"Smart Students Get Perfect Scores in Tests without Studying Much": Why Is an Effortless Achiever Identity Attractive, and for Whom Is It Possible?

Autor/inn/en	Jackson, Carolyn; Nyström, Anne-Sofie
Titel	"Smart Students Get Perfect Scores in Tests without Studying Much": Why Is an Effortless Achiever Identity Attractive, and for Whom Is It Possible?
Quelle	In: Research Papers in Education, 30 (2015) 4, S.393-410 (18 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0267-1522
DOI	10.1080/02671522.2014.970226
Schlagwörter	Scores; Interviews; Secondary Schools; Cross Cultural Studies; Cultural Differences; Foreign Countries; Gender Differences; Social Class; Academic Achievement; Study Habits; Intelligence; Questionnaires; Grade 9; Student Attitudes; Teacher Attitudes; Secondary School Students; Secondary School Teachers; Ethnic Groups; Racial Differences; Sweden; United Kingdom (England) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Sekundarschule; Cultural comparison; Kulturvergleich; Kultureller Unterschied; Ausland; Geschlechterkonflikt; Social classes; Soziale Klasse; Schulleistung; Study behavior; Study behaviour; Studienverhalten; Intelligenz; Klugheit; Fragebogen; School year 09; 9. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 09; Schülerverhalten; Lehrerverhalten; Sekundarschüler; Ethnie; Rassenunterschied; Schweden
Abstract	Discourses about the value of effort and hard work are prevalent and powerful in many western societies and educational contexts. Yet, paradoxically, in these same contexts effortless achievement is often lauded, and in certain discourses is heralded as the pinnacle of success and a sign of genius. In this paper we interrogate discourses about effort and especially "effortlessness" in Swedish and English educational contexts. Informed, in particular, by interview data generated in upper secondary schools in Sweden and secondary schools in England, we address the questions: why is effortless achievement attractive, and for whom is it possible to be discursively positioned as an effortless achiever? We argue that the subject position of "effortless achiever" is not available to all categories of students equally, and for some it would be almost impossible to attain; the intersections of gender, social class, ethnicity and institutional setting are influential. We end by considering the problematic implications of effortless achievement discourses. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01