Analysing Underachievement In Schools New Ed.

Description:
Underachievement in school is one of the most widely used terms in education today. As a discourse, it has been responsible for influencing government policy, staffroom discussions, as well as the pages of academic journals and the TES. It is also a subject which raises questions about what we expect from a fair and equitable education system. This book provides a critical analysis of two sides of the underachievement debate, at each of the three levels of focus - international, the UK and the individual. On the one hand, it will consider the 'crisis' account; of falling standards and failing pupils and, on the other, present an alternative account, which urges a re-evaluation of the underachievement debate in order to consider who might be underachieving and why.

Table of Contents:
1. Underachievement in context; Part 1: Underachievement: An international perspective; 2. The falling nations debate; 3. Reconsidering international comparisons; Part 2: Falling standards and failing pupils?; 4. Failing boys and moral practices; 5. Reevaluating underachievement; 6. Underachieving working class boys?; Part 3: Understanding underachievement; 7. Reconceptualising 'underachievement'; 8. Recommendations for practice.