Don't Fence Me In - Softcover

Connolly, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0955464269 ISBN 13: 9780955464263

Publisher: University of Buckingham Press, 2009

Synopsis

Debunking the Taboo of Truancy

Don't Fence Me In: Essays on the Rational Truant makes the iconoclastic assertion that most truancy stems from rational decisions made by students facing adverse circumstances in school.

This unique and engaging take on truancy rejects the assertion that all acts of truancy are linked to deviancy and anti-social behaviour. While the book’s aim is not to absolve young people from accountability, it shows that structural weaknesses in the state-supported school system play a significant role in truancy from class and school.

The book consists of a series of essays which seek to explain and understand truancy rationally, and dismantle existing narratives surrounding truancy. Many of the contributors report on recent research including the relation of teaching style to truancy, the incidence of truancy as a function of ethnic group and linguistic proficiency, the student as consumer and the importance of establishing a literate order to decrease truancy rates. Other essays in the collection are more speculative, offering a theoretical assessment of political attitudes to truancy.

Don't Fence Me In makes essential reading for anyone with an interest in today's schooling system. It offers a fascinating and insightful exploration into one of schooling's biggest taboos.

About this title

Review

One of the most intriguing ideas advanced in this book is that, at least in some circumstances, truancy represents a rational choice, a better and more productive use of time than the pointless tedium of the classroom. If that is true rigid enforcement of attendance is not only oppressive but also irrational. --John Clarke

About the Author

Michael Connolly worked as a high school, middle school and upper elementary school principal in urban, suburban and rural school districts in the USA before going to work in international schools in Thailand, Costa Rica, the Netherlands and finally Vietnam. Mike is the author of two books: What They Never Told Me in Principals School and Teaching Kids to Love Learning, Not Just Endure It, both published by Rowman and Littlefield. His articles about education have been and are being published in numerous national and international journals.

Michael Connolly worked as a high school, middle school and upper elementary school principal in urban, suburban and rural school districts in the USA before going to work in international schools in Thailand, Costa Rica, the Netherlands and finally Vietnam. Mike is the author of two books: What They Never Told Me in Principals School and Teaching Kids to Love Learning, Not Just Endure It, both published by Rowman and Littlefield. His articles about education have been and are being published in numerous national and international journals.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Buckingham Press
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0955464269
• ISBN 13: 9780955464263
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 200