Abstract:
This paper draws upon a range of research evidence to argue that the challenges faced in overcoming the impact of poverty on the educational experiences and achievements of children and young people will not be realized through the dominant discourse of school improvement (Chapman et al, 2014). It will suggest that a new synthesis is required which draws upon theories of social capital (Caldwell and Harris, 2008; Savage, 2015). The focus of the paper is on the UK devolved nation of Wales. In socio-economic terms Wales has always been the most impoverished part of the UK and following the collapse of its traditional industrial economy in the 1980s and the onset of austerity, this continues to be the case. 20 per cent of the population lives in deep poverty and another third of its citizens move in and out of relative income poverty over a 4/5year period. The impact of poverty on children and young people has always been deleterious in terms of their wellbeing, experience of education and relative achievement (Egan, 2016).In responding to this situation in recent times the approach of the Welsh Government has been dominated by an accountability and performativity driven school improvement paradigm which has been described as the Global Education Reform Movement or GERM (Sahlberg, 2011). This has increasingly led to the marginalisation of children and the demoralisation of teachers.The Donaldson review of the curriculum in Wales and the work that is flowing from it will allow for new consideration of the curriculum and associated pedagogies that are capable of better engaging young people and particularly those from more disadvantaged backgrounds.This paper will argue, however, that welcome those these changes in the structure of schooling are, they will be in no way sufficient if Wales is to make progress in meeting the challenges it faces. In particular, it suggests that the needs of children and the development of social capital nascent within disadvantaged communities needs to be exploited far more. It draws upon the growing literature relating to the influence of parents (Siraj and Mayo, 2014) and communities (Kerr,Dyson and Raffo, 2014 ) and the potential offered by deep place approaches to community regeneration ( Adamson and Laing, 2014). It also uses international (USA and Australia), UK and Wales-based examples of innovative community partnerships to argue for the creation of Education Community Partnerships as a way of harnessing various forms of capital, including the contributions of families, communities and schools.