This book examines experiences and implications of 'against-the-grain' school choices, where white middle class families choose ordinary and 'low performing' secondary schools for their children. It offers a unique view of identity formation, taking in matters like family history, locality and whiteness.

Autorentext
Author Diane Reay: Diane Reay is Professor of Education at the University of Cambridge, UK. She has previously published Activating Participation: Parents and Teachers Working Towards Partnership (co-edited with Gill Crozier).

Inhalt

Acknowledgements 1. Introduction: The White Middle Classes in the Twenty-First Century - Identities Under Siege? 2. White Middle Class Identity Formation: Theory and Practice 3. Family History, Class Practices and Habitus 4. Habitus as a Sense of Place 5. Against-the-Grain School Choice in Neoliberal Times 6. A Darker Shade of Pale: Whiteness as Integral to Middle Class Identity 7. The Psychosocial: Ambivalences and Anxieties of Privilege 8. Young People and the Urban Comprehensive: Remaking Cosmopolitan Citizens or Reproducing Hegemonic White Middle Class 9. 9. Values? Reinvigorating Democracy: Middle Class Moralities in Neoliberal Times Conclusion: Appendix 1: Methods and Methodology Appendix 2: Parental Occupations and Sector Appendix 3: The Sample Families in Terms of ACORN Categories References