Unprecedented generation

Senses of the high-school experience regarding young people who continue studying and are the first-generation in their families accessing secondary education, in Casavalle, Montevideo

Abstract

Reflection on inequalities in education implies recognizing the subjects’ uneven starting points as well as understanding their different journeys, particularly in a Secondary Education system that has been characterized by a selective mandate since its origins. In order to grasp this phenomenon, we present the meanings formulated by students from Casavalle, whose families’ educational paths have not gone beyond Primary Education and who are the first to enter Secondary Education. The progressive universalization of Secondary Education requires knowing more about those who are arriving, especially those who are first generation in their families. In this regard, it is relevant to understand how the young unprecedented generation compose different meanings, in particular: the institutional contradiction, neighborhood distances, the importance of family availability and the oscillation between inheritance and disinheritance. These are multiple signs that set forth substantive aspects for the construction of educational policies for all people.