Debunking the Taboo of Truancy


Don't Fence Me In: Essays on the Rational Truant makes the iconoclastic assertion that most truancy stems from rational decisions made by students facing adverse circumstances in school


This unique and engaging take on truancy rejects the assertion that all acts of truancy are linked to deviancy and anti-social behaviour. While the book's aim is not to absolve young people from accountability, it shows that structural weaknesses in the state-supported school system play a significant role in truancy from class and school.


The book consists of a series of essays which seek to explain and understand truancy rationally, and dismantle existing narratives surrounding truancy. Many of the contributors report on recent research including the relation of teaching style to truancy, the incidence of truancy as a function of ethnic group and linguistic proficiency, the student as consumer and the importance of establishing a literate order to decrease truancy rates. Other essays in the collection are more speculative, offering a theoretical assessment of political attitudes to truancy.


Don't Fence Me In makes essential reading for anyone with an interest in today's schooling system. It offers a fascinating and insightful exploration into one of schooling's biggest taboos.