Can you explain the Paul Willis' take on the education in 'Learning to Labour'?

Paul Willis has published a book called 'Learning to Labour', where he discussed the anti-school subculture at schools in 1977. He did an experiment on 12 working class schoolboys from the Midlands to observe the reason why the 'lads' were socialised the way they were socialised and the reason they have rejected the mainstream culture to create their own. It was obvious to him that the primary socialisation has affected their way of thinking and most definitely affected their aims in life. The lads' primary socialisation deprived academical goals and the knowledge that they needed to achieve academical trophies. Their parents being blue collar did not help when they could not relate to the white collar jobs they were exposed to at the school. The unrelatable lads often felt left out and to 'prove' themselves to the other pupils, they created their own sub-culture where they can be on the top of the hierarchy. 
Paul Willis argued the 'lads' has accepted their assigned blue collar jobs as they have learnt and seen from their parents and the environment they brought up in. He, later on, argued that the Karl Marx's principle on the education is not accurate since the 'lads' were not open to secondary socialisation and changing their perspectives as they were thought in school while Marxist take on education suggests the pupils should learn about their jobs from the school.

Answered by Nursah D. Sociology tutor

7082 Views

See similar Sociology A Level tutors

Related Sociology A Level answers

All answers ▸

How do you achieve a top grade in A Level sociology?


With reference to the item and sociological knowledge, explain the meaning of the term culture


Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which the media may cause crime (10 marks)


Outline three ways in which school may mirror work in capitalist society.


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2024

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences