DOI•
Learning to Labour: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs
01 Dec 2011-Iss: 32, pp 5-8
About: The article was published on 2011-12-01 and is currently open access. It has received 1252 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Working class.
Citations
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TL;DR: In the last few years there has been a notable shift towards the demonization of teenagers (adolescents) along with rising levels of anxiety concerning children generally as discussed by the authors, which represents something of a divergence between the orientations of UK policy and politics and contemporary orientation of the sociology of childhood.
Abstract: The emergence and development of the sociology of childhood in the UK is strongly connected to the establishment of this area of study in the Nordic countries. However any account of this must also look at the wider context of political and cultural constructions of childhood, children and young people, and intergenerational relationships in the UK. In the early stages of childhood studies there was a synchrony between the orientation of the new social studies of childhood in the UK and changes in how children came to be politically positioned, particularly with respect to an emphasis on children’s voices, their capacity to be agentic and their status as social actors. Since then the political status of childhood has become more problematic. In the last few years there has been a notable shift towards the demonization of teenagers (adolescents) along with rising levels of anxiety concerning children generally. This represents something of a divergence between the orientations of UK policy and politics and contemporary orientations of the sociology of childhood.
95 citations
Cites background or methods from "Learning to Labour: How Working Cla..."
...…on groups (subcultures) of young people seen as troublesome by mainstream society (Cohen, 1972; Hall and Jefferson, 1976) and on working-class youth, particularly boys (e.g. Willis, 1977), although significant work was also published about the lives of young women (McRobbie and Garber, 1976)....
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...The work of the CCCS carried an emphasis on the significance of social class and structural explanations (Clarke et al., 1976; Willis, 1977) and rejected simplistic socialization approaches in favour of a dynamic understanding of the agency of the young people concerned....
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TL;DR: The authors showed that non-standard dialects of English do not have a discrete system of grammar that is isolated from other varieties; rather local dialect forms interact with a range of semiotic resources (including standard forms) within speakers' repertoires.
Abstract: Sociolinguists have been fighting dialect prejudice since the 1960s, but deficit views of non-standard English are regaining currency in educational discourse. In this paper I argue that the traditional sociolinguistic response – stressing dialect systematicity and tolerance of ‘difference’ – may no longer be effective by questioning a key assumption that both deficit and difference approaches share, namely that there exist discrete varieties of English. Based on an empirical study of the language of working-class children in north-east England, I demonstrate that non-standard dialects of English do not have a discrete system of grammar that is isolated from other varieties; rather local dialect forms interact with a range of semiotic resources (including standard forms) within speakers’ repertoires. Interactional analyses of the children's spontaneous speech highlight this hybridity, as well as the social meanings behind the linguistic choices children make. I conclude by addressing educational responses...
95 citations
TL;DR: Falk et al. as discussed by the authors assess the use of audience segmentation in visitor studies by analyzing its application in the identity model of visitors proposed by J. Falk et al., and argue for a contextual turn that places visitors' experiences within a holistic and long-term framework of individual life circumstances, relationships, and trajectories.
Abstract: This article assesses the use of audience segmentation in visitor studies by analyzing its application in the identity model of visitors proposed by J. Falk (2009) and J. Falk et al. (2007). As a leading example of visitor segmentation, the authors examine this model's application in a specific case at U.S. zoos to elaborate some of its limitations. Conventional short-term, episodic approaches to visitor research should be challenged and supplemented by a more contextually sensitive framework. The authors contend that segmentation approaches, and in particular Falk's theorization and operationalization of an identity model of visitors, are problematic. They argue for a contextual turn that places visitors’ experiences within a holistic and long-term framework of individual life circumstances, relationships, and trajectories. Research and theory from education, sociology, and cultural studies extends existing visitor research approaches by acknowledging complexity, change over time, and the interwoven and developmental nature of sociocultural variables influencing visitors’ appropriation of new ideas and experiences.
95 citations
Cites background from "Learning to Labour: How Working Cla..."
...…of the five identity-related motivations model entails a concomitant rejection of all the crucial insights about the complex role of class (e.g., Willis, 1977), educational attainment (e.g., Bourdieu & Darbel, 1969/1991), social exclusion (e.g., Baumann, 1996; Jensen, 2010b), and other…...
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TL;DR: The authors argue that social class is still a major force at work in young people's lives, particularly in the context of schooling, where white, working-class young people stand in stark contrast to the normative middle-class subject, and become pathologized.
Abstract: In the context of a ‘death’ of class in popular and policy discourse, this paper argues that social class is still a major force at work in young people's lives, particularly in the context of schooling. We argue that young people's subcultural groups are classed, in the way in which they are constructed in discourse. Drawing on a data set of 68 interviews with white, middle-class young people in three different cities in England, we argue that class can be seen and felt in young people's constructions of the ‘chav’, where white, working-class young people's ways of being and doing in the context of schooling, stand in stark contrast to the normative middle-class subject, and become pathologized.
95 citations
Cites background from "Learning to Labour: How Working Cla..."
...Moral boundaries: ‘chavs’ not valuing education Paul Willis’ (1977) seminal text on working-class masculinity in schools describes the working-class ‘lads’ who are not interested in school, are disruptive in class, and enjoy having a ‘laff ’ instead.6 In Norton and Riverton today, chavs and…...
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...…in secondary education in the UK and hostility between working-class and middle-class young people in schools but this detailed discussion is beyond the scope of this paper (in addition to Willis (1977), notable contributions include Ford (1969), Brown (1987), and Hoggart (1998[1957].))...
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...Moral boundaries: ‘chavs’ not valuing education Paul Willis’ (1977) seminal text on working-class masculinity in schools describes the working-class ‘lads’ who are not interested in school, are disruptive in class, and enjoy having a ‘laff ’ instead.6 In Norton and Riverton today, chavs and charvers are defined by their disruptiveness in class and reluctance to learn....
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TL;DR: The authors revisited the work on youth cultures and subcultures that emerged from Birmingham's Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (hereafter CCCS) during the 1970s, and argued that the focus of the youth sub/cultures project on mediated cultural practices through which young people constitute themselves and their (gendered, classed and racialised) positions remains of value, especially the emphasis on a'symptomatic reading' that locates these processes in a 'conjunctural analysis'.
Abstract: This paper revisits the work on youth cultures and subcultures that emerged from Birmingham's Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (hereafter CCCS) during the 1970s. I engage with a number of recent critiques of the ‘youth sub/cultures project’, including Thornton's influential work on rave and club cultures and its troubled engagement with class. I argue that the focus of the youth sub/cultures project on mediated cultural practices through which young people constitute themselves and their (gendered, classed and racialised) positions remains of value, especially the emphasis on a ‘symptomatic reading’ that locates these processes in a ‘conjunctural analysis’. I end by exploring the legacy of this project for understanding youth, class and culture in contemporary late modern society.
86 citations
Cites background or methods from "Learning to Labour: How Working Cla..."
...Paul Willis’s ‘Learning to Labour’ (hereafter ‘LL’) started from the perspective of the ‘lads’, a group of 12 white working-class young men in an urban state secondary school in the English Midlands, who rejected the possibilities of academic advancement offered by education (Willis 1977)....
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...The difficulties involved in reconciling these two approaches are reflected in the structure of Paul Willis’s influential text ‘Learning to Labour’, with parts one and two focusing on ‘Ethnography’ and ‘Analysis’, respectively (Willis 1977)....
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...…between (predominantly white, male, working class, heterosexual British) youth and popular culture.2 Books and papers by Hall and Jefferson (1975), Willis (1977), McRobbie (1978), Corrigan (1979), Hebdige (1979) and McRobbie and Garber (1975) were to prove formative for what became the new field…...
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References
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01 Jan 2010
TL;DR: The concept of community of practice was not born in the systems theory tradition as discussed by the authors, but it has its roots in attempts to develop accounts of the social nature of human learning inspired by anthropology and social theory.
Abstract: The concept of community of practice was not born in the systems theory tradition. It has its roots in attempts to develop accounts of the social nature of human learning inspired by anthropology and social theory (Lave, 1988; Bourdieu, 1977; Giddens, 1984; Foucault, 1980; Vygotsky, 1978). But the concept of community of practice is well aligned with the perspective of systems traditions. A community of practice itself can be viewed as a simple social system. And a complex social system can be viewed as constituted by interrelated communities of practice. In this essay I first explore the systemic nature of the concept at these two levels. Then I use this foundation to look at the applications of the concept, some of its main critiques, and its potential for developing a social discipline of learning.
1,082 citations
Book•
27 Jun 2011
TL;DR: In this article, the Flatlands of Oakland and the Youth Control Complex are discussed. But the focus is on the role of black youth in the criminal justice system and community institutions.
Abstract: Preface Acknowledgments Part I Hypercriminalization 1 Dreams Deferred: The Patterns of Punishment in Oakland 2 The Flatlands of Oakland and the Youth Control Complex 3 The Labeling Hype: Coming of Age in the Era of Mass Incarceration 4 The Coupling of Criminal Justice and Community Institutions Part II Consequences 5 "Dummy Smart": Misrecognition, Acting Out, and "Going Dumb" 6 Proving Manhood: Masculinity as a Rehabilitative Tool 7 Guilty by Association: Acting White or Acting Lawful? Conclusion: Toward a Youth Support Complex Appendix: Beyond Jungle-Book Tropes Notes References Index About the Author
909 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines the transition to adulthood among 1.5-generation undocumented Latino young adults and finds that for them, the transition from K to adulthood involves exiting the legally protected status of K to...
Abstract: This article examines the transition to adulthood among 1.5-generation undocumented Latino young adults. For them, the transition to adulthood involves exiting the legally protected status of K to ...
663 citations
TL;DR: In this article, student engagement research, policy, and practice must become more nuanced and less formulaic, and the ensuing review is structured accordingly, guided in part by social-ecological analysis and social-cultural theory.
Abstract: Student engagement research, policy, and practice are even more important in today’s race-to-the top policy environment. With a priority goal of postsecondary completion with advanced competence, today’s students must be engaged longer and more deeply. This need is especially salient for students attending schools located in segregated, high-poverty neighborhoods and isolated rural communities. Here, engagement research, policy, and practice must become more nuanced and less formulaic, and the ensuing review is structured accordingly. Guided in part by social-ecological analysis and social-cultural theory, engagement is conceptualized as a dynamic system of social and psychological constructs as well as a synergistic process. This conceptualization invites researchers, policymakers, and school-community leaders to develop improvement models that provide a more expansive, engagement-focused reach into students’ family, peer, and neighborhood ecologies.
528 citations
TL;DR: The Longitudinal Immigrant Student Adaptation Study (LISA) as discussed by the authors used a mixed-methods approach, combining longitudinal, interdisciplinary, qualitative, and quantitative approaches to document adaptation patterns of 407 recently arrived immigrant youth from Central America, China, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Mexico over the course of five years.
Abstract: Background/Context: Newcomer immigrant students are entering schools in the United States in unprecedented numbers. As they enter new school contexts, they face a number of challenges in their adjustment. Previous literature suggested that relationships in school play a particularly crucial role in promoting socially competent behavior in the classroom and in fostering academic engagement and school performance. Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the role of school-based relationships in engagement and achievement in a population of newcomer immigrant students. Research Design: The Longitudinal Immigrant Student Adaptation Study (LISA) used a mixed-methods approach, combining longitudinal, interdisciplinary, qualitative, and quantitative approaches to document adaptation patterns of 407 recently arrived immigrant youth from Central America, China, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Mexico over the course of five years. Based on data from the last year of the study, we examine how the role of relationships mediates newcomers’ challenges with academic engagement and performance. We identify factors that account for patterns of academic engagement and achievement, including country of origin, gender, maternal education, English language proficiency, and school-based relationships. Findings: Multiple regression analyses suggest that supportive school-based relationships strongly contribute to both the academic engagement and the school performance of the par
356 citations