The Achievement Narrative and Alienation in School: A Typology of Academic Disconnection
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| Title: | The Achievement Narrative and Alienation in School: A Typology of Academic Disconnection |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Sean J. Drake (ORCID |
| Source: | Sociology of Education. 2026 99(2):117-133. |
| Availability: | SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 17 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | High Schools Secondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Alienation, Academic Achievement, High School Students, Student Attitudes, Advantaged, Student Experience, Academic Aspiration, Educational Environment, Self Concept, High Achievement, Suburban Schools |
| Geographic Terms: | California (Los Angeles) |
| DOI: | 10.1177/00380407251381695 |
| ISSN: | 0038-0407 1939-8573 |
| Abstract: | Previous work on student alienation in schools has emphasized alienation as either a source or consequence of students' lack of achievement. We show, in contrast, how alienation is common to a wide range of students' experiences in school, including among "high-achieving" students. Drawing on over two years of ethnographic fieldwork in two disparate suburban high schools, we show how students' experience of alienation is linked to an exacting achievement narrative in U.S. schooling. We describe four forms of alienation: precarious character, unsound settings, impossible plots, and someone else's story, with the first three each connected to a different narrative element (character, setting, plot) and the fourth a more existential sense of narrative disconnect. We highlight the importance of alienation as a reason to de-emphasize schooling in solutions to inequality, making space for more radical politics of redistribution. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1501975 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Previous work on student alienation in schools has emphasized alienation as either a source or consequence of students' lack of achievement. We show, in contrast, how alienation is common to a wide range of students' experiences in school, including among "high-achieving" students. Drawing on over two years of ethnographic fieldwork in two disparate suburban high schools, we show how students' experience of alienation is linked to an exacting achievement narrative in U.S. schooling. We describe four forms of alienation: precarious character, unsound settings, impossible plots, and someone else's story, with the first three each connected to a different narrative element (character, setting, plot) and the fourth a more existential sense of narrative disconnect. We highlight the importance of alienation as a reason to de-emphasize schooling in solutions to inequality, making space for more radical politics of redistribution. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0038-0407 1939-8573 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/00380407251381695 |
