An Exploratory Study: Raising the attainment of underachieving white working-class boys

Abstract

This paper focuses on and researches existing documentation relating to the underachievement of white working class boys. This issue is undoubtedly of national importance, as a Joseph Rowntree Foundation report recently found that “white British students make up more than three-quarters of low achievers in English schools and do worse than children from other ethnic groups with similar economic backgrounds” (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2015). The aim of this paper is therefore to identify and examine a number of methods and strategies which suggest how white working class underachievers may be better progressed in an inclusive context. Whilst “the possible causes and contributors to white working class underachievement are many and various”, it is still “clear that schools can and do make a dramatic difference to the educational outcomes of poor children” (House of Commons Education Committee, 2014). As such, this paper and its subsequent research will critically review how schools can, and to what extent, promote progression for white working class boys who are underachieving.