Understanding and Researching the Relationship between Place, Schools, and Inequality

Join the Comparative Education and International Development (CEID) Research Group and the Social Justice and Inclusion Thematic Hub as we welcome guest speaker Dr Bryan Mann share his work on the relationship between place and inequality in education. Dr Mann is the Director of the Geography of Education Policy Analysis Lab and Associate Professor at the University of Kansas. This event is in person and free (with registration required) and will include a talk and time for discussion.

Talk Title: Understanding and Researching the Relationship between Place, Schools, and Inequality

Date and Time: 9 September from 13:00 to 14:00 UK time

Location: Patterson's Land room G.21, Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh

Full Description of the Talk:

Education policy conversations about educational opportunity are inherently spatial. Scholars study geographic patterns to understand the causes of school enrollment trends, educational access, and achievement gaps linked to geographic indicators. However, much of this research is underpinned by positivist notions of educational outcomes and geographic measurement. While these epistemologies are necessary for understanding the scope and scale of the intersection between geography and education policy, they can miss the deeply ingrained patterns tied to intersubjective concepts, such as place and perceptions of place, that communities perpetuate through shared stories and rituals. Relying solely on numerical data to understand the relationship between educational inequality and geography is incomplete; scholars must also interrogate both space and place to understand how and why education policies unfold as they do. In this conversation, Dr. Bryan Mann will share his paper published in the Journal of Education Policy, “'Happy Land' versus 'Across the River': Spatial Imaginaries and School Choice in a Segregated City.” He will discuss mixed-methods techniques for exploring “spatial imaginaries” to show how scholars can build upon traditional geographic strategies employed in educational policy research.