The Working Classroom

Book excerpt: Schools do amazing work to support children from disadvantaged backgrounds. But this book will enable them to do more. Disadvantage comes in many forms, but cultural poverty, where some students have relative knowledge gaps compared with their more affluent peers, can be addressed successfully by schools. The Working Classroom explores how working-class students are disadvantaged by a flawed system and what schools can do to close the gap. Written by two experienced authors with a deep understanding of the challenges that poverty and low aspiration can bring, and a passion for social justice, The Working Classroom examines how and why we must seek systemic changes. The book focuses on actions within the control of teachers and school leaders which will ensure that we create a socially just education system - one that builds on the rich heritage of the working-class, rather than seeing their background as a weakness. It offers practical ways for students and families to build on the best of working-class culture, whilst also empowering teachers, students and parents to change the system. The Working Classroom provides teachers with useful methods to improve the cultural capital of students from disadvantaged backgrounds that can be easily replicated and implemented in their own setting. Backed up by practical case studies that have a proven impact in schools with high levels of deprivation, this book will enable teachers to audit their current provision and encourage them to adopt new systems and practices so that they, and the wider school, will have a greater impact on the lives of working-class students and their families. Suitable for both teachers and leaders in a secondary school or sixth form college setting who seek to support social change in education and anyone in the corporate or non-education world who wants to practice effective altruism or philanthropy.