Born To Fail: Social mobility: a working class view

by Sonia Blandford

Sonia Blandford, CEO of award-winning charity Achievement for All, writes brilliantly and honestly about the facing up to the realities of the white working class and how to address social mobility from the inside. No-one in the UK is better placed than Sonia to write about the struggles of white working class pupils in our schools. She grew up on the Allied Estate in Hounslow and was the first member of her family to pursue education beyond the age of 14 and was also the first to attend university. Sonia lost her mother when she took an accidental overdose, when she couldn't read the doctor's prescription. T his tragic failing served as one of the inspirations for her to set up the award-winning Achievement for All organisation, who work with thousands of schools to help close the attainment gap. Born to Fail? tackles head-on issues such as why education often doesn't matter to the working class; how education has failed to deliver for them; the importance of self-belief, action and confidence; and how the Early Years is the crucial time to build success from the start.

122 pages, Paperback

Published September 29, 2017

Reviews

[Jo Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really important book for all who work with families and/or young people.

[Ester Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gosh, this book could be so much more than what it is. There are some inspiring lines and topics raised here. I agree with the reader wholeheartedly about the need for better mental health services to support schools and counsellors on site, and to support rather than exclude troubled children at schools.

I also really like, and heavily relate, to the author's personal monologue about her experience as a working class student in the 1950s and her struggles in the faces of adversity. Her points about being an example for someone who has been 'got out' and 'climbed the ladder of social mobility' heavily resonated with me, and I am in agreement that we should not be focusing on children who have 'got out.' Rather, we should be focusing on providing equal opportunity for all children to climb the social mobility ladder instead of creating poster students for schools to parade about.

Clearly, the author has a lot of policy-making experience, and her policies have evidently helped children lead better lives. So, really, who am I one to talk? However, I still believe this book is flawed and it could be so much more than what it is. I was incredibly disappointed that private schools were seldom mentioned as they are one of the foundations of inequality within the education system, especially between advantaged and disadvantaged students. I also feel like the book was a paradox in a way- it talked about not assimilating the working class into the middle class culture but yet also talked about the need to open up cultural capital to all.

Not every student is destined for university and this book recognises that- but it still does not resonate well with me how little the author talks about university mobility within this book. It seems a little odd that there is so little mention.

Overall, I went into this book with high hopes but was left disappointed. Just like the current education system, I demanded so much more from it.

[Jemima Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this hoping to be enlightened by it. I wanted answers to help my lowest performing pupils and my PP pupils to engage and succeed in English.

Whilst it is filled with interesting information, facts and statistics about the differences between attainment, academic success and upbringing / class, there is little advice to teachers day-to-day. The majority of this manifesto seems to be more “big picture” ideas - discussing families, schools, teachers, politics and economics. I agree - we need far-reaching social change.

Much of this is important to know and had definitely raised my awareness about certain pitfalls in the system and a view to help, but I think I was hoping for some more hands-on advice in the classroom, which I didn’t get from this.

[Aneta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting point of view

The author is quite honest at the beginning of the book, that this book has a lot of personal experience opinions. This format may not be for everybody - but It still follows academic writing, so there are relevant references.
I really liked the author's point of view, that basically the whole education is designed to fit middle class. It doesn't account for working class and it's needs. Also, what surprised me was that social mobility is not about changing class. It's about improving life inside it's class and creating opportunities for improvement.

[Corinna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal. Perhaps this was because so much of Blandford’s view is similar to my own and that of those growing up in the working class. She focuses on inclusion as opposed to exclusion, working with families as opposed to against and belonging as opposed to distancing. This book left me feeling very inspired!

[Jezz Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughts here:

https://jezzbrown12.medium.com/book-r...

[Chris Parkinson-Best · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy to read reflection on the history of working class opportunity and achievement in the UK, with suggestions of a path forward.

[Giovanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This pairs anecdotal evidence and decades of personal experience with robust, eye-opening evidence. It took me a while to read because it kept prodding my brain into reconsiderations of my experience as a teacher so far - and how I might better embed mutuality into my future practice.

The references used throughout and provided at the end provide an excellent springboard into (relatively) recent research.