TY - JOUR
T1 - Accessing the GCSE examinations in England: the perspectives of a group of girls from predominantly lower-income White British families
AU - Fisher, Helen
PY - 2020/10/4
Y1 - 2020/10/4
N2 - In this article, I explore the perspectives of a group of 6 girls who were aged 14-16 years. They were predominantly White British and from lower-income families, and were part of a wider sample of 21 girls across five English secondary schools. The article focuses on the girls’ perspectives of their public examinations - the General Certificate in Secondary Education (GCSE) - taken in England at 16 years old. The semi-structured interview data identifies that the 6 girls were struggling to access their GCSEs either because of their current attainment and/or lack of time. Using a Foucauldian theoretical framework, the article takes a longitudinal perspective, and utilises interview and school data from across six academic school years, as well as observational data across four academic school years. The data reveal how unresolved/partially unresolved Foucauldian discourse ‘stumbling-blocks’ (and part-‘resistances’ which became ‘stumbling-blocks’) were accumulating and ‘interlocking’ negatively with the girls’ current negotiation of their GCSE examinations. The article recommends heightened awareness of the accumulation of different discourse ‘stumbling blocks’. It also discusses the use of individualised discourse profiling and academic mentoring, with the aim of providing girls with the resilience and independence to successfully negotiate the many discourse challenges in their lives.
AB - In this article, I explore the perspectives of a group of 6 girls who were aged 14-16 years. They were predominantly White British and from lower-income families, and were part of a wider sample of 21 girls across five English secondary schools. The article focuses on the girls’ perspectives of their public examinations - the General Certificate in Secondary Education (GCSE) - taken in England at 16 years old. The semi-structured interview data identifies that the 6 girls were struggling to access their GCSEs either because of their current attainment and/or lack of time. Using a Foucauldian theoretical framework, the article takes a longitudinal perspective, and utilises interview and school data from across six academic school years, as well as observational data across four academic school years. The data reveal how unresolved/partially unresolved Foucauldian discourse ‘stumbling-blocks’ (and part-‘resistances’ which became ‘stumbling-blocks’) were accumulating and ‘interlocking’ negatively with the girls’ current negotiation of their GCSE examinations. The article recommends heightened awareness of the accumulation of different discourse ‘stumbling blocks’. It also discusses the use of individualised discourse profiling and academic mentoring, with the aim of providing girls with the resilience and independence to successfully negotiate the many discourse challenges in their lives.
M3 - Article
SN - 0141-1926
SP - 1
EP - 17
JO - BRITISH EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL
JF - BRITISH EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL
ER -