Propping up the Performative School: A Critical Examination of the English Educational Paraprofessional

Much has been written about 'performativity' and the 'audit culture' in relation to the teaching profession, but this literature has been neglectful of how these might impact educational paraprofessionals. Informed by Institutional Ethnography, this book provides a critical examination of the role, practices and everyday work experiences of educational paraprofessionals. Taking the learning mentor in English state secondary education as its starting point, the study then draws on international, historical literature to trace the genealogy of this role and examines the legacy of the paraprofessional movement in 1960s USA. Ultimately, the question of the adequacy of short-term policy initiatives in the face of intractable social inequalities is explored.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. The Wider Policy Context Giving Rise to Learning Mentors Chapter 3. Historical and Comparative Accounts of Paraprofessional Experiences Chapter 4. Introducing Institutional Ethnography as a means to Research Marginalised Work Chapter 5. Introducing Priory Park High School Chapter 6. The Official and ‘Seen’ Work of the Learning Mentors Chapter 7. The Unofficial and ‘Unseen’ Work of the Learning Mentors Chapter 8. View from the Top – A Coherent and Consistent Senior Leadership view of the Learning Mentor Role? Chapter 9. View from Middle Management: The Multi-faceted Learning Mentor Chapter 10. Mentors Talking Back Chapter 11. View from an ‘Older’ Paraprofessional Group Chapter 12. Discussion and Conclusion

About the Author :
Jo Bishop is a Senior Lecturer in Childhood Studies at the University of Huddersfield in England. Jo has worked in further and higher education teaching across a range of subject areas encompassing Social Policy, Sociology, Politics, Youth Work and Community Development, Applied Law (Youth Justice), Sociological aspects of Children and Young People’s Development, Research Methods and more recently Gender and Trans Issues in formal education.

Review :
This book shines a much-needed light on the often overseen and undervalued, yet ever present 'educational paraprofessional'. Using a policy focus and rich ethnographic data the author brings new theoretical and empirical insights into the analysis of the 'educational paraprofessional', while intricately highlighting the neglected but valid role that they occupy within the diversified and performance-driven English state school system. This book provides a unique insight into the significant contribution that ‘paraprofessionals’ play in our children’s education. The research demonstrates how these often ‘hidden’ school staff support young people holistically in the important transition to adulthood by working inside and outside of their school setting. As such to fundamentally question our conceptualisation of learning and the present English schooling system.