Don't Fence Me in: Essays on the Rational Truant - Couverture souple

Connolly, Michael

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0955464269 ISBN 13 : 9780955464263

Editeur : The University of Buckingham Press, 2009

Synopsis

Debunking the Taboo of Truancy
Don't Fence Me In: Essays on the Rational Truant makes the iconoclastic assertion that most truancy stems from rational decisions made by students facing adverse circumstances in school.
This unique and engaging take on truancy rejects the assertion that all acts of truancy are linked to deviancy and anti-social behaviour. While the book’s aim is not to absolve young people from accountability, it shows that structural weaknesses in the state-supported school system play a significant role in truancy from class and school.
The book consists of a series of essays which seek to explain and understand truancy rationally, and dismantle existing narratives surrounding truancy. Many of the contributors report on recent research including the relation of teaching style to truancy, the incidence of truancy as a function of ethnic group and linguistic proficiency, the student as consumer and the importance of establishing a literate order to decrease truancy rates. Other essays in the collection are more speative, offering a theoretical assessment of political attitudes to truancy.
Don't Fence Me In makes essential reading for anyone with an interest in today's schooling system. It offers a fascinating and insightful exploration into one of schooling's biggest taboos.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

Don t Fence Me In: Essays on the Rational Truant assumes that most truancy is the logical outcome of rational decisions made by students in the face of the circumstances that characterise their school experience. It declines to attribute and consign all acts of truancy to the dustbin of deviance and anti-social behaviour. While it does not seek to absolve young people from responsibility for their actions, it seeks to show that structural weaknesses in the state-supported school system play a significant role in the causation of truancy both from class and school. The book consists of a series of essays written from a perspective that seeks to explain and understand truancy rationally. Some contributors report on recent research including the relation of teaching style to truancy, the incidence of truancy as a function of ethnic group and linguistic proficiency, the student as consumer, and the importance of establishing a literate order to decrease truancy rates. Other essays are more speculative and theoretical, including an assessment of political attitudes to truancy, a personal account by a recalcitrant former truant, a study of conflicting explanations of the phenomenon, an examination of the measurement of truancy and an account of truant and its numerous synonyms. Don t Fence Me In is intended for those who have a critical interest in education and schooling including teachers, headteachers and principals, administrators, students of education, education departments, inspectors and superintendents and not least citizens with a commitment to good education.

Revue de presse

One of the most intriguing ideas advanced in this book is that, at least in some circumstances, truancy represents a rational choice, a better and more productive use of time than the pointless tedium of the classroom. If that is true rigid enforcement of attendance is not only oppressive but also irrational. --John Clarke

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: The University of Buckingham Press
• Date d'édition: 2009
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0955464269
• ISBN 13: 9780955464263
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 200
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible