Kathryn Riley is Professor of Urban Education at the IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society, University College London, UK, and Co-Director of The Art of Possibilities (www.theartofpossibilities.org.uk).

The notion of 'place' is a powerful one: the place where we are from; the place where we live; the place where we would like to be. It raises issues of identity and belonging (or lack of it), and about roots and connections (or lack of them). In a world that is more uncertain, more liquid, less known, place matters.
This engaging and accessible book is the first of its kind to look at the role of place in schools and in the lives of young people today. Drawing on original research from the US, UK and South Africa, Kathryn Riley poses some tough questions to the practitioners who lead our schools, and to the politicians who decide the fate of our schools:
·Can schools create a space for young people to be safe and confident in who they are?
·Can they help them find their place in the world and understand how to shape it?

Foreword John MacBeath
Foreword Karen Seashore Louis
Acknowledgements
A Note on the Author
Preface
Introduction: Place divided
1. Place for me?
2. A place in the city?
3. Is this place always changing?
Introduction: Locality studies
4. What's in a neighbourhood? - Stories from Brooklyn, New York
5. What's in this global city for me? - Stories from London's East End
6. What's my location? - Stories from the Eastern Cape, South Africa
7. A place in this world
References
Index