Option 2: Youth Subcultures - Two Examples of Anti-School Subcultures

Anti-school subcultures are groups of students who reject the norms and values of the school environment, often as a response to their perceived marginalisation or lack of opportunities within it. They may engage in behaviours such as truancy, disruption, and academic underachievement as a form of resistance. This essay will outline and discuss two examples of anti-school subcultures: Paul Willis's "The Lads" and Carolyn Jackson's "Ladettes."

Paul Willis: The Lads

Paul Willis's groundbreaking ethnographic study "Learning to Labour" (1977) examined a group of working-class boys, "the lads", in a British secondary school. Willis found that these boys actively resisted the school's middle-class values and expectations. They saw academic success as irrelevant to their future prospects and instead prioritized manual labour, which they associated with masculinity and working-class identity.

The lads created their own counter-school culture, engaging in disruptive behaviour, challenging authority, and prioritizing "having a laff" over academic achievement. Willis argued that this resistance, while seemingly self-destructive, was a form of cultural reproduction. By rejecting the school's values, the lads were unconsciously preparing themselves for the manual labour jobs that capitalist society had in store for them. They were "learning to labour" through their very opposition to education.

Carolyn Jackson: Ladettes

Carolyn Jackson's study of "Ladettes" (2006) offers a contrasting example of an anti-school subculture. Jackson observed that some girls adopted traditionally masculine behaviours, such as swearing, engaging in risky behaviour, and rejecting academic achievement. These girls, labelled "Ladettes", challenged the traditional feminine ideal of docility and academic success promoted by the school.

Jackson argues that the emergence of Ladettes was a response to the changing gender dynamics in society. As girls increasingly outperformed boys academically, some girls felt pressure to downplay their intelligence and conform to a more assertive and rebellious feminine identity. Ladettes, through their behaviour, rejected the pressure to conform to traditional expectations of femininity, carving out a space for themselves within the school environment.

Conclusion

Both "The Lads" and "Ladettes" demonstrate the complex ways in which anti-school subcultures emerge as a response to the perceived limitations and inequalities within the education system. While Willis's study highlights the influence of class, Jackson's work demonstrates the impact of gender on the formation of subcultural identities. Both studies remind us that anti-school behaviour is not simply individual deviance, but often represents a collective response to social structures and cultural expectations faced by young people.