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Explore contrasting subcultures in schools - from pro-education to anti-school mentalities. Discover how various groups perceive education and school differently and how these attitudes impact student experiences.
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This PowerPoint is focusing on examples of subcultures within schools, some of which have a favourable and positive attitude to school and education (pro- education/pro school), and other which have a negative and often confrontational attitude to school and education ( anti-education/anti school). There are also examples of groups holding a pro-education but anti school culture, where they value education for getting on and getting out of the working class but they have negative views of school due to their experiences within it. Throughout these subcultures the concepts of school and education need to be treated separately; school being the institution and education being the system in which schools operate.
Example 1: Asian girls Shain (2003) interviewed Asian girls in a number of different schools in the Manchester area. She identified four different groups of girls; each group used different strategies for coping with school experiences Gang girls These girls held anti education and anti school views. They were confrontational and had developed a ‘them and us’ attitude. These girls felt they had experienced racism in the school and this had led them to form an all Asian female subculture from which white students and teachers were excluded. The girls used survival tactic's of resistance through their culture. They had a clear and positive Asian identity which they defended.
The survivors This group were pro education and pro school. They defined their school experience in positive terms, worked hard and viewed school and education as a means through which they could better themselves. They were perceived as timid and shy by most teachers, although this was a clever front , a way of avoiding trouble. The girls had all experienced racism and sexism but chose to ignore it. The girls used the tactics of conforming to the expectations of Asian girls ( being shy and timid) in order to shape their school experience.
The rebels These girls were pro education and pro school, and were distinct group because they blamed their home background for their differential school experiences. Some of these girls spoke about there feeling happier at school then at home and some described their parents views as ‘backwards’. These girls rejected the gang girls confrontational attitude and instead often formed friendship groups with white girls. They were seen as rebelling against their parental culture.
Example 2: Year 10 boys Archer and yamashait(2008) studied this group of year 10 boys in a London comprehensive school. They displayed norms and values that were anti-school and anti education. Style, clothes and accent were crucial parts of their identity in school and in the local area where they wanted to be visible and seen by others. They displayed a strong commitment to their local area and all spoke about the importance of staying ‘local’ and not moving away when they left school. They enjoyed rap culture, and showed an attachment to the ‘bad boy’ image. In school they considered reading and education to be ‘soft’. They all thought that if they worked hard in class they could be labelled as a ‘pussy’ and therefore did not want to be seen to make an effort to learn.
Example 3: Ladettes Jackson (2006a) researched Ladettes culture in secondary schools and claimed they displayed anti-school and anti-educational characteristics. Their norms and values included acting hard, smoking, swearing, disrupting lessons, being cheeky/rude to the teacher, loud/gobby and open about their sex lives. There norms and values were displayed in and out of school. The girls were mostly white and working class and were in danger of seriously under achieving in school because of their attitude of ‘it’s not cool to be clever.
Example 4: african-caribbean boys Sewell (2000) studied groups of african-caribbean boys and indentified for visible groups. Conformists These boys wanted to achieve academic success and were individually well motivated to succeed. They were pro-education and pro-school. Innovated These boys accepted the goals of schooling but rejected the means of achieving the means of achieving the goals. They were pro-education, but anti-schooling. They thought that schools and teachers had largely failed to provide for their needs.
Retreatists These boys rejected the goals of schooling/education and the means of archiving them. They were not confrontational; they just did not like school work. Rebels This groups formed a ‘posse’. They followed rap culture and felt school and education had failed them. They were disliked and distrusted by the other 3 groups
Conflicts between pro and anti school subcultures The Columbine High School massacrewas a school shooting which occurred on April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School in Columbine. In the school shooting, two senior students named Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered a total of 12 students and one teacher. They also injured 21 further students, with three other people being injured while attempting to escape the school. The pair then committed suicide. The Columbine High School massacre is the fourth-deadliest mass murder committed upon a school campus in United States history and remains the deadliest for an American high school. Much discussion centeredon the nature of high school cliques, subcultures and bullying, in addition to the influence of violent movies and video games in American society. The shooting resulted in an increased emphasis on school security, and a moral panic aimed at goth culture, social outcasts, gun culture, the use of anti-depressants by teenagers, teenage Internet use and violent video games. The link between bullying and school violence has attracted increasing attention since the 1999 attack at Colorado's Columbine High School. Both of the shooters were classified as gifted children (pro school) and had allegedly been victims of bullying for four years by the jocks(anti school)
Having considered these examples we can conclude by summarising the roles subcultures play in schools/education: • To challenge authority • As a form of resistance against school , home or soiety. • To offer members a way of bettering themselves • To offer expression to group identity, creating a positive or a negative impression • To provide status.
