scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
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
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Drawing from in-depth interviews and archival sources, the author shows that four elements are understood to jointly produce educational success: ambitious career goals, sustained effort, unflagging optimism, and resistance to temptation.
Abstract: Imagined futures, once a vital topic of theoretical inquiry within the sociology of culture, have been sidelined in recent decades. Rational choice models cannot explain the seemingly irrational optimism of youth aspirations, pointing to the need to explore other alternatives. This article incorporates insights from pragmatist theory and cognitive sociology to examine the relationship between imagined futures and present actions and experiences in rural Malawi, where future optimism appears particularly unfounded. Drawing from in-depth interviews and archival sources documenting ideological campaigns promoting schooling, the author shows that four elements are understood to jointly produce educational success: ambitious career goals, sustained effort, unflagging optimism, and resistance to temptation. Aspirations should be interpreted not as rational calculations, but instead as assertions of a virtuous identity, claims to be “one who aspires.”

278 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Longitudinal Immigrant Student Adaptation Study (LISA) as discussed by the authors combines longitudinal, interdisciplinary, and comparative approaches to document the patterns of adaptation of 408 recently arrived immigrant origin youth from Central America, China, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Mexico over the course of five years.
Abstract: Many studies have pointed to a troubling phenomenon known as the “immigrant paradox.” Despite an initial advantage length of residence in the United States appears to be associated with declining academic achievement and aspirations. To date, this line of research has taken a largely cross-sectional approach, comparing first, second, and third generations. The Longitudinal Immigrant Student Adaptation Study (LISA) combines longitudinal, interdisciplinary, and comparative approaches to document the patterns of adaptation of 408 recently arrived immigrant origin youth from Central America, China, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Mexico over the course of five years. Here, we present data that demonstrate patterns of academic engagement and achievement of these youths over time, as well as a structural equations model (SEM) that sheds light on the factors contributing to these patterns. These data suggest that supportive relationships significantly mediate the academic engagement and outcomes of immigrant ...

264 citations


Cites background from "Learning to Labour: How Working Cla..."

  • ...Immigrants are also likely to attend schools that face high teacher and staff turnover and that are overcrowded, understaffed, and plagued by violence and racially hostile peer cultures (garcía-Coll & Magnuson, 1997; Mehan, Villanueva, Hubbard, & Lintz, 1996; Willis, 1977)....

    [...]

BookDOI
Chris Blackmore1
01 Jan 2010
TL;DR: Social Learning Systems and Communities of Practice as discussed by the authors is a collection of classical and contemporary writing associated with learning and systemic change in contexts ranging from cities, to rural development to education to nursing to water management to public policy.
Abstract: Social Learning Systems and Communities of Practice is a collection of classical and contemporary writing associated with learning and systemic change in contexts ranging from cities, to rural development to education to nursing to water management to public policy. It is likely to be of interest to anyone trying to understand how to think systemically and to act and interact effectively in situations experienced as complex, messy and changing. While mainly concerned with professional praxis, where theory and practice inform each other, there is much here that can apply at a personal level. This book offers conceptual tools and suggestions for new ways of being and acting in the world in relation to each other, that arise from both old and new understandings of communities, learning and systems. Starting with twentieth century insights into social learning, learning systems and appreciative systems from Donald Schon and Sir Geoffrey Vickers, the book goes on to consider the contemporary traditions of critical social learning systems and communities of practice, pioneered by Richard Bawden and Etienne Wenger and their colleagues. A synthesis of the ideas raised, written by the editor, concludes this reader. The theory and practice of social learning systems and communities of practice appear to have much to offer in influencing and managing systemic change for a better world.

262 citations

Book
01 Feb 2013
TL;DR: In this article, the authors study the low-pay, no-pay cycle and its patterns and people's commitment to work in a deindustrialised labour market, concluding that ill-health and caring are the ties that bind.
Abstract: Introduction Precarious work, welfare and poverty Researching the low-pay, no-pay cycle The low-pay, no-pay cycle: the perspectives and practices of employers and 'welfare to work' agencies The low-pay, no-pay cycle: its pattern and people's commitment to work Searching for jobs: qualifications, support for the workless and the good and bad of informal social networks Poor work: insecurity and churning in deindustrialised labour markets 'The ties that bind': ill-health and caring and their impact on the low-pay, no-pay cycle Poverty and social insecurity Conclusions.

257 citations


Cites background from "Learning to Labour: How Working Cla..."

  • ...Willis (1977) has, for example, speculated that structural unemployment might underpin the development of a 'white ethnic culture of wagelessness' among some sections of white youth....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors consider the possibilities for geographical research on (formal) education, and outline one particular agenda for this emerging field, which is to develop a decentered and outward-looking literature, one in which education systems, institutions, and practices are positioned as useful sites for a variety of theory-building projects.
Abstract: Despite playing central roles in state-building, economic development, social reproduction, and cultural politics, education has remained on the margins of critical geographical thought. Recent research, however, suggests that geographers are taking notice of the widespread and profound restructuring underway in advanced capitalist education sectors. This paper considers the possibilities for geographical research on (formal) education, and outlines one particular agenda for this emerging field. Rather than advocating a discrete topical specialty, it proposes developing a decentered and outward-looking literature — one in which education systems, institutions, and practices are positioned as useful sites for a variety of theory-building projects. The paper sketches several applications of this `joined-up' approach. `Thinking through' education — either as a constitutive moment or a critical case study of sociospatial transformation — may inform discussions of the geographies of neoliberalization, globaliz...

228 citations


Cites background from "Learning to Labour: How Working Cla..."

  • ...Academic knowledges are limited and contestable, and constantly evaluated and reconstructed as they are applied and performed (Willis, 1977; Lauria and Mirón, 2005; in geography, see Katz, 2004)....

    [...]

References
More filters
Book ChapterDOI
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

Journal ArticleDOI
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

Journal ArticleDOI
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

Journal ArticleDOI
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