Click the star to add/remove an item to/from your individual schedule.
You need to be logged in to avail of this functionality.

Accepted Paper:

Learning to think anthropologically: an exploratory study of the A-level experience  
David Bennett (Wolfson College Cambridge)

Paper short abstract:

My paper reports an attempt to assess the value of studying anthropology at pre-university level, through a small scale investigation of the learning experiences of A-level anthropology students.

Paper long abstract:

The value of an anthropological education extends beyond the accumulation of a particular knowledge to the acquisition of discipline-specific values and intellectual skills. The adoption of a disciplinary habitus gives effect to 'becoming an anthropologist'. Previous studies of academic socialisation have focused on undergraduate and, especially, graduate learning experiences. However, the expansion of the discipline into the pre-university curriculum through the introduction of an A-level in anthropology invites study of the learning experiences of younger students including many whose formal contact with anthropology may not proceed further. My paper reports a small scale investigation of anthropology students in the second year of their A-level studies. By seeking qualitative evidence for the acquisition of disciplinary values and skills, it offers a provisional assessment of the value of anthropological study at this curriculum level, including its contribution to a wider public presence for anthropology.

Panel P27
Developing anthropology in pre-university curricula
  Session 1