What do you think is the social class of a headteacher?

[franceslucia]

Discuss.

Who cares, so long as they are good at the job, nothing else matters.

I disagree. Class is not about these things.It is about shared, values, customs and beliefs.

Yes - it's rude and arrogant. And who cares anyway ?

It seems to be a particular obsession on MN. Not so much with people I meet IRL.

Like @Garlickest said, social capital.

No, but only because it’s implicit rather than explicit. I’m not originally from the UK, but spent nearly 30 years living in England.

It’s still a very class-bound society.

It’s only more ‘obvious’ on Mn because people are explicitly starting threads about class shibboleths like what you say if you don’t hear what someone said, what you call the main room in your house where people might spend free time when not cooking or eating, what you call your evening meal, the size of your tv, where the way you decorate said house ‘places’ you socially etc etc, rather than silently registering these things and assigning you a social class, possibly largely or entirely unconsciously.

Discuss???

Fuck Off.

Depends on who the headteacher is.

Discuss

Er. Naw

Another pet hate is "let's call her ..... " when adding detail to a long -winded story.

If that is all we have to go on then I assume middle class. It is a traditionally ‘middle class’ job, but like a pp social class is typically more to do with your parents job rather than your own (very broadly speaking!). So if we go by that then if the HT themselves isn’t ’middle class’ then their kids will certainly be getting that way.

I went to a school with a HT who had come from a very deprived background, btw! But his children will have grown up in a much more affluent and financially comfortable home with parents who both have managerial positions as jobs so they would be hard pushed to describe themselves as ‘working class’.

OP hope you have got all you need for your essay.

The head of my school is a typical Salford lad from a working class background, but now living a middle class lifestyle including area.

He’s ace!

👍

I never understand why people answer such rudeness as "Discuss" - my first thought is.... No!

What utter crap.

Class origin: your parent’s occupation. Class destination: your occupation.

Alan Sugar has a working class origin and a middle class destination.

Absolutely!… Same with Now! Or Go!… Err no, fuck off you rude twat

He still defines himself as 'working class' though. Probably his children will consider themselves as middle class. Class isn't solely defined by either occupation or financial situation.

Well that depends. Social scientists used exactly those measures to define class. Yes people may define it differently at home, but I’m not sure that matters?

I understand that in the USA, and perhaps elsewhere, 'class' is primarily defined by an individual's occupation and wealth, but in the UK it is generally accepted that social capital and education are as relevant. Hence the concepts of 'working class millionaires' and 'impoverished gentlefolk'.

What difference does it make.

Generally accepted by whom? i have got a PhD in social class and culture, I’ve ready probably 500 books on the subject over the years - and never heard of the phrase ‘impoverished gentle/folk’!

This is such an odd question. Why would all headteachers be the same class and why does it even matter? Class isn’t defined by what someone does for a living, it’s a more complex beast than that…..

Good for you. But we are not talking about academic studies here. The OP was interested in the opinions of the users of Mumsnet. If you read back through the posts on this thread, you will see that many people view social capital and education as class indicators in the UK. This is people's lived experience.

I'm surprised that you haven't heard of the phrase 'impoverished (or distressed) gentlefolk', though it is more of a historical term. www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/discover-your-ancestors/periodical/96/posh-paupers-3046/?

Thanks, that article looks interesting. I’be bookmarked it. I wouldn’t say it’s a ‘ class category’ though, it’s just a description of a social type (just as ‘benefit scrounger’ isn’t a class category but might be subsumed within existing class descriptors, e.g: underclass/precariat). Impoverished gentle folk I would see as someone who has ‘middle class’ origins and a ‘working class’ (or in this case impoverished) destination. Class categories are actually pretty rigidly defined through existing social measurements, policy documents and so on. You might have ‘lived experience’ of class but actually there are meanings attached to class descriptors that have implications for policy/legislation/reporting. I get your point about ‘lived experience’ ( we all have lived experiences of class) but the question was actually about how you categorise the social class of a particular profession - there are lots of methods to do that.