Policy, education and poverty across the UK

Abstract

This chapter reports on and draws lessons from the BERA Commission on Poverty and Policy Advocacy which set up five seminars and a community Forum across regions in each of the four jurisdictions of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The seminars highlighted differences between the differing political contexts of the four UK jurisdictions in terms of their conceptualisations and policy enactment around child poverty and the implications for teachers in each context. The BERA Commission found that the devolved contexts of the UK open up some limited but important spaces for difference and contestation. The chapter explores how attuning to the places where children and young people grow up provides an important lens on vulnerability, wellbeing and educational achievement.