In the last few decades, universities in India have witnessed the joining of a record number of students from marginalized communities and oftentimes struggle. This expansion of access has brought about changes within classrooms and college campuses, sometimes giving rise to contention and causing numerous conflicts as well. Centered around my…

I draw on the work of Bernard Stiegler and Charles Peirce to propose that "negentropic education" is education for "deproletarianizing" society through embracing the possibility of singularities, so we once again know how to live, make and do, and to theorize. We need to pay deep attention to our surroundings and to value our…

This chapter, in presenting adapted extracts from a book length project, revisits Richard Hoggart's "The Uses of Literacy" (1957) and argues for a theoretical, sociomaterial reclaiming of "media" literacy, a now established strand of the new literacies, through a return to Hoggart's concerns and his connecting of literacy to…

This paper is about social class and the teaching profession. While class has long been a core focus in the Sociology of Education, little attention has been paid to how it is conceived and enacted in the context of the professions, including teaching. While research in the area is increasing, we know relatively little about "the daily class…

In 1984, Ryan and Sackrey's "Strangers in Paradise" explored the challenges of the professoriate for those from working-class backgrounds. Nearly 40 years later, there is a substantial body of narrative and reflective writing by working-class academics. We present findings from analysis of 218 narratives from working-class academics.…

Working-class students often face more challenges in securing graduate-level jobs than their middle-class peers. This paper applies the concept of boundary crossing in studying the experience of Finnish business graduates from a working-class background (n = 27) and asks what types of boundaries they have faced and how they have managed them on…

This paper results from research on socio-historical processes that determine the current movement of counter-reforms in Brazilian educational policy. We sought to analyze the insertion of "behavioral modeling" proposals, a new organizing axis of the national curriculum to educate the working class. We used historical and dialectical…

From the 1960s until his death in 1997, Albert Shanker was a major force in expanding the labor movement, defending and improving public education, and fighting for all people to live freely in democracies. As president of the United Federation of Teachers in New York City and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), he became known…

While we have seen a significant investment in widening participation in Australian higher education, many equity groups remain under-represented. Males from low socio-economic backgrounds are the least likely to pursue higher education and the reasons for their non-participation are complex and arguably under-researched. Integral to the agenda of…

Higher education is increasingly positioned as a private good for prospective students in England, through which they can hope to gain an economic return on their 'investment'. This paper offers new ways of thinking about the purpose of university study and the benchmarks of graduate success. Using Margaret Archer's understanding of the concept of…

In this conceptual paper, we argue that teacher diversity ought to be recognised as an essential component of equitable and inclusive learning environments in schools. Despite growing agreement regarding the desirability of greater teacher diversity, teachers' social and cultural backgrounds have been underaddressed in learning environments…

Placing a spotlight on the classism inherent in higher education, this book highlights the realities that working-class students face when navigating elite higher education spaces and the rewards and challenges of supporting these students in such spaces. Drawing on the life experiences of academics of working-class heritage and a Student Advisory…

The last several decades have seen a growth in scholarship and application of culturally responsive and sustaining educational (CRSE) approaches in schools serving youth of color. A growing body of research has shown how CRSE serves as an effective strategy to engage students of color, combat pernicious stereotypes, and improve academic outcomes.…

Despite the large number of working-class students having to work while attending schools, their work experience and the potential of class solidarity have been largely unaddressed. By bringing in a social psychological perspective, this article revives the sociological debates of working-class solidarity and challenges the defeatist view of…

In 2019 Ofsted introduced cultural capital (CC) into the Early Years Inspection Handbook and defined it as 'essential knowledge' related to 'educated citizenship'. This paper investigates Ofsted's use of CC to critically examine the potential implications for early years work. Due to the feminised nature of early years work, a critical feminist…