Sarah Swann provides a fresh approach to examining the long-standing debates over disaffection, and in particular social class differences in educational achievement, through a mixed methods methodology and the showcasing of new research. By observing pupils as they engage with peers and teachers in school, Swann allows disaffection to be seen and heard in 'real' events which constructs disaffection differently from objective statistical evidence on school exclusions.

Chapter 1: Knots and Tangles in Secondary Schools; Chapter 2: A History of Pupil Disaffection; Chapter 3: Structure of the Education System in England; Chapter 4: 'Muddy Boots' and 'Grubby Hands'; Chapter 5: Disaffected Spaces and Geographies of Segregation; Chapter 6: Male Disaffection: 'Bad Boys', 'Hard' Images and the Culture of Laddism; Chapter 7: The Everyday Meaning and Experience of Disaffection; Chapter 8: 'Are yer daft?' or 'sick int 'ead?'; Chapter 9: Conclusion