The discussion regarding boys falling behind or dropping out of school is often framed as a gendered issue (Vogt, 2018). In this article, I aim to explore how the intersection between pupils’ identity projects and self-representation as learners influences how they relate to school. More specifically, I analyze ethnographic material from one year of fieldwork about how boys in 6th and 7th grade, with identity projects that conform or oppose the school’s expectations of them, express learner identities where they, to varying degrees, see themselves as part of the school’s project. My claim is that, while academic ability certainly matters, the degree to which pupils’ learner identities and interests match expectations set by the school plays a central role in both how they relate to school in the present and see themselves as learners and people in the future. Furthermore, I claim that considerations of self-worth protection and fitting into peer group culture play a significant part in how learner identities are performed in a school context. Seeing learner identities as both representations of narratives about the self and as expressions of cultural identity (Erstad et al., 2016) contributes to the understanding of how the school as an institution interacts with and shapes its pupils and their futures, and the challenges faced by some pupils regarding academic participation and achievement. The article aims to make the case that schools need to accommodate diversity beyond ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and religion, and take seriously their responsibility to even out social differences.
Oddmund Toft (Tue,) studied this question.