Comparative youth marginalisation, disaffection and experiences of education: Subcultures and young peoples' voices in thanet and lille

Abstract

This paper reports a comparative study of youth disaffection with education, from the pupils' perspectives, in the District of Thanet in east Kent and the city of Lille in northern France. It notes that the circumstances of disaffection for such pupils are similar in both regions, and uses a youth sub-cultural framework as a paradigm for understanding some of these similarities. French and English young people are frequently enthusiastic about school when they first enter the education systems, but thereafter a cohort becomes identifiable for whom disaffection peaks around the age of fifteen. The voices of these young people, which otherwise are seldom heard, are reported by this paper, and occasionally give harrowing insights into the difficulties that they face. The paper concludes by suggesting that trans-national social and economic forces reinforce the structural circumstances within the two education systems which help to create and sustain a cohort of disaffected youth. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.