Relational and feminist pedagogic approaches for developing engagement and inclusion of girls at risk of exclusion in England

Abstract

This paper highlights the inclusive potential of relational and feminist pedagogic strategies in education, focusing on girls at risk of exclusion. Girls in England are less likely than boys to be suspended or permanently excluded from school, but numbers are increasing. Excluded girls often experience long-term challenges with wellbeing, skills and support networks. In 2022, the National Literacy Trust launched their Represent programme to address the comparatively lower educational achievement of girls at risk of exclusion. The independent evaluation of the programme generated data from 263 girls and 60 facilitators and found that Represent improved students' communication skills, wellbeing, resilience and understanding of forming positive relationships. The programme's small group teaching and resources curated to enable reflection upon ‘lived experiences’ provided a different space within educational institutions and facilitated an ethic of care through relational pedagogies. Focusing on these aspects, this paper critically analyzes data from the evaluation using a feminist lens. We argue that Represent inadvertently utilised feminist praxis, contributing to the positive outcomes reported by participants. As such, pedagogical aspects of the programme such as dialogical approaches and a social justice-orientation could be adopted by the education system at a structural level to reduce the exclusion of girls, changing the system rather than individual girls.