Working Class Girls, Education and Post-Industrial Britain: Aspirations and Reality in An Ex-Coalmining Community 1st Edition Gill Richards (Auth.)

Working Class Girls, Education and
Post-Industrial Britain: Aspirations and

Reality in an Ex-Coalmining Community
1st Edition Gill Richards (Auth.)
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmass.com/product/working-class-girls-education-and-post-industrial-brita
in-aspirations-and-reality-in-an-ex-coalmining-community-1st-edition-gill-richards-auth
/
PALGRAVE STUDIES IN
GENDER AND EDUCATION
Series Editor: Yvette Taylor
GIRLS, EDUCATION
AND POST-INDUSTRIAL
BRITAIN
Aspirations and Reality

in an Ex-Coalmining
Community
Gill Richards
Palgrave Studies in Gender and Education
Series editor
Yvette Taylor
School of Education
University of Strathclyde
Glasgow, UK
This Series aims to provide a comprehensive space for an increasingly
diverse and complex area of interdisciplinary social science research:
gender and education. Because the field of women and gender studies
is developing rapidly and becoming ‘internationalised’—as are traditional
social science disciplines such as sociology, educational studies, social
geography, and so on—there is a greater need for this dynamic, global
Series that plots emerging definitions and debates and monitors critical
complexities of gender and education. This Series has an explicitly femi-
nist approach and orientation and attends to key theoretical and method-
ological debates, ensuring a continued conversation and relevance within
the well-established, inter-disciplinary field of gender and education.
The Series combines renewed and revitalised feminist research
methods and theories with emergent and salient public policy issues.

These include pre-compulsory and post-compulsory education; ‘early
years’ and ‘lifelong’ education; educational (dis)engagements of pupils,
students and staff; trajectories and intersectional inequalities including
race, class, sexuality, age and disability; policy and practice across edu-
cational landscapes; diversity and difference, including institutional
(schools, colleges, universities), locational and embodied (in ‘teacher’–
‘learner’ positions); varied global activism in and beyond the classroom
and the ‘public university’; educational technologies and transitions and
the (ir)relevance of (in)formal educational settings; and emergent edu-
cational mainstreams and margins. In using a critical approach to gen-
der and education, the Series recognises the importance of probing
beyond the boundaries of specific territorial-legislative domains in order
to develop a more international, intersectional focus. In addressing var-
ied conceptual and methodological questions, the Series combines an
intersectional focus on competing—and sometimes colliding—strands
of educational provisioning and equality and ‘diversity’, and provides
insightful reflections on the continuing critical shift of gender and
feminism within (and beyond) the academy.
More information about this series at

http://www.springer.com/series/14626
Gill Richards
Working Class Girls,

Education and Post-
Industrial Britain
Aspirations and Reality in an Ex-Coalmining
Community
Gill Richards
Nottingham Institute of Education
Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham, UK
Palgrave Studies in Gender and Education

ISBN 978-3-319-60899-0 ISBN 978-3-319-60900-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-60900-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017948713
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights
of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction
on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and
information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication.
Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied,
with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have
been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published
maps and institutional affiliations.
Cover illustration: © nemesis2207/Fotolia.co.uk
Printed on acid-free paper
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature

The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
To all girls and women who seek to push the boundaries in pursuit
of their dreams
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank all of the girls who took part in this research. They
gave their time enthusiastically to share stories about their lives that were
thought-provoking, inspiring and at times, concerning. I hope that they
achieve all of their dreams.
I would also like to thank the schools, whose staff were open to the
research, responded with professional integrity throughout and sup-
ported their students to take part.
I am especially grateful to Marion and Carol, whose concern about
girls’ education provided instrumental support for the research process.
Finally, I would like to thank the editorial team at Palgave Macmillan,
who provided the opportunity to publish a cherished research study that
enabled the experiences of eighty-nine girls to be shared with the wider
education community.
vii
Contents
1 Introduction 1
1.1 The Structure and Contents of This Book 5
References 6
2 What Do We Know About Girls’ Aspirations

and Achievement? 9
2.1 Introduction 9
2.2 Girls, Aspirations and Achievement: An Overview 10
2.3 The Link Between Aspirations and Achievement 12
2.4 The Role of Schools 14
2.5 Conclusion 18
References 20
3 Methodology 25
3.1 Introduction 25
3.2 The Schools 26
3.3 Participants 28
3.4 Methodology and Data Gathering 29
3.5 Data Analysis 32
3.6 Conclusion 33
References 33
4 Aspirations and Expectations 35

4.1 Introduction 35
ix
x Contents
4.2 Primary Schoolgirls 36

4.2.1 Views About School and the Future 36
4.2.2 Staff Views 38
4.2.3 Discussion 40
4.3 Secondary Schoolgirls 41
4.3.1 Views About School and the Future 41
4.3.2 Dreams, Fears and the Future 45
4.3.3 Staff Views 47
4.3.4 Discussion 51
4.4 Conclusion 52
References 54
5 Achieving Aspirations: What Did the Girls Do? 57

5.1 Introduction 57
5.2 The Secondary Girls: Moving into Young Adulthood 58
5.2.1 The Girls from SS1 59
5.2.2 The Girls from SS2 61
5.3 The Primary Girls: Moving into Secondary Education
and Beyond 64
5.3.1 Progression into SS1 65
5.3.2 Progression into SS2 70
5.3.3 Progression into SS3 and SS4 71
5.4 Discussion 72
5.5 Conclusion 74
References 76
6 What Else Can Schools Do? 77

6.1 Introduction 77
6.2 What are the Issues? 78
6.2.1 Confidence and Trust 78
6.2.2 Feeling Valued 81
6.2.3 Achieving ‘Dreams’ 83
6.2.4 Understanding Successful Learning Behaviour 86
6.3 Conclusion 89
References 91
Reference 93
Index 95
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Abstract This chapter introduces the book by briefly introducing

a general context for the research study, the aims of the book and the
scope of each chapter’s contents.
Keywords Introduction · Context · Aims
This book is about girls, their dreams and fears for the future and
how their lives evolved into young adulthood. These girls lived in an ex-
mining community that is now one of the 10% most deprived districts
in England. They represent a wider group of girls who are often identi-
fied in government reports as coming from ‘working-class backgrounds’,
vulnerable to underachievement and disadvantaged by low expectations.
The research study on which this book is based gives a voice to eighty-
nine girls, offering insight into the experiences at school that affected
their aspirations and influenced their decision-making. In it, I aim to
offer academics and practitioners a unique appreciation of how a group
of girls balanced their own aspirations with the educational opportuni-
ties perceived to be available to them. Their experiences of navigating
a way through school and community expectations into work pro-
vide us all with important messages to consider when seeking to tailor
education provision that supports individual aspirations into successful
achievement.
© The Author(s) 2018 1

G. Richards, Working Class Girls, Education and Post-Industrial
Britain, Palgrave Studies in Gender and Education,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-60900-3_1
2 G. Richards
The wider education context of the research study is one where stu-
dent achievement can be dependent upon the quality of school and
other external experiences, rather than academic ability. Such educational
inequality is a matter of international concern (Beatriz 2013). It occurs
in different manifestations across the world, but within the UK, despite
successive governments’ attempts to address inequality and disadvan-
tage, schools still have one of the widest attainment gaps in education
within the developed world. One in five students has been identified as
underachieving in an environment where ‘educational inequality starts
early, widens throughout school and the effects can last a lifetime in
terms of job prospects, health and overall contribution to society’ (AfA
2016: 11). This starts in primary school where the gap between children
from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and their advantaged
peers grows quickly and extends in secondary school (Hutchinson et al.
2016; Sutton Trust 2011; Goodman and Gregg 2010), resulting in what
Ofsted (2013a: 24) describes as a ‘long tail of underachievement that
limits progress towards becoming a world class education system’.
Who is viewed as ‘disadvantaged’ and potentially vulnerable to educa-
tional underachievement was originally described within Ofsted’s report
on ‘Closing the Gap’ (2007) as a wide group of young people that
included: those with special educational needs or disabilities; those who
have been excluded from school or have poor attendance; those at risk
from harm or who live with ‘vulnerable’ adults; and those who are from
some minority ethnic groups, in care, asylum seekers, refugees, young
offenders and young carers. While students with any of these characteris-
tics may underachieve in school, more recent research studies have shown
that this is not inevitable and individuals will not all be affected in the same
way (Khotabb 2015; St Clair et al. 2013; EEF 2013; Kirk et al. 2012).
The UK Department for Education and the schools’ inspectorate,
Ofsted, have long expressed concern that despite a significant number of
equality initiatives in education, many young people have not benefited.
Students from working-class backgrounds are still the lowest achieving
group in schools, often becoming less visible as they progress through
the system. This even occurs when they attend schools within prosper-
ous communities, where their lack of achievement may become ‘lost’
within the positive data recorded from the majority group of more suc-
cessful students (Hutchinson 2016; Sharpe et al. 2015; Ofsted 2013b).
Government-funded national developments that focus on ‘Closing the
1 INTRODUCTION 3
Gap’ to increase the attainment of all students vulnerable to undera-

chievement have broadened to include any schools where there is an
identified need. Although the recent focus has been on ‘White work-
ing-class’ male students, wider national reports (Ofsted 2016; Khattab
2015; Centre for Social Justice 2014) have now accepted that working-
class students from any identified group are more likely to struggle to
achieve in UK schools when compared with their peers from the same
group. This, in addition to the education sector’s increased acceptance
of Hattie’s work (2009) that identified students received significantly dif-
ferent experiences within the same teaching environment, has sharpened
the focus of attention and accountability within all schools.
Despite ‘work class’ being included within many current education
debates about aspirations, disadvantage and underachievement, under-
standing who is included within this group may be unclear because edu-
cation reports apply different definitions. Some use government criteria
adopted from the National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (2010)
or broader sociological definitions (Ward 2015). Others use a range of
terms and proxies associated with education initiatives such as free school
meals (FSM). This approach is frequently criticised: without an established
definition to consistently identify who is ‘working class’, comparisons are
not robust and result in education developments informed by ‘crude data’
which ‘dangerously misrepresent the true situation’ (House of Commons
2014: 9). An example of this can be seen when ‘FSM’ is used as short-
hand for working-class and economic deprivation, because the number
of young people identified in the school system as eligible for FSM is sig-
nificantly fewer than those who self-identify as working class. Similarly,
‘White working class’ often means ‘White British working class’, so this,
like other loosely applied definitions, misses the nuances of wider experi-
ences and contributes towards misleading predictions that damage public
perceptions (Baars et al. 2016). Solutions to overcome this inconsistency
acknowledge the diversity of working-class groups’ lives and the range of
characteristics that affect achievement (House of Commons 2014; Ofsted
2013a, b). It is this combination of identifiers that placed the girls’ com-
munity for my research within the country’s lowest of deprivation and pro-
vided the context for which I have used the term working class throughout
this book. While many living in the area self-identify as working class,
I know that others do not and accept that in common with applying any
generic label, there is a danger of oversimplification and stereotyping.
4 G. Richards
I have endeavoured to offset this by also using the term ‘disadvantage’

instead where appropriate, because it was this factor that affected the girls’
lives in significant ways. More importantly, I have sought to portray the
girls as individuals whose different experiences contribute towards a greater
understanding about their lives and how schools can enhance these.
The community in which the research took place had a long tradi-
tion in coal mining and quarrying as the centre of employment for
local families. When the mines were closed, significant unemployment
affected family roles and work expectations within the tight-knit commu-
nity that quickly became one of the most deprived districts in England.
Post-industrial developments were often low-paid and part-time, creat-
ing a challenge for those holding strongly conventional views of what
constituted men and women’s work. Travel outside of the locality was
unusual, even for social events. A wariness of ‘outsiders’ and for seek-
ing experiences in ‘unknown territory’ created cultural restrictions on
accessing employment available in nearby towns. As a result, a majority
of men and women seeking work had to settle for something very dif-
ferent to their original expectations. Government funding was allocated
to target unemployment and address disadvantage, but then withdrawn
during the recession. This exacerbated a growing divide between those
who remained within the local area and those who had broken with
tradition to find a job further afield. The divide became greater as new
housing estates were built which were outside the financial reach of many
who sought work locally and so physically separated families. People who
moved into these were often described by the rest of the community as
living at the ‘top end’, and it was noted that the children from this part
were starting to follow their parents’ lead by attending school outside of
the area.
The girls within the research study came from families living in all
sections of the community. The schools they attended had students
whose ethnicity would be described as predominately ‘White British’,
although a minority were from other ethnic backgrounds. Ofsted inspec-
tions identified significant differences in the ways that each school met
their students’ educational needs, and some of this was easily identi-
fiable from the girls’ experiences explored during interviews. Over the
period of the research, the schools had been inspected several times
with Ofsted ratings for the primary schools moving from ‘Inadequate’
or ‘Satisfactory’ at the start to ‘Good’ at the end. In contrast, one
secondary school moved down from ‘Good’ to receiving several
1 INTRODUCTION 5
judgements of’Inadequate’, while the other moved up from ‘Good’ to

‘Outstanding’.
The first stage of the study was carried out after a County Council’s
Education Department had expressed concerns about Year 6 girls’
achievement in two primary schools located in the ex-coal mining com-
munity. In both schools, the boys were achieving to national standards,
and there was no apparent reason for the girls’ underachievement. The
research focus then expanded to include the experiences of Year 6 girls
from another primary school nearby and Year 10 girls from two second-
ary schools, serving the same locality. During this early stage, the girls’
aspirations, ‘hopes’ and ‘fears’ for the future were explored, reflect-
ing government and wider education thinking of the time that strongly
linked aspirations with achievement. The second stage of the study took
place after the girls had progressed into post-compulsory education
opportunities. This time, the interview questions drew on more recent
national and international research studies that had found the links
between aspirations and achievement to be far more complex than previ-
ously identified. Taking this wider focus, the girls were asked to reflect
on the ways in which their life-plans had evolved as they became young
adults, and which education and social factors had contributed to this.
The research raises important issues about working-class girls’ aspira-
tions and community expectations that are presented through the girls’
perspectives. Their ‘voice’ is a key element of the themes explored within
this book, offering insight into factors affecting their aspirations and in
particular, the impact of school experiences on their decision-making.
1.1 The Structure and Contents of This Book

Chapter 1 introduces the book by briefly introducing a general context
for the research study, the aims of the book and the scope of each
chapter’s contents.
Chapter 2 provides a context for the research study. It reviews pub-
lished literature, research, national education policy and government
reports concerning issues of working-class students’ aspirations and
achievement. These highlight aspects relating to girls, but where appro-
priate, also draw on wider discourses, irrespective of gender. The primary
focus is on education and school-based issues, but wider social influences
like those of families and peer groups are also explored to help under-
stand how these interrelate within girls’ educational and social identities.
6 G. Richards
Chapter 3 explains the origins of the research study and how its scope
developed. This includes a description of the local social and geographi-
cal context, with an analysis of the impact these had on the schools
involved. It describes how each school worked with girls and how this
was judged to have affected their educational achievement. The chapter
concludes with an account of the research approach and data collection
methods, covering the focus of each set of interviews and the associated
ethical considerations.
Chapter 4 reports on data collected from 56 primary school girls and
36 secondary school girls. It reports on the first-stage interviews from
three primary schools, identifying the girls’ aspirations, hopes and fears
for the future as they prepared to move up into secondary school. It then
reports on findings from the first-stage interviews at the two secondary
schools. These identified the girls’ aspirations, hopes and fears for the
future as they prepared for transitions within and beyond their school
lives. Key themes are identified and explored, considering, in particular,
the strong influence of family and teachers on their aspirations.
Chapter 5 reports on data collected in the follow-up interviews. This
second stage of the research started six years after the first interviews
and was completed two years later. The girls were all in post-compulsory
education situations of work, study or unemployment. The interviews
focused on what had happened since the first-stage interviews, identify-
ing the successes and barriers that the girls had experienced, and how
families and schools continued to influence these.
Chapter 6 draws on key themes from earlier chapters to identify how
schools could more effectively support girls from disadvantaged back-
grounds achieve their aspirations. These themes focus on confidence and
trust, feelings of being valued, achieving dreams and successful learn-
ing behaviour. Central to this discussion are the girls’ own perspectives,
which identify in particular what they and their schools could have done
differently, so the concluding suggestions for education practice develop-
ment are based on ‘insider’ experiences of what schools offer.
References
Achievement for All. (2016). Why we exist. www.afaeducation.org. Accessed 29
Sept 2016.
Baars, S., Mulcahy, E., & Bernardes, E. (2016). The underrepresentation of white
working class boys in higher education. The role of widening participation.
London: LKMco.
1 INTRODUCTION 7
Beatriz, P. (2013). Equity and quality in education: Supporting disadvantaged

students and schools, closing the gaps for vulnerable learners nottinghamshire
county council conference (21/11/13). Eastwood: Nottinghamshire.
Centre for Social Justice. (2014). Closing the divide. Tackling education inequal-
ity in England. London: Centre for Social Justice.
Education Endowment Fund (EEF). (2013). The Sutton Trust-EEF teaching and
learning toolkit. London: Education Endowment Fund.
Goodman, A., & Gregg, P. (Eds.). (2010). The importance of attitudes and
behaviour for poorer children’s educational attainment. York: JRF.
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning. A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to
achievement. Abingdon: Routledge.
House of Commons Education Committee. (2014). Underachievement in educa-
tion by white working class children. First report of session 2014–2015 London:
The Stationary Office Ltd.
Hutchinson, J., Dunford, J., & Treadwell, M. (2016). Divergent pathways:
The disadvantage gap, accountability and the pupil premium. London: The
Education Policy Institute.
Khattab, N. (2015). Students’ aspirations, expectations and school achievement:
What really matters? British Educational Research Journal, 41(5), 731–748.
Kirk, C., Lewis, R., Scott, A., Wren, D., Nilsen, C., & Colvin, D. (2012).
Exploring the educational aspirations-expectations gap in eighth grade
students: Implications for educational interventions and school reform.
Educational Studies, 38(5), 507–519.
National Statistics Socio-economic Classification. (2010). Standard occupation
classification 2010. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Ofsted. (2007). Narrowing the gap: The inspection of services. London: Ofsted.
Ofsted. (2013a). Schools. Manchester: Ofsted.
Ofsted. (2013b). Unseen children: Access and achievement 20 years on. Manchester:
Ofsted.
Ofsted. (2016). Ofsted issues warning about education in the East Midlands.
London: Ofsted. https:/www.gov.uk/government/organsiations/ofsted.
Accessed 8 June 2016.
Sharpe, C., Macleod, S., Bernardinelli, D., Skipp, A., & Higgins, S. (2015).
Supporting the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. Briefing for school leaders.
London: DfE.
St Clair, R., Kintra, K., & Houston, M. (2013). Silver bullet or red herring?
New evidence of aspirations in education. Oxford Review of Education, 36(6),
719–738.
Sutton Trust. (2011). What prospects for mobility in the UK? A cross-national
study of educational inequalities and their implications for future education
and earnings mobility. London: The Sutton Trust.
Ward, M. (2015). From labouring to learning. Working-class masculinities, educa-
tion and de-industrialisation. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
CHAPTER 2
What Do We Know About Girls’ Aspirations

and Achievement?
Abstract This chapter provides a context for the research study. It

reviews published literature, research, national education policy and gov-
ernment reports concerning issues of working-class students’ aspirations
and achievement. These highlight the aspects relating to girls, but where
appropriate, also draw on wider discourses, irrespective of gender. The
primary focus is on education and school-based issues, but wider social
influences like those of families and peer groups are also explored to help
understand how these inter-relate within girls’ educational and social
identities.
Keywords Education · Research · Policy · Girls · Schooling
2.1 Introduction
This chapter provides a context for the research study. It explores
national education policy, government reports and other research find-
ings concerned with the issues of working-class pupils’ aspirations and
achievement. These draw primarily on the aspects that relate specifically
to girls, but also include wider discourses which are significant irrespec-
tive of gender. This provides a background of interacting factors that
were instrumental in creating the current education landscape within
which the girls participating in the research experienced their schooling.
Inherited expectations and cultural drivers had a distinctive part to play

DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-60900-3_2
10 G. Richards
in the futures these girls anticipated for themselves and so contribute

towards a more detailed understanding of their ‘world’ and decision-
making.
When the parents of the girls involved in this research study
were born, their families’ lives revolved around the mining industry.
Generations before them had worked in the pits and deep social net-
works had been formed. The community was described within UK
national reports as ‘working-class’, and this label was claimed with pride
by many living there. While sociological definitions identify ‘working-
class’ as comprising manual workers who generally live within deprived
communities with reduced access to social, economic and cultural capital
(Ward 2015), the girls’ families saw themselves as part of a proud tradi-
tion of local mining life, despite any hardships experienced. When mines
were closed across the UK, the after-effects of acrimonious strikes and
unemployment divided families and devastated communities (Paterson
2014). Despite post-industrial developments and regeneration projects,
the pride in being a miner, whose role exemplified the ‘working-class’
strong work ethic, was difficult to replace. During the research study,
employment was still an issue within the locality. The recession had hit
regeneration projects and despite increased opportunities for work, much
of what was available was in the service industries, part-time and low
paid, with the best prospects often requiring travel outside the area. This
produced a dichotomy in which a community that had secured work was
still identified by a wider range of indicators to be within the country’s
lowest ten percent of deprivation (DfCLG 2015)—a status that affected
girls’ aspirations as they contemplated a future of increased, but insecure,
employment perceived as acceptable for women (rather than men) and
conflicting perspectives about seeking work outside of the community.
2.2 Girls, Aspirations and Achievement: An Overview

Government led equality initiatives to increase girls’ education aspira-
tions and achievement have had very mixed success. Although it can cer-
tainly be argued that progress has been made in reducing key inequalities
of the past, concerns still remain because these have not significantly
improved social mobility for working-class girls: they have benefited less
than their peers from more affluent backgrounds and have a greater fear
of failure (Sutton Trust 2017; DfBIS 2014; OECD 2014; Allan 2010;
Fuller 2009). This group is also more likely to anticipate their working
2 WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT GIRLS’ ASPIRATIONS AND ACHIEVEMENT? 11
lives to lie within traditional roles like catering, care and administration,
irrespective of anticipated examination results and superficially accept-
ing that girls are capable of achieving any career (Ofsted 2011; EHRC
2009). Such reticence appears to reaffirm findings from earlier research
studies where girls were found to match their academic courses and
career choices to those that meet family approval because they were
viewed as suitable for people like themselves (Foskett 2003).
Powerful social influences have been shown to influence girls’ aspira-
tions and achievements (Francis and Paechter 2015; Hinkleman 2013;
Ofsted 2013a, b; Ofsted 2011; Jackson et al. 2010). In particular, fami-
lies and peer groups can be supportive but may also exert pressure that is
difficult to resist. Parental influence has been shown to take precedence
over school efforts to widen aspirations (Gorad et al. 2012), and this
has been a focus for increasing debate as schools seek solutions to over-
come educational disadvantage. Although the relationship between stu-
dent achievement, social class and parental involvement has long been
accepted by educationalists, early research attempts to isolate specific ele-
ments contributing towards this have merely emphasised the complex
and contested nature of the issue (Desforges and Abouchaar 2003). For
example, Flouri’s research (2006) suggested that authoritative parents
inspired girls’ self-esteem and fathers’ interest significantly impacted girls’
achievement, but Feinstein and Sabates’ study (2006) found that moth-
ers’ own post-school experiences were to be the key factor in increas-
ing aspirations and achievement. What these and other similar studies did
make clear was that parental involvement, in its many guises, played a
greater part in students’ achievement than school factors.
Pressures from peers may add another layer to girls’ decision-making.
Acceptance by social groups and maintenance of status within these
often affect individual’s behaviour (Action for Children 2010; Clark and
Paechter 2006; Jackson 2006). Plummer’s study (2000) probed work-
ing-class girls’ experiences of attempting to achieve their aspirations.
She found that although the girls saw educational success as providing
an escape route from an uninspiring future, many viewed the changes
required of them to achieve success came at a personal cost that was too
high to pay. Instead, they left school as soon as they could, seeking to
gain status through the traditional female roles of wife and mother. This
provided them with an opportunity to gain family and peer approval,
while avoiding a life of tedious low-paid work or being labelled as getting
‘too big for their boots’. Others struggled to balance their dreams with
12 G. Richards
these expectations, creating a personal conflict that manifested in behav-

iour which rejected stereotypical notions of passive, feminine women
aiming instead for social rather than academic esteem though smoking,
swearing and acting out sexually. Plummer also found that the girls who
did well academically encountered other barriers. Their parents often
lacked the social capital to support career aspirations and so without
access to wider networks, they became reliant on teachers’ judgements
and were reluctant to challenge these. Those who gained a place at uni-
versity faced isolation when they moved away from home. The change of
culture had a negative effect on their former relationships, and the girls
struggled with fears of rejection.
More recent studies (Hutchinson et al. 2016) have increased our
understanding of the diverse factors affecting young people’s aspirations
and achievement. These have all made explicit that ‘social class remains
the strongest predictor of educational achievement in the UK, where the
social class gap for educational achievement is one of the most significant
in the developed world’ (Perry and Francis 2010: 2). This gap between
young people from working-class backgrounds and their peers has a
‘defining characteristic’ of accelerating during primary school years and
then widening for pupils aged between 11 and 16, unlike other coun-
tries (AfA 2016a; Hutchinson et al. 2016; Morrison et al. 2012; Sutton
Trust 2011). Concerns about the young people negatively affected
by this ‘gap’ are increasingly the focus of UK government and wider
reports, where they are described as representing a ‘waste of human capi-
tal on a grand scale’ (Hutchinson 2016: 7), with the cost to an indi-
vidual acknowledged: ‘When one child fails to learn, it may have a small
impact on a school, but it represents 100% failure for that child and is
unacceptable’ (Hattie et al. 2016: 219).
2.3 The Link Between Aspirations and Achievement

Research focusing on the relationship between aspirations and achieve-
ment has offered deeper insights into the complex issues involved
(Khattab 2015; St Clair et al. 2013; St Clair et al. 2011). Aspirations
can be defined as ‘hopes and dreams’, but these can be disconnected
from pupils’ socio-economic and school reality, unlike ‘expectations’
which are more likely to take account of these. Khattab argued that we
will learn more from examining the combination of educational aspira-
tions, expectations and achievement to see how the interplay between
their alignment affects ongoing school achievement. His study found

that raising aspirations and expectations only worked for some young
people. His observation that ‘disadvantaged parents do not always have
the knowledge or skills to support their children convert high aspirations
into actions’ (Khattab 2015: 735) led to his recommendation for wider
community-based activities to provide families with greater resources and
enriched social capital to better support high expectations.
These themes were also viewed as significant within other studies.
Kirk et al. (2012) described how educational aspirations and expectations
embedded young people’s hopes, fears and fantasies into what was they
saw as their future lives. This was affected by perceptions of what was
‘possible’ (idealised aspirations) or ‘probable’ (realistic expectations) and
then adjusted through external experiences that influenced self-percep-
tion and school behaviour. Believing what will be obtained is particu-
larly important among disadvantaged and marginalised groups because
expectations are usually lower than aspirations and more susceptible to
external influence. This belief starts early. Elliot (2010) analysed 14,000
children’s essays from the 1969 National Child Development Study to
compare the futures they predicted for themselves with their actual occu-
pations. She found that high aspirations were more likely to result in a
professional career, even if this wasn’t the one predicted, and the greatest
gaps were experienced by working-class boys, middle- and working-class
girls. Flouri and Pangourgia (2012) found similar differences between
primary school children’s career aspirations, which reflected their sense
of hope for the future and adolescence, ‘where aspirations changed from
vague plans to ones that involved their interests, abilities and options
open to them’ (p. 14).
This all suggests that some young people may come to view their early
aspirations as unrealistic, not just because they recognise their interests
and abilities are incompatible with what is required, but as a result of
internalising these are unobtainable. While it is important to accept that
what one person views as a ‘low’ aspiration may be seen by another as
a ‘high’ aspiration, young people need support to navigate a pathway
to achieve their goals. St Clair et al. (2011) drew attention to this in
their study on educational attitudes and aspirations. They argued that
low aspirations would not be addressed by only enabling young peo-
ple and their families to see the range of possibilities available, because
their knowledge of how to achieve these was limited. What families really
needed was continued support to understand and negotiate the route to
14 G. Richards
young people’s goals throughout their schooling, especially during ado-

lescence when ambitions started to change. This approach could help to
prevent the characterisation of deprived neighbourhoods as places where
aspirations are expected to be low and gaps in attainment are blamed
on socially disadvantaged children (Cummings et al. 2012). Perry and
Francis had raised this issue in their earlier study (2010), suggesting that
government programmes for raising aspirations were underpinned by
‘deficit discourses’ that ‘conveniently focused the problem on individ-
ual problems rather than institutional, financial or societal explanations’
(p. 10), leading them to question whether ‘grafting’ interventions onto a
fundamentally unequal education system could ever significantly address
inequality.
Concerns about educational inequality and the influence of parental
experiences within this on young people’s prospects have been high-
lighted in several studies. The Sutton Trust report on the implications
of educational inequalities (2011) drew attention to research evidence
from other countries on the importance of ‘environment’. This, the
Trust argued, indicated that any lack of education achievement and social
mobility could not be explained away as just an issue of genetics and par-
ents because: ‘income and educational inequality can feed off each other
in cycles of ever-decreasing immobility, as those with the most resources
continue to invest in their children’s education to maintain their advan-
tage’ (p. 11). The House of Commons report on disadvantage (2014)
made similar observations, warning against a deficit interpretation of
underperformance that assumed the problem was located within a par-
ticular group. It also stressed that raising young people’s aspirations was
not enough, for many started with high aspirations which diminished
when they looked ahead to their futures and saw what had happened to
other family members. The report’s recommendations focused on devel-
oping parents’ social capital to enable them to understood the ‘rules of
the game’ and overcome the tactics of ‘families with sharp elbows’ who
attempted to maintain their privileged access to opportunities (p. 36).
2.4 The Role of Schools

Educational underachievement is an issue that concerns all schools.
Students from poorer backgrounds do worse in all schools irrespective of
their Ofsted grade (Save the Children 2012) and this has received con-
siderable attention in national reports that all make clear connections
between disadvantage, inequality and the variation of education expe-

riences available to young people (Stokes et al. 2015; Centre for Social
Justice 2014; Ofsted 2013a; Stewart 2012; Knowles 2011; Hattie 2009).
These links raise some uncomfortable issues about education practice in
the UK. They also have wider implications, as noted by the Centre for
Social Justice (2014: 16) because ‘educational failure perpetuates cycles
of disadvantage’ which create a financial and social strain on our econ-
omy. Similar points were made five years earlier by Bottero (2009: 10)
who stated that ‘the rising significance of education in British society …
had opened up new avenues for class disadvantage’, in which privileged
groups continued to successfully maintain their advantage as they nego-
tiated their way through wide-ranging economic changes, unlike disad-
vantaged groups who had been hit the hardest because they had fewer
resources to enable them to adapt. Reay (2009: 22) agreed, placing
responsibility firmly on schools:
The educational system is rarely about positive affirmation for the working
classes. Schools can enshrine and perpetuate class through its policies and
practices, leaving some young people as feeling of no value and doomed to
failure
as did Beatriz (2013), whose speech about ‘Closing the Gap’ focused on
the high cost of education failure to individuals and society, arguing that:
‘If you are failing some of your pupils, you are failing as a system’.
Successive governments have funded a range of national school pro-
grammes to support disadvantaged young people who are vulnerable to
underachievement, including the most recent, ‘Achievement for All’ and
‘Pupil Premium’, which has been described by Hutchinson et al. (2016)
as a ‘flagship commitment’. Schools have attempted to show the positive
effects of these, but there has been criticism about the lack of robust data
to substantiate all of their claims (Stokes et al. 2015; Perry and Frances
2010), particularly where schools focus on ‘quick fix’ interventions
rather than longer term strategies securely embedded in whole school
practice (Ofsted 2013b). This lack of reliable evidence about what works
and why, undermines the education community’s perceptions about pro-
grammes, creating uncertainty about which strategies could be adopted
in other schools and which should not. In relation to this, Stewart’s
challenge of the ‘good school’ myth (2012), appears relevant here; he
suggested that some schools appear to do better with disadvantaged
16 G. Richards
students because they have so few and the strategies they use may be far
less effective in schools with higher numbers.
The local context is significant when selecting strategies to address
disadvantage. Young people eligible for free school meals are found in
greater numbers in the lowest performing schools within deprived areas
(Perry and Francis 2010). Understanding their local circumstances,
employment prospects and the difficulties they are facing is key to tai-
loring effective intervention strategies (Andrews et al. 2017; St Clair
et al. 2011; Dyson et al. 2010). Schools need good evidence, not just
about what works, but what will work locally. Data can play an impor-
tant part in identifying this, but may prove less useful if individual issues
behind the disadvantage are unknown. Without this deeper background
knowledge, Dyson et al. (2010: 18) argue: ‘There is little point in mul-
tiplying teaching interventions if students’ other needs are also not
being addressed’. Others agree, with Stewart (2012) pointing out that
more resources did not necessarily mean better resources and Higgins’
observations (2013) that some interventions were ineffective because
despite improving attention or behaviour, they did not improve learn-
ing and attainment. Blandford and Knowles’ (2013) reminder that learn-
ing does not only happen in school, so families and communities should
be recognised as important partners in any developments, reaffirms the
earlier views of St Clair et al. (2011) and Cummings et al. (2012: 5)
that young people could be better helped to achieve their aspirations if
schools engaged with parents ‘on their own terms’. Lacey’s early work
(2001) provides an example of the importance of this. She reported on a
teacher who despite treating a family she was working with respectfully,
had ‘failed to spend time getting to know the family situation and their
current approach to the problem and then work jointly with the them
to develop a strategy that was in tune with their lives’ (p. 136), and as a
result, it was unsuccessful.
Such ‘local knowledge’ could help schools understand the difference
between ‘aspirations’ and ‘educational aspirations’, an important distinc-
tion, because some young people may not see school as instrumental to
achieving their aspirations (House of Commons 2014). It can also help
to identify gaps in life-experiences that can make individuals vulnerable
and target these wider ‘soft skills’ to prepare them for life after school
(Sammons et al. 2016; Centre for Social Justice 2014; Ofsted 2013b).
Several studies have identified ‘resilience’ to be a key element of this.
Stokes et al.’s review (2015) on resilience and attainment observed that
some young people appeared to be more resilient to effects of disadvan-

tage. This occurred when they were supported by schools that placed a
high value on diversity and inclusion, matched with high expectations for
all students and good engagement with families. Other school-based fac-
tors can be linked with increased resilience, especially a sense of ‘belong-
ing’ and ‘well-being’ (O’Brien and Bowles 2013; Kirk et al. 2012; Dyson
et al. 2010), although these may be seen by teachers as less of a priority
than academic achievement, creating what O’Brien and Bowles describe
as a ‘blind spot’ in schools’ practice (2013: 3).
Successful schools make evidence-based decisions. They consider a
wide range of evidence, beyond achievement data, that drill down into
issues and relationships. This provides a rich understanding of how to
overcome barriers to achievement (Ainscow 2016; Sharpe et al. 2015;
Ofsted 2013b). Wider research studies can supplement local knowl-
edge and offer broader perspectives on common topics of concern, like
that of Sammons et al. (2016) who found links between adolescents’
academic self-concept and aspirations with A-level achievement, and
Morrison Gutman and Vorhaus (2012) who identified the Key Stages at
which boys, girls and those eligible for FSM made the most academic
progress. International initiatives, such as the Harlem Children’s Zone
(HCZ), can also provide useful new ideas for schools to consider. HCZ
developed successful strategies to overcome young people’s resist-
ance to attending college. Many of the students they worked with lived
in severely disadvantaged situations; they were keen to leave school as
soon as possible, find employment and earn their own money. HCZ staff
offered enrichment activities to make them ‘post-school ready’ and in
particular, provided support into college through accompanying them
to open days. They also gave year-round support while the young peo-
ple were studying at college, offering internships and work experience,
and postgraduate career planning (HCZ 2015). Although these activities
might be viewed as too extensive for individual schools to deliver, they
could provide a basis for smaller-scale targeted support, or be offered
through wider school and community partnerships.
Post-compulsory education choices are often affected by inequal-
ity and disadvantage. Young people from middle-class backgrounds
are more likely to experience a smooth transition between their per-
sonal ‘worlds’ and other settings, unlike those from working-class back-
grounds, who are more likely to feel that they must lose their identity
and become someone different to succeed, especially if they consider
18 G. Richards
attending university (Perry and Francis 2010). In many cases, this is

exacerbated, not by a lack of access to information, but a lack of help to
interpret it and support to take the next steps (Shukla 2016). Schools’
role in providing this may be hindered by a number of factors. Firstly,
this student group do not always understand the importance of attain-
ment as a limiting or enhancing factor on employment opportunities, so
their desire to be with friends can induce some to select courses in which
they have no actual interest and create a negative effect later on their
completion rates, results and career options (Callan et al. 2009). Equally
important is young people’s capacity to manage self-identity within dif-
ferent ‘worlds’. Conflicting demands can create pressure as they attempt
to balance a perceived necessity to remain loyal to their ‘roots’ where
everyone knows them and they are ‘somebody’, with enjoying a sense of
accomplishment in a new life (Mattys 2013). This position as a ‘strad-
dler’ (Lubrano 2004) can give young people a sense of loss and discom-
fort as they struggle to cope with parents who wish for them to do well
but still be ‘recognisable’, and friends who reject them for aspiring to a
different life. The consequences of these experiences can increase feel-
ings of self-doubt, of being an ‘imposter’ and ‘living a double life’, where
internal voices remind them to ‘know your place’, despite having the
confidence to do well (Mattys 2013). Much of this is outside schools’
reach to influence, but an understanding of the powerful impact of these
factors on their students’ life-decisions should inform the way that teach-
ers seek to work with families and communities to support aspirations.
2.5 Conclusion
Concerns about white working-class boys’ underachievement has contin-
ued to underplay the significance of girls’ education experiences within
the UK and internationally (Stokes et al. 2015; Cobbett 2014; House of
Commons 2014; Frances 2010), side-lining the ‘less noticed, but equally
potent disaffection of working class girls and their educational neglect’
(Reay 2009: 28). These girls are described by Callan et al. (2009) as
often truanting ‘in their heads’—silent within schools, not contribut-
ing, not causing trouble, but ‘hiding their dissatisfaction behind a veil of
compliance’ (Fisher 2014: 151).
Other studies identified that ‘success’ seemed to require girls to
meet an ever-expanding set of expectations that often generated ten-
sions between academic achievement and social identity. Some faced
a relentless demand to be successful in everything they did, creating a

situation where, as Jackson et al. (2010: 12) described: ‘there is no let-
up in the hothouse of some girls’ worlds’. Others attempted to manage
competing demands from school and their local friendship groups by
downplaying their academic ability. Balancing the apparent contradic-
tions between being ‘educationally successful’ and a ‘successful attractive
girl’ demanded hard work on the part of girls to conform to ever-chang-
ing norms set by the powerful groups they mixed with inside of school
and within their local community (Cobbett 2014). Bloom (2013) char-
acterised this as the ‘struggle to become the perfect girl’ where notions
of being a ‘good girl’ needed to be merged with the ideals of femininity
called for by their adult worlds. Pressure to fit into popular groups often
resulted in girls lowering their expectations and self-esteem as they inter-
nalised peers’ expectations to be popular with boys, fashionable, sociable
and not appear too clever (Hinkleman 2013; Paechter and Clark 2010).
This process, described as ‘girling’ by Francis (2010) placed girls in the
difficult position of having to be seen to prioritise social, rather than aca-
demic, goals. Some were more adept at this than others and rather than
proudly displaying their intellect, downplayed this aspect of themselves
when they were around boys (Hinkleman 2013). Girls do rebel against
these demands with some challenging stereotypical ‘girly’ behaviour by
presenting themselves as ‘laddish’, but where this includes a stance that it
isn’t ‘cool’ to work and misbehaviour, it can contribute to further under-
achievement (Allan 2010).
All of these tensions challenge schools’ assumptions that students will
invest considerable time and effort outside of school in order to be aca-
demically successful. Teachers and schools want to help their students,
but are often unaware of the nuances affecting their individual lives.
This limits the effectiveness of strategies to expand post-school hori-
zons where there is a lack of sensitivity about how these may be influ-
enced by peer pressures and family circumstances (Staki and Baily 2015).
All girls need to believe they can achieve their dreams and that teach-
ers, alongside other adults in their lives, will help to prepare them for
whatever they might face in pursuit of these (Hinkleman 2013). While
this support may be common with that also made available to boys, par-
ticular aspects should address known challenges for working-class girls.
Attention needs to be paid to ‘classroom ecology’ so that girls are not
sidelined and their ambitions neglected (Fisher 2014). If they are to
overcome traditional and stereotyped expectations, they need to better
20 G. Richards
understand careers, progression routes, implications for long-term earn-

ing, and if wanted, how these fit with parenthood. Schools could help
them achieve this by strengthening teachers’ knowledge and understand-
ing of the ways in which they can provide innovative opportunities for
girls, combined with sensitive mentoring to overcome barriers and build
resilience. Success will depend on partnerships with families and their
communities, so that aspirations are jointly nurtured and enable girls to
have a sense of achievement, unspoiled by competing expectations.
References
Achievement for All. (2016a). Why we exist. www.afaeducation.org. Accessed 29
Sept 2016.
Action for Children. (2010). Growing up. Supporting young people to a successful
adulthood. Watford: Action for Children.
Ainscow, M. (2016). Collaboration as a strategy for promoting equity in educa-
tion: Possibilities and barriers. Journal of Professional Capital and Community,
1(2), 159–172.
Allan, A. (2010). ‘Rebels’, ‘bad girls’ and ‘misbehaviours’: Exploring ‘undera-
chievement’ in single-sex, selective schooling. In C. Jackson, C. Paechter, &
E. Renold (Eds.), Girls and education 3–16. Continuing concerns, new agendas
(pp. 50–61). Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Andrews, J., Robinson, D., & Hutchinson, J. (2017). Closing the Gap? Trends in
Educational Attainment and Disadvantage. London: Education Policy Unit.
Beatriz, P. (2013). Equity and quality in education: Supporting disadvan-
taged students and schools. Closing the gaps for Vulnerable Learners
Nottinghamshire County Council Conference (21/11/13), Eastwood:
Nottinghamshire.
Blandford, S., & Knowles, C. (2013). Achievement for all. Raising aspirations,
access and achievement. London: Bloomsbury Education.
Bloom, A. (2013, April 12). The struggle to be the perfect girl. Times
Educational Supplement , pp. 14, 15.
Bottero, W. (2009) ‘Class in the 21st Century’ In Sveinsson, K. (Eds.), Who
cares about the White Working Class?. London: The Runnymede Trust.
Callan, M., Kinsella, R., Graham, J., Turczuk, O., & Finch, S. (2009). Pupils
with declining attainment at key stages 3 and 4. London: Department for
Children, Schools and Families.
Centre for Social Justice. (2014). Closing the divide. Tackling education inequal-
ity in England. London: Centre for Social Justice.
Clark, S., & Paechter, C. (2006). ‘What she said’: How girls mobilize power and
knowledge in classrooms and playgrounds. London: ESRC Seminar 2.
Cobbett, M. (2014). Being ‘nuff’ and ‘scudding class’: Exploring girls’ and boys’
perceptions of popularity, gender and achievement in Antiguan secondary
schools. British Educational Research Journal, 40(1), 45–62.
Cummings, C., Laing, K., Law, J., McLaughlin, J., Papps, I., Todd, L. &
Woolner, P. (2012). Can changing aspirations and attitudes impact on edu-
cational achievement? A review of interventions. York: Joseph Rowntree
Foundation.
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. (2014). National strategy for
access and student success in higher education. London: Crown Copyright.
Department for Communities and Local Government (DfCG). (2015). The
English indices of deprivation 2015. London: Department for Communities
and Local Government.
Desforges, C., & Abouchaar, A. (2003). The impact of parental involvement,
parental support and family education on pupil achievement and adjustment: A
literature Review. London: Department for Education and Skills.
Dyson, A., Gallannaugh, F., Humphry, N., Lendrum, A., & Wigelsworth, M.
(2010). Narrowing the gap in educational achievement and improving emo-
tional resilience for children and young people with additional needs. London:
Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People’s Services
(C4EO).
Elliott, J. (2010). Imagine a gendered future: Children’s essays from the national
child development study in 1969. Sociology, 44(6), 1073–1090.
Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) (2009). Staying On. London:
Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Feinstein, L., & Sabates, R. (2006). Does education have an impact on mothers’
attitudes and behaviours. London: Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits
of Learning, Institute of Education.
Fisher, H. (2014). ‘It would help if the teacher helps you a bit more … instead
of going to the brainiest who don’t need a lot of help’: Exploring the per-
spectives of dissatisfied girls on the periphery of primary classroom life. British
Educational Research Journal, 40(1), 150–169.
Flouri, E. (2006). Parental interest in children’s education, children’s self-
esteem and locus of control, and later educational attainment: Twenty-six
year follow-up of the 1970 British birth cohort. British Journal of Educational
Psychology, 76, 41–55.
Flouri, E., & Panourgia, C. (2012). Do primary school children’s aspirations mat-
ter? The relationship between family poverty, career aspirations, and emotional
and behavioural problems. London: Centre for Longitudinal Studies.
Foskett, N., Dyke, M., & Maringe, F. (2003). The influence of school on the
decision to participate inlearning. Post-16, September 11 in Heriot-Watt
University, Edinburgh.
22 G. Richards
Francis, B. (2010). Girls achievement: Contesting the positioning of girls as the

relational ‘achievers’ to ‘boys’ underachievement. In C. Jackson, C. Paechter,
& E. Renold (Eds.), Girls and education 3–16. Continuing concerns, new
agendas (pp. 21–37). Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Francis, B., & Paechter, C. (2015). The problem of gender categorisation:
Addressing dilemmas past and present in gender and education research.
Gender and Education, 27(7), 1–15.
Fuller, C. (2009). Sociology, gender and educational aspirations. Girls and their
ambitions. London: Continuum.
Gorad, S., Huat See, B., & Davies, P. (2012). The impact of attitudes and aspi-
rations on educational attainment and participation. York: Joseph Rowntree
Foundation.
Harlem Children’s Zone. (2015). Presentation, Inspiring Leaders Leadership
Conference, Nottingham 02/10/15.
Hattie, J., Masters, D., & Birch, K. (2016). Visible learning into action:
International case studies of impact. Abingdon: Routledge.
Higgins, S. (2013). Using research evidence to support effective use of the pupil
premium: The Sutton Trust/EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit. Closing the
gaps for Vulnerable Learners Conference, Nottinghamshire County Council
21/11/13.
Hinkleman, L. (2013). Girls without limits. London: Sage.
House of Commons Education Committee. (2014). Underachievement in educa-
tion by white working class children. First Report of Session 2014–2015. London:
The Stationary Office Ltd.
Hutchinson, J., Dunford, J., & Treadwell, M. (2016). Divergent pathways:
The disadvantage gap, accountability and the pupil premium. London: The
Education Policy Institute.
Jackson, C. (2006). Lads and ladettes in school. Gender and a fear of failure.
Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Jackson, C. (2010). Demanding time: Balancing school and out-of-school
demands. In C. Jackson, C. Paechter, & E. Renold (Eds.), Girls and educa-
tion 3–16. Continuing concerns, new agendas (pp. 157–169). Maidenhead:
Open University Press.
Khattab, N. (2015). Students’ aspirations, expectations and school achievement:
What really matters? British Educational Research Journal, 41(5), 731–748.
Kirk, C., Lewis, R., Scott, A., Wren, D., Nilsen, C., & Colvin, D. (2012).
Exploring the educational aspirations-expectations gap in eighth grade
students: Implications for educational interventions and school reform.
Educational Studies, 38(5), 507–519.
Knowles, G. (2011). Class, equality and achievement. In G. Knowles & V.

Lander (Eds.), Diversity, equality and achievement in education (pp. 65–80).
London: Sage.
Lacey, P. (2001). Support partnerships: Collaboration in action. Lindon: David
Fulton.
Lubrano, A. (2004). Limbo: Blue-collar roots: White-collar dreams. Hoboken:
Wiley.
Mattys, M. (2013). Cultural capital, identity and social mobility. The life course of
working-class university graduates. Abingdon: Routledge.
Morrison Gutman, L., & Vorhaus, J. (2012). The impact of pupil behaviour and
wellbeing on educational outcomes. London: Childhood Wellbeing Research
Centre.
OECD. (2014). PISA 2012 results in focus. www.oecd.org/pisa. Accessed 30 Mar
2017.
Ofsted. (2011). Girls’ career aspirations. Manchester: Ofsted.
Ofsted. (2013a). Schools. Manchester: Ofsted.
Ofsted. (2013b). Unseen children: Access and achievement 20 years on.
Manchester: Ofsted.
O’Brien, K., & Bowles, T. (2013). The importance of belonging for adolescents in
secondary school settings, social and behavioural sciences, eISSN: 2301-2218.
Paechter, C., & Clark, S. (2010). Schoolgirls and power/knowledge economies:
Using knowledge to mobilise social power. In C. Jackson, C. Paechter, & E.
Renold (Eds.), Girls and education 3–16. Continuing concerns, new agendas
(pp. 117–128). Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Paterson, H. (2014). Look back in anger: The miners’ strike 30 years on.
Nottingham: Five Leaves.
Perry, E., & Francis, B. (2010). The social class gap for educational achievement:
A review of the literature. www.researchgate.net/publication/26374505.
Accessed 1 Sept 2016.
Plummer, G. (2000). Failing working–class girls. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham.
Reay, D. (2009). Making sense of white working class underachievement. In
K. Sveinsson (Ed.), Who cares about the white working class? (pp. 22–28).
London: The Runnymede Trust.
Sammons, P., Toth, K., & Sylva, K. (2016). Believing in better. How aspirations
and academic self concept shape young people’s outcomes. London: Sutton Trust.
Save the Children. (2012). Closing the achievement gap in secondary schools.
London: Save the Children.
Sharpe, C., Macleod, S., Bernardinelli, D., Skipp, A., & Higgins, S. (2015).
Supporting the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. Briefing for school leaders.
London: DfE.
24 G. Richards
St Clair, R., Kintrea, K., & Houston, M. (2011). The influence of parents, places
and poverty on educational attitudes and aspirations. York: Joseph Rowntree
Foundation.
St Clair, R., Kintra, K., & Houston, M. (2013). Silver bullet or red herring? New
evidence of aspirations in education. Oxford Review of Education, 36(6), 719–
738.
Stewart, W. (2012, April and 12). The ‘good school’ myth. Times Educational
Supplement, 06, 23–26.
Stokes, S., Rolfe, H., Hudson-Sharp, N., & Stevens, S. (2015). A compendium of
evidence on ethnic minority resilience to the effects of deprivation on attainment.
London: DfE.
Shukla, A. (2016, Jan and 27). Raising attainment—The pupil premium, char-
acter education and educational enrichment. London: Westminster Forum,
Social Mobility and Education.
Staki, S., & Baily, S. (2015). Educating adolescent girls around the globe.
Challenges and opportunities. Abingdon: Routledge.
Sutton Trust. (2011). What prospects for mobility in the UK? A cross-national
study of educational inequalities and their implications for future education
and earnings mobility. London: The Sutton Trust.
Sutton Trust. (2017). The glass ceiling: Increasing access to leading professions.
London: Sutton Trust.
Ward, M. (2015). From labouring to learning. Working-class masculinities, educa-
tion and de-industrialisation. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
CHAPTER 3
Methodology
Abstract This chapter explains the origins of the research study and
how its scope developed. This includes a description of the local social
and geographical context, with an analysis of the impact these had on
the schools involved. It describes how each school worked with girls and
how this was judged to have affected their educational achievement. The
chapter concludes with an account of the research approach and data
collection methods, covering the focus of each set of interviews and the
associated ethical considerations.
Keywords Research · Context · Methodology · Participants · Schools
3.1 Introduction
This research study focused on the experiences of girls who lived in a
community where severe disadvantage after the closure of the local min-
ing industry had been further compounded by wider aspects of the UK
recession. Lack of local employment opportunities had affected young
people’s aspirations; many were living in families where men struggled to
find work and women had become the main wage earner through taking
up low paid part-time jobs. This had created a ‘new world’ within their
community, replacing the traditional gender-based roles of males carry-
ing out heavy manual labour to financially support families and women
becoming mothers and homemakers soon after leaving school. Schools

DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-60900-3_3
26 G. Richards
then faced significant challenges as they sought to inspire and support

their students into making ambitious decisions about their adult lives.
It was within this context that the research took place. A County
Council’s Education Department had expressed concerns about girls’
lack of achievement in two of the community’s primary schools, and
these girls’ experiences were investigated. Their responses led to an
expansion of the research field to include another primary school and
two secondary schools, and follow-up interviews, six years later.
3.2 The Schools
The research was conducted in two stages, the first of which was carried
out initially in two primary schools located within the community
where the girls’ low educational achievement had been specifically high-
lighted as a matter of concern during their Ofsted inspections. Both
schools had been rated ‘Inadequate’ and requiring ‘Special Measures’
because they failed to provide students with an acceptable standard of
education. Primary School 1 (PS1) was described by Ofsted as of aver-
age size, where children entered with levels of knowledge and skills that
were above average for their age, but this was not maintained. In par-
ticular, girls’ underperformance had been identified through national
testing and the school’s limited response criticised. This had affected
the school population, with significant numbers of girls having been
moved by their parents to another school when the Ofsted report was
made public. Primary School 2 (PS2) was described by Ofsted as being
larger than average, with educational progress being significantly below
most other schools. Girls’ achievement was reported to be exception-
ally low, particularly in classes where boys formed the majority and
dominated lessons, leaving girls as compliant learners whose needs were
not being met. Like PS1, the school was criticised for consistently fail-
ing to address this. Students in both schools were from mainly White
British backgrounds, with few from minority ethnic backgrounds. Ofsted
acknowledged the local contextual difficulties each school had encoun-
tered, but rejected any suggestion that these were the root cause of lack
of achievement over which schools had no control.
The research then expanded to include another Primary School (PS3)
and two secondary schools serving the same locality. The primary school
was selected because it was situated within the same community and the
girls were achieving well, so it provided an opportunity for comparison
3 METHODOLOGY 27
with PS1 and PS2. Ofsted described this school as being larger than aver-
age, with a catchment area of social and economic deprivation that had
mainly White British pupils. It rated the school as ‘Satisfactory’ with ris-
ing standards, where teachers were particularly successful in accelerating
student progress and closing educational gaps.
Issues raised about aspirations within the primary school interviews
led to the inclusion of two secondary schools where girls usually pro-
gressed on to after their primary education. One of these schools was
located within the community (SS1) and most girls attended this,
whereas the other school (SS2) was situated outside of the local area
and was generally considered to be an ‘exceptional’ choice. SS1 had
received an Ofsted inspection rating of ‘Satisfactory’. Their students were
described as mainly from White British, socially deprived backgrounds,
with below average educational standards when they entered the school.
Ofsted reported that teaching was generally satisfactory, and educa-
tional support was good; career guidance was delivered well, in consulta-
tion with parents, but it was noted that the school did not develop key
skills for employment to high enough levels that would benefit students’
later working lives. SS2 had received an Ofsted rating of ‘Good’. It was
described as drawing its mainly White British student population from
a very wide area that was, in general, significantly advantaged in socio-
economic terms. Attainment levels on admission to the school were
identified as very high with subsequent progress described as being sat-
isfactory. A wide range of extra-curricular activities were available to stu-
dents and these, with good procedures for support and careers guidance,
were seen as providing an ‘excellent’ preparation for adult life.
By the second stage of the research study, changes had taken place in
the quality of each school’s education provision, although the composi-
tion of their student intake remained the same. Over the six years, PS1
and PS2 had steadily improved to achieve their most recent Ofsted rating
of ‘Good’, with both receiving specific mention that girls’ achievement
was now good. PS3 had also achieved a ‘Good’ rating, and their hard
work in engaging families to support student learning was praised. SS1
had been re-inspected four times during the study, with Ofsted reporting
a downward trend from the original ‘Satisfactory’ to ‘Inadequate’. The
inspections particularly focused on the school’s inadequate teaching that
had contributed to disadvantaged learners’ lack of attainment, citing the
significant achievement gap between them and their peers in other UK
schools. In contrast, SS2 had been subsequently rated as ‘Outstanding’
28 G. Richards
by Ofsted because students were now making outstanding, rather than

satisfactory, academic progress from their already advantaged start.
This overall school context was a significant element of the girls’ expe-
riences. Some were originally educated in a school where girls were not
achieving as they should, although similar peers in another school were
doing much better. Where this occurred in a primary school, it was gen-
erally compounded by their secondary school experience, with SS1 hav-
ing only ‘satisfactory’ teaching and not providing enough development
of employability skills, and SS2 only achieving ‘satisfactory’ academic
progress whatever an individual’s starting point. Later improvements
in the primary schools’ education provision were not matched by both
secondary schools. While those who progressed to SS2 now had a sig-
nificant opportunity to build on their previous achievement and secure
a wide range of post-school career pathways, the majority of girls went
to SS1, which offered an education that was viewed as inadequate and
exacerbated disadvantaged students’ lack of opportunities. The ways in
which these differences affected the girls were shown in their interview
responses over the course of the study and are explored in later chap-
ters within this book. What became obvious from their experiences was
that, however, a school was judged externally, individual girls had dif-
ferent experiences of what was provided. This phenomenon was some-
thing Hattie (2009) identified through his meta-analyses of research
studies about achievement. He found that it was the variance within
schools that accounted for students’ differing levels of achievement and
while the quality of teaching and curriculum was important, a key fac-
tor was also the effect of school culture. It was this meta-analysis and
other associated research reports (Hattie 2016, 2013) that provided an
additional reference point for analysis of participant interviews.
3.3 Participants
The main participants of the research study were girls. A total of fifty-
three Year 6 girls (10–11-year-olds) from three primary schools
comprised the sample, which included six from PS1, thirty-four
from PS2 and thirteen from PS3. A further thirty-six Year 11 girls
(15–16-year-olds) participated from secondary schools, seventeen from
SS1 and nineteen from SS2. In each of the five schools, all girls within
the selected year group were invited to take part in the research, and
every girl that consented to be interviewed was included. This gave a
sample that comprised all of the girls attending PS1 and 2, thirteen out
3 METHODOLOGY 29
of twenty-two from PS3, 11% from SS1 and 16% from SS2. All of the
girls from the primary schools and SS1 lived within the ex-mining com-
munity, unlike SS2, where only two girls from the area chose to be inter-
viewed. The decision to focus on Year 6 and Year 11 girls was made on
the basis that Year 6 and Year 11 are transitional years in schools: the
Year 6 girls were making decisions about which secondary school they
would progress into next year, and the Year 11 girls were selecting path-
ways into careers and further education. In both school phases, the girls
would have had experienced between five and six years of their school’s
education offer and so could draw on this during their interviews.
Staff from each school also participated in the first stage of the study.
Head teachers were asked to identify a member of staff with responsibil-
ity for either Year 6 (primary schools) or Year 11 (secondary schools) and
one or two other staff who had worked at the school for a long time and
knew the local community well. The intention of selecting this group
was to provide a range of perspectives on the opportunities available to
the girls with whom they worked. This provided a staff group sample of
thirteen that included five Heads of Year, four senior teachers and four
teaching assistants. This sample reflected the diversity of their experiences
where for example, some staff met two of the criteria: one Year Head was
also the longest serving member of staff in the school and one teach-
ing assistant had grown up within the local community and previously
attended the school as a pupil.
Issues raised during the first stage of the research led to a decision
to seek wider perspectives about choosing to go to university. In many
ways, this was an additional aspect to the original intentions of the study,
but it offered insight into factors that seemed to have an impact on sev-
eral of the Year 11 girls’ post-school plans. Students from the university
situated closest to the girls’ community were invited to volunteer for an
interview about their experiences if they self-identified as coming from
the ex-mining area and were a first generation entrant to university from
their family. Just one woman volunteered to be interviewed and her
experience was included in the study.
3.4 Methodology and Data Gathering

The research study started as an investigation into the experiences of
girls in two primary schools. Interviews were carried out to collect data
on their aspirations and what had influenced these. The responses from
this initial stage led to the inclusion of girls from another three schools,
30 G. Richards
where the intention broadened to learn more from a wider group of par-
ticipants about their situations, aspirations and wider life choices. The
first interviews were undertaken by two female university lecturers who
shared the roles of leading interviews and note-taking. Both had expe-
riences that provided them with an element of ‘insider understanding’,
having attended small village schools and were the first from their fami-
lies to attend university. This, and their previous experiences as school
teachers, offered a sense of familiarity with the situations described by
the girls and their staff.
Originally, the research study was expected to have been completed
after the first stage, but the girls’ responses led to questions about
whether they would be able to realise their aspirations. After the group
interviews, all of the schoolgirls agreed to be re-contacted. It was
decided with the primary groups that this would be when they had com-
pleted their secondary education and with the secondary groups, after
they had completed further education or vocational training and settled
into adult life. This developed the research study further and the process
to re-interview the girls started six years later, with the aim of discover-
ing whether they had achieved their aspirations and what experiences had
affected this.
Data collection took place through small group semi-structured inter-
views held at each of the participating schools. For the first stage, the
head teacher was asked to let the girls select their own groups, so they
felt comfortable discussing their aspirations and experiences: the group
sizes varied between two and six, with the majority involving four girls.
Although the interview questions differed for the primary and second-
ary schoolgirl groups, both started with the same question, ‘What do
you like about school?’ This provided an opportunity to discuss school
generally and contextualise their responses to the rest of the questions.
Following this first question, the Year 6 girls were then asked, ‘What do
you think you will be doing when you are your parents’ age?’ Responses
were probed by asking whether they viewed this to be a good thing and
if so, how would they achieve this, or if not, what could they do about
it? They were also asked what they wanted to do when they grew up and
how their studies at secondary school would fit with this.
The Year 11 girls were asked similar questions. After the first gen-
eral question about school, these focused on their post-school plans and
what had influenced these. They were asked: ‘What do you think you
will be doing when you are twenty?’ with follow-up questions on what
3 METHODOLOGY 31
they thought their adult lives would be like, if they had always aspired
to do this, and if so why? Any who had changed their minds were asked
how and why it had changed. Further probing focused on what the girls
had done so far to enable them to achieve their goals and how others
around them had responded to this. At the end of the interviews, both
the Year 6 and Year 11 groups were asked to individually complete two
cards where they anonymously expressed their ‘Hopes’ and ‘Fears’ for
the future.
Staff participants from each school were interviewed individually,
using a different set of questions for primary and secondary to address
aspects of aspirations and support that were relevant for the age group
with which they worked. Primary staff were asked about issues of early
aspirations and support: questions focused on what the girls were likely
to do when they eventually left school and influences on this. Secondary
staff were asked about changing aspirations, influences and support.
Their questions focused on their experiences of what the girls did when
they left school, their understanding about girls’ aspirations and what
influenced these, and how the school supported them.
The female university student’s interview focused on her decision to
undertake a university degree, her experiences on it and the reactions of
her family and friends. She was also asked whether she had any regrets,
and in the light of her experiences, what advice she would give to other
young women in a similar situation.
The second stage of the research study started six years after the origi-
nal interviews. This was carried out by one of the original university lec-
turers, with support from a research assistant and note-taker, as the other
interviewer had moved on to other university responsibilities. The focus
this time was only on the schoolgirls and involved semi-structured inter-
views that were conducted individually or with small groups that were
again, self-selected by the girls. Some of the individual interviews took
place by telephone because girls had moved away from the area. The
rest of the individual and group interviews took place in the secondary
schools, where girls were either still attending as sixth formers or lived
in the same locality, so were easily accessible. Contacting the ex-primary
schoolgirls was relatively straightforward as several were still studying in
one of the two secondary schools. Tracking down the others and the ex-
secondary schoolgirl cohort proved more difficult and extended the study
by a further two years. The secondary schools were very supportive, but
key staff who had known the girls had left and destination records were
32 G. Richards
limited. In the end, it was the specifically different ways in which the two
schools operated that enabled forty-six of the original eight-nine girls to
be re-interviewed and further information about another eighteen to be
collected. Most of the girls who had attended SS1 still lived within the
local community. Once some had been interviewed after direct contact
with the school, a ‘snowball’ effect provided details of others through
shared friendship groups and family networks. SS2 had more detailed
alumni records and although most of the girls had moved away from the
area to attend university and work, they had kept contact through social
media and maintained links with staff at the school.
Throughout both stages of the research, ethics were a vital considera-
tion. Within a tight-knit community where individuals and school details
were well known, it was important to ensure that participants could not
be identified and were confident in the way that research processes were
carried out. This was especially a matter of concern for the schools as
they had been expected by the County Council’s Education Department
to take part in the research study, but would not be able to veto anything
their pupils said about them. The age of the girls was also important.
At the start of the research, not all of the girls were adults, so parental
consent was sought. Details of the research study and how this would
be conducted ethically as set out by the British Educational Research
Association guidelines were provided to the parents of all of the girls in
each school. In particular, they were assured of their right to refuse to
take part that all responses would be kept anonymous and that all data
would be stored securely and destroyed after the study had been com-
pleted and published. Only the girls whose parents had given permission
for them to take part were then provided with age-appropriate informa-
tion about the research so that they could also give their own consent
to be involved. The follow-up interviews took place when the girls were
aged between eighteen and twenty-three and so were able to give their
own informed consent, after again being given the details of the research
and ethical approach. The school staff and university participant were all
adults, so able to give individual, informed consent.
3.5 Data Analysis
Data from the first stage interviews were analysed in two different ways.
Firstly, by individual school to identify the themes they specifically raised
and then across the schools to compare similarities and differences.
3 METHODOLOGY 33
It was this process that led to analysis of SS1’s GCSE progress data and
the inclusion of an interview with a female university student to discover
her more personal perspective about achievement that involved successful
higher education study.
The final stage of the research study provided additional data that
were analysed again in two ways, by individual school and comparison of
each girl’s aspirations with their current situation. This provided themes
that were compared with other published research and recent gov-
ernment reports on ‘closing the [achievement] gap’ (see Chap. 2) and
where relevant, the earlier interview with the female university student.
3.6 Conclusion
The research field grew as data were analysed and raised wider issues.
Throughout the course of the study, a key element to the successful
engagement of everyone involved was good relationships. These pro-
vided links between schools, staff and especially the girls, where the
‘snowball’ effect enabled us to reach many more for the last stage of
interviews than could have been achieved through official school chan-
nels. Although the County Council’s Education Department was able
to ensure schools took part in the study, it was important to establish
trust so that the research activities were seen as supportive in developing
better opportunities for their students. This was particularly sensitive for
those schools that had received poor Ofsted reports, but their welcome
of the study, openness and professional approach provided essential links
and information that enhanced the whole research experience.
References
Hattie, J., & Anderman, E. (2013). (Eds) International Guide to Student
Achievement. New York: Routledge.
Hattie, J., Masters, D., & Birch, K. (2016). Visible learning into action:
International case studies of impact. Abingdon: Routledge.
CHAPTER 4
Aspirations and Expectations
Abstract This chapter reports on data collected from 56 primary

schoolgirls and 36 secondary schoolgirls. It reports on the first stage
interviews from three primary schools, identifying the girls’ aspirations,
hopes and fears for the future as they prepared to move up into second-
ary school. It then reports on findings from the first stage interviews at
the two secondary schools. These identified the girls’ aspirations, hopes
and fears for the future as they prepared for transitions within their
school lives. Key themes are identified and explored, considering in par-
ticular, the strong influence of family and teachers on their aspirations.
Keywords Girls · Aspirations · Dreams · Fears · Future
4.1 Introduction
This chapter explores the aspirations held by a group of fifty-three Year 6
girls (10–11-year olds) from three primary schools (PS1, PS2 and PS3)
and a group of thirty-six Year 11 girls (15–16-year olds) from two sec-
ondary schools (SS1 and SS2). The primary schoolgirls and the group
from SS1 all lived in the ex-mining community, but the girls from SS2
also came from other areas, reflecting the school’s more socially and
economically diverse student population. The interviews focused on
their aspirations and expectations for the future, and how these had
been influenced by others. Teaching staff from each school provided

DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-60900-3_4
36 G. Richards
additional perspectives regarding the impact of the local community con-

text on decision-making and support available for the girls. This offered
valuable information about historical developments that had occurred
within the area and on occasion, demonstrated a different view from the
girls about how school life was experienced. This chapter separates the
findings from the primary and secondary schoolgirls. Both of these sec-
tions have a discussion section that considers key themes which are then
drawn together in the final conclusion.
4.2 Primary Schoolgirls
4.2.1 Views About School and the Future

All of the girls enjoyed school, although their responses suggested that
this was mainly due to spending time with friends, rather than what they
were learning. Most described how friends provided support against
troublesome peer pressure and when they got ‘stuck’ in lessons, suggest-
ing that they were already starting to develop management strategies for
the different demands being made on them. Some subjects were identi-
fied as particularly enjoyable across all schools because of the activities
associated with them, namely maths, science, literacy, sport and art. All
of the girls had attended an open day for their intended secondary school
and were expecting to enjoy the challenges that this new experience
would bring in the next few months.
Reflecting on the future brought a wide range of responses from
the girls that demonstrated only minimal differences between the three
schools. It appeared that despite Ofsted’s judgement on the variation in
quality of education they were receiving, all of the girls had high aspira-
tions for their futures. Some wanted to become teachers, nurses, vets,
paramedics, accountants, geologists, architects, lawyers, interior design-
ers and midwifes, having been inspired by family members already work-
ing in these careers or careers talks at school. Others had been influenced
by family experiences and the media; they aspired to become beauticians,
hairdressers, singers, actresses and being discovered on television talent
competitions like ‘X-Factor’. Several of this group were already attend-
ing local weekend classes in art and music theatre, taking their first steps
towards achieving their dreams. Some were very clear that they wanted
a different life from their parents, making comments which possibly
reflected issues from home. These ranged from wanting to be a ‘Fun
4 ASPIRATIONS AND EXPECTATIONS 37
Mum’ and not wanting to work with ‘dead people’ [parents were funeral
directors], to more expansive responses: ‘I’ll not do too much drinking.
Don’t want to ruin my body’, ‘I want to be an accountant, [but] you get
attracted and then you end up with a boyfriend and a family’ and ‘I want
to live locally, not move somewhere rough where the police are about and
[there are] people with knives’.
Most of the girls had discussed career aspirations with their parents
and found them supportive. None had told their teachers, but several
said that they talked about their futures with friends during ‘sleep-overs’.
For a few of these from PS1 and PS3, this had included sharing dreams
about moving away from home to live in other countries because of holi-
day experiences or lifestyles suggested by television shows, with one girl
(Mary) describing this as wanting to ‘live life to the full, being adventur-
ous and going to explore the world’. All three school groups understood
the need for further study to achieve their chosen careers, but had no
idea what this would involve. The main difference between the schools
was an understanding of how future plans would fit with other aspects of
their lives. Most of the PS1 group did not consider having a partner and
family to be part of their adult life aspirations, which differed from the
other two primary school groups. At PS2, the girls spoke at length about
the need to fit work around having their own families, with one (Tyra)
describing her anticipated life as a paramedic: ‘I’ll be saving lives and
I’ll have a handsome husband with a ‘15 pack’ and blond babies’. Several
explicitly rejected the idea of marriage because they had experience of
divorce within their families, although they did want their own home to
enjoy having personal space. The girls from PS3 spoke more positively
about marriage, with several describing having a family with a husband
who would ‘earn good money’ or would ‘stay at home with the kids’ while
they pursued their own careers, and others spoke of moving to another
country to work.
When asked about their greatest ‘hopes’ and ‘fears’ for the future,
the girls again all made similar responses. They wanted to be working
in the jobs they were dreaming about, have a happy home life with chil-
dren and own a ‘big’ house. Some wrote about wanting to marry a mil-
lionaire or becoming a celebrity and others hoped to stay fit and healthy
throughout their life. The girls’ greatest fears were very detailed, seem-
ing to indicate early experiences that had already made an impact on
them. These included concerns about money: ‘I fear getting into debt
and not being able to pay the mortgage’; death: ‘My parents or other family
38 G. Richards
members die’; and relationships: ‘I meet the “wrong person” and lose my
friends and family’, ‘I will get a divorce or have a husband that hits me’,
‘My greatest fear is not to find a nice man, and he beats me up’.
4.2.2 Staff Views

Seven staff were interviewed about their experiences of girls’ aspirations
within the local community context and support provided by the school.
This all female group comprised a teaching assistant (TA) from each
school who knew the community well and the Year 6 teacher. In PS1 and
PS2, the Year 6 teacher was also a long-serving staff member and in PS3,
another teaching assistant joined the group as the long-serving member
of staff. Their responses covered similar themes about cultural expecta-
tions that were starting to change within the community and the ten-
sions these raised. What did differ was the way that their primary schools
dealt with the challenges they encountered as they sought to support
girls through this.
The two staff from PS1 expected that about half of the girls would
go to university because of ‘more equality in society … they know they’ll
get a better job’ (TA), although they expressed some concerns about this,
suggesting that girls were now under pressure to work rather than stay
at home and look after their family. The Year 6 teacher also commented
that she was surprised about girls who ‘have a “spurt” at secondary school
and then go to university’. Both staff identified the impact of the media
and challenging of gender stereotypes as major influences on girls’ aspi-
rations. They recognised that the school could do more to support the
girls through changing their current approach of ‘treating boys and girls
the same’ (Year 6 Teacher) to introducing more role models that could
increase knowledge about jobs available.
The staff from PS2 had noticed that girls’ aspirations were increasing
over recent years, due to changes in the community and recent school
initiatives; girls were now more aware of wider employment opportuni-
ties. This was partly due to different expectations where pit closures had
produced a need for women to contribute towards family finances and
partly because of the school’s newly introduced ‘Careers Education’ with
well-selected guest speakers, displays and Internet research activities. This
meant that although many were still seeking to work in the traditional
service industries linked to hairdressing, beauty and care, which resulted
in girls coming into school with ‘fake tans, nails done… inappropriate for
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
lahonneen kannon kumoon tahi ottaa hengiltä mahdollisesti eteen
sattuvan kirjavan kyyn.
On ollut kevät riistalle suotuisa, tuumii takalistoa kohti verkalleen

astuva vanhus, talvi verrattain vähäluminen ja kesä lämmin sekä
tarpeeksi sateinen. Merkeistä päättäen pitäisi kynä metsissä
löytymän, kynsi kaiken karvallinen Tapiolassa liikkuman.
Tarkasti katselee vorsmestari ympärilleen ja huomioita tekee hän

monenlaisia, milloin mitäkin muistikirjaansa merkiten. Pysähtyy hän
talvisen lumen tekemiä vahinkoja tarkastelemaan — paljonko puita
soreita on kinosten alle sortunut, montako lumen painamana
taittunut. Ja kaatuneen puun alle jääneen mäntynuorukaisen tuon
tuostakin pystyyn auttaa, nuoren näreen kohti valoa kasvamaan
kohottaa. Läheisessä aidassa tarkka silmänsä heti raon keksii, mistä
halkihuulisen jänönpojan on tapana viljelysmaille pujahtaa —
tarttunut on harmaja karva terävään puikkoon raon reunassa.
Huvitettuna hän tuonnempana katselee mäntypistiäisen toukkia,
jotka nuorien petäjien oksilla havuja syövät. Kuin sotamiehet ne
häntä yht'aikaa tervehtivät eturuumiinsa pystyyn nostaen. Sadottain
hän näitä vahinkoeläimiä maahan pudottaa muurahaisten saaliiksi.
Täältä hän lähtee toiskesäisen kulovalkean polttamille maille

katselemaan, missä määrin luonto on jaksanut haavojaan
parannella.
Suunnattoman kasken on eteenpäin rynkäisevä kulovalkea

ryskyen polttanut, laajan kadun tahi mahdottoman leveän mittarin
linjan on humiseva tuli metsää kulkiessaan itselleen aukonut. Aina
tuonne kauvas kohti sinimetsän pehmeäkaarteisia kukkuloita näyttää
nokista kuloa ulottuvan.
Juurellaan komottavia korventuneita mäntyjä, jotka kuivuneina
oksiaan avuttomina ojentelevat, mustia kantoja kuin maasta
nousseita peikkoja kaikkialla, jäkälistä sekä sammalista paljaita
kallioita, kaljuja kiviä tuhansittain ja taas tuhansittain mustassa
maassa — — —. Siellä täällä kaatuneen puun hiiltynyt runko,
oksistoineen kuolleen jättiläis-eläimen luurankoa muistuttaen —
paljon muuta ei tuli näy jälkeensä jättäneen. Kaukaa nähden näyttää
kaikki kuolleelta, kaikkea elämää vailla olevan.
Mutta ei niin lähellä!
Kun vorsmestari likenee, kuulee hän metsäkirvisen visertävän,

kivitaskun maiskuttavan tahi kulorastaan matalaäänisesti tärräävän.
Vilkkaita maakiitäjiä vilahtelee kimaltaen lämpimässä
auringonvalossa ja mustuneen kannon päässä nauttii iso
petokärpänen suojelevasta yhtäläisyydestä. Koivunkannot vihertävät
kuin Aaronin-sauvat ja pientä koivuntainta, hentoa haavanvesaa on
musta maa täynnä. Horsma punaviirinsä kohottaa ikäänkuin sanoen:
»tullaan sitä sysimäelläkin toimeen, eletään vaikka hiilikankahalla»,
keltaisen piiskun kultainen kukkavaltikka nuokkuu kilvan kastikkaan
ruskean röyhyn kanssa ja vihertävinä tuuman korkuisina
havutupsuina kohoavat hentojen männyntaimien lukuisat
sirkkalehdet palaneesta maasta. On tänne jo muitakin tulokkaita
ehtinyt — yhä laajemmalta kulon laitoja valloittavat. Etuvartiona
kulkee kukkiva kanerva, vakoojia lähettää ajuruoho, jonka
sinipunaiset kukkaläikät hietaisen lehmipolun varrella ryydinhajua
tuoksuvat. Ja pääjoukkona tulevat ne, joilla on haivenelliset
hedelmät. Täällä jäkkärät ja kissankäpälät villaisia mykeröitään
tuudittavat, täällä on kangasvuokko kukkinut, täällä härjänsilmät,
keltanot ja monet muut voittoisasti eteenpäin tunkevat. Mutta
kauvempana metsänlaidasta yhä vielä musta erämaa havuneulasten
harvaan peittämänä kolkkona levenee.
Mutta on luonnolla kulovalkean surullisen näyn jälkeen

viehättävääkin näkemistä tarjolla.
Kankaalle vorsmestari nyt nousee, missä nopealentoiset

nuolihaukat kimakasti kii-kii-kii-kii kiijaavat ja kukkiva kanerva uhkaa
ruohottoman polun kokonaan peittää.
Kaikkialle vaatimaton kasvi kukkiensa ujon sinipunan levittää,

ilonväreihin karun hietamaan kilometrittäin pukee ja hunajan
tuoksulla tulijaa tervehtii. Kesän juhlaa viettää kanervikko, punervia
häitä viettävät kanervankukat. Häitä, joissa kimalaiset ja mehiläiset
punakukkain palvelijoina simajuhlassa iloitsevat. Pitkin punapeitettä
lentäen metsästää kuultavasiipinen sudenkorento. Mäyrän nostaman
hietaläjän kohdalla se siipiään liikutellen ilmaan seisahtaa — hetken
liikkumatonna on — äkkiä eteenpäin syöksähtää — kärpäseen iskee
ja saaliineen katoaa.
Kuta kauvemmin vorsmestari polkuaan astelee, jonka poikki

kaarnanhilseessä rapisevat hongat luovat pitkiä varjojaan, sitä
kiihkeämmin odottaa hän linnun siiven kuuluvaksi, teirenemän
äänteleväksi. Ja kankaanlaidan sekametsässä naarasteiri
pyrähtääkin puolanvarsien peitosta, kutkattaa, kutkattaa ja poikiaan
varoittaa — — —.
— Katsotaanpa minkä kokoiset ovat tämän kesän pojat — sanoo

itsekseen vanhus.
Kiireesti hän katkasee muutaman pienen koivun, laatii niistä kojun

kuusen juurelle, jonka runkoa muurahaiset kävelevät kuin ihmiset
vilkasliikkeistä katua. Vihreässä kamarissaan istuen hän »kuikuttaa»
kuin teirenpoika ja vaikenee. Kuikuttaa vorsmestari hetken perästä
taas ja ratokseen hän katselee, miten haapa heittää hyppelevän
valo- ja hämäräverkon maahan. Noin neljännestunnin perästä tulla
hurahtaa emo piilossa kuikuttavaa miestä kohti, istuu pieneen
leppään ihan lähelle ja kaulaa kurkottaen kutsuu, kutsuu poikiaan
kokoon.
Ei kutkata nyt hätäisesti kirjava emo, vaan rauhallisesti se juttelee

kook — — — kook-kook-kook, eikä kauvankaan, niin alkaa
risukossa ripsahdella ja maasta kuulua pientä kuikutusta, kun kirjava
teirenpoika tulla vikittää, että pää nyökkää. Kohta ilmestyy toinenkin,
jolla jo on muutama mustakin höyhen kirjavain seassa. Mustikan syö
kiireesti ja äitiä hakee.
Jo pyrähtää emo maahan ja hiljalleen se alkaa kuljettaa

perhettään kohti tiheimpää viidakkoa. Hetken perästä on näyttämö
tyhjä — mustikanvarsien sekaan on seurue kadonnut.
Tyytyväisenä näytelmään tulee vorsmestari koivumajastaan ja läpi

nuoren sekametsän, missä puut seisovat tiheässä kuin varvut
luudassa, laskeutuu hän alas notkoon, jonka pohjalla kirkas
metsäpuro salamyhkäisesti lirisee. Ensin astuu hän läpi sanajalka-
alueen, missä kuolleenkourat omituisesti hajahtaen aina kainaloihin
saakka kohoavat, painuu sitten läpi pihlajaa, paatsamaa ja haapaa
kasvavan lehdon, missä korkeat keltanot ja täpläiset kämmekkäät
häntä tutusti tervehtivät. Ilmestyy tumma kuusi mäntyjen sekaan,
nurmi katoaa, maa sammaltuu — jo seisoo vaeltaja hiljaa
kiemurtelevan puron varrella, jonka suvantovesiin kuvastuvat korkeat
puut.
Täällä on metsien muhkea hirvi oleskellut, sillä selvinä sen
herttamaiset sorkkain jäljet sammalessa näkyvät. Kolme näkyy
seivässäärtä olleen, kaikki eri kokoa. Ja tuossa ovat maanneet!
Maahan ovat korkeat kastikkaat, metsäkortteet ja hennot vesat
litistäneet.
Joutuu jo vorsmestari korkeaa metsää kulkemaan, missä palokärki

tillii ja männynrungot ruskeina pilareina taivasta tavottelevat, missä
näätä oravan näppää ja kuuset tummina suippenevat kuin
kirkontornit, missä maakotka kohisevin siivin metsästää ja
jäkäläpeitteiset koivut summattoman paksurunkoisiksi paisuvat. Ei
ole kirves täällä ilveksen tuvan ovella vuosimääriin paukkunut ja
kauvan saakin kävellä, ennenkuin korvessa koskemattomassa jotain
ihmisen tekemää jälkeä huomaa. On kuin meren pohjalla käveleisi
— niin on hiljaista salometsän suuressa pilaristossa, sillä ainoastaan
ajottain herää tuuli metsän kannelta soittelemaan. Luonnon korkeata
veisuuta se ison koivun latvassa soittelee, soittelee hetken ja nukkuu
kohta uudelleen viereisen koivun latvaan.
Lepäämään laskeutuu vorsmestari sammaltuneelle kivelle, jonka

pohjoispuoleisessa kyljessä jäkälät rauhallista elämää viettävät —
huvikseen hän siinä katselee vanhoja tuttujaan. Tuossa tuo
rengasmainen, keskeltä mätänevä, laidoilta laajeneva
harmaanvihreä kehäjäkälä. Tuossa peuranjäkälän eri lajit mikä
mitenkin tuhkaharmajana. Tuossa Stereocaulon-jäkälän harmajat
langat kuin uudenvuoden tinat kivelle valettuina — — — pehmeitä,
hillittyjä värejä, jotka silmää viihdyttävät.
Mutta on lintuakin sisällä salon sinisen, on jalan neljän

juoksevatakin. Tuolloin tällöin visertää peipon poikanen, huutaa
kirjava tikka, surisee kurpan viuhuva siipi tahi kotkottaa kirjava
koppelo. Ammottaa ison haavan kyljessä musta reikä ja juurelle
tultuaan huomaa vorsmestari siinä särmäisiä lastuja — pesinyt on
siinä punahuntuinen palokärki. Mutta kun kepillään haavan kylkeen
lyödä kolahuttaa vorsmestari, silloin reikään ilmestyy peljästyneen
siipioravan pyöreä pää. Mustikkamaita kulkiessaan kuulee hän
monen siiven pyrinää yht'aikaa — kohoaa pyyparvi maasta.
Liikkumattomina harmajat linnut piilopaikoissaan istuvat, ei saata
silmä puitten paljoudesta niitä keksiä.
Silloin ottaa vorsmestari pyypiiskunsa esille, asettuu kuusen

juurelle ja soittaa. Ei soita hän nyt uroslinnun kutsuääntä »piip-tiihii-
titititiii», vaan molemmilla pilleillä hän matkii naaraspyyn ääntä,
puhaltaen pitkän »piii». Ja kohta tulla hyristääkin harmaja lintu
pillimiestä kohti, tekee mutkan syrjään ja istuutuu läheiseen
naavakuuseen, joka hellästi ystävänsä partaiseen syliinsä sulkee.
Myhähdellen vorsmestari metsän miellyttävää kanaa katselee,
tähtäilee siihen sauvallaan — otettavana olisi siinä otus! Jo alkaa
pyy oksallaan tepastella, pirisee hetken pit-pit-pit ja pirahtaa sitten
lentoon.
Jo on ilta käsissä, ja hieman kamalaksi alkaa käydä suuren salon

yksinäisyys aurinkoisen aletessa ja notkojen kylmää uhkuessa —
kotimatkalleen kääntyy yksinäinen vaeltaja.
Kaukaa kuuluu kurkien huutoa, ja korkealla hämärtävässä ilmassa

purjehtii kimakasti vinkuen kaareileva hiirihaukka. Syksyä henkii
vaisusti puhaltava iltatuuli, ja alakuloisesti piipittää hömötiainen tsi-
kää-kää-kää.
Pimenevää polkuaan astellessaan vorsmestari kohtaa

iltakävelyllään olevan viirunaamaisen mäyrän, joka äkillisestä
yhtymyksestä peljästyneenä sontiaismetsästyksensä unhottaa ja
oudosti löyhkäten hämärään pakenee. Kankaalla kehrääjä
vorsmestarin eteen polulle lehahtaa, kettu pimeässä haukahtaa ja
liikkumatonna loistaa loppukesän ensimmäinen kiiltomato.
HYLKEENHUUDOSSA
Puolipäivän aurinko paahtaa yli torkkuvan kalastajakylän, jonka

punamaalissa uinuvat rakennukset ja valkokukkaiset puutarhat
välmehtivät helteessä. Hiljaisuutta keskeyttää siimeksessä
märehtivän lampaan kello, janoissaan ammova lehmä tahi
lukemattomain paarmain ja kukkaiskärpästen unettava surina.
Rannan tervaleppien lomitse haamottaa merenlahden sinivesi,
kuvastaen poutaisen taivaan verkalleen purjehtivat valkohattarat ja
tuolloin tällöin kohahtaa loppuun liehtoneen lounaan väsynyt
maininki.
Avonaiseen akkunaani ilmestyvät silakansuomuilla tahrittu

lippalakki ja merituulten kuivaamat, auringon paahtamat kasvot,
akkunanlaudalle pari jäntevää, karvaista kättä, kumpikin yhtä
päivettynyt ja mustakyntinen. Tämä on Sjöström, hylkeenpyytäjä,
joka tervehdittyään kysäsee:
— Jokohan nyt lähdettäisi? Nyt on sopiva ilma!
— Niin hylkeenhuutoonko? No se on tietty!
Pian oltiin matkalla kohti kalastajakylän yhteistä satamaa lahden

kainalossa, missä harmaat ranta-aitat puoliympyrässä törröttävät
toinen toisensa vieressä, rakennettuina kirkkaanvihervään veteen,
jossa mudut ja rautakalat parveilevat ja vihreät levät hiljaa
nuokkuvat.
— Pohjanlahden pohjoisosissa — niin kertoo Sjöström — harmaa

hylje talvensa viettää. Siellä halli tuossa helmi- tahi maaliskuussa
synnyttää ainoan poikansa, jota äiti aution jään päällä imettää noin
kolme tahi neljä viikkoa. Tämän ajan kuluttua luopi poikanen villaisen
syntymäpukunsa, saa vanhempainsa lyhyen karvan ja nyt se äidin
houkuttelemana kohta perehtyy vesi-elämään. Mutta kun Pohjanlahti
kahleistaan vapautuu, ja jäät pohjoistuulten ja merivirtain
kuljettamina ajautuvat tänne etelään päin, silloin seuraavat meren
mahtavat nisäkkäät mukana. Juuri näin Juhannuksen vaiheilla ne
ovat yleiset Ahvenanmeressä. Ja huvittavaa työtä tuo
hylkeenampuminen onkin, kun niitä runsaasti kareille kohoaa…
Mäeltä näemme avaran meren, joka ikäänkuin lämmöstä

väsyneenä hopeanhohtoisena venytteleikse, ja lahden pohjukassa
lukuisat kala-aitat, jotka kaukaa katsoen oikein kylältä näyttävät.
Olkikattojensa alla ne säilyttävät suurimman osan saaristolaisen
irtaimistosta — kaiken minkä merellä tarvitsee.
— Tässä on aittani — ja avaimella, kynnyksen alle kätketyllä,

aukasee Sjöström haulipyssyjen pilkuttaman ja luotien lävistämän
oven. Mutta ulkoseinillä sekä molemmin puolin matalaa
sisäänkäytävää nähdään suuret mustahkot rasvatahrat — sinne
pingoitetaan kuivattavat hylkeennahkat.
Astumme sisään. Puolihämärässä näkyy kilua ja kalua jos

jonkinlaista, outoa ja uutta mannermaalaiselle — kaikki mitä
miellyttävimmässä epäjärjestyksessä.
Leiviskänpainoisia, isoreikäisiä hyljepyssyjä, hyljenaaroja ja
hyljekeihäitä punonaisine jouhiköysineen, keksejä, jääsauvoja.
Orsilla hienorihmaisia jata- ja koukkuverkkoja, silmissä siellä täällä
kuivunut rakkolevätukko. Kiveksiä, lavuksia, verkontupureita
kummallisine puumerkkeineen. Silakkatynnyreitä, astialaudaksia,
vanteita, jalaksellisia kalavasuja. Läjissä kuusenkuorta verkkojen
värjäystä varten ja mukulakiviä varakiveksiksi. Purjeita, mastoja,
airoja, peräsimiä. Pulska rivi haahkan-, allin-, pilkkasiiven-, telkän- ja
koskelonkuvia. Merellä tarvittavia turkkeja, takkeja ja peitteitä. Ja
kaikkialla silakanhajua, kiiltäviä silakansuomuja joka esineessä,
kalpeita silakanpäitä permannolla. Mutta pimeimmässä sopukassa
piilee pari vanhaa kompassia, kuparikattiloita sekä muuta »meren
lahjoittamaa» tavaraa.
Veneeseen sovitetaan matkaan kuuluvat kalut: kompassi,

kaukoputki, kolme hyljepyssyä tarpeineen ja hyljenaara, vesilekkeri
ja eväät, peitteitä ja takkeja.
Airot, purjeet ja peräsin asetetaan paikoilleen, ovi lukitaan,

Sjöström sekä poikansa Konrad istuvat teljoille ja kahden airoparin
tahdikkaasti jysähtäessä sekä liitäväsiipisten tiirain kirkuessa ja
haarapääskysten visertäessä lähtee vene tasaisesti liikkeelle.
Lahden suulla oleva metsäinen saari sivuutetaan ja eteeni

aukenee tyynen meren avara taso, länteenpäin ainoastaan
taivaanrannan rajoittamana.
Ei pelota nyt suuri vesi. Ikäänkuin laiskana kelluen se vain pitkinä,

pehmeinä maininkeina hymyilee — — — ja tunti toisensa perästä
kuluu tasaisen soudun jatkuessa. Taaksemme jäänyt keltainen
hietaranta sekä poukamaa ympäröivä kuusikko painuvat vähitellen
mereen, mutta edessämme alkavat äärimmäiset kalliot kohota
punertavina ja ikäänkuin lämmöstä pehmenneinä.
Aurinko laski, ja länsitaivas hehkui kaikissa iltaruskon

vaihtelevissa väreissä. Kuin kultapohjalle kuvattuna kohosi kaihottu
määräpaikkamme, hallikarimme, vihdoinkin jo lähellä.
Vene kätketään kallion halkeamaan. Varovasti ryömien nousemme

luodon harjalle, missä Sjöström kaukoputkellaan tähystäen
äänettömänä laatii jahtisuunnitelmansa, minun sill'aikaa tehdessä
kasviopillisia huomioita läheisyydessäni.
Pienen lätäkön ympärillä kohtaan miltei koko saariston

kasvillisuuden muutaman neliödekametrin alalle kokoontuneena.
Niittyvillat, variksenmarjat, muuraimet, saraheinät — pohjolan
vaatimattomat lapset Itämeren kasvillisuuden, muhkeiden
kurjenpolvisten, kämmekkäiden, kiviyrttien rinnalla. Pienimmän
liikkeen tehdessä kohoaa ynisevä sääskipilvi edestäni — nekin
Pohjoissuomen muistoja herättäen. Siellä täällä näkyy tyhjä,
variksen tahi lokin tuhoama haahkanpesä — — —.
Vetäydymme alas veneelle taas. Syötyämme vaihdamme uudet

nallit pyssyihin ja sitten saaren lounaiskulmaa kohti konttaamaan,
mutta Konrad jää veneeseen, ollakseen valmiina tarpeen vaatiessa.
Kallion lämpimiin koloihin, suojaan suurten vierinkivien

laittausimme, Sjöström ja minä, niin mukaviin asentoihin kuin
mahdollista. Yksi hyljepyssy, oikea kanuuna mielestäni, asetettiin
suu suoraan eteenpäin, toinen vasemmalle, kolmas oikealle
suunnattiin — halli on näet niin tarkkakuuloinen, ettet saata tuskin
lainkaan siirtää raskasta pyssyä. Heikoimmankin äänen kuultuaan se
silmänräpäyksessä katoaa.
Kaikesta näki, että tässä oli hylkeiden lepopaikka, että hallit olivat
täällä päivää paistattaneet, kuppuroineet, piehtaroineet — karvoja ja
muita jäännöksiä kaikkialla. Olipa vielä »muutakin», kuten tuntuvalla
tavalla kohta tulin huomaamaan — — —.
— No jokohan tuota alotetaan — kuiskaa Sjöström. Ja rintansa

ilmaa täyteen vetäen, jotta se pullistuu kuin palje, hän samassa
päästää pitkän mylvinnän, huutaa kuin sumutorvi, suhistaa
porahuttaa lopuksi ja muuttuu mykäksi, sillä nyt on kaikki puhelu
kielletty.
Ainoastaan nukkuvan meren heikko hengitys kuuluu tuolloin

tällöin, kun unelias maininki juoksee ylös pitkin sileänpunervaa
kalliota, murtuu ja vetäytyy kohisten takaisin. Väljien vesien rajaton
lepo ja sydänkesän hienohämyinen yö, täynnä viihdytystä ja rauhaa,
vaikuttavat kummallisen suloisesti sieluuni. Unhotan mitä varten
venyn tällä lämpöisellä paadella — — —kunnes herään outoon
mölinään. Jo muistan — Sjöströmhän se on, joka halleja
lähenemään houkuttelee.
On peijakkaalla äänivaroja! Hän ulvoo, puhkuu ja porisee milloin

houkuttelevasti mielistellen, milloin valittaen, ikäänkuin pyytäen tahi
anoen, sillä hän tuntee kaikki äänilajit, kaikki vivahdukset hallien
kielessä.
Mutta nyt saan tehdä tuttavuutta tuon »muunkin» kanssa —

suloinen rauhani on mennyt! Nyt ne ovat kimpussani!
Mitkä?
Hyljetäit!
Pitkin käsiä ja kaulaa niitä matelee ja ne purevat, purevat kuin
vimmatut, polttavat kuin tuli! Hilpeän pirullisella mielellä koetan
huvitella itseäni katselemalla niitä suurennuslasini läpi, muistelen
että ne ovat Haematopinus nimisiä — mutta lopputulos on vain
kaiken muun voittava tunne — ne purevat!
Yhä uusia vaivoja!
Jo ovat sääsketkin löytäneet meidät ja nuo pienet lentävät

kuppariämmät panevat yhä useamman sarven ihooni. Tuo suloinen
lämpö käy tukalaksi — on kuuma kuin saunassa. Janottaa — eikä
saa edes tupakoidakaan — hylkeellä on tarkka hajuaistin, väittää
Sjöström, ja sentähden jätettiin tupakkavehkeet veneeseen. Mutta
omat leukansa jauhavat tasaisesti — hän pitää poskessa rakasta
mälliään — — —.
Pieni luotokirvinen sirittää heikosti, lähenee meitä ja pysähtyy

hetkeksi saalista sieppaamaan — hyljetäitäkö syönee vai mitä —
mutta sitten katoaa lintu näkyvistä.
Samassa huomaan sileän merenpinnan särkyvän ja hämäräisenä

häilyvän, veden päälle ilmestyy viiksekäs pää, musta ja pyöreä. Se
häviää, ilmestyy uudelleen — jo lähempänä. Lyhyt kiiltävä kaulakin
näkyy ja päätään käännellen katselee veden peto sinne tänne
pyöreillä, muljottavilla pullosilmillään. Näkyypä sillä olevan
hampaissa iso kalakin — lohiko lie vai mikä — jota se eturaajain
välissä pidellen pureksii. Nykäyksellä muuttaa se sitä ylemmäs sen
mukaan, minkä siitä syö — ja yhä se lähenee.
Kohta on halli vasemman pyssyn ampumalinjassa ja

matalammalla vedellä — rengassilmäisenä, liikkumatonna Sjöström
pyssynperässä tuijottaa, mutta sitten vasen silmänsä ummistuu,
savu pöllähtää, jylhästi hyljepyssy jymähtää. Musta pää ja kiiltävä
rinta katoavat, mutta sijalle jää yhä suureneva rasvaläikkä, ilmoittaen
että luoti on sattunut.
Konrad ilmestyy veneineen ja entisessä asennossaan oleva tyhjä

pyssy näyttää suunnan, mistä eläin on haettava. Naarankoukku
kyljessä se kohta nouseekin pohjasta — ainoastaan talvella on halli
niin lihava, että kuolleena vedenpinnalla kelluu — hinataan kallion
halkeamaan ja ankkuroidaan rantaveteen. Se on hyvin iso,
naarmupäinen halli, monen lohen lopettaja, monessa ottelussa ollut
sukahuulinen uros, vihreäviiksinen vanhus. Luoti on musertanut
ensimmäisen kaulanikaman, sentähden henkikin lähti niinkuin lankaa
poikki leikaten.
Tyhjä pyssy ja Sjöströmin poski ladataan kumpikin —

jälkimmäinen uudella mällipanoksella, ja uusi odotus, huutojen
keskeyttämänä alkaa sekä entinen tulokseton taistelu sääskien ja
hyljetäiden kanssa jatkuu — — —.
Vielä kolme kertaa Konrad soutaa esille rauhallisesta rotkostaan,

noutamaan kolmea nuorta hallia. Yksi ammuttiin miltei maanrajasta,
noin parin kolmen sylen päästä.
Mutta kun ikävöity aurinko vihdoin nousee, on Sjöströmin ääni

lopussa, niin käheä ettei tahdo tulla sanaakaan kurkustaan. Ja minä
niin pehmeänä, että lankean kasvoilleni ja heti nukun veneen
kokkaan päästyäni vihdoin verenhimoisista kiusaajistani.
*****
Aamutuulen herätessä vyörytetään yhteisvoimin nuoret hallit

veneeseen, purjeet nostetaan ja hiljalleen hinataan vanha halli kohti
kotilahden rantaa.
METSOLASSA
Kuulin kerran vanhan jäniksenampujan väittävän, ettei metson

ampuminen haukkuvan piskin avulla ole mitään jaloa huvia. Mutta
mielestäni tällainen metsästys ei ole niinkään ala-arvoiseksi
katsottava, eikä kaikkea urheilua vailla.
Päinvastoin!
Varmaankin usea luonnonystävä myöntänee, että sitä

harjoittaessa helpoimmin tutustuu maamme suureen, jylhään
luontoon.
Tuota täydellistä syventymistä synkän salon helmaan, missä

kankaiden kaunistus ja metsästäjän mielilintu oleskelee, korpien
yksinäisyys ja rämeen raskasmielisyys tovereina, sen rikasta ja
salaperäistä elämää emme opi tuntemiaan silloin, kun »piippovaa
pitkäkorvaa» koirain kiljuessa viljelysmaiden läheisyydessä
ajelemme.
Ei! Pois notkon nuoreen vesakkoon ja kosteihin noroihin, missä

suopursu soiden satuja kertoo, ulos rämeille, missä hetteet heiluvat,
lähteet läikähtävät ja metsäkana kummallisesti ääntelee, siellä alkaa
todellinen, ihmiskädeltä rauhaan jäänyt luonto, salomaa sellainen
kuin minä sitä rakastan! Sinne mieleni tekevi!
Kun metsänimpyet elokuun iltana usvia yli saloniittyjen kutovat,

kun utu valkeana harsona kuuset melkein latvoja myöten kietoo ja
mäkien männyt selväpiirteisinä kohti ruskottavaa länsitaivasta
kohoavat, silloin toivon hyvää metsästysilmaa aamuksi.
Tuossa hienossa hämärässä, salaperäisessä puolivalossa, joka

vallitsee silloin, kun yö alkaa päiväksi muuttua, lähden liikkeelle. Kun
kaste hopeoittaa niityn heinän sekä metsän lehden ja usvat
syleilevät nevan vaivaisia mäntyjä ensimmäisen aamutuulahduksen
hengähtäessä, silloin olen jo metsän peittoon päässyt, kuusikkoa
kumeata tervehtinyt.
Silloin saatan välistä kuulla, miten metso yöpuultaan maahan

kuhahtaa, niin että risahdus kauvas kuuluu hiljaisessa aamuilmassa.
Milloin on syksy, silloin menee jaloin metsälintumme mielellään
ensiksi kytömaan rukiinoraalle. Milloin on elokuu, kuten nyt, silloin
sen löytää nevanlaitaisesta metsävyöhykkeestä, missä mehukkaat
muuraimet keltaisina loistavat, missä rimmen raate ja rämeen
valkosammal, metsäkorte ja suopursu, vaivaiskoivu ja juolukkapaju
vieretysten viihtyvät.
Lomitse naavanpeittämäin kuusien, läpi juolukan- ja

mustikanvarsien kulkee metsämies pienintäkin risahdusta karttaen,
seurassa pystykorvan hallin, joka keltaisena vilkkuu milloin siellä,
milloin täällä puiden takaa. Lähellä nevaa tervehtii häntä metsäkana,
joka valittaen kaakattaa ja poikiaan peittäytymään kehoittaa. Mutta
ennen pitkää koko seurue, yksi toisensa perästä, siipiinsä turvaa ja
häviää näkymättömiin. Ei koirakaan niistä paljon välitä, se tuntee jo
hyvin nuo valkokirjavat linnut, jotka eivät puuhun istahda.
Korpisuossa tirisee pyy, mutta pirahtaa kumminkin kohta lentoon,
kun koira haukkumaan yrittää.
Haavan lehti leplattaa länsituulen herätessä, nouseva aurinko

metsän latvat punaa, kuuset kultihin rakentaa ja pilvettömän sinisenä
kaareutuu taivas — sen minkä sitä voit nähdä, katsoessasi kohti
korkeutta lomitse latvojen.
Mutta nyt hän huomaa ison linnun jäljet painuneina

vaaleanvihreän valkosammalen kosteanpehmeään pintaan! Siitä on
metso kävellä tepastellut ihan äsken — ja samassa kuuluu haukku,
haukku oikein toden perään! Hiiskahtamatta hän lähenee ääntä kohti
ja nyt hän tarvitsee kaikki alkuihmisen vaistot ja aistimet. Sitten hän
huomaa koiran, joka katsomistaan katsoo isoon kuuseen ja haukkuu,
että metsä raikaa — — —. Hän konttaa nelin, lähenee vihdoin
vatsallaan ja on »ampumamatkalla. Piilopaikastaan hän tutkii kuusia,
tarkastaa oksan toisensa perästä löytämättä mitään, ja minuutit
tuntuvat tunneilta! Jo kuulee hän, miten lintu koiralle nokkaa puree,
josta tietää, että vanha metso on edessään, mutta hyvästi näkyy
oksien suojassa lintu istuvan.
Vaan — kärsivällisyyttä!
Jo keksii silmänsä lähellä olevassa vanhassa haavassa jotain,

joka saattaa sydämensä ilosta sykähtämään. Pitkin paksua oksaa
painautuneena, puoleksi lehvän peittämänä näkee hän vanhan
metson koettavan piiloutua tekeytymällä niin pieneksi kuin
mahdollista. Värisevin käsin hän vaihtaa isompihaulisen panoksen
vasempaan piippuun, tähtää, painaa liipasinta ja Tapion kukko tulla
suhahtaa muksahtaen maahan, pieksää sammalia voimakkailla
ruskeilla siivillään ja silmänsä ummistaen tyyntyy vasta, kun halli
hampaansa selkään iskee. Silloin koirakin hänet rauhaan jättää ja
saa palkintonsa — metsonjalan, joka kohta sen hampaissa ratisee.
Sitten he lepäävät hetken, ja hän syö muutaman kourallisen

mustikoita kielensä kostukkeeksi. Ja kun ruvetaan astumaan taas,
tuntuu laukku raskaalta. Sivu mennessään hän pudottaa pyyn
naavakuusesta — — — kauan turhaan silmiään ponnisteltuaan
löytääkseen harmajan linnun harmajasta puusta, ampuu hän sen
vihdoin oksalta, jota moneen kertaan huolellisesti on tarkastellut.
Nevan poikki kulkevan kanervakaarron etelärinteellä löytää hän
pienestä syvennyksestä monta paria poikittain haljenneita
kellanharmaita, ruskeapilkkuisia munankuoria — todistus että
koppelomuori on saanut hautoa rauhassa ja pojat juoksemaan
piipertämään päässeet — jospa lienevät lähelläkin!
Aamuaurinko alkaa lämmittää läpi takin, kaste häviää maasta, ja

ainoastaan silloin tällöin puhaltaa vilvoitellen länsituuli, joka puissa
puhelee, hongissa huokaelee.
Neljä linnun rypemäpaikkaa irtaantuneine höyhenineen kiinnittää

hänen huomiotansa. Hän tarkastelee höyheniä — poikametsoja! Ja
samassa kuuluu rytinää ja siipien pauketta, kun koko poikue
rymähtää lentoon. Omituisesti kotkottaen emäkoppelo perhettään
kutsuu ja samassa alkaa haukku.
Uudestaan metsästysinnon valtaamana hän sykkivin suonin

lähenee, rungolta rungolle käyden, kontaten hiipii. Yhä kuuluu tuo
viettelevä »konk-onk» ja kauvan saa hän katsella, ennenkuin kirjava
koppelo silmään sattuu ja kerran kiusaukseen johdatettuna hän —
laukasee. Vaan kun lintu vihdoin on ammuttu, ei olekaan mieli
voitonriemua täynnä. Miksi ammuit vanhan emon, miksi tapoit
kirjokoppelon! Säästää olisi pitänyt vanha lintu, uuden poikueen
kasvattajaksi — — —.
Tehden yhä laajempia piirejä hakee hän puihin nousseita

poikalintuja. »Jotain» tipahtaa lähellä ole vasta nuoresta koivusta, ja
katsahtaen ylös huomaa hän mustan metsonpojan juuri
lähtemäisillään parempaa turvapaikkaa hakemaan. Mutta samassa
pyssynsä paukahtaa ja oksalta oksalle pudoten mätkähtää nuori lintu
maahan.
Mutta nyt painaa laukku liian tuntuvasti ja suorinta tietä, aurinko

oppaanaan, suuntaa hän matkansa ihmisten ilmoille — — —.

Working Class Girls, Education and Post-Industrial Britain: Aspirations and Reality in An Ex-Coalmining Community 1st Edition Gill Richards (Auth.)

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Working Class Girls, Education and Post-Industrial Britain: Aspirations and Reality in An Ex-Coalmining Community 1st Edition Gill Richards (Auth.)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Working Class Girls, Education and

Post-Industrial Britain: Aspirations and

Aspirations and Reality

More information about this series at

Working Class Girls,

Palgrave Studies in Gender and Education

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017948713

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018

Cover illustration: © nemesis2207/Fotolia.co.uk

Printed on acid-free paper

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature

2 What Do We Know About Girls’ Aspirations

4 Aspirations and Expectations 35

4.2 Primary Schoolgirls 36

5 Achieving Aspirations: What Did the Girls Do? 57

6 What Else Can Schools Do? 77

Abstract This chapter introduces the book by briefly introducing

Keywords Introduction · Context · Aims

© The Author(s) 2018 1

Gap’ to increase the attainment of all students vulnerable to undera-

I have endeavoured to offset this by also using the term ‘disadvantage’

judgements of’Inadequate’, while the other moved up from ‘Good’ to

1.1 The Structure and Contents of This Book

Beatriz, P. (2013). Equity and quality in education: Supporting disadvantaged

What Do We Know About Girls’ Aspirations

Abstract This chapter provides a context for the research study. It

Keywords Education · Research · Policy · Girls · Schooling

© The Author(s) 2018 9

in the futures these girls anticipated for themselves and so ­contribute

2.2 Girls, Aspirations and Achievement: An Overview

these expectations, creating a personal conflict that manifested in behav-

2.3 The Link Between Aspirations and Achievement

their alignment affects ongoing school achievement. His study found

young people’s goals throughout their schooling, especially during ado-

2.4 The Role of Schools

between disadvantage, inequality and the variation of education expe-

some young people appeared to be more resilient to effects of disadvan-

attending university (Perry and Francis 2010). In many cases, this is

a relentless demand to be successful in everything they did, creating a

understand careers, progression routes, implications for long-term earn-

Francis, B. (2010). Girls achievement: Contesting the positioning of girls as the

Knowles, G. (2011). Class, equality and achievement. In G. Knowles & V.

Keywords Research · Context · Methodology · Participants · Schools

© The Author(s) 2018 25

then faced significant challenges as they sought to inspire and support

by Ofsted because students were now making outstanding, rather than

3.4 Methodology and Data Gathering

Aspirations and Expectations

Abstract This chapter reports on data collected from 56 primary

Keywords Girls · Aspirations · Dreams · Fears · Future

© The Author(s) 2018 35

additional perspectives regarding the impact of the local community con-

4.2.1 Views About School and the Future

4.2.2 Staff Views

On ollut kevät riistalle suotuisa, tuumii takalistoa kohti verkalleen

Tarkasti katselee vorsmestari ympärilleen ja huomioita tekee hän

Täältä hän lähtee toiskesäisen kulovalkean polttamille maille

Suunnattoman kasken on eteenpäin rynkäisevä kulovalkea

Mutta ei niin lähellä!

Kun vorsmestari likenee, kuulee hän metsäkirvisen visertävän,

Mutta on luonnolla kulovalkean surullisen näyn jälkeen

Kankaalle vorsmestari nyt nousee, missä nopealentoiset

Kaikkialle vaatimaton kasvi kukkiensa ujon sinipunan levittää,

1.1 The Structure and Contents of This Book

in the futures these girls anticipated for themselves and so contribute

2.4 The Role of Schools

3.4 Methodology and Data Gathering