Tuesday 13 February, 13:00-14:00, WA1.27, Institute of Education

Dr Gillian Evans, Lecturer in social anthropology at the University of Manchester and a British Academy Post Doctoral Fellow at Brunel University in the Centre for Child-Focused Anthropology will speak on 'Educational Failure and Working Class White Children in Britain'.

Dr Evans says: "This seminar explores some of the themes in my book and some of the issues relating to the controversy provoked by publication of the work in the national press. My research examines educational failure in working class neighbourhoods like Bermondsey, Southeast London in terms of discrepancies between what is expected of children at school and what is required of them at home and on the street. The book makes an in-depth ethnographic investigation of social distinctions in a working class neighbourhood, exploring in particular a) the question of what it means for a child to learn how to be 'common' and b) how this contrasts with what it means to be valued as a child who can succeed in formal education, which is supposed to provide the opportunity for individual self-improvement and a better livelihood in the future."

Please confirm attendance to Louisa Hopkins: Louisa Hopkins or call ext. 24763.