Since the mid-2000s, consistent commentary from politicians and media outlets in the UK have presented low educational attainment and low aspiration as defining attributes of working-class boys in education. It has often characterised them as misogynistic, aggressive and unwilling to learn. But how true is this?
Combining research, real-life case studies and the author’s experience of navigating school exclusion, this book provides clear recommendations for how to better support the health, wellbeing and vulnerabilities of working-class boys and men through both policy and practice.
Challenging us to reconsider ideas about the role of masculinity in the lives of working-class boys and men, the book asks what would change if, instead of focusing on perceived individual failures, we considered the troubled relationship between working-class boys and the social and educational systems in which they reside.
1. Introduction: Standing on the shoulders of giants
2. Masculinity and mental health: the big red button
3. Social mobility: navigating the aspiration trap
4. Societal change: boys, inequality and a ‘successful’ future
5. Working-class boys in London: the capital’s overlooked lads
6. Making the grades: teachers, schools and masculine expectations
7. Boys who care: masculinity, class and being a young carer
8. Being a Boy: learning from the real experts
9. Boys’ Impact: a roadmap to hope
10. Conclusion: The will to change
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