Discursive Constructions of Boys in the Field of School Social Work in German Elementary Schools

in Boyhood Studies
Author:
Niels Uhlendorf Research Associate, Humboldt University, Germany uhlendon@hu-berlin.de

Search for other papers by Niels Uhlendorf in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
Restricted access

Abstract

This article analyzes the discursive constructions of boys and strategies for working with them in the field of school social work. Building upon a subjectivation theoretical framework, these discourses are reconstructed based on interviews with social workers at German elementary schools by the SKAD (sociology of knowledge approach to discourse) research program. Three subject positionings were identified: Boys were positioned as (1) caught up in aggression; (2) naturally deviating from school rules; or (3) sitting on the sidelines. Overall, it was observed that school social work primarily focused on norm deviations and transgressions, while a general orientation towards masculinity norms was rarely challenged. This analysis offers insights into the inherent ambivalence of subject discourses on boys in the field of school social work.

Contributor Notes

Niels Uhlendorf, PhD, is a Research Associate (Postdoc) at the Institute of Educational Sciences (Department of Primary Education) of the Humboldt University of Berlin. In his dissertation (published via Springer VS in 2018), he analyzed the “optimization pressure in the context of migration” by relating biographical interviews to public discourses. Currently, his research interests include orders of difference in elementary schools, the role of shame and shaming in the biographies of former students, the professionalization of school social workers, intersectionality in the context of education, and methodologies of subjectivation. Email: uhlendon@hu-berlin.de

  • Collapse
  • Expand

Boyhood Studies

An Interdisciplinary Journal

  • Altshuler, Sandra J., and Jennifer Reid Webb. 2009. “School Social Work: Increasing the Legitimacy of the Profession.Children & Schools 31 (4): 207218. https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/31.4.207

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Anderson, Eric. 2009. Inclusive Masculinity. London: Routledge.

  • Astor, Ron Avi, and Lorraine Gutiérrez. 1999. “Gender, Schools, and School Social Workers.Social Work in Education 21 (4): 195200. https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/21.4.195

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Blair, Kevin D. 2002. “School Social Work, the Transmission of Culture, and Gender Roles in Schools.Children & Schools 24 (1): 2133. https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/24.1.21

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Boise, Sam de. 2014. “I'm Not Homophobic, ‘I've Got Gay Friends’: Evaluating the Validity of Inclusive Masculinity.Men and Masculinities 18 (3): 318339. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X14554951

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Budde, Jürgen. 2009. “The Significance of the Body: The Construction of Masculinity among German Students.THYMOS: Journal of Boyhood Studies 3 (1): 3949. https://doi.org/10.3149/thy.0301.39

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Budde, Jürgen, and Thomas Viola Rieske. 2022a. “Erziehungswissenschaftliche Jungenforschung—eine Einleitung” [Educational research on boys—An introduction]. In Jungen in Bildungskontexten [Boys in educational contexts], ed. Jürgen Budde and Thomas Viola Rieske, 7–34. Opladen: Barbara Budrich.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Budde, Jürgen, und Thomas Viola Rieske. 2022b. “Zur Relationierung von Jungen, Männlichkeit und Bildung—Eine subjektivierungstheoretische Skizze” [On the relation of boys, masculinity and education—A subjectivation-theoretical sketch]. In Jungen in Bildungskontexten, ed. Jürgen Budde and Thomas Viola Rieske, 63–92. Opladen: Barbara Budrich.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Bullard, Jason Ray. 2020. “School Social Workers and Perceived Barriers When Providing Services to LGBTQ Children.” DSW diss., Walden University. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=10810&context=dissertations (accessed 19 April 2023).

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Butler, Judith. 1997. The Psychic Life of Power. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

  • Connell, Raewyn W. 1995. Masculinities. Cambridge: Polity Press.

  • Edwards, Katie M., Jilian R. Scheer, and Victoria A. Mauer. 2022. “Informal and Formal Mentoring of Sexual and Gender Minority Youth: A Systematic Review.” School Social Work Journal 47 (1): 37–71. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10438919/.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Elliott, Karla. 2016. “Caring Masculinities: Theorizing an Emerging Concept.Men and Masculinities 19 (3): 240259. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X15576203

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Epstein, Debbie, Jannette Elwood, Valerie Hey, and Janet Maw, eds. 1998. Failing Boys? Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.

  • Fegter, Susann. 2013. “Phänomenstruktur Jungenkrise: Diskursive Regelhaftigkeiten und die Bedeutung der Sprecherposition in den medialen Thematisierungen 1999-2009” [The phenomenal structure of the boys’ crisis: Discursive regularities and the significance of the speaker's position in media thematizations 1999-2009]. In Methodologie und Praxis der Wissenssoziologischen Diskursanalyse [Methodology and practice of the sociology of knowledge approach to discourse], ed. Reiner Keller and Inga Truschkat, 113–134. Wiesbaden: VS.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Flick, Uwe. 2000. “Episodic Interviewing.” In Qualitative Researching with Text, Image and Sound, ed. Martin W. Bauer and George Gaskell, 7592. London: Sage.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Haase, Katrin. 2017. Berufliche Selbstverständnisse in der Schulsozialarbeit: Biographische (Re-)Konstruktionen vom beruflichen Werden der selbstbestimmten Anderen [Professional self-conceptions in school social work: Biographical (re-)constructions of the professional development of self-determined others]. Weinheim: Beltz Juventa.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Hicks, Stephen. 2008. “Gender Role Models … Who Needs ‘Em?!Qualitative Social Work 7 (1): 4359. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325007086415

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Holtermann, Daniel, ed. 2022. Caring Masculinities in Elementary and Primary Education in Germany. Berlin: Dissens—Institut für Bildung und Forschung eV.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Keller, Reiner. 2011. “The Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse (SKAD).” Human Studies 34: 43–65. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10746-011-9175-z.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Martino, Wayne John. 2008. “Male Teachers as Role Models: Addressing Issues of Masculinity, Pedagogy and the Re-Masculinization of Schooling.Curriculum Inquiry 38 (2): 189223. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-873X.2007.00405.x

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Peltola, Marja, and Ann Phoenix. 2022. Nuancing Young Masculinities. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press.

  • Reinecke-Terner, Anja. 2017. Schulsozialarbeit als Zwischenbühne [School social work as an intermediate stage]. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Rieske, Thomas Viola. 2011. Bildung von Geschlecht [Formation/‘Bildung‘ of gender]. Frankfurt am Main: GEW.

  • Sauerwein, Markus N., and Nina Thieme. 2020. “Zur Durchmischung schul- und sozialpädagogischer Zuständigkeiten in Ganztagsschulen” [On the mix of school and socio-pedagogical responsibilities in all-day schools]. In Soziale Arbeit als Projekt [Social work as a project], ed. Peter Cloos, Barbara Lochner, and Holger Schoneville, 261–272. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Sherman, Megan Callahan. 2016. “The School Social Worker: A Marginalized Commodity within the School Ecosystem.Children & Schools 38 (3): 147151. https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/cdw016

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Spies, Anke. 2012. “Genderfragen in der Schulsozialarbeit—Vom ‘Stiefkind’ zum professionellen Standard im Rahmen intersektionaler Qualitätsmaßstäbe?” [Gender issues in school social work—From “stepchild” to professional standard within the framework of intersectional quality standards?] In Handlungsfeld Schulsozialarbeit: Profession und Qualität [The field of action of school social work: Profession and quality], ed. Erich Hollenstein and Frank Nieslony, 185–201. Baltmannsweiler: Schneider Verlag Hohengehren.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Spies, Anke. 2017. “Pädagogisches Handeln mit Bezug zur Differenzlinie Geschlecht—Die Position der Schulsozialarbeit” [Pedagogical action with reference to gender as a line of difference—The position of school social work]. In Gendersensible Bildung und Erziehung in der Schule [Gender-sensitive education and upbringing in schools], ed. Ilke Glockentöger and Eva Adelt, 85–100. Münster: Waxmann.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Tarrant, Anna, Gareth Terry, Michael R. M. Ward, Sandy Ruxton, Martin Robb, and Brigid Featherstone. 2015. “Are Male Role Models Really the Solution? Interrogating the ‘War on Boys’ through the Lens of the ‘Male Role Model’ Discourse.Boyhood Studies 8 (1): 6083. https://doi.org/10.3167/bhs.2015.080105

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

Metrics

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 716 716 44
Full Text Views 37 37 0
PDF Downloads 50 50 0