In 2014, the popular conversation about safe space in the classroom tended to mock marginalized students seeking protection. Nearly a decade later, the discourse has become protectionist toward majority students allegedly discriminated against by being informed that they benefit from racism, sexism and heterosexism. What, then, does it mean to…

Education researchers continue to cite Bernstein's 'Education cannot compensate for society', while Bernstein's own focus on 'in-school processes' was echoed by Michael Gove's insistence that there are 'no excuses' for low working-class achievement in schools. Bernstein's ideas illuminate the relationship, within education policy, of…

In many countries choice of school is an increasing concern for families and governments. In Spain and Chile, it is also associated with a long-standing political cleavage on the regulation of large sectors of private-dependent schools. This article analyses both the micro- and the macro-politics of choice in these two countries, where low-status…

Little known about the now celebrated 1912 Bread and Roses strike is that prominent Progressive-era reformers condemned the strikers as "uncivil" and "violent." An examination of Bread and Roses' controversies reveals how a ruling class enlists middle-class sentiments to oppose social-justice arguments and defend a civil…

The development of early childhood education (ECE) in Europe and beyond is inextricably linked with women's roles and power in society. Towards the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century in a context of urbanisation and industrialisation the need for some sort of public childcare became apparent in many countries. Whereas…

By the time youngsters reach high school in the United States, the achievement gap is immense. Some remarkable inner-city schools, however, are showing that the achievement gap can be closed, even at the middle and high school level, if poor minority kids are given the right kind of instruction. In this article, the author features six schools…

In this article, the author suggests that a Foucaultian analytics of power may be used to explain not only how white, middle-class parents make school choices, but also the effects such choices have on these parents. This essay looks at an empirical moment in which a group of white, middle-class parents responded to a change that occurred in their…

Examines the reform in England and Wales that changed the secondary school system from a selective to a comprehensive type during the period 1965-74. Discusses middle class resistance to this change. Analyzes enrollment patterns to show how the middle class retained an advantage even as the schools changed. (MJP)

At a small private liberal arts school such as Clark University, students are familiar with people from upper middle class backgrounds. Either they themselves are from upper middle class families or, if they are from working class or lower middle class backgrounds, they are acquainted with more affluent peers. Clark students have a clear image of…