Students’ views on fairness in education: the importance of relational justice and stakes fairness

Mazzoli Smith, L.; Todd, L.; Laing, K.

Abstract

This paper discusses a research project which sought to find out about young people’s views on fairness in education in English schools. Fairness is an everyday term, which in policy hides multiple and contradictory positions across the political divide. In education, we find a policy context that focuses on distributional justice and equality of opportunity but also on principles of freedom and choice. This paper argues that engaging with how young people understand fairness contributes to models of social justice in education. Focus group data and written statements on fairness from approximately 80 young people aged 16–18 from five very different English schools were analysed. Students’ primary concerns, absent from educational policy, were the themes of relational justice and stakes fairness, which are eclipsed by current recourse to distributive justice and meritocratic ideals. We argue that a focus on the lived experience of fairness is therefore necessary to widen the discourse about what is fair in education and to reinvigorate public debate about the values on which our education system is based.

Citation

Mazzoli Smith, L., Todd, L., & Laing, K. (2017). Students’ views on fairness in education: the importance of relational justice and stakes fairness. Research Papers in Education, 33(3), 336-353. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2017.1302500

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 22, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Mar 16, 2017
• Publication Date: Mar 16, 2017
• Deposit Date: Oct 12, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 1, 2019
• Journal: Research Papers in Education
• Print ISSN: 0267-1522
• Electronic ISSN: 1470-1146
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 33
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 336-353
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2017.1302500
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1345888
• Related Public URLs: https://eprints.ncl.ac.uk/233167