Mitchell Centre Seminar Series
Dates: | 22 February 2017 |
Times: | 16:00 - 17:30 |
What is it: | Seminar |
Organiser: | School of Social Sciences |
Speaker: | Marc Sarazin |
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Speaker: Marc Sarazin
Title: Characterising social structure in schools: the case of a low-SES primary school undergoing a collective music-making intervention
Existing studies of social structure in schools often focus on students’ affective relational states, such as their friendship or dislike networks. Yet other relational states and events may also be key in characterising the social structure of schools. The current paper presents results from a mixed-methods case study of a French primary school taking in students from disadvantaged backgrounds or who experience difficulties in their schooling. The study’s design, which uses social network measurements and ethnographic methods to study the school as it is going through an in-school collective music education intervention, makes it possible to reveal certain key features and processes shaping the school’s social structure. The paper focuses on three such features and processes that have been addressed in previous network research - geographic proximity, social contagion, and reciprocity. It describes how these played out in the school, how they shaped the school’s social structure and student experiences, and how they were influenced by cultural notions present in the school. The paper also argues that these features and processes formed an intense kind of “collectivity” which can be found in other schools and social settings.
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