The identities and practices of high achieving pupils: negotiating achievement and peer cultures. By B. Francis, C. Skelton and B. Read

Abstract

The identities and practices of high achieving pupils: negotiating achievement and peer cultures.

Girlhood and the Politics of Place

“…Our data off ers a powerful portrait of the impact of school culture on academic success; we have a diversity of girls' in-depth analyses of what it means to be smart both in their own schools and across a variety of schools. Our research is unique to the specifi c schools in this region of Southern Ontario, Canada, but it also resonates with prominent U.K. research on school cultures and academic achievement (for example, Renold and Allan 2006;Francis et al 2012). Finally, since we do not draw on other information about these schools, such as how the schools promote or represent themselves or how they are defi ned by their administrations, our analysis is based solely on how the girls themselves understood and participated in creating the discursive spaces of their schools.…”

“…Similarly, Agnes (fi ft een, BRH) said, "[A] boy can get away with looking any way if he is funny or has a good personality whereas girls can't." As others have illustrated through similar studies, and refl ective of current popular culture representations of smart girls, it is much easier to be a socially successful smart girl for those who are considered prett y and/or hot (Renold and Allan 2006;Skelton et al 2010;Francis et al 2012;Pomerantz and Raby 2015). Certainly some school climates seemed bett er for smart girls, but many girls across all four schools faced challenges if they were being overly studious and so were careful not to be too overt about their smartness, noticed girls dumbing down, and worried that looks were valued over intelligence.…”

“…Renold thus concludes that schools need to consider what kinds of masculinities and femininities are made available to students and to increase possibilities for non-hegemonic gender performance. Renold's argument is further supported by Francis et al (2012), who agree that dominant forms of masculinity and femininity can confl ict with academic achievement; schools with less dichotomized gender performances may allow students to more fully embrace academics. At Blue Ridge, it seemed that possibilities for performing smart girlhood were similarly more available to girls than they were at the more hierarchically gendered St. Mary's.…”

“…Instead, commensurate with a postfeminist, neoliberal sensibility, we see an overwhelming celebration of girls' individualized accomplishments alongside a failure to recognize any links between girls and gender oppression in the school and beyond (see Pomerantz et al 2013). Yet many studies have pointed to the ongoing diffi culties that girls continue to face as they negotiate gender inequality (see Renold and Allan 2006;Pomerantz and Raby 2011;Francis, Skelton, and Read 2012;Pomerantz et al 2013), particularly the intersections in girls' lives that hinder an exclusive concentration on gender Ringrose 2013). Drawing on data collected from a three-year study, "Smart Girls: Negotiating Academic Success in a Post-feminist Era," our work enters into this critical conversation through interviews with girls about their experiences of academic success.…”

“…Some girls are bett er able than others to balance out their smartness through att ention to social engagements, style, and good looks (Skelton et al 2010;Francis et al 2012;Raby and Pomerantz 2015). At Blue Ridge High, where McLovin, who was athletic, dating, and popular, had said that "it is cool to be smart," Virginia (sixteen) defi ned herself as not very popular and provided a starkly diff erent assessment of the school's social climate.…”