Disengagement

Abstract

This chapter considers disengaged, but not necessarily confrontational, learners within a mainstream setting. A teacher, Helen, discusses some action research she undertook. Focussing on two girls, she describes changes in ‘mindsets’ over the course of time. Three academics respond to the report and, following editorial comment, Janet (another teacher) responds to the chapter as a whole. The issues of teacher agency and psychologised responses to pedagogical difficulties in the classroom are discussed. Tensions between explanations that teachers find useful and are therefore able to work with and other more sociological explorations are discussed. To what extent is it possible or helpful for teachers to think about structural problems beyond the school that might be affecting learners’ motivation? The issues of teachers’ desire for agency and the imperative to ‘make a difference’ might mean that locating the ‘problem’ within the child makes their professional lives more manageable, but its consequences also deserve consideration.