Philosophical reflections
Seminars
A series of six events ran February to June 2021 aimed at exploring the normative questions about child poverty and education, both theoretically and as emerging from policy and practice.
Organisers
- Lorella Terzi, University of Roehampton, London
- Judith Suissa, UCL Institute of Education
- Elaine Unterhalter, UCL Institute of Education
Funder
The Seminar Series was funded by the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain (PESGB), Large Grant. We most gratefully acknowledge the Society’s Support.. We also acknowledge the support of the University of Roehampton and the UCL Institute of Education.
Rationale
The idea of reflecting philosophically on the questions of child poverty in its interplay with education started over a cup of coffee in the lobby of the UCL Institute of Education in London in the Autumn of 2019, therefore sometime before the effects of the Covid 19 Pandemic would starkly bring to attention the corrosive effects of poverty for many children, in the UK and worldwide, and the importance of education.
Poverty is one of the most serious and urgent problems affecting children globally. Official statistics show that across the world, about one child in five live in extreme poverty, and according to UNICEF 100 million children fell into poverty due to the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak.
In the UK alone, in 2021-22 there were 4.2 million children living in poverty, which is equivalent to 9 children in every class of 30 students, and it is one of the highest figures in developed countries (Child Poverty Action Group; House of Commons Library).
As a young commissioner, I was surprised to find out just how many children and young people are affected by poverty and that it makes them feel like an outsider in the society we live in today, because they cannot have the clothes and essentials they need, to not only make them fit in… but for them to live their lives happily with aspirations and contentment.
At What Cost? Exposing the Impact of Poverty on School Life, The Children’s Commission on Poverty, UK, 2014: 7
The extent of the problem is compounded by its complexity. Poverty intersects with different areas of a child’s life, resulting in hunger and malnutrition, ill health, limited access to education and other services, as well as discrimination and exclusion. The pervasive adverse effects of poverty make addressing it a moral imperative, particularly urgent for children in light of the availability of resources to tackle it (Graf and Schweiger 2015; Brando and Schweiger, 2019; United Nations, 2018; UN Report 2019).
Education, in terms of schooling, is undoubtedly a crucial factor in relation to child poverty, not only because of its role in children’s development, but also because access to education is widely recognised as important, if not essential, to poverty reduction. In a sense, this already highlights the intersecting normative and empirical dimensions of child poverty as a social phenomenon, and the ways in which educational questions lie at the nexus of different dimensions which are both empirical and normative.
Addressing these questions brings together parents, educators, activists, and academic researchers.
Although the interplay of child poverty and education is widely researched by different disciplines, the philosophical questions underpinning it have not received significant attention.
Aims
The central aim of this Seminar Series was to explore some of the normative dimensions underpinning the interplay of child poverty and education. In particular, three broad normative questions informed the Series:
- What are the status, voice, and representation of children living in poverty and in what ways do they affect children’s educational experiences and opportunities?
- How should we conceptualise educational justice in relation to the disadvantage linked to poverty in childhood?
- Finally, how do political frameworks and narratives about child poverty and education influence and shape debates and policies
Approach
The seminar series adopted a cross-disciplinary approach by bringing together philosophers, scholars from different disciplines whose research is philosophically oriented, and practitioners, in order to further the philosophical debate on the topic.
Our aim was to bring together scholars, experts and students from within and outside philosophy and education, as well as practitioners who have experience of working with children in poverty in order to further debate and inform practice in this field.
While political philosophers, sociologists of childhood, historians, human geographers, and scholars from other disciplines often research issues to do with children and poverty, there is currently very little dialogue across these different disciplinary perspectives. This Seminar Series offered, we believe, an innovative and timely cross-disciplinary framework for addressing these overlapping concerns.