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.
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Journal Article•
TL;DR: Aldama et al. as mentioned in this paper examined the educational trajectories of Chicano male high school students in a California continuation high school and found that these students are more apt to believe that the school climate is hostile towards them, teachers do not expect as much from them, and that they are given less encouragement to do their best.
Abstract: I ask these unsettling questions: what does it mean for me to write as a Chicano in the final years of the millennium, 506 years after the full-scale invasion of the Americas--the usurpation of lands, the wholesale rape and slaughter of indigenous peoples, the forced importation and brutal enslavement of African peoples; and the institutionalized criminalization and marginalization o fthe Chicana/o community, etc.? --Aldama. Millenial Anxieties: Borders, Violence, and the Struggle for Chicana/o Subjectivity (1998) Introduction Aldama renders important questions that critical scholars must grapple with as they engage in challenging the deficit accounts that have distorted and/or erased the experiences of Students of Color. Chicanas/os, who for the purpose of this article are defined as people of Mexican descent living in the United States, carry with them a history of not only a physical colonization but also the lasting imprint of an intellectual apparatus of representation that reifies their status as inferior. Today, even 500 years after the initial invasion of the Americas resulting in the subjugation of indigenous peoples, we cannot come to fully understand the complexity of the continued marginalization of the Chicana/o community without acknowledging the lasting effects of colonization and the permanence of white supremacy. In regards to the Chicana/o community, Aldama argues that we must recognize that there are four negative constants facing this population: (1) Continued economic marginalization; (2) Sub-standard housing, schooling, and general public services; (3) Extremely high incarceration rates, and (4) An increase in the sophistication and deployment of violence especially towards Chicana/o youth and Mexican immigrants. These constants are critical in understanding the various factors that work against young Chicana/o students. Given the importance placed on educational attainment as an avenue for economic and social mobility, it is important to understand and acknowledge how these combined constants allows for a more critical frame that contextualizes how schooling institutions replicate sub-standard conditions and opportunities for Chicano youth. This article locates the Chicano racialized male body within the education discourse surrounding research and practice. In order to more appropriately understand the experiences of these youth, I draw from critical race theory (CRT) and Latina/o critical race theory (LatCrit) in education as well as Chicana feminist epistemologies to more specifically examine the racialized and gendered experiences of Chicano male students. A critical examination that interrogates Eurocentric epistemologies works at deconstructing the racialized and gendered discourses inscripted upon these young bodies. In order to illuminate these experiences, I draw from participatory research and extensive oral history interviews that examine the educational trajectories of Chicano male high school students in a California continuation high school. I place these narratives within a historical context that takes into consideration the pathological marginalization of these Students of Color. The Need to Examine Chicano Males in Continuation High Schools The overall educational attainment of males, specifically pertaining to Chicanos and Latinos, has become of increasing concern in the past decade (Kleinfeld 1998; Ginorio and Huston, 2001; Lopez, 2003; Suarez-Orozco & Qin-Hilliard, 2004). According to Kleinfeld, male Students of Color lag far behind their female counterparts. These students are more apt to believe that the school climate is hostile towards them, that teachers do not expect as much from them, and that they are given less encouragement to do their best. Current research on Latino boys reveals consistent results in terms of how they in general have lower interest in studying, low educational goals and a less optimistic outlook towards their future (Lopez, 2003; Portes & Rumbaut, 2001). …
32 citations
Cites background from "Learning to Labour: How Working Cla..."
...tion, power, and culture in understanding the complex relations between schools and the dominant society, much of the current literature on student resistance focuses on self defeating and reactionary models (Fine, 1991; McLaren, 1994; Willis, 1977)....
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...…attempt to show the importance of media- tion, power, and culture in understanding the complex relations between schools and the dominant society, much of the current literature on student resistance focuses on self defeating and reactionary models (Fine, 1991; McLaren, 1994; Willis, 1977)....
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TL;DR: In this article, a case study based on semistructured interviews aimed to explore how boys aged 14-16 years enact their passion through creative agency and expressive cultural processes, showing that secondary school boys in the Northeast of England showed themselves to be capable of high levels of engagement, enthusiasm and success despite generally being considered low achieving and highly disaffected.
Abstract: Although working-class boys' disengagement with education continues to be a major public concern, the focus of educational research has been on anti-school, hyper-masculine so-called laddish masculinities and their salience within learner identities. What tend to be forgotten are the areas in which low-achieving boys actively engage and succeed in their learning and what these successes mean for their identity construction. This article shows how learning practices manifest themselves in extracurricular peer subcultures by presenting the findings of two related musical activities, DJ-ing and MC-ing. In this music-making, secondary school boys in the Northeast of England showed themselves to be capable of high levels of engagement, enthusiasm and success despite generally being considered low achieving and highly disaffected. This small case study based on semistructured interviews aimed to explore how boys aged 14–16 years enact their passion through creative agency and expressive cultural processes.
31 citations
Cites background from "Learning to Labour: How Working Cla..."
...…or ‘anomalous beasts’ (Smith 2007, 96), who enact anti-school and deviant masculinities have arguably been romanticised as laddish working-class heroes in celebratory accounts of their strength and defiance (Willis 1977; Skeggs 1992), a contrast to earlier passive-victim literature (Miller 1958)....
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...We look to how masculinities and learner identities are reshaped as traditional structures have disappeared and where there is no longer a ‘shop-floor masculinity’ (Willis 1977)....
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...longer a ‘shop-floor masculinity’ (Willis 1977)....
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...(Willis 1977; Skeggs 1992), a contrast to earlier passive-victim literature (Miller 1958)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, an ethnographic study conducted with adolescent boys at a Canadian elementary school was conducted to explore the intersubjective and intrasubjective meaning-making processes that concurrently invite or dissuade participation.
Abstract: In the pursuit of understanding declining levels of participation from scholastic Health and Physical Education (HPE), ethnographic research has been increasingly utilised as a tool to explore the intersubjective and intrasubjective meaning-making processes that concurrently invite or dissuade participation. Despite the ostensible epistemological benefits of deploying ethnographic research as a vehicle for better understanding contextual HPE (dis)engagement processes and meanings, a critical methodological discussion of the actual implementation and positionality of these methods is largely absent in the extant literature. Reflecting on an ethnographic study conducted with adolescent boys at a Canadian elementary school, this paper provides HPE ethnographers with a series of methodological deliberations, and reflexive points of departure for consideration in the design and implementation of ethnographic research. Specifically, this paper elucidates the process of rapport building with teachers/students, t...
31 citations
01 Jan 2009
31 citations
Cites background from "Learning to Labour: How Working Cla..."
...Occupational socialization occurs within the family and the education system or through factors stemming from the domestic division of labor (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977; Willis, 1977)....
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...Given this, the complex relationship between societal structures, worker identity, and the economic role of the local community must be considered when addressing displaced workers’ education and employment problems (Aronowitz & Giroux, 1993; Morrow & Torres, 1995; Weis, 1990 & 2004; Willis, 1977; Peck, 1996)....
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...Their acceptance of this fate is due in part to expectations that they have internalized from others (e.g., teachers, parents, employers) or from their rejection of school-sanctioned knowledges (Bowles & Gintis, 1976; Willis, 1977)....
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...) (Brown & Hesketh, 2004; Egan, 2005; Kanbur, 2007; Weis, 1990, 2004; Willis, 1977); Individual education history: low relative to region, state, nation (Appelbaum & Albin, 1990; Brown & Hesketh, 2004; Carnoy, 2000; Herzenberg, Price, & Wial, 2005);...
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...In addition, secondary segment workers statuses also become part of their worker identities and thus they are complicit in reproducing themselves as secondary workers (e.g., blue-collar, working class) (Willis, 1977)....
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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