This article is concerned with the influences that are brought to bear on the design of school buildings and the effects that the design of these buildings have on those who teach and learn in them. The article also focuses on the ways in which design is altered in and through the practices of these occupants. We argue that there is a mutual…

Many approaches to explaining educational inequalities relate explicitly and implicitly to benefits of education, and rational choice theories in particular consider monetary benefits. We specify a concept of the value of education that allows for an empirical analysis of educational benefits, considering both monetary and non-monetary dimensions…

The marketisation of schools has emerged as a defining feature of the education landscape. While the role of principals and lead teachers in carrying out marketing work was investigated in the late 1990s, there has been scant evidence of how the people and practices of marketing in schools have evolved into the twenty-first century. Expanding on…

The benefits of reading for pleasure and positive reader identities have been well established in previous research. However, much discussion regarding young people's reading is underpinned by a discourse of deficit, placing emphasis on what young people should be reading. In an attempt to move away from this discourse, this article considers…

Through the case-study experiences of 24 White and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) working-class students from three very different universities, we aim to illuminate the often hidden struggle for recognition and respect for classed, 'raced' and gendered ways of being in the university. We discuss how the students perceive their identities…

Building on the sociological work by Lareau, this study examined the association between students' socioeconomic background, prior achievement and the perception of teacher support within the classroom. We expected that students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds would be more critical about the support they receive in the classroom and rate…

We bring together the theories of Bourdieu and Sen in order to understand the processes that influence the study paths chosen by young people with a general degree from a science university in France. The weighting of economic and cultural capital within study options taken in secondary education and during the premier cycle (the first three years…

With more graduates, degree outcomes have a renewed significance for high-achieving students to stand out in a graduate crowd. In the United Kingdom, over a quarter of undergraduates now leave university with the highest grade -- a 'first-class' degree -- although students from non-traditional and underprivileged backgrounds are the least likely.…

Empirical studies focused on cultural capital only emerged since the 2000s in South Korea. This article is the first to conduct a systematic review aiming to shed light on how the theory of cultural capital has been applied in South Korea. Our main goal is to understand: how the cultural capital-students' achievement association in South Korea…

Faith schools may play an important role in reproducing ethnoreligious identities, yet research into Jewish schools has tended to overlook students' personalised conceptualisations of faith. Instead, it has regularly utilised restrictive 'indicators' of ethnoreligious practice in order to gauge these institutions' effectiveness in 'strengthening'…

This article draws together a comparative sociological analysis and a political theory perspective to interpret children's views on the role of school and being a pupil, and what these tell us about their conceptual representations of citizenship and belonging in France and England. The article presents research findings from a cross-national…

Evidence suggests that early education can promote children's development and narrow attainment gaps between those from lower-income and higher-income families. However, realisation of these potential benefits depends on many factors, feasibly including peer composition. We use national census data for a year-group cohort of children in England in…

While various forms of teachers' habitus have been described in education studies, little consideration has so far been given to their interaction with fields in schools. This article draws on Bourdieu's theory and related concepts of field, habitus, capital and doxa to explore types of teacher professionalism, especially in Austrian secondary…

This project investigated the postsecondary education aspirations of 27 secondary school-aged students living in greater London, England and greater Boston, Massachusetts, USA. An innovative research design was implemented to support a technology-facilitated international focus group allowing for exchanges between the US and English students.…

Framed by a poststructuralist theory of identity, this phenomenological study explores Bhutanese refugee youth's lived experiences before and after resettlement and the ways that these experiences influence their identity navigation. Data from this study come from a two-year ethnography with a recently resettled Bhutanese refugee community in a…