Welsh Pupils' Aspirations And Expectations

Author(s):

Kimberley Horton(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

28. Sociologies of Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

28 SES 13, Investigating the Capacity to Aspire

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-05

11:00-12:30

Room:

B116 Sala de Aulas

Chair:

Jean-Louis Derouet

Contribution

Childhood is constructed through policy and social practice. Through schools, children become “pupils”, who later become useful citizens for a European and global economy. Policies that dictate or give clear guidance about what is taught and standardised tests may lead pupils and teachers to focus on the future in terms of jobs, careers and further education. There is a neo-liberal discourse at work here, whereby market forces have an impact on the task of schools, and as socio-cultural expectations change, so does the purpose of schooling.

There is a plethora of research on pupils’ aspirations and expectations for their careers and further education, particularly in relation to gender and socio-economic status. The purpose of education also includes goals for more ‘rounded’ young people who can contribute in ways beyond economics. However, there has been very little research that focusses on aspirations for more than one aspect of adult life.

The focus of the present paper is to identify what hopes pupils in Wales have for their adult lives. These hopes are clearly relevant to future identities, with pupils subscribing to particular career and lifestyle choices and their meanings at a young age. A social constructionist lens will be used to discuss the data with reference to the socio-historical landscape in which children are educated and expected to become adults fit for present day society.

Method

In the present study, 1194 pupils in years 6, 8 and 10, at 29 primary and secondary schools across four regions of Wales responded to a questionnaire as part of the HEFCW funded WISERD Education project. Some of the questions focused on the pupils’ thoughts about aspects of their immediate and more distant futures. These aspects included what job they would like to do, what they would like to achieve by the time they are 30 years old, and where they would like to live, among other questions of lifestyle.

Expected Outcomes

Pupils’ aspirations are broad-ranging, although there are visible gender differences in the pupils’ responses, as well as differences between year groups. These differences will be analysed with reference to the literature on young peoples’ aspirations, identities and future plans.

References

Archer, L., DeWitt, J., Osbourne, J., Dillon, J., Willis, B. & Wong, B. 2013. ‘Not girly, not sexy, not glamorous’: primary school girls’ and parents’ constructions of science aspirations, Pedagogy, culture and society, 21 (1) 171 – 194 Gutman, L. M. & Schoon, I. 2012. Correlates and consequences of uncertainty in career aspirations: gender differences among adolescents in England, Journal of vocational behaviour, 80: 608 – 618 James, A. & James, A. L. .2004. Constructing childhood: Theory, policy and social practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Turok, I., Kintrea, K., St Clair, R. & Benjamin, A. 2009. Shaping educational attitudes and aspirations: the influence of parents, place and poverty: stage 1 report. Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Author Information

Kimberley Horton (presenting / submitting)

Cardiff University

Social Sciences

Cardiff

Search the ECER Programme

Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
Search for authors and in the respective field.
For planning your conference attendance you may want to use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference
If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.