Abstract
The research described here draws upon a qualitative study of 120 final-year undergraduates to understand the way these students perceived concepts of social class and to explore their understandings of the relationship between social class and education. In addition, sixth-form A-level Sociology students essayed A Logical Approach to Social Class. In conclusion, the chapter reflects on the effectiveness of the pedagogical approaches adopted that aimed to engage students with sociological concepts of social class. In a context in which there has been a recent revival of interest in class and class analysis in England, along with suggestions that sclerotic class divisions in the country are at last changing or have changed, the student accounts retailed in this chapter offer insights into how younger people, growing up in this situation, understand standard academic and other social class schemes. Their conceptions of class and classlessness are contrasted with those of their mainly older teachers who, according to this account, may have grown up in a different class reality. This only adds to the inherent confusions between class of origin and class of destination that were also discussed with the students in the context of the prevailing ideology of social mobility through education. However, it is suggested that even the rejection of social class ascription by a minority of students can be seen as a form of class consciousness, particularly when this is conjoined to conspiracy theories. Misconceptions of individualism are also shown to be influenced by some students’ religious beliefs, as well as to the sociological paradox of a society of individuals. However, most participants’ place themselves in the middle – ‘between the snobs and the yobs’, as it has been said – whether they also see themselves as ‘working class’ or not, and this further indicates the influence of prevalent contemporary political discourse.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Ainley, P. (2011). Twenty years of schooling revisited. In M. Mclean & A. Abbas (Eds.), ELiSS (Enhancing Learning and Teaching in the Social Sciences). Special issue. http://www.eliss.org.uk/CurrentIssueVol3No3/viewarticle33/tabid/334/itemid/156/pubtabid/336/repmodid/411/Default.aspx.
Ainley, P. (2016). The betrayal of a generation: How education is failing young people. Bristol: Policy Press.
Ainley, P., & Allen, M. (2010). Lost generation? New strategies for youth and education. London: Continuum.
Ainley, P., & Papapolydorou, M. (2014). A logical approach to teaching about social class. Sociology Teacher, The Journal of the BSA Teaching Group, 3(3), 14–17.
Ball, S. (2003). Class strategies and the education market: The middle classes and social advantage. London: Routledge.
Bauman, Z. (1982). Memories of class. London: Routledge.
Bottero, W. (2004). Class identities and the identity of class. Sociology, 38(5), 985–1003.
Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook for theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). New York: Greenwood Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1987). What makes a social class? On the theoretical and practical existence of groups. The Berkeley Journal of Sociology, 32, 1–18.
Bourdieu, P. (2009). Sketch for a self-analysis (trans: Nice, R.). Cambridge: Polity.
Crompton, R. (1998). Class and stratification: An introduction to current debates. Cambridge: Polity.
Devine, F. (1992). Social identities, class identity and political perspectives. The Sociological Review, 40(2), 229–252.
Duckworth, V. (2013). Learning trajectories, violence and empowerment amongst adult basic skills learners. In Research in education. London: Routledge.
Flick, U. (1998). An introduction to qualitative research. London: Sage.
Giddens, A. (1990). The consequences of modernity. Cambridge: Polity.
Goldthorpe, J., & Marshall, G. (1992). The promising future of class analysis: A response to recent critiques. Sociology, 26(3), 381–400.
Graff, G. (2003). Clueless in academe. How schooling obscures the life of the mind. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Jenkins, C., Canaan, J., Filippakou, O., & Strudwick, K. (2011). The troubling concept of class: Reflecting on our “failure” to encourage sociology students to re-cognise their classed locations using autobiographical methods. Enhancing Learning and Teaching in the Social Sciences, 3(3), 1–30.
Jones, O. (2012). Chavs: The demonization of the working class. London: Verso.
Lareau, A. (1989). Home advantage: Parental intervention in elementary education. London: Falmer.
Tsetung, M. (1927). Report on an investigation of the peasant movement in Hunan. In Selected readings. Beijing: People’s Publishing House.
Marshall, G., Newby, H., Rose, D., & Vogler, C. (1989). Social class in modern Britain. London: Routledge.
Marx, K., & Engels, F. (1848). The communist manifesto. In Selected works. London: Lawrence & Wishart. 1968.
Mayring, P. (2000). Qualitative content analysis. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 1(2), 20. http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1089/2386.
Mills, C. W. (2014). The Great British Class Fiasco: A comment on Savage et al. Sociology, 48(3), 437–444.
Moore, K. (2008). Class formations: Competing forms of Black middle-class identity. Ethnicities, 8(4), 492–517.
Nietzsche, F. (1889). Twilight of the Idols. In R. Holingdale (ed. and trans.), A Nietzsche Reader. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Office for National Statistics. (2000a). Standard Occupational Classification 2000. Vol. 1 – Structure and descriptions of unit groups. London: The Stationery Office.
Office for National Statistics. (2000b). Standard Occupational Classification 2000. Vol.2 – The coding index. London: The Stationery Office.
Pakulski, J., & Waters, M. (1996). The death of class. London: Sage.
Papapolydorou, M. (2013a). Direct, indirect and relational: Social class manifestations in teenage students’ accounts. Youth and Policy, 111, 25–43.
Papapolydorou, M. (2013b). When you see a normal person…. Social class and friendship networks among teenage students. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 35(4), 559–577.
Raj, D. (2003). Where are you from? Middle-class migrants in the modern world. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Reay, D. (1998). Rethinking social class: Qualitative perspectives on class and gender. Sociology, 32(2), 259–275.
Reay, D. (2005). Mother’s involvement in their children’s schooling: Social reproduction in action? In G. Crozier, D. Reay & C. Vincent (Eds.), Activating participation: Parents and teachers working towards partnership (pp. 23–37). Stoke: Trentham.
Reay, D., David, M. E., & Ball, S. (2005). Degrees of choice: Social class, race and gender in higher education. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books.
Roberts, K. (2001). Class in Modern Britain. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Roberts, K. (2012). Sociology: An introduction. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Rollock, N., Gillborn, D., Vincent, C., & Ball, S. (2011). The public identities of the Black Middle Classes: Managing rave in public spaces. Sociology, 45(6), 1078–1093.
Savage, M. (2000). Class analysis and social transformation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Savage, M. (2007). Changing class identities in post-war Britain: Perspectives from mass-observation. Sociological Research Online, 12(3), 6.
Savage, M. (2015). Social class in the 21st century. London: Penguin Random House.
Savage, M., Bagnall, G., & Longhurst, B. (2001). Ordinary, ambivalent and defensive: Class identities in Northwest England. Sociology, 35(4), 875–892.
Savage, M., Devine, F., Cunningham, N., Taylor, M., Yaojun, L., & Hjellbrekke, J., et al. (2013). A new model of social class: Findings from the BBC’s Great British Class survey experiment. Sociology, 47(2), 219–250.
Shildrick, T., MacDonald, R., Webster, C., & Garthwaite, K. (2010). The low-pay, no-pay cycle: Understanding recurrent poverty. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Silva, J. (2015). Coming up short, working-class adulthood in an age of uncertainty. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Skeggs, B. (1997). Formations of class and gender: Becoming respectable, theory, culture and society. London: Sage.
Skeggs, B. (2004). Class, self, culture. London: Routledge.
Standing, G. (2011). The precariat: The new dangerous class. London: Bloomsbury.
Standing, G. (2014). A precariat charter, from denizens to citizens. London: Bloomsbury.
Tomlinson, M. (2008). “The Degree is not enough”: Students’ perceptions of the role of higher education credentials for graduate work and employability. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 29(1), 49–61.
Warmington, P. (2003). “You need a qualification for everything these days. The impact of work, welfare and disaffection upon the aspirations of access to higher education students. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 24(1), 95–108.
West, L. (1996). Beyond fragments: Adults, motivation and higher education: A biographical analysis. London: Taylor and Francis.
Williams, J. (2016). Contextualising the student experience through university charters: Policy in practice. In J. Fanghanel (Ed.), Dimensions of marketization in higher education. London: Routledge.
Wright, E. (1979). Class structure and income determination. New York: Academic Press.
Wright, E. (1982). Class boundaries and contradictory class locations. In A. Giddens & D. Held (Eds.), Classes, power and Conflict (pp. 112–129). Berkeley: University of California Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ainley, P., Papapolydorou, M. (2018). Class Talk: Discussing Social Class with English Undergraduates and Sixth-Formers. In: Matthews, C., Edgington, U., Channon, A. (eds) Teaching with Sociological Imagination in Higher and Further Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6725-9_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6725-9_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-6724-2
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-6725-9
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)