Abstract

Barriers to fair Higher Education access are often determined at an early age,
particularly for students from working class backgrounds with no parental
history of Higher Education and who live in some of the lowest socio-economic
areas in the United Kingdom. But barriers can be broken. One such method is
through The Brilliant Club’s Scholars Programme which mobilises PhD
researchers by placing them in UK state schools to teach subjects which are
not traditionally taught on the school curriculum such as human rights,
contractual rights, and rights protected by the criminal law, amongst many
other subjects and disciplines. The Brilliant Club’s Scholars Programme
assists in increasing university awareness as well as developing the core skills
necessary for academic success. Liberational pedagogy can also assist in
breaking barriers as it encourages creativity, critical thought and awareness in
students. Part I of this paper outlines what The Brilliant Club does in the
context of social justice and breaking barriers to Higher Education. Part II
explains my own experience working as a PhD tutor on the Scholars
Programme with Key Stage 2 students and how I used liberational pedagogy
in the context of problem-posing teaching methods to encourage critical
discussion and to learn in dialogue with the students.