Perceptions of Inequality: primary school children's discourse on social class

This paper is concerned with the role of education in promoting social justice. It deals specifically with the development of children's understanding of social class, not because this particular form of inequality is considered more important than any other, but because of the inadequacies of extant research. It is argued that unless we know how children think about social class differentiation, we will not be able to engage effectively with their misconceptions. One hundred and sixty‐one children drawn from across the social class spectrum and aged between 6 and 11 were asked various questions and presented with a number of moral dilemmas pertaining to social class inequality. Age‐related trends in their responses are identified and the policy implications discussed.