Olive Banks' study of the sharp contrasts of "parity and prestige" in English secondary education was published when sociological study of education was only beginning in Britain. It fitted neatly into that study's preoccupation with the interactions of social class, educational opportunity and social mobility. This paper is not an…

This paper explores the potential role of creative learning in helping to create positive experiences for socially excluded young people. Noting the increased influence of the market into education and the onus engendered in the 'Third Way', which seeks to give socially and economically marginal individuals the opportunity to adapt to changing…

This paper explores the ways in which sixth-form students in Milton Keynes negotiate their identities and the symbolic significance they attach to leisure activities in the process of doing this. The paper draws upon qualitative, young-person-centred interviews with sixth formers in state and private schools. It addresses the investments of sixth…

This paper focuses on the educational experiences of a group of African Caribbean and mixed "race" young people from the perspectives of their parents. The discussion is set within a national context where children of African Caribbean origin are one of the lowest achieving minority ethnic groups in the UK and are disproportionately one…