Intersections of social class and special educational needs in a DEIS post-primary school: school choice and identity

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Date
2021-08-25
Authors
Cahill, Kevin
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Taylor & Francis
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Abstract
This paper explores how special educational needs (SEN) and social class can become intertwined in post-primary school choice in Ireland. The paper draws on data generated during a three-year ethnographic study of a DEIS school. Data are analysed using Holland et al.’s (1998. Identity and Agency in Cultural Worlds. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press) positional identities, authored selves and figured worlds in order to examine how learner identities and school choice processes can become informed by emergent school cultures being formed and re-formed by neoliberal marketisation of education and how these actions are taken up in the identity work of young people and their families. Soft barriers and their contribution to aspects of school stratification by social class and SEN in this setting are explored. Finally, the paper calls for recognition of the responsibilities of every school to own diversity in their own settings.
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Keywords
School choice , Special educational needs , Inclusive education , Educational disadvantage in Ireland , School and identity , Social class and education
Citation
Cahill, K. (2021) 'Intersections of social class and special educational needs in a DEIS post-primary school: school choice and identity', International Journal of Inclusive Education, (16 pp). doi: 10.1080/13603116.2021.1968519
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© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Inclusive Education on 25 Aug 2021, available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13603116.2021.1968519