Analysing Underachievement in Schools

ISBN-13: 9780826475657 Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic Publication date: 07/01/2005 Series: Empirical Studies in Education Pages: 224 Product dimensions: 6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.56(d) Age Range: 18 Years Underachievement in school is one of the most widely used terms in education today. As a discourse it has been responsible for influencing government policy, staffroom discussions, as well as the pages of academic jourbanals and the TES. It is also a subject which raises questions about what we expect from a fair and equitable education system. This book provides a critical analysis of two sides of the underachievement debate, at each of the three levels of focus - international, the UK and the individual. On the one hand, it will consider the 'crisis' account; of falling standards and failing pupils and, on the other, present an alternative account, which urges a re-evaluation of the underachievement debate in order to consider who might be underachieving and why.