Learning to labour summary

He also aimed at the developing anti-school culture by students from working-class families which was developing to anti-school subculture. To accomplish his mission, Willis carried ethnographic study on secondary school working class boys in England. In his study, he also attempts to illustrate and explain the role played by both youth’s culture and socialization acts as mediums by which working-class students acquire working class jobs, (Willis, 12-189). The main question that Wills research indented to answer was “why kids from working-class families get working class jobs”. He used quantitative research methodologies from group discussion, interviews so as to understand participants actions based on participants (secondary school kids from working-class families) point of view. These students were found not to be interested in education as they were anticipating to get factory jobs which required little or no formal education or qualifications.

According to this Willis study, these students from working-class families saw school as “bit cissy” and was only important for kids from middle-class families. Ethical issues that can be observed from “Learning to Labor” by Willis include, there is an ethical strength in that the research acted as a voice for “lads” (students from working-class families) who were taken to be problematic and not willing to study or acquire education, (Willis, 12-189). Although they have their own reasons not willing to study they did not clearly present them. Hence it was only through Willis ethnographic study that the reasons were became known to the public. This helped him to understand their behaviour as well as their attitude towards education before deducing the reason behind it in his research.

From this book, we can also consider the form that Willis has used to present an analysis of his cultural study. This is called the presentation form. This is well seen in “Learning to Labor” by Paul Willis as the book is divided into two distinct sections, (Willis, 12-189). Each of these sections has projected the culture the boy students under study differently as well as the institutional environment that surrounds this county school, (Becker et al, 264-276). By giving a vivid description of cultural forms and expression of the “lads” together with the materials used in this study, this also reflects the validity of research carried out by Willis. Focusing on the methodological advancement from other authors but carried out by Willis in his ethnographic study, it is clear that Willis methodological representation of material of study corresponds to the epistemological and ontological tradition which the author inscribes voluntarily ( the Marxist) which relates to materialist and brings out conception of reality, (Willis, 12-189).

This is what opens or takes Willis’ ethnographic study to an investigation of both action and words of the secondary school boy’s culture. The first methodological advancement by Willis is seen on the Marxist scientific philosophical point of view which makes use of presentation form, (McCoy & Vault, 751-776). This means that the evaluated structure of reality is seen from the reality itself a quotation from a real conversation such as those of interview between Willis and the boys present the reality of his research. In his book “Learning to Labor”, Willis explains the concept of power movement and opposition (strangle for superiority) using integrin and differentiation, (Willis, 12-189). The counter-school culture arises as a result of basic teaching paradigm creating differentiation within the school.

By use of differentiation and integration of power resources as well as strangle in the school setting as observed by Willis, this enables him to point out the following. How the counter-school culture is being integrated and differentiated by this struggle based on school setting and the actual and potential resources that can be mobilized from various layers of structure of the society, (Willis, 12-189). Here the focus is on the professional character of differentiation, reintegration and opposition. Works cited Ashraf, Sadia.  Norwegian religion and culture influence identity and ethics of young generation of Muslims. MS thesis. Becker, Howard S. , et al. De Vault. "Institutional ethnography: using interviews to investigate ruling relations. " Handbook of interview research: context and method (Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage) (2002): 751-776.