Discipline and Perform: Schooling the Expectations

In this chapter, I critically examine the relationship between performative ethics of care, spatial dynamics, and student experiences. My aim is to provide deeper insights into the factors that influence students’ sense of belonging and their engagement within the school environment. Drawing on the first-hand accounts from some of the so-called ‘at-risk’ and ‘disengaged’ students at Middle Park High School, I focus on how the performative ethics of care underpinning in the school’s everyday practices and relationships contributed to their weak sense of belonging to the institution. To contextualise this analysis and the discussions, I explore the conceptualisation of space as socially and discursively constructed. This perspective allows me to highlight how physical and social spaces can mediate a sense of belonging among students. Following this, I delve into the subjectification power of dominant performative discourses of care in schools. I examine how these discourses define the criteria for inclusion/exclusion and mediate students’ identities as subjects. By understanding these dynamics, I aim to shed light on the nexus between ethics of care, space, and student engagement in educational settings.