Page 128 - White Lives The Interplay of 'Race', Class, and Gender in Everyday Life

In search of a ‘good mix’ 121
It is a night[mare] and it’s on my mind all the time. And I rung them up
just to see – I didn’t want to ring, because I thought they might think
[exasperated] ‘oh what have we got here’, you know ‘some . . .’. But I
had to ring to see if they’d got my appeal form back. Because I thought
what if they haven’t and I just leave it and they haven’t got it, then I’ve
had it. But I rang up and she said loads have appealed.
(Interview 32) 5

In contrast, all the Clapham group were confident of their ability to
navigate the education system (although not necessarily of their success in
achieving what they wanted from it). The women expressed high levels of
frustration concerning their children gaining access to the ‘right’ schools.
This may partly be a reflection of the experience of powerlessness in the face
of the education system – a powerlessness that was possibly a relatively rare
experience for them. In addition, none expressed any concern about their
children’s ability to achieve educationally.
In the course of the interviews with middle-class mothers, various dis-
courses were used to explain what they expected from primary school. One
common discourse was that of ‘hothousing’. This phrase was always used in
pejorative terms, with women defending their motives as not being a desire
to ‘hothouse’ their children. Here, we return to the distinction between the
middle classes. The implication was that they were not those kind of pushy
middle-class mothers.

In private nurseries, I have heard of these places, they are proud of the
fact that a one and a half year old can spell squirrel!! I find it alarm-
ing . . .. And I think its because people are paying for it, they want to
see results [. . .] They just get burnt out, what happens to their imagina-
tion?
(Deborah, Interview 40)

There was an uneasy tension running through these interviews between
notions of freedom, and creativity and order and control. The interviewees
had a clear idea of discourses of middle classness that they do not aspire
to for their children. Stephanie described why she and her husband had
rejected some local schools for their children:

So, you know, there are a lot around here that are like, traditional Eng-
lish public schools for tiny tots, which is not what we wanted. I mean
the one up here where it’s boys only and they all wear short trousers.
And they literally do things like shake the master’s hand in the morning
and things like that.
(Interview 31)

The desire to be able to walk to school was a common concern. While it
has much to do with environmental and health concerns, as well as teaching