Why do boys underacheive - Laddish Subcultures (Internal) Flashcards
What does Forde et al (2006) argue about peer groups pressure on boys achievement ?
suggest peer- group pressure encourages boys to maintain a dominant masculine identity through resistance to school and is therefore largely incompatible with academic success
What examples did Forde et al give of peer group pressure and values which meant that boys were underachieving ?
Rejecting academic work as feminine
Adopting disruptive classroom behaviour
How do working class boys appear to get ‘street credit “ and what does this cause them to develop ?
WC- appear to get street cred and gain peer group status by not working and some develop a laddish anti-education subculture where school work is seen as un macho and its not cool to achieve
What did Francis (2001) find out boys were concerned with being called ?
He found that boys are concerned about being labeled as ‘smart’ by their peers
Why were boys concerned with being labelled as ‘smart’ by their peers ?
He found that boys are concerned about being labeled as ‘smart’ by their peers, because this threatened their masculinity and wanted to gain macho status
What do working class subcultures see masculinity as being equated too and what does this result in ?
Working class subcultures see masculinity as being equated with being tough and doing manual work. Non-manual work (e.g schoolwork) is seen as feminine
As a result, working class boys tend to reject school work and to mess around in class to avoid being called ‘gay’
What did Epstein find out about pro-school working class boys
Found that pro-school working-class boys were likely to he harassed, labbeled as ‘gay’ and subjected to homphobic verbal abuse by peers if they appeared to be ‘swots’
What was Willis studying in ‘Learning to Labour’
Willis did a study of working class- boys in a Midlands school called the lads- a group of boys who were disruptive and had a very negative attitude to education
What did Willis conclude from his study of the ‘lads’
- They had formed an anti-school subculture where it was deemed ‘cool’ to mess about and fail.
- For them, academic success was frowned upon while ‘mucking about’ was rewarded.
- They identified themselves in opposition to ear’oles (those who conformed to schools expectations - pro-school subculture)
Why did the ‘lads’ subculture cause them to underachiever’s at school ?
They subverted the values of the school- causes them to get told off and excluded, not working hard and spending more time outside of the classroom than within it
Whats an evolution point in response to laddish subcultures ?
Studies suggest that ‘laddish’ subcultures are mainly working- class- Not universal for all students
