Doing justice\u27 : stories of everyday life in disadvantaged schools and neighbourhoods

I worked as a school administrator in \u27disadvantaged schools\u27 for many years. In this study I asked colleagues from sixteen schools in the northern and western suburbs of Adelaide to co - theorise about changes in their neighbourhood, school populations and programs, now that their schools are no longer recognised by policy as \u27disadvantaged1. I explore the use of narrative method and arts based approaches by constructing a \u27literary\u27 research text that uses conventional sociological forms together with images, poetry and personal stories. I use anthropological and geographical theoretical constructs to look at the changing material, economic, cultural and social landscapes and the mosaic of inequalities in the city of Adelaide. I suggest that this is not a simple binary polarisation, although large numbers of people are similarly positioned by de-industrialisation and the diminishing social wage. After examining the literature on poverty in Australia, I am eventually prepared to call this space class, understanding that this is a sociological metaphor. Through a theorisation of each school as a \u27place\u27 within a specific neighbourhood, I look at the similarities and differences across sites. I suggest that \u27disadvantaged schools\u27 are similarly positioned as sites for the mediation of social inequalities, and that this can be readily seen in the time consuming \u27housework\u27 of discipline and welfare. I indicate how each school is differently able to \u27do more with less\u27, because of their unique neighbourhood and its narratives, knowledges, histories, teleologies and people. I show that the common coercive regimes of market devolution, new public management and the \u27distributive curriculum\u27 frame the work of teachers, students and administrators in ways that are not conducive to \u27doing justice\u27, despite the policy rhetoric of equity and community. I provide evidence that the neoliberal imaginary of context free schooling enshrined in effective schools literatures is Utopian and irrational. I argue that the capacity of the school to \u27generate context\u27 is always paradoxically dependent on \u27context derived\u27. I discuss the notion of \u27doing justice\u27 and the benefits of \u27disadvantaged schools\u27 having a local set of principles that guide their decisions and actions and provide evidence that the school administrator\u27s understandings of \u27doing justice\u27 are important. I also suggest that, despite being increasingly isolated and hindered by policy directions, the majority of the sixteen schools continue to work for and with principles of justice and equity, drawing on a range of emotional and intellectual resources and deep, longstanding commitments. I conclude by speculating on the kinds of policy and research agendas that might take account of both the commonalities and differences amongst \u27disadvantaged schools\u27, and what might be included in a comprehensive and systematic approach to \u27doing justice\u27