‘Ordinary kids’ navigating geographies of educational opportunity in the context of an Australian ‘place-based intervention’

Abstract

This paper addresses the vexed educational policy aspects of area-based interventions (ABIs) in neighbourhoods designated as ‘disadvantaged’ in an Australian context. We find that the way in which the policy of ABIs is supposed to operate and impact education is highly problematic. What we present instead in this paper is a much more complex process by which aspirations are formed, sustained, contested and maintained by young people who regard themselves as ‘ordinary’ and as being engaged instead in a process of navigating educational opportunities on the basis of resources available to them.

Keywords:

• equity/social justice
• critical analysis

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery grant (DP 110102619) entitled ‘Young people’s narratives of socio-economic disadvantage and educational opportunities in contexts of place-based interventions’. Appreciation to the four anonymous reviewers and the editor who helped us improve the paper.