EDUCATION - ANTI-SCHOOL SUBCULTURES = Willis Flashcards
Was Willis a Neo-Marxist or a Marxist?
He was a Neo-Marxist!
What is a Neo-Marxist?
They are a sociologists who doesn’t just look at class; they counter in other factors, such as gender and ethnicity, into their studies as well! They also combine interactionist approaches with traditional Marxist, structural ones = Willis focused in on the meanings and explanations pupils give to their situation!
Whose study did Willis’ oppose/disagree with?
Bowles and Gintis’ ‘Correspondence Principle’ Study!
Who did Willis look at in his study?
Willis studied 12, working-class boys through interviews with them and through observing them!
What was Willis’ Study/Book called?
‘Learning to Labour. How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs (1977)’
What type of subculture did Willis identify?
He identified a ‘counter-school subculture’!
What culture did Willis identify in the lads? HINT: ‘Laff’
‘Having a laff’ - The lads entertained themselves in education, by messing about and causing trouble!
How does ‘having a laff’ link to the ‘shop-floor culture’?
As the lads entertain themselves, they also prepare themselves for the tedium of work = They develop this subculture instead of becoming subservient and passive (which is what the capitalist society wants)!
Give two ways the counter-school subculture supports capitalism? HINT: ‘Meritocracy’ + Condemning themselves
- The ‘myth of meritocracy’ = As the boys are not trying to change their position in society they will remain proletariats!
- The lads contribute to their own exploitation by the capitalist society (as they are not trying), which means they condemn themselves to be exploited by capitalism for the rest of their lives!
What did Willis discover, in contrast to Bowles and Gintis?
Willis found that education was not creating docile and passive workers (like B + G states). Even though the lads rejected the traditional norms and values of society and they had a ‘laff’, they still (inevitably) ended up in working-class jobs (which is a REPRODUCTION of class inequality)! Nothing about their position in society changed - they are still being exploited by the capitalist society!!
What is one negative evaluation regarding this study? HINT: ‘The Hawthorne Effect’.
As the lads had a close relationship and bond with Willis, this may have caused the ‘Hawthorne Effect’ - The boys may have changed their behaviour as they knew they were being watched by Willis!
What is another negative evaluation regarding this study? HINT: Free will
The lads failing in school may just be demonstration of their free will; they didn’t want to become the ear’ols (or the teacher’s pets and swots) who try hard in education!
What saying does this relate to about working class children?
‘Working class kids get working class jobs’ = The REPRODUCTION and LEGITIMISATION of inequality!
