Schools, 'Ferals', Stigma and Boundary Work: Parents Managing Education and Uncertainty in Regional Australia

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Schools, 'Ferals', Stigma and Boundary Work: Parents Managing Education and Uncertainty in Regional Australia
Language: English
Authors: Butler, Rose
Source: Ethnography and Education. 2015 10(3):340-355.
Availability: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 16
Publication Date: 2015
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Descriptors: Economic Factors, Geographic Regions, Social Class, Middle Class, Foreign Countries, Parent Attitudes, Social Differences, Anxiety, Security (Psychology), Qualitative Research, Social Bias, Whites, Social Attitudes, Elementary School Students, Interviews, Indigenous Populations, Racial Attitudes
Geographic Terms: Australia
DOI: 10.1080/17457823.2015.1051071
ISSN: 1745-7823
Abstract: This paper examines forms of boundary work undertaken by parents in a regional Australian city to negotiate social processes around the school market amidst rising economic insecurity. It outlines structural changes, which have increased economic inequality in Australia and impacted on educational reform, and the specific challenges faced by public schools in regional settings. Drawing on 18 months' qualitative research in one regional location, it identifies and analyses forms of boundary work undertaken by middle-class families to manage these uncertainties in a field of scarce economic and cultural resources. Theories of class culture, stigma and whiteness are used to show how local social labels such as "ferals" and "shiny people" acted as classed and racialised ways of negotiating this social and economic landscape through the school field. Such practices engendered feelings of security and control and shed light on feelings of class-based resentment and anxiety in regional Australia, specifically a middle-class "fear of falling".
Abstractor: As Provided
Number of References: 46
Entry Date: 2015
Accession Number: EJ1070152
Database: ERIC
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Abstract:This paper examines forms of boundary work undertaken by parents in a regional Australian city to negotiate social processes around the school market amidst rising economic insecurity. It outlines structural changes, which have increased economic inequality in Australia and impacted on educational reform, and the specific challenges faced by public schools in regional settings. Drawing on 18 months' qualitative research in one regional location, it identifies and analyses forms of boundary work undertaken by middle-class families to manage these uncertainties in a field of scarce economic and cultural resources. Theories of class culture, stigma and whiteness are used to show how local social labels such as "ferals" and "shiny people" acted as classed and racialised ways of negotiating this social and economic landscape through the school field. Such practices engendered feelings of security and control and shed light on feelings of class-based resentment and anxiety in regional Australia, specifically a middle-class "fear of falling".
ISSN:1745-7823
DOI:10.1080/17457823.2015.1051071