The One and Only Civilised Way through Education

Abstract

This chapter focusses on three young, female students from Denmark and their quiet voices in a world full of loud expectations – in this case the expectations of education. The chapter is based on a research project named Marginalization and Co-created Education (MaCE), which is constructed through indirect conversations with young students. These students were either attending an Adult Education Centre (In Danish: VUC) or a Production School (an institution for people who for a short period have to consider what to do in relation to the system of education). The aim of the study was to obtain an understanding of being a young person on an educational journey and to let the young students express their experiences through their own voices and views. The findings of this research present an overwhelmingly negative view of the school experiences by the young students, who all at some point felt neglected and not acknowledged through their school time by both teachers and classmates. These findings are illustrated through German sociologist Norbert Elias and his work on The Civilizing Process, and focusses on the unavoidable connection between civilising and distinction processes.

Citation

Lund, A. (2021), "The One and Only Civilised Way through Education", Gravesen, D.T., Stuart, K., Bunting, M., Mikkelsen, S.H. and Frostholm, P.H. (Ed.) Combatting Marginalisation by Co-creating Education (Great Debates in Higher Education), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 115-126. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80043-448-620211010