“Pedagogies of the Poor” to “Pedagogies on the Poor”: Compliance, Grit, and the Corporeal

This chapter investigates a continual trend in the educative experiences of disadvantaged young people: attention to the compliance of the student body. While bodies have always been a part of schooling, I highlight how increased attention to the corporeal has become the new pedagogy of the poor. These curriculum practices – which I term the corporeal curriculum – blend pedagogy with codified behavioral management techniques to monitor and control the bodies of students living in poverty. This approach is often portrayed as best practice to foster the right dispositions so young people living in poverty will be ready for the neoliberal and competitive market. The chapter introduces two theories – body pedagogics and the socio-material – which serve to underpin the analysis. It also reviews recent scholarship on students’ bodies and grit before establishing how no-excuses schooling has worked to further the corporeal curriculum. As pedagogies and curriculum practices are often representational and, therefore, carry certain symbolic currencies, the analytical work considers how the corporeal curriculum is reflective of a socio-historical imaginary regarding civilizing and disciplining disadvantaged populations.