SEXTANT: masculinities, sexualities & decolonialities

ABSTRACT

By focusing on my own lived experience of classism as I navigated the education system in Ireland, this article provides a personal, yet sociological biography that contributes to understanding the realities of poverty and oppression for the working-class. Employing principles of autoethnography, I use a reflective approach that critically engages with key sociological texts while simultaneously analysing the lived experience of class in education. This article argues that, in an ideal world, we would live free from class and its inequalities but that in the here and now we must first remove systemic experiences of classism and instead provide equal respect and dignity amongst groups. The article provides a critical exploration of the harms of social-class in education for the working-class through personal accounts and analysis of my lived experiences in order to demonstrate that class is more than social-status, but an inequality that is embodied in our everyday lives. 

KEY WOrDS

lived experience, social class, (in)equalities, class consciousness, education

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.