Theorizing School Exclusion as an Ongoing Process of Maintenance and Repair

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 8:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Student Retention in the Midst of School Exclusion and Patriarchal Whiteness (Table 8)

Abstract

In this paper we introduce a new way of theorizing school exclusion as an ongoing process of maintenance and repair. Drawing on data from The Political Economies of School Exclusion and their Consequences Project, as well as Graham and Thrift’s work on understanding repair and maintenance, we explore how systems of exclusion are sustained (repaired and maintained) by processes and infrastructures that are often hidden. We differentiate between exclusions which are deemed official, deriving from national guidance and legislation (i.e., suspensions and expulsions), and forms of exclusion which are unofficial, not sanctioned and typically go unrecorded, and explore the rationale for their use. The paper critically interrogates and reflects on the implications of the project findings for just education renewal.

Authors

• Gavin Duffy, Queen's University - Belfast

• Alice Tawell, University of Oxford

• Ian Thompson, University of Oxford

• Tony M. Gallagher, Queen's University - Belfast

• Gillean McCluskey, University of Edinburgh

• Gareth Robinson, Queen's University - Belfast

• Annie Taylor, University of Edinburgh