Reaching for the stars : supplementary education as an agent of change in childhood participation

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Reaching for the Stars:

Supplementary education as an agent of change in childhood participation

MSc Cultural and Social Anthropology Master’s Thesis

Department of Anthropology Graduate School of Social Sciences

Anell Roos

11774029 Word count: 30 142

Supervisor: Dr. Yatun Sastramidjaja Date of Submission: 20 August 2018

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PLAGIARIASM DECLARATION

I have read and understood the University of Amsterdam’s plagiarism policy. I declare that this thesis is entirely my own work, all sources have been properly acknowledged, and that I have not previously submitted this work, or any version of it, for assessment in any other paper.

Anell Roos August 20th, 2018

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My supervisor Yatun, whose endless patience, encouragement, and academic support got me through the writing of this thesis. I cannot even begin to express my gratitude. Thank you. Every classmate whose motivation and friendship eased the process of graduating and whose anthropological selves enriched my own, and everyone in my personal life whose support was unending.

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ABSTRACT

With the dominance of neoliberalism in Dutch higher education and the move towards an individualised notion of success, the importance of primary school education as a formational space for upholding neoliberal reform became a prominent concern of this research. Through an analysis of the IMC Weekendschool organisation, and its supplementary educational programmes in lower socio-economic neighbourhoods and schools, this research is concerned with the ability of primary school children to navigate agency and mobility in such a programme to effect a new narrative of civic engagement and personal success. With a goal to stimulate childhood motivation through real life experiences of various career fields through contact with experts from these fields, IMC Weekendschool seeks to produce an ethos of “reaching for the stars” and awakening a sense of accountability and academic drive in children.

This research argues that the programmes are successful in creating motivation and participation in children through a new form of educational exposure, but fails to identify and integrate broader socio-cultural and economic considerations into the programme as a means of further developing civic engagement beyond advocating to be productive members of society. Through an analysis of programme strategies and theoretical underpinning of childhood participation and agency, this thesis will situate the IMC Weekendschool as both an agent of social change, but also as complicit in a neoliberal life-making project.

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CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

1.1. Schools and Discourses: An introduction to the IMC Weekendschool

Entering the field I had a clear vision of what my research question would be, my methodological approach to aid the answering of that question, and how anthropology would guide an analysis of how the formation of childhood notions of success were guided by a supplementary educational programme within a neoliberal Dutch landscape. Instead, in the ten weeks of conducting ethnography, I came to the realisation that such an academic thesis would be unable to accurately represent, while doing justice to, the complex lives of the children in my research. I would be unable to portray the vastness of their minds and imaginaries as the cumulative result of their lives and experiences, but I would be able to provide a glimpse into the mechanisms of childhood thought when presented with future possibilities of success and notions of civic engagement. Woven in a complex set of childhood agency, neoliberal education, and the importance of civic engagement, this thesis aimed to understand how children from lower socio-economic backgrounds conceptualised the notion of personal and future success. Taking part in a supplementary educational programme, children from the ages 10-13 are inundated with decisions about their futures, the rootedness of their socio-cultural and economic backgrounds, and their ability to define their own narrative selfhoods when confronted with concepts such as ‘reach for the stars’ and contributing to society.

Reflecting on my own low socio-economic childhood in South Africa and having been educated in a different educational system than in the Netherlands, I knew a superficial comparison between the two systems was problematic. Yet I experienced discomfort knowing that had I been educated in the Netherlands, my own (academic) future might have been different as a result of the symolism and purpose of educational structures, and the resultant choices made in alternate system. My anthropological mind started to wonder how children in lower socio-economic areas in the Netherlands dealt with the Dutch system, and how they were able to enact a sense of mobility and agency, and redefine the symbolism and

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2 meaning endowed unto them by their positions within society. It was at this uncomfortable intersection of my past, my present position as a highly educated woman, and the futures of these children, that I started engaging with how this discomfort may be understood in anthropological terms. Hence, the proposed research sought to understand how primary school children in groups 7-8, the final two years of primary education, engage with an educational programme offered outside their school curriculum which may be viewed as a site for knowledge production, while simultaneously forming their own social consciousness and identities within a socio-culturally, politically, and economically stratified society. The primary school demographic allowed a view into the threshold of their academic careers: they were entering the last stage of their primary school education where the successful completion of standardised tests, compulsory for all group 8 children and which, along with the testimony of a teacher, determines the trajectory a child will follow in secondary education. This threshold also illustrated the complicated relationship between the formation of their personal identities as young people and the pressure they may experience in relation to academic success. The research aims to critically engage with a supplementary educational programme to understand how these practices are employed in certain primary schools to define success, self-actualisation, and societal contribution. To counteract a one-sided view on education wherein parents and teachers occupy the main informant roles, the crux of this research will be focused around the experiences of children within the educational system and how they engage with a wide array of methods, practices, and socialised internalisations regarding social status to achieve either a personalised or prescribed model of success.

To situate this research I embarked on a research partnership with the IMC Weekendschool, a non-profit organisation located in Amsterdam aiming to educate children about the multiple possible career paths available to them, and to motivate them to stand informed and proactive regarding their personal career choices. The organisation aims to centre three main guiding principles in their practices: broadening children’s future perspectives, improving their self-confidence, and strengthening a child’s connectedness and integration with Dutch society (www.imcweekendschool.nl). The organisation, referred to as IMC from hereon, applies its strategies and educational initiatives through the implementation of two specific programmes: the initial and flagship programme, the Weekendschool, and the newly developed IMC Primary. The Weekendschool is currently implemented in ten locations across the Netherlands in various cities and takes place on a Sunday in an external location from early morning to late afternoon. A three year programme spanning the final

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3 two years of primary school and the first year of secondary school, children willingly make the decision to take part in the programme every Sunday. IMC Primary is implemented in fourteen primary schools and has been operational for three years, with some locations only entering their first or second years of operation in the 2017/2018 schoolyear. My primary field site, the Caleidoscoop primary school in Almere is currently in its third year of operation and it was often brought to my attention by my main IMC contact liaison Rafaela, the concept developer for IMC Primary, that IMC Almere was seen as the model for the programme. As fieldwork progressed, this statement was validated not only my observations and participation, but by the interviews and casual conversations I had with both school staff and children. Throughout my fieldwork and research it became clear that while Weekendschool and Primary originated from the same vision statement and thematic structure, the application of the programme differed significantly across locations. This can be ascribed to various factors: the class structure of Weekendschool and Primary, the surrounding (or absent) school setting, the presence of both IMC and non-IMC staff, as well as the socio-cohesive structures as envisioned and embodied by the children through a perceptive and conscious analysis and renegotiation of his or her spatial and imbued surroundings. Related to Dillabough and Kennelly’s (2010) argument that youth groups renegotiate their spatial surroundings and meaning within society, such as citizenship and individuality, in response to socio-cultural spaces filled with discourses of being and assimilation, James (2007) posits a similar argument when he says that children as social actors are capable of eliciting perspectives and constructs of social issues which alter the meaning associated with such spaces when investigated purely from an observer or researcher’s point of view. Because of these practices of interpretation and renegotiation, the “cultural contexts of production” (James 2007: 265) at each IMC location must be viewed in a discourse of particularities and generalisations and the meaning ascribed to it by the children as a class collective, and as individual learners.

Attentive to the effects of the IMC Weekendschool and IMC Primary in their capacity as supplementary educational programmes on the socialisation process of children and the resultant identity formations, the research methodology was focused on ethnographic participant observation and interviews with both the children and adult staff. I aimed to locate children as both recipients of the IMC programmes, thus identifying IMC as an agent of change, but also locate them as individuals capable of shaping the programme routines through their behaviour and opinions. My fieldwork data as viewed from an ethnographic

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4 standpoint where the researcher adheres to child inclusive research practices (Bucholtz 2002; James 2007) versus a position where adult actors and researchers dominate the interpretation of data suggests a complex relationship between these two informant groups. This does not suggest a binary interpretative measure in which two standpoints are contrasted in order to position the adult informants as the main producers of knowledge, where childhood knowledge is relocated to the margins (Christensen 2004; James 2007; Mishna et al 2004; Wyness 2006), but to highlight the complementary relationship between childhood knowledge and adult authority as a multi-layered construct.

Leading to the creation of a situational framework in which children are to partake in the IMC programmes, the visibility of childhood ownership of positionality becomes more easily noticeable as the power relationships between the actors are considered as a reciprocal process of information exchange and knowledge production. Addressing such exchanges must be done within the context of a constantly shifting, increasingly challenging and peripheral society where children are often viewed as unable to adequately take part in society because of their status as a ‘child’ – a generalisation which James (2007: 262) warns against as it obscures the contributions children’s opinions provide in a new discourse on educational policy and childhood agency. These issues may be brought to the surface and analysed within a framework of agency within a neoliberal landscape and childhood civic engagement (Cohen 2005; Karsten 1999; Wood 2014; Youniss et al 2002). The inclusion of children’s voices within the social sciences is a complex matter marked by traditional power structures, the construct of ‘the child’ and its associated symbolisms of worth, and the impact on research epistemologies once the child becomes part of the research process as an active contributor and not merely a subject of research. IMC offered a unique study opportunity: not only would I, as researcher, be confronted by with the researcher-informant dualism of interpretation and authenticity, but the programme itself could reflect a power relationship where adults remain the prominent translators of both instilled and received information.

I cannot begin to relay the historicity of the IMC Weekendschool organisation, its programmes, and its structural design without the continuation of long-term fieldwork, both at the organisational headquarters and my chosen field sites, but I can provide a platform on which the spatial-temporal character of the programme is evaluated and rise is given to a new consideration of child-centred innovation and agency. In particular, I strongly advocate for the engagement with children beyond the classroom, beyond educational programmes, and beyond prescribed relationships. I hope that this thesis can provide a glimpse into the

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5 necessity for child engagement and adapted cultures of communication. As such, this thesis will centre around the question of how children, as individual voices with agency and influence, mediate existing and create new narratives of social participation through their mobility in a supplementary educational programme with a neoliberal turn.

To accomplish this, Chapter Two will locate IMC as an agent of change and will be discussed through an examination of its programmes, aims, and participants. Focus will be centred on advocating a future in which personal happiness and social contribution is instilled in all participating children. In Chapter Three the IMC strategies are considered through an ethnographic exploration of both interviews with informants, and a tour through the practical aspects of the programme whereby children are introduced to, and are able to immerse themselves in the lives of skilled experts, and so recognise their own ability to become those experts. This will lead to an analysis of childhood civic engagement and social contribution at the hand of various case studies. In the concluding chapter the focus will be on the development of practical recommendations which can be applied by IMC throughout their programmes and further consideration of future research into supplementary education.

1.2. Contextualised Narratives: The IMC Weekendschool

This research had as its main focus the IMC Weekendchool’s Primary programme, which sought to stimulate motivation within children regarding their futures by introducing them to experts in various fields and providing children with a vision of what their futures could be. Rafaela relayed the organisation’s origin as follows:

The IMC Weekendschool was established in 1998 when its current Director, Heleen Terwijn, conducted her PhD research in Amsterdam East and concluded that many of the children in her research possessed no future prospects, were unable to state what they wanted to become in the future, and had no knowledge of the possibilities available to them. To address this gap, Heleen sought to bring children into contact with highly skilled experts across various fields in order to expose children to the attainability of what was seen as unattainable futures because of the low socio-economic status of the majority of the children. She envisioned that this was to happen on a Sunday.

The organisation derived its name when Heleen accepted the challenge from an acquaintance that should she be able to get children to attend school on a Sunday, the IMC

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6 Financial Markets & Asset Management company would become her first donor. Heleen succeeded in this endeavour and the IMC company continues to be one of the organisation’s large financial sponsors. This story conjures a narrative of success; through Heleen’s personal dedication and intervention, a new supplementary educational model was developed to address the marginalising social, economic, and cultural factors which influenced the realisation of a child’s full potential within a traditional school setting. More specifically, the programme envisioned stimulating and increasing motivation within children and through the implementation of the IMC protocols, children from marginalised communities were given the opportunity to engage with what was seen as a representative, broad, and encompassing career spectrum.

Crucial to the success of the IMC Weekendschool was instilling the notion in children that certain futures and careers, particularly careers requiring higher tertiary education and which were seen as prestigious, were not beyond their reach merely because of their lower socio-economic backgrounds, or as a result of their current school performance. Rather, the choice of a future career was a personal choice based on the desires and goals of the child: personal futures should reflect and encompass the wants and capabilities of the child, as opposed to what is expected of them. From an anthropological perspective this proposition is troubling as it seems to signal a position of ambivalence with the wider socio-cultural and economic realities these children grew up in, suggesting that the choice of pursuing a future was an individual choice largely free from societal and familial influences. This notion of ambivalence is frail – it largely neglects the relationship between class and educational structures, and the resultant socialisation processes involved in the formation of individuals ready to enter the labour market, and the choices made by individuals within this specific construct (Dillabough & Kennelly 2010: 30). This notion is directly linked to the neoliberal climate visible in not only Dutch education, but also in Dutch society, with the recognition that this proposition of ambivalence cannot be separated from the larger discussions on neoliberalism, the strategies used by the IMC to implement their initiatives, and IMC’s position of power and authority as a site for the production and transference of knowledge.

1.2.1: IMC: Supplementary Education and its link to Civic Engagement

Just do it! Discover! What does it matter if you’re not so good in something? Maybe you enjoy something so much, that you want to become better in it. Practice makes perfect. In our

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7 complex society, where decision-making is even more central than ever, it is a good thing to know at a young age to know what you like and dislike. To do that, you must gain experience.

See things, do things, and listen. Follow your curiosity and ask questions. This also means you can work on your life skills. (IMC Primary Manual 2016)

The above quote forms part of the manual given to new IMC staff and highlights key concepts central to understanding IMC as a conceptual and strategic educational model, and how to implement it effectively. It provides an interpretation of neoliberalism’s integration within educational structures and the manners in which it assimilates within a normalised vision of progressive futures and personal successes. Advocating the notion of personal choice through the identification of “likes” and “dislikes,” childhood identities are simultaneously formed and built upon, with the goal of stimulating motivation for future personal happiness within society. To better understand the meaning of these constructed values I will be drawing on ethnographic data gathered at the two IMC programmes. Principal ethnographic data gathering and participant observation took place at the Caleidoscoop school, with secondary data gathering taking place at the Talma school in Rotterdam, another IMC Primary location, and the IMC Weekendschool location in Amsterdam South East.

A concise discussion on the programme structures and implementation procedures will lead the way for an analytical and applied anthropological approach which serves to identify IMC as an interlocutor agent of change within a neoliberal landscape. Within this landscape, children as individuals with agency are viewed as capable of redefining their personal notions of success and happiness within an educational programme designed to stimulate motivational growth and positive citizenship. Both programmes take place under the same directive and are meant to act as a supplementary aid to the existing Dutch primary educational system by broadening the educational options on offer. Core to the programmes is the idea of ‘real life education’ wherein children are able to witness and experience a realistic representation of the world. This is achieved through a “balanced programme wherein subjects from the arts and the alfa, beta, and gamma sciences and subjects which link to popular career fields worked interchangeably and effectively” (IMC Primary Manual 2016: 1). These categories encompass fields from the arts, social sciences and humanities, to natural and mathematical sciences, and through the development of a thematic curriculum children are engaged in an in-depth experience of these careers by attending classes taught by guest lecturers from the various fields.

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8 To research the notion of civic engagement, I focused on how engaged children appeared to be in the programme. The definition of civic engagement however is a variable one depending on accepted notions of social or political involvement (Wood 2014; Youniss et

al 2002), core characteristics of childhood and adulthood (Sherrod et al 2002: 265), and how

educational structures contribute to the resolves and collective opinions which develop as a child matures into adulthood. Sherrod et al (2002) focus predominantly on how civic engagement can benefit the political experiences and movements at both a grassroots and national level, leading to their work being of a primarily thin descriptive manner in which the why, when, where, and who of civic engagement is discussed. What is needed, is a detailed analysis on how civic engagement has manifested itself through educational programmes and as a trajectory of social change and imbedded structural adjustment. The authors further fail to account for children’s agency in claiming ownership over participation in both educational and social spheres, but also how encouraged participation within educational and socio-political structures could lead to the identification and creation of individual and collective notions of agency. Wyness (2006), Nygreen (2017), and Cockburn (2005) offer insights into these questions by conducting child-centred research on educational and training programmes designed to broaden children’s exposure to social and political issues, with Wood (2014) offering input on how to theorise such exposure within a cultural framework as described by Robbins (2013), and how civic engagement is defined by children.

Bucholtz (2002: 528) states that “youth is a context-renewing and a context-creating sign whereby social relations are both (and often simultaneously) reproduced and contested”, necessitating a consideration by both myself as researcher, and by the IMC, that the concept of ‘child’ or ‘children’ could not be used as an all-encompassing definition of childhood (James 2007: 262). Entering the field it was imperative to centre the notion of social research not as confined within the academic sphere, but crucial to understanding the construction of lived realities through mechanisms of autonomy, agency, and the embodiment, or rejection, of encountered practices. As I was working with children and their ongoing processes of self-knowledge and identity formation, I entered the field with the goal of producing a body of work in which the importance of child-centred research policies were illustrated, and could lead to concrete recommendations to better conform to childhood needs and capabilities, while stimulating a need for children capable of entering civic engagement processes and becoming what IMC has termed ‘productive members of society’.

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9 1.3. Weekendschool and Primary: Creating the Context

Ethnographic research and interviews were conducted from mid-January to the end of March 2018. As the research was formulated around a child-centred narrative (Mishna 2004; Christensen 2004; Darbyshire et al 2005), it became imperative to be more than just an observer, as I needed to fully incorporate into the activities of the children and take part in the programme in such a way that I was not viewed as an outsider, but as an individual committed to the programme and the opinion of the children. To accomplish this I needed to adjust to the two separate programmes and the contextual narratives taking place within the ongoing routines of different locations and implementation strategies, which begs a brief account of the programme differences and similarities. Owing to the school setting, some considerations needed to be made on my part regarding the scheduling of interviews as I had to comply with school rules and regular classes which the children had to attend. This meant that interviews took no more than fifteen minutes at a time, and principal observations took place during IMC classes. The following accounts of the two programme serve to highlight the manner in which ethnographic research needed to be adapted to allow for the collection of rich, thick descriptions.

IMC Weekendschool

According to the IMC Primary manual (2016),

IMC Weekendschool is a school for supplementary education for motivated children from lower socio-economic areas in large cities in the Netherlands. The school offers a multi-year schooling for children between the ages of ten and fourteen, aimed at broadening future oriented perspectives, strengthening their self-confidence, strengthening their connection with Dutch society, and feeding their personal motivations. Central to the weekendschool model is that students and inspirational experts in various fields meet each other during the lessons and are able to explore various fields of study in an interactive manner.

The Weekendschool has developed into a highly respected1 educational programme throughout the Netherlands boasting 1103 children in the 2015/2016 schoolyear, with 264 third year students receiving their diploma after completion of the programme. Because of

1_{https://www.groene.nl/artikel/ik-ben-blikje-vijftig}_(Dutch)

https://www.groene.nl/artikel/we-mogen-een-wond-hechten-op-een-mango (Dutch)

https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/weekendschool-was-de-enige-veilige-plek-die-miriam-kende-als-kind~b95981fce/ (Dutch)

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10 the multiple IMC locations, a variety of methodologies and routines is understandable, despite the adherence to a core thematic programme. The children all possess distinct personalities and mechanisms for interacting with both peers and staff, which in turn affect the implementation of the programme on a weekly basis. With the programme being highly dependent on the cooperation of the children, it is important to keep Cockburn’s words in thought:

The participation of children is located in the context of a distinct lack of trust in children by government and many adults in today’s society. The tensions between children perceived as competent and/or incompetent underlies the ambiguities of children’s participation. (Cockburn 2005: 110)

Cockburn paints a sombre picture of children’s participation and validation within governmental policy programmes and theoretical discourses, as they were often excluded from the development processes by being seen as “incompetent, unstable, unreliable or emotional” (2005: 110), and being unable to grasp the complexities of the socio-political world in which they live (James 2007). The welfare of children is defined and controlled by these assumption of childhood incompetence and the author argues that within dominant political systems the emphasis is on changing the child, not the surrounding socio-cultural, political, and economic circumstances (Cockburn 2005: 111). This marginalising practice can be viewed as congruent with a neoliberal life ideal in which individual capability and responsibility is at the forefront of notions of success and self-fulfilment, as opposed to adopting a policy shift in which the constructed society is viewed as an inherently restrictive and oppressive system (Anagnost 2013). The IMC offers an interesting scenario: children’s participation is required for its success; to instil a notion of motivation and individual capability, children are required to immerse themselves in the programme and the core thematic goals which are highlighted throughout the curriculum. Yet while children’s motivation and future prospects are central to the IMC mission discourse, very little attention is paid to what the future looks like beyond the mere consideration of a career choice. The lived context of society as an inherent part of a child’s perception of him or herself is neglected by not incorporating an element of social education within the curriculum.

The Weekendschool as a motivational manoeuvre is considered successful as it pulls children into its informative allure by making them part of the experience, which speaks to their ability to stimulate participatory actions. However, children’s participation cannot be limited to the endeavour of changing a child’s future through motivation while not addressing systemic socio-political and economic forces which maintain an unequal and stratified

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11 society. The majority of children of who partake in the Weekendschool every Sunday are from middle to low socio-economic backgrounds and may face barriers to reaching success which encompass more than a lack of motivation. It is crucial that the Weekendschool be scrutinised within a context of not only a neoliberal society, but within a societal structure unfavourable to children of colour, migrant children, and children from families where the cycle of poverty will continue unless challenged at a structural level. In their current forms, the IMC programmes do not integrate a socially conscious aspect of teaching beyond advancing the notion of a productive member of society. It is my hope that through the recommendations presented in Chapter Four, a new angle for childhood success may be forged which is rooted in social change. From the weekly routines, the interaction between children, between children and IMC staff, and the level of participation of children within the programme (and the resultant opinions and arguments), a new picture of IMC as an interlocutor of change must be created. From this new discourse a strategic route may be devised in which children as competent actors are actively involved in the discussion on societal issues and plans for change, with particular emphasis on their role within such strategies.

IMC Primary

Originating from the weekendschool template,

IMC Weekendschool developed a programme which made it possible to integrate society-oriented education within the mainstream primary educational system: IMC Primary. In this manner the weekendschool model offerings may be better distributed and more children are able to benefit from the positive effects (IMC Primary manual 2016).

As explained to me by both Rafaela and Bonny, the coordinator for IMC Primary at the Caleidoscoop school and a former teacher at the school, the distribution of the positive effects is not necessarily an equal or linear process, as the selection process of the primary school (IMC Primary) and that of the child (IMC Weekendschool) delineates a separate model of need and participation: that of collective versus an individual assessment of need. A former primary school teacher, Bonny possessed knowledge about school structures and the effects of supplementary programmes which other coordinators, not in possession of an educational background, may have lacked. Her positionality permits her to navigate two sets of protocols and expectations which allows for a unique glimpse into the construct of IMC

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12 Primary. Not only does Bonny possess knowledge about the Dutch primary school system and its strategies and methods, she is able to complement her training as a teacher with the strategies advocated by IMC, leading to a style of teaching and guidance which found resonance with the majority of children. When asked about what she thought the differences between IMC Primary and Weekendschool were, she had the following to say:

Weekendschool is selective per child, as they aim to identify those who need it most. IMC Primary looks at which schools need it the most, but it would be an assumption to say that all children’s needs are the same and that everyone needs the programme to the same extent, because that’s not true. And that’s why I find Primary so interesting because the child that normally learns and does the best is no longer the best anymore. And at weekendschool you get a lot of the same type of kids. And who pulls who up? And after a while they get to know each other really well but that takes a while because it’s only on a Sunday. Here they know each other and they can utilise each other’s talents throughout the week and I think that’s what makes IMC Primary unique.

The integration of the programme in the primary school structure resulted in a sense of familiarity and knowledge which assisted in the fostering of a sense of accomplishment and validation within the children. The ability of children to recognise another’s personality and actions and then mediate the effects of such interaction on his or herself, must be viewed as a form of agency whereby a child is exposed to broad range of opinions, validities, and beliefs. Illustrated by my fieldwork, children in the Primary programme were better able to take part in the class when the setting was familiar (the school space) and their peers had progressed with them from the early stages of primary school up to group 7 and 8. While Primary faces the same challenges as the weekendschool with regard to the inability to address core socio-political and economic issues beyond career choices, Primary is in a unique position to incorporate these issues given the stability of the setting and the continuity of familiarity. A dialogical process of civic engagement is possible through an identification of “children’s experiences, interests, values and everyday routines” (Christensen 2004: 166) and centring the child as the narrator of those experiences and how they form an individual perception of self (Wood 2014).

1.3.1: Actors and Actions: Setting the Stage

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13 Each IMC location is led by a coordinator who oversees the development and implementation of classes based on the organisational thematic structure. This includes inviting guest lecturers, developing thematic and lesson goals which are to be achieved as the three week theme progresses, and overseeing the other IMC staff in their capacities as class leaders, often acting as a class leader themselves. At the Caleidoscoop school Bonny, together with three volunteers, runs the programme on a Thursday for group 7 and on a Friday for group 8. Bonny’s experience as a teacher cements her as a central figure in the IMC network and her ability to engage effectively with children (Christensen 2004), are some of her strong points. Besides being a key informantt, she is a key figure in the implementation strategy employed by IMC to accomplish their goals, as an IMC coordinator is someone who

Makes sure that a context is created wherein the students can explore the field of expertise of the guest lecturer. He/she can evaluate the group dynamic and estimate whether the programme is able to fulfil the needs and questions of all students. The coordinator is attentive to the climate of the class: an open and safe atmosphere where there is space for curiosity (IMC Manual 2016).

With her soft-spoken but firm, and open, friendly personality, Bonny was loved by both children and school staff and it was common practice for children, in particular the girls, to ask Bonny for a few minutes of her time, which she freely gave. It was not an uncommon sight to see children hug her and rush to talk to her, and she even possessed a familiarity with the smaller school children whom she would always grab into a hug. During the end of year ceremony2, Bonny wrote specialised compliments about each child which she delivered, along with a certificate and a flower.

Juf3 Kylie and Juf Patricia were the group 8 teachers, with Juf Eline head of group 7, and all three were proactively involved in the IMC classes in cooperation with Bonny. Juf Kylie is a young woman with a passion for teaching, and with her relaxed style and personality, she was a favourite among children. She possessed a dry humour which often led her to joke with Bonny and the other teachers, but she was warm, but strict, with the children. It was not an uncommon practice for her, and the other teachers, to film the children during practical classes and for example, tease them during a blindfolded taste test. In this manner her relationship with the children was one of support and openness, while maintaining her authority as teacher to whom the children listened. This authority became subservient to

2_{This ceremony took place in June after the completion of fieldwork, and while I was asked to join and}

enthusiastically agreed, it serves an illustrative purpose only.

3_{‘Juf’ being the Dutch abbreviation for a female school teacher. In keeping with continuity and to reflect the}

field as true as possible, I will continue using the term to refer to myself and to other female teachers, while also continuing the use of ‘meester’ (sir) to refer to male coordinators and/or teachers.

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14 Bonny’s during IMC classes, yet their presence in the classroom did have an effect on the children, as they offered support and encouragement throughout. The relationship between IMC staff and school staff is necessary for the success of not only the programme, but to the project of motivating children to become more civically engaged. The Talma school in Rotterdam is led by Stephan, who has been in his position for the 2017/2018 academic year and is supported by an intern. With no educational background in teaching, Stephan employed a vastly different manner of conducting the classes and may be seen as representative of a teaching strategy where children occupy a different position relative to him as a teacher. Stephan is a tall man in his late thirties who took on a role where his position, while head of the class as coordinator, was more equal to that of the children. I often viewed him as a mediation between the children and the guest lecturers, as he stimulated participation in a very informal manner. Given the school’s status as a first year IMC school, his status as a non-teacher was to the benefit of the class as it caused a sense of enthusiasm with the children in a programme where the stimulation of curiosity was key.

Amsterdam South East, a Weekendschool location, is coordinated by Rick, a man in his late twenties with a background in media and entertainment. During my time at South East, I was struck with how well many children responded to him and how he encouraged the children in a firm but supportive manner. Rick is a perfect example to illustrate how beneficial it is to treat children as equals and to not dismiss their opinions as he often did not take on an authoritative position towards the children. His teaching style reflected that of Stephan’s and while children in Rick’s class tended to display some hostility during class, both Rick and Stephan formed connections with children whereby a friendly and inviting space was created.

Rafaela had been my main liaison between the organisation and the schools, and acted as my main source of organisational information. As a former teacher herself, Rafaela possessed both a teaching and organisational position of knowledge and authority which greatly informed the formulation of my theory and recommendations. Keen to share her experiences about IMC Primary and her insights into the programme, Rafaela and I’s engagement was open, stimulating, and supportive.

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Group 8 of the Caleidoscoop school in Almere. Rafaela pictured on the left with a blue jacket and pink scarf. Bonny seated at the front, fourth from the right, with Juf Patricia on the far right. One boy was anonymised due to parental wishes.

B. Children

As schools are social institutions and should be investigated within the context of the surrounding socio-cultural, political, and economic context (Collins 2012: 193), it is necessary to locate children who, as actors within a globalised world, experience not only the school system, but the IMC programmes within their lives. The connotation of ‘I like it’ or ‘I don’t like it’ is directly related to their vision of self within a world where familial and/or social changes are felt at a perceptible level. As the children were unable to answer questions in the same manner as adults, or were unable to understand a question unless it was simplified into terms which they could understand, it became important to adjust my cultures of communication (Christensen 2004) in order to connect with them. Throughout my fieldwork I felt myself drawn to certain children – children who were either inquisitive and eager, or children who at first glance came across as particularly vulnerable. All main informants were drawn from the Caleidoscoop school and were in group 8 at the time of fieldwork. These children were primarily chosen as they were in their second year of taking part in the Primary programme and were on the cusp of transitioning into secondary school. This meant that they had already received their advice as to which secondary school trajectory would be most

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16 suitable to their (academic) capabilities and many had a clear picture of what they wanted to become later in life. It was these thought processes that I needed to access in a manner conducive to a child’s ability to engage in a conversation with a researcher, meaning I had to start a dialogue with the child (Christensen 2004: 168) in which an equal representation was central. My main informants were all boys between the ages of 11 and 12, with secondary informants including girls as well. The gendered division between my informants, while important, is not absolute in its binary nature. Main informants were chosen based on the interactions I witnessed during the IMC classes, as well as the stories children revealed to me during interviews. I did not observe instances of underachievement of the boys in comparison with the girls, nor were the boys chosen because of a prevailing notion of troublesome personalities. However, an awareness of how boys are perceived in school where gender norms remain on a predominantly binary scale of masculinity and femininity, and in particular the feminisation of education, remains important, if not ultimately distinctly relevant to this research.

The first child who struck me was Matt4, a tall boy with dark curly hair and an inquisitive manner who constantly engaged with guest lecturers and other children. Matt was chosen because of his status as highly intelligent, his engagement with the IMC material, and his constant need to move and talk. During our interview I noticed how he seemed to follow the movement of the pen in my hands as we spoke, even when my hand gestures became bold. He did this without failing to engage in our conversation or losing attention, and I saw this behaviour throughout fieldwork – waiting outside of one of the practical field sites in the medicine theme, we would talk about his interests and hobbies all the while his body was constantly moving, yet with his attention staying on me. Together with his own awareness of his capabilities, and the academic advice he received in regard to further education, Matt soon became an integral part in understanding IMC as a platform from which children were able to discover not only new interests, but were able to engage with a topic in a manner absent within standard education. IMC becomes a space for identity formation and taking ownership of participation on their own terms and Matt was a perfect example of this, especially given his own admission that he processed things differently than others. To complete this section, Jayden, a boy with untreated ADHD, is valuable to discussing how IMC strategies were key to the stimulation of his participatory role, and fulfilled a role as interlocutor between regular

4_{Pseudonyms will be used for all child informants. Adult informants have consented to having their real names}

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17 education and Jayden’s own wants, capabilities, and his ability to communicate his opinions on various topics. A soft-spoken and friendly, if quiet child during our interview, Jayden often became disruptive during class and this lead to him being guided firmly by both Bonny and the teachers. His story will speak to IMC’s ability to create narrative for participation and acceptance, and the importance of personnel who are adept at working with children of all backgrounds.

Muus and Tom, boys of Turkish and European descent respectively, will form a case study on civic engagement and the role of children and youth in the renegotiation of social boundaries and systems. Their similar future interests reflect a shared sense of morality, but the context of their familial and social backgrounds illustrate the complexity of the construction of not only social relationships within their school context, but how their identity formation processes differ as a result of their backgrounds. These differences lead to a variation of how their shared sense of morality and civic engagement is defined and perceived in relation to others, and lends itself to a discussion on Robbins’ anthropology of the good (2013) and the dynamic between social and political engagement (Sherrod et al 2002; Wood 2014; Youniss et al 2002). Both boys were studious and curious in class and interacted in a positive and supportive manner towards others, yet elicited different feelings and ideas in me as both a Juf and as a researcher, which led to a reflection on my own subjective positionality in a social climate. While these children constituted my main informants, various children, both boys and girls constituted secondary informants and informed existing discourses on motivation, the why of career choices, and the expectation of material and personal gain.

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18 1.3.2. Theoretical Insights

Anthropological interpretations allow for a thorough and in-depth exploration and critique on the structure of educational programmes, their prescribed learning outcomes, and the methods employed in the knowledge transference process and how children, as recipients of structured knowledge, employ their own interpretations to produce new knowledge (Bagnoli & Clark 2010; Christensen 2004; Nygreen 2017). While Dillabough and Kennelly’s (2010: 31) work is focused on young adults in an urban setting as opposed to children of pre-pubescent age in a Dutch primary school, the core concepts of identity formation and the role of class identities and social positionality continue to be of use when analysing the IMC Weekendschool as a platform for the stimulation of childhood imaginations, as more than mere “…temporalized elements of material culture or as the straightforward reproductive bearers of ideological sub-texts…”. Dillabough and Kennelly (2010:30-31) argue that the focus on class structures and the educational system was often neglected in youth studies during the mid-twentieth-century, but found a revival when it became necessary to integrate youth in the construction of “analytical frameworks sufficiently refined for addressing the interrelated issues of youth culture, identity and exclusion”. These new analytical frameworks require the inclusion of youth as central to the creation of new theories, as well as the practices which could lead to a new inclusionary set of practices. The conceptualisation and theorisation of these concepts within a complex theoretical model of class, agency, identity, and civic engagement is not an easy one, and when working with children, the element of ethical and true interpretation becomes a central tenet of research (Cockburn 2015; Wyness 2006). In particular the importance of informant voices, especially that of children, is deeply embedded in how class and identity are formulated throughout this research. Children’s opinions are taken as a central departure platform for a theorisation on how the IMC becomes an intermediary for the relationship between societal expectations, hence a structural and embedded notion of society, and a child’s ability to utilise his or her own sense of agency in a participatory discourse which deviates from a prescribed model (Cockburn 2015: 111-112).

Particularly, the positionality of youth and their ability to influence said positionality as both separate and integrated with a new social system represents a changing nature in how youth are able to challenge the symbolic and structural elements which had kept their individualities confined to a restrictive ideological and economic model.

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19 In opposition to the prescribed positions assigned to youth groups rooted in class structures, this divergent approach allows for a re-examination of how identity is not merely an extension of class and economic forces embodied through practices, activities, and rituals, but a new conceptual tool used to sever the assumed direct intertwinement of class and identity.

While the children in my research range between the ages of 10-12, and occupy a different maturity stage, with a significantly alternate view and reasoning skillset than the adolescent groups studied by Dillabough and Kennelly, the notion of a more complex relationship between class and identity remains valid. Coming from middle to lower socio-economic groups, the children in my research conceptualise these backgrounds in terms and comparisons which are simpler to understand such as the lack, or possession of material goods. In addition, children are often aware of themselves as part of a specific class or economic system, and the need (whether internal or imposed) to be better, to achieve more, thus the notion of upwards social mobility is strongly present among them. The relationship between an awareness of positionality and the need to improve the ‘situation at home’ is a clear indication of the link between class and identity, but it is also indicative of how childhood identities and drives are not bound by class. With the implementation of the IMC programme, the notion of class fixedness may be weakened as children are encouraged to follow their dreams instead of the expectations by parents or teachers. Indeed, as an educational programme, albeit a supplementary one, the socialisation processes set in motion through the IMC initiatives are designed to function in a catalytic manner for a new approach to deconstructing class and labour expectations. The mechanisms and language employed by the IMC initiatives must be understood within the framework of childhood agency and choice, with the notion of personal happiness as a guiding factor.

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20

CHAPTER TWO

Strategic Interventions and Childhood Positionality

2.1. Introduction

Sitting in the personnel room of the Caleidoscoop school in Almere one morning before the start of the daily programme, my attention was drawn to the notice board where a picture was tacked to it, describing what education would look like in 2032. Taking the form of a mind map with ‘one day in 2032’ as the central point, the branches included ‘individualism’, ‘performance pressure’, and ‘digitalising’; each of which sectioned off into key features of the various concepts, such as devising your own learning plan, individual guidance, decreased social capabilities, a lessened group dynamic, and a reliance on digital processes. Reading this, I had to glance back to confirm that the drawing was indeed about 2032, and was not merely a reflection on the educational structure in the Netherlands in 2018. Struck by the irony of envisioning the future of neoliberal education while already participating within a neoliberal system, I asked for permission to use the photo in my work, as I found it indicative of the current educational landscape and the neoliberalisation of Dutch education. While the picture was not drawn in reference to the involvement of the IMC Weekendschool and was merely an exercise conducted during regular school hours previous to the start of my fieldwork, the presence of the IMC Weekendschool within the school structure cannot be separated from the larger narrative of the dominance of neoliberal individualism within Dutch society (Bal et al 2004; Karsten 1999).

The trajectories of both regular education and IMC programmes cannot be viewed as divergent in meaning and practice, but should rather be viewed as a consortium of embedded estimations of worth, and a platform for both the embodiment of neoliberal values, and the exploration of avenues for possible resistance to an ideology of individualised learning methods which lead to a confirmation of neoliberal values in the educational sector. The worth of individualised learning within the IMC Weekendschool is a highly regarded aspect of the methodology employed by the programme, as its core focus lies within the stimulation of childhood motivation and capability. This methodological strategy and ideological aim is

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21 rooted in the belief that children are in possession of agency which allow them the freedom and possibility of choosing their own career paths. However, contextualising personal choice and career paths within a neoliberal economy is not addressed within the scope of the IMC programme. For my research, the IMC programme offered a unique opportunity to analyse the extent to which IMC strategies stimulate, reproduce, or perhaps also mitigate the dominance of neoliberal values in the educational system and offers an opportunities to explore the continuous effect of IMC strategies within a broader socio-cultural and economic context.

Such an analysis may be conducted on a micro and meso level of the socio-cultural and economic climate both within the IMC programme, and the familial and social structures encountered by children on a daily and a future basis. At a micro level, the IMC programme encourages children to reflect on personal desires, hobbies, and abilities and to understand the measures needed to achieve aforementioned desires, with the goal of “preparing them to make independent, motivated and responsible choices with regard to their education and career” (IMC Manual 2016). The strategy of implementing a diverse thematic curriculum with a focus on practical skills and application is central to aiding children in discovering fields in which they feel most comfortable and interested in, with a further aim of encouraging children to pursue that particular field as a possible career path; I often overheard Bonny state that children, no matter their backgrounds, should “reach for the stars”. Aims are strengthened at a meso level where a child’s societal value is emphasised by instilling values such as contributing at various levels of society, fostering social cohesion, enhancing both individual and collective social productivity, and stimulating individual motivation. These values reflect Dillabough and Kennelly’s (2010) argument that youth are often defined within constructs (i.e., societal expectations) of success and assimilation, as opposed to the lived realities and marginalising encounters experienced by them in society. This dominant model in educational policy disregards the effects of socio-cultural and economic stratification on youth, and furthermore fails to appreciate the various strategies employed by youth to recreate and redefine identities and measures of worth through in-between processes of interpretation, recreation, and (symbolic) transformation.

Recognising the ambivalent position of the IMC programme as an agent of change as well as driving force of neoliberal education, I argue that IMC Weekendschool acts as a catalyst for the expression of childhood development and independent thought through the implementation of a ‘non-cognitive’ approach, which allows children to become what is

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22 called productive members of society (IMC manual 2016). For a proper understanding of this catalyst role I will contextualise the IMC Weekendschool and IMC Primary programmes within the current landscape of neoliberal education, while highlighting some crucial differences between the two programmes. IMC Primary’s integration in the school structure characterises it as complementary and supplementary to regular education, by offering a different approach to skills-based learning and relying on an interactive and inquisitive non-cognitive approach within a school setting. Despite this complementary role, the structure and methodology of the IMC Weekendschool as outside of the school setting is reflective of the manner in which the programme is implemented and the children approached and stimulated through the use of the ‘non-cognitive’ approach and the development of practical skills and experience. The two programmes share a collective organisational identity, yet the everyday occurrences and routines cannot be viewed as similar in practice. To understand this differentiation several factors need to be taken into account: the location, the class makeup, the external social and familial influences, as well as the internal composition of the relevant personnel, the presence or lack of an educational model, and importantly, the experiences of the children who are the main recipients of the programme’s mission and goals. The IMC programme identifies the transitional period of moving from primary to secondary education as a vulnerable but opportune period for the formation of new skillsets and motivations that are considered crucial to future childhood development, and further emphasises the children’s personal satisfaction as instrumental to the creation of individualised personas capable of making personal choices and pursuing personal career goals. These practices do not occur in a vacuum limited to the child’s autonomy and the IMC environment, but are rather pursued as parallel to the processes inherent in primary schools in which children are categorised according to educational measures of success, and as intertwined with the broader socio-cultural context in which educational facilities are located, most notably how they are related to the social-democratic or neoliberal foundations of (Dutch) society (Karsten 1999; Nygreen 2017).

To understand how the IMC programme relates to this broader context, I will examine how IMC as an organisation fits within the Dutch neoliberal landscape, how their strategies and embedded discourses serve to underscore a neoliberal worldview, but also how these exact strategies may serve as a platform on which children are able to utilise the available resources to challenge neoliberal discourses and rather to become what Sims (2017: 3) calls citizens who “live in, and participate in, a world where freedom, tolerance, debate, and social

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23 justice were valued”. Children’s positionality and agency are vital to the realisation of the IMC’s goal of producing productive members of society, while similarly illustrating how children are able to reimagine this transformation process by locating meaning outside of individualised career paths and economic classifications.

Under the guise of childhood development, a neoliberal educational policy potentially obscures ideological developments in a formative environment, being that these neoliberal values are inherently at odds with social democratic ideals, practices of equality, and social inclusion (Bal et al 2004; Karsten 1999). The neoliberal principle of equal opportunity for all disregards the fact that many children often do not enter school as equals with similar backgrounds and opportunities, and so are predisposed to educational trajectories with more obstacles to future success. Nygreen (2017: 56) argues that “individual actors do not enter this [educational] terrain as autonomous selves on an even playing field. They enter as actors who are always already constituted by and situated within webs of power and domination”. I argue that IMC’s notion of educational success, and the resultant IMC policy implications, are inextricably tied to the neoliberal ideology in which it operates, contributing to what Miraftab (2004, as cited in Nygreen 2017: 57) calls the “processes of symbolic inclusion and material exclusion”, while acknowledging the fact that IMC’s relationship with neoliberal ideology is far more complex than shown here. This concept, based in the argument that all schools and thus children, are deserving of equal representation and educational resources, but continue to be subjected to power relations at a higher socio-political level of society and capital means, is relevant to the meaning of IMC. While recognising the inequality between schools and children and the opportunities available to them, the IMC programme is grounded in the argument that all schools and children are nonetheless deserving of equal representation and educational resources. While power relations at a national level continue to reinforce this inequality, IMC devised a programme in which children are able to take part in an inclusive educational project where motivation is pursued for the eradication of inequality.

2.2. IMC Weekendschool within a Neoliberal Educational Landscape

As my fieldwork progressed, I became aware of how my position as a researcher was swiftly and surely renegotiated to that of Juf Anell, as opposed to what I had imagined would be seen as an involved, but separate to the school structure, researcher. Having been addressed as Juf

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24 Anell from my first day at the school, I experienced discomfort at this assumption of authority and as Bonny and I were walking to class one day early on in my fieldwork, I enquired whether she and the other teachers would not feel affronted by this address as I did not occupy the same role or possess the same authority as them, and as I was merely an unfamiliar observer. Reassured that it was not a problem, and that it indicated respect and authority towards me, and a sign of acceptance by the children, I thus became Juf Anell, and part of IMC.

As my own positionality became deeply embedded and influenced by my experiences in the field and through my involvement with IMC, I recognised how I subconsciously started to ascribe to the goal of, to quote Bonny, see the children “reach for the stars”. Advocating this ethos is not misplaced within the educational sector and such a role is often characterised by a supportive and enthusiastic demeanour which is vital to childhood development, which was noticeably expressed by all teachers and IMC staff. However, it became necessary to remain aware of symbolism of “reach for the stars” within the context of a neoliberal Dutch society and how, as teachers and authority figures, their actions may have contributed to upholding a neoliberal ideal. The changes children undergo, both as instigators and recipients within the primary school trajectory moving towards secondary school were concentrated in groups 7 and 8, as these groups marked the launch of preparatory and evaluative strategies designed to prepare children for further education. In the IMC programme, children were exposed to supplementary strategies aimed at increasing their chances of future success and happiness. It stands to reason that the culmination of these two trajectories effected a transformational process in children not present in children who do not partake in the IMC programme. It is important understand how the IMC programmes fit into the larger narrative which IMC attempted to fill; that of the formation and stimulation of childhood motivation and the realisation of a “reach for the stars” mentality through a specialised form of teaching and exposure.

This form of exposure was developed to cater to children from lower socio-economic areas as the assumption was that children from privileged areas had more knowledge and access to ‘prestigious’ career fields through their parents and community, lending validation to the effort of allowing children from lower socio-economic backgrounds to access the same knowledge and information. Of course, while children in affluent communities do perhaps have more access to these fields, it does not conclusively account for the presence or meaning of motivation within such a community. IMC functions from the ideology of creating and

Reaching for the stars : supplementary education as an agent of change in childhood participation