: Understanding the ocean of disadvantage Jenn Sills and Marc Rowland explore the lived experience of disadvantage and how we can support in schools

But do you REALLY understand the ocean that is Disadvantage? You won’t find out about the ocean by paddling around the harbour.

Imagine standing firmly on the shore looking out to an ocean of disadvantage. It’s choppy, there are unrelenting waves and a sense of the unknown. We ask you, when understanding your context, are you paddling in the shallows because it feels familiar and manageable here or are you wading out into the deep where you might discover more challenges and uncertainty? Taking this dive and exploring the deeper waters will ultimately help you really understand the issues and pressures facing your disadvantaged pupils and communities.

Government figures estimate that 4.3 million children (30%) are living in low-income households 1. We need to educate ourselves and our school communities on what disadvantage and low income means; what causes it, what it looks like and feels like for our pupils based on real life knowledge and assessment, without assumption or judgement. The moment we make uneducated assumptions is the moment we get it wrong and fracture the relationship we have with our pupils and their families. We don’t know what we don’t know, but what we should be doing is conscientiously finding out.

Disadvantage has no set definition. It is not a singular thing with a singular cause. We know from working in schools that it is not a homogenous group, and it can take many forms, affecting families in many different ways. Some aspects are deep rooted and multi-generational, for some children starting at a prenatal moment in time. For others it is a new situation they face due to potentially unforeseen circumstances which they are still trying to come to terms with. It is important to understand the disadvantage facing families and pupils and their personal situations, without preconceived assumption. Realising the cause, rather than the symptom then allows you to ask yourself questions about how you might adapt policies, processes and strategies to best meet the needs of your community with respect and understanding.

In this article, we have broken disadvantage down into five categories, many of which overlap but can also stand alone, all of which impact educational outcomes. Some pupils will face multiple categories, for others just one, but it is useful to consider the differing forms, the effect they can have and what we can do to support pupils in overcoming these barriers.

1. Financial disadvantage

This refers to situations where individuals or households have limited financial resources, this can be both a long-term position or a more recent circumstance. Financial disadvantage can affect their ability to meet basic needs such as food and warming a home but also their ability to access and participate fully in society. This can include:

• Low income: Earning below a certain threshold (60% of median net income), making it difficult to cover essential expenses such as housing, food, and utilities.

• Debt: Having significant debts that impact financial stability. It can make decision making and planning short term rather than long term.

• Lack of savings: Not having enough savings to cover unexpected expenses or emergencies means unforeseen events have a great impact, for example a car failing an MOT or washing machine breaking and needing repairing or replacing.

• Limited access to financial services: Difficulty accessing banking services, credit, or affordable loans due to financial background.

Financial disadvantage can lead to wider social issues, such as poor health, lower educational attainment, and reduced opportunities for employment. It can also force families to think short term, day to day rather than long term.

2. Housing disadvantage

This refers to the challenges and barriers that face individuals or households when accessing and maintaining adequate, secure, and affordable housing. This can include:

• Affordability Issues: Many households struggle to afford housing due to high costs comparative to their income. This is particularly problematic in areas with high property prices and rents ².
  
  
• Homelessness: This can include situations where individuals have no permanent home address, or living in emergency accommodation ³. There is also a growing issue around the lack of available housing and waiting lists for social housing being extensive. 
  
  
• Discrimination: Certain groups, such as ethnic minorities and migrants, may face discrimination in the housing market, limiting their access to suitable housing ^4.
  
  
• Poor Housing Conditions: Some individuals live in substandard housing with issues like damp, leaks, or overcrowding ³.

3. Social and cultural disadvantage

Deep rooted, multigenerational disadvantage can lead to strong personal beliefs about belonging ⁵. Lareau, A (2011) proposed that middle‐​class parents practise a ​‘concerted cultivation’ approach to parenting, a sort of intense training, producing an emerging ​“sense of entitlement” in children that can be used to gain advantages in schools and other settings. In contrast, working class parents view childhood as a time of ​‘natural growth’. This style provides the basic conditions for growth but allows children more autonomy in their leisure activities. It tends to result in an emerging ​“sense of constraint”, including a feeling that certain places, people, roles and opportunities aren’t for them. Putting this in to a real life context, if children have been bought up having been shown how to communicate with authoritative figures such as teachers, doctors, policemen they grow up to trust them and know how to navigate interactions with them. If not shown, authoritative figures can appear untrustworthy, the people with the power, creating a greater sense of ​“them and us” ⁷.

4. Geographical disadvantage

This refers to the differences experienced by people living in different regions in terms of opportunities, access and outcomes. This could be cities to suburbs, urban to rural, including coastal. These disparities can impact various aspects such as education, employment, income, health, and access to services and wider cultural opportunities. Being disadvantaged in an inner-city environment is different to experiencing disadvantage in rural coastal locations as an example.

5. Emotional disadvantage

This refers to the emotional toll disadvantage can take on a pupil. It may be the experience of ACES, poor mental health, low self-esteem but it could also be managing the emotions of other family members. Emotional disadvantage can also refer to a pupil’s sense of personal identity. Where do they belong? What are their goals and ambitions? Do they have an advocate to guide them or challenge them? A strong sense of belonging can make the difference between a child surviving and thriving. Francis Frei (2020) developed the Inclusion Dial which sets out that someone has to feel safe before they can feel welcomed, celebrated or championed.

Each of these aspects of disadvantage can act as an anchor weighing families down, causing pressure points and limiting access to opportunities. It does not mean they lack potential, talent or ability. As schools, we do not have the leverage to free all families from these anchors allowing them to easily swim to shore, that will take large scale social policy change which is out of our control. We can however work within our means of leverage. We have access to aids and vessels to support pupils and families out at sea, to ensure they stay afloat and navigate the ocean.


Prioritise relationships with pupils and parents

Forming and sustaining positive relationships with pupils and parents is the key to success when tackling disadvantage. Consistently valuing relationships with pupils, showing an interest and sustaining high expectations signals to pupils that you believe in them and see their potential. Understanding the pressure points facing parents, understanding the impact of low income across the school year, make adaptations with a focus on access shows parents you are on their side, working with them for the best of their child.

Not limiting pupils based on background

Reflection is a key tool in an educator’s belt. Reflecting on how we can ensure all pupils, especially disadvantaged pupils, have access to high quality Teaching and Learning is paramount. Leaders must strategically plan professional development to ensure all staff have a shared understanding of the core components to delivering inclusive, quality first teaching. Learning should be a joyful experience for all pupils, it needs to be an environment where everybody is welcome, everybody can access and participate. When discussing futures and aspirations it is important to listen to pupils and their families; aspirations and goals take many forms. As educators, we often have roles, routes and careers in mind when discussing aspirations. It is not however, our place to impose our pathways on pupils, it is our role to discover their talents and aspirations and then work together to find ways to motive and inspire pupils to then consider realistic routes and paths to attaining that goal.

Engage and Unite school community

Two of the fundamental behaviours set out in the EEF’s Guide to Implementation are Engage and Unite. School leaders must consider and carefully plan for this important step as addressing disadvantage is a privilege that all stakeholders in school are part of. This culture must be clearly established and shared by all with a sense of not just buying in but being in.

Track your disadvantage pupils

It is particularly important to monitor the lived experience of disadvantage pupils through the school day or week. Tracking these pupils, looking and understanding their lived experience through the school day can provide invaluable insights, from their perspectives. Who they are working with, their opportunities for meaningful interactions with peers, who and how they receive feedback, their free time experiences, what additional activities are they attending. On the flip side, how does this compare to a non-disadvantage peer and their experience of school?

Better understand the deprivation picture in your catchment area

Schools are data rich environments, but we must make sure we do not cherry pick data to fit our narrative or preconceived notions. External data such as ADACI (2019) and Census data (2021) are good indicators as to the deprivation levels in your catchment area. Many county council websites have access to reports and data diving deeper in to the details of disadvantage in your local area.

Examine school data

Scrutinising school data to spot trends, areas of weakness, strength is common practise within schools. But with a sharp focus on disadvantage pupils, including a range of colleagues in the process enables multiple inadequate glances at data to ensure we are seeing it in its purest form and not attaching any unconscious bias. The EEF’s Using Research Evidence: A Concise Guide, is a useful tool to use with all staff when examining any data.

Create as many opportunities as possible to build capital, especially social and cultural

Disadvantage can be a cause for limiting access for pupils to opportunities to gain a sense of wider society and their belonging in it. We need to carefully consider how we can realistically create as many opportunities as possible for pupils to experience the wider world, accessing people, places and chances that may otherwise be inaccessible. Pupils who thrive in our education system often come to school armed with social, cultural and financial capital so it is paramount we compensate and support those who don’t.

Be conscious of your language and word choices

The language we use, from our Pupil Premium Strategies to our Transition meetings, all provide a window into the culture for disadvantage in school. A deficit tone to such conversations can create a culture of judgement, low expectation and assumption that is harmful and damaging, in some cases, almost insulting and cruel. It is imperative we shape construction and dispassionate structures around disadvantage conversations that are rooted in fact, evidence and optimism.

Fewer things done well

Taking adequate time to truly explore the root causes of barriers to learning is vital. Being distracted by symptoms or assumptions of disadvantage can result in school leaders focusing on the wrong things. Deep root cause analysis, diving deeper in to unknown water, allows school to identify the factors that need addressing. Armed with the correct information, school leaders can then make better, evidence informed decisions about strategies they want to effectively implement to make the biggest difference to a few key areas.

So ask yourself again, how deep into the ocean are you prepared to go, to fully understand disadvantage?

References

1 Brown, T (2024) UK Parliament Child Poverty: Statistics, causes and the UK’s policy response

2 Barton, C Wilson, W (2023) UK Parliament:What is affordable housing?

3 Hayes, H (2021) Past experience of housing difficulties in the UK

4 Shankley, W Finney, N (2020) Ethnic minorities and housing in Britain

5 Mohamed, H (2020) People Like Us

6 Lareau, A (2011) Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life

7 O’Sullivan, K (2023) Poor

Additional reading and resources

Unequal childhoods: A case study application of Lareau’s ​‘accomplishment of natural growth’ in British working‐​class and poor families – Wilson – 2021 – British Educational Research Journal – Wiley Online Library

Defining disadvantage | Children’s Commissioner for England (childrenscommissioner.gov.uk)

UK poverty: the facts, figures and effects in the cost of living crisis (bigissue.com)

Children’s well-being indicator review, UK: 2020 – Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

English indices of deprivation 2019: Postcode Lookup (opendatacommunities.org)

Home – Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)