Education, University of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. He is the inter-disciplinary Research Theme Leader for Addressing Disadvantage and Inequality in Education and Health. His research interests are in policy sociology, policy ethnography, and school and community capacity building.
Barry Down is the City of Rockingham Chair in Education, School of Education, Murdoch University, Western Australia. His research interests are in forms of action research in schools and social justice around vocational education, youth and culture.
Peter McInerney is Research Associate, School of Education, University of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. His research interests are around forms of school reform that promote social justice.