Acknowledgments

I will be forever grateful to all the participants on this project for sharing their stories. Thank you will never be sufficient in communicating the depth of my gratitude to you all. This project would not have happened without your generosity of spirit and time. Throughout the study, I have learned so much about myself and many other things. I will carry your stories with me wherever I go.

Thank you to Agnes, our amazingly talented, patient and hard-working illustrator/coder/problem solver. I will always be grateful for her contributions and the care she took of our stories. 

I would like to say a massive thank you to the SRHE for providing me with this truly extraordinary experience. At every juncture of this project, I have been made to feel supported, welcomed and valued. I am particularly grateful to Rob Gresham for his positivity, responsiveness and support. Thank you also to Dr Kate Carruthers Thomas for her support as a mentor.

Thanks to everyone at the University of Nottingham School of Education who has supported me through this project in different ways. A special thanks is owed to colleagues in the School of Education Research Office for their patience and guidance. Many thanks to the University of Nottingham Digital Research team for their generosity of time and patience in developing this website. Thank you to Jane Coulson, Dr Holly Henderson and Prof Andy Fisher for their invaluable feedback on my initial bid and proposal. Finally, thank you to my research mentor, Prof Shaaron Ainsworth for always encouraging me to pursue my curiosity and being there to pull me out of rabbit holes when I’m in danger of disappearing. 

I’d like to thank the Alliance of Working-Class Academics (AWCA) for creating spaces of support and activism to bring people from across the globe together to celebrate being an academic of working-class heritage. 

Thank you to Hannah Curnock, Gemma Stafford-Keal and Suzanne Wright for giving up their time to do voice overs for Comic 3, Speaking up and being heard: finding your voice as an academic of working-class heritage. 

Last by no means least, thank you so much to my amazing wife and children, who are always there when no one else is and remind me of what is most important in life. 

Charlie Davis