Class reproduction theorising a head teacher’s auto-ethnography of a Scottish primary school

ABSTRACT

This critical auto-ethnography is a case study of schooling practices in a state primary school. It narrates the ethnographer’s research experience in spaces of social class reproduction when he was the school’s head teacher. Lukes’ model of power is incorporated into understanding forms of domination in this setting. Over the two-year period of his professional doctorate, the ethnographer recorded observations of teacher-student interactions in his research diary. The school is situated in an area of structural disadvantage and in class terms its demography is working-class. The study highlights challenges facing a head teacher seeking an enlightened ethos where power is perceived as invested in a unionised primary school workforce and local authority employer. The ‘specific moments’ referred to in the article’s opening extract hint at what Alfred Schutz calls a ‘lifeworld’ which is iterated through the findings reported in this article.

KEYWORDS:

• Agency
• children
• schools
• ethnography
• power

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions statement

Both authors developed the design and reporting format. The first author focussed on academic analysis, theory, and argument. The second author (‘the ethnographer’) conducted the empirical work, gaining access and gathering data.

Notes

1 https://www.unicef.org.uk/rights-respecting-schools/the-rrsa/what-is-a-rights-respecting-school/. Downloaded 16/1/22.