Death of ambition in poor white boys

Consumerism replacing aspiration, warns expert

WHITE working- class boys are ‘obsessed with consumerism’ and no longer see it as ‘ heroic’ to overcome their backgrounds, an education expert has claimed.

Dr Tony Sewell believes a ‘collapse of aspiration’ has meant that poor but bright white children are not aiming for places at top universities.

He warned that a culture where people are ‘ happy to be victims’ means that many among the white working-classes are reluctant to better themselves through education – unlike previous generations.

They believe they are ‘stuck’ and have no ‘incentive to do anything more than mediocre’. Dr Sewell founded the charity Generating Genius to help black youths access university. It has now widened to cover white working- class pupils – who can be put off university by top-up fees.

The respected researcher said: ‘We’ve got a culture that is locking these kids in. To admit among your peers that you want to pursue higher education takes enormous courage.’ Dr Sewell will tell an education conference at Wellington College, Berkshire, tomorrow that in 2008, he warned that black boys were ‘ miserably failing in our education system’.

But he will add: ‘ Today, the black working class have changed positions for bottom place, but the narrative is the same.

‘A policing instigated by peer-group pressure that leaves white working-class boys happy to bunk instead of taking their rightful place at Cambridge or UCL.’ Referring to the white working classes, he will add: ‘Instead our young men are obsessed with consumerism; bedrooms are packed with cheap TVs and expensive phones, with not a book in sight. This was not the case if you went to the old mining towns of the 1920s, where working miners rushed to the library after their shifts.’

Dr Sewell will argue that white working-class communities have ‘bought into being a victim’ and have ‘forgotten their proud heritage of social mobility’. Dr Sewell’s claims follow a report by the think-tank, Centre Forum, which found white British pupils are overtaken at school by students from ten other ethnic groups by GCSEs. At five, they are among the top-three highest achievers, but they slip down the rankings by the age of 16.

Dr Sewell said: ‘There’s almost a heroic challenge that traditionally white workingclass people have had over the years where you see your position and you want to change it, you want to move on.

‘All of that is just not there now – it’s a stuck mentality. A sense of heroism and a tradition of defying your place is just not there.’ Dr Sewell warned that there can be a ‘cachet’ around being ‘stuck’ in poverty – which means it is difficult for people to say: ‘I’m going to defy that.’

Middle-class parents who call for tests to be scrapped are harming poor pupils’ life chances with a ‘thoughtless crusade’, the head of Ofsted will claim today.

Sir Michael Wilshaw will argue that ‘the poor in particular benefit from formal assessment’, as disadvantaged youngsters need regular assessments to stop them falling behind their middle-class peers.

‘Reluctant to better themselves’