Performing desires The dilemma of aspirations and educational attainment

• Published in: British educational research journal Vol. 37; no. 3; pp. 501 - 517
• Main Authors: Clair, Ralf St, Benjamin, Amanda
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-06-2011; Routledge
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Academic Aspiration; Aspiration; Aspirations; Benachteiligung; Berufswunsch; Bildungsbeteiligung; Bildungsmotivation; Bildungsziel; Education; Education policy; Educational Attainment; Educational objectives; Educational Research; Empirical research; Foreign Countries; Government cabinets; Grade 8; Großbritannien; Handlungstheorie; Hochschulbildung; Investigation; Labor markets; Level of education; London; Natural resources; Occupational Aspiration; Occupations; Performance Factors; Performative utterances; Poverty; Professional associations; Professional services; Public Policy; Pupils; Replication (Evaluation); Schools; Schottland; Schullaufbahn; Social capital; Sozialer Aufstieg; Student Attitudes; United Kingdom; Young Adults; Youth; Zukunftsperspektive; United Kingdom; United Kingdom > UK
• ISSN: 1469-3518; 0141-1926; 1469-3518
• DOI: 10.1080/01411926.2010.481358

The authors critique the mechanistic notion of aspirations running through much research and policy-making on educational and vocational outcomes. They present a performative model, with individuals drawing on limited social resources to express aspirations within constrained contexts. This argument is illustrated by discussion of the findings of large-scale empirical investigation of the aspirations of 490 young people in three UK schools. Five themes from this analysis are presented and it is argued that these need to be explored in order to enrich and expand our understanding of young people's expression of aspirations.