This open access book explores young children's lives in their later years at primary school, from their own point of view. It focuses on how girls and boys experience life in their informal peer group and explores the dynamics of friendships and social hierarchies, identities and how time is spent outside of lessons, including the use of social media. The author interrogates how children make meanings: who they think they are, what it means to be a girl or a boy, and what forms of femininity and masculinity are most dominant. Findings are based on interviews conducted at a middle-class state school and a fee-paying preparatory school on the outskirts of London. The book will be of interest to students and scholars of primary education, schooling and gender, as well as primary school teachers both in the UK and internationally.
Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Literature and Theories.- Chapter 3: Methodology.- Chapter 4: Life at school.- Chapter 5: Making Friends.- Chapter 6: Popularity and the ideal schoolboy and schoolgirl.- Chapter 7: Messaging platforms, video games and social media outside school, and thoughts about their childhood.- Chapter 8: Cultures of sexuality.- Chapter 9: Patterns of masculinity and femininity.- Chapter 10: Conclusion and discussion.
Jon Swain is Senior Research Officer in the Institute of Education at University College London, UK.
