Education Rant ft. Paul E. Willis

So I read some of Paul E. Willis’ work, namely Culture, Institution, Differentiation. He spoke at some length about the education system, which I have had an interest in due to my mother’s career as a schoolteacher. As I interpreted it, Willis described the education system as an apparatus for conditioning children to the nature of society.

The systems used in institutions of education are metaphoric mirrors of social systems. Respect for whoever sits in the position of authority is particularly emphasized. Every aspect of a typical grade school reinforces the inferiority of the students. The tightly ranked desks set facing the teacher’s vast work surface demonstrate the proportion of wealth and/or power between modern-day proletarians and patricians. Another aspect of grade school is the regimented schedule followed week after week. Bells and timetables prepare students for life in the real world. These schedules are reinforced by the authorities, and stepping outside the line incurs punishment. At recess, students are cleared from the school and expected to go outside. Those who remain indoors must have a reason to do so.

They are deprived private space, nervously knocking on the staff room door. Students are constantly faced with locked doors, or places that are deemed “off-limits”  like boiler rooms, cupboards, and the like. I say let ‘em roam. If they want to know what’s making the noise behind the door, take a class in there, show them the boiler, explain why it makes the noises it does and the role it plays. The “because I said so” mentality is only harming the inquisitive nature of students. I apologize, let’s get back to the point.

In schools, the teachers control all the resources worth having; knowledge, keys and authority. They control when and what to discuss. This social control generates an oppositional mindset in the students. In last week’s post, I mentioned an article called Subcultures, Cultures and Class. In this work, the authors note that in a system where there are dominant and subordinate classes, the relation between them is always oppositional. The subordinate class resents the dominant class for having what they don’t and the dominant class resents the subordinate class for trying to reach their level. So schools are doing a pretty good job of getting kids used to the idea of the class system, but there’s a problem here. Opposition creates a barrier to control. Because of the oppositional mindset, kids feel they should be disobedient. This academic disobedience leads to ignorance when the student values rebellion more than their education. This is a big deal! Kids need to focus on being educated without feeling the need to rebel against their superiors. The current system sets kids up to choose ignorance over education.

The respect demanded by grade school teachers has no foundation. Students do not respect teachers without cause. The best teachers I have ever had are the ones I truly respected, not the ones whose power I feared.

Bros, Einstein and Punk Rock

So I lied. I’m not going to talk about style in this post. Instead I’m looking at the way subcultures represent more than an ideological construct. There is more to a culture than the ideas and clothing of its members. Instead, it provides somewhat specific guidelines regarding particular aspects of life. It defines space, marks territory and suggests activities. It defines what [not] to do and how [not] to do it. The rituals prescribed by subcultures also include a specific vernacular used by members. The current ‘Bro’ culture (prep+jock+idiot=bro) comes to mind with such words as “wheels” and “chirpin” in their vocabulary. There are even typical intonations and mannerisms associated with certain cultures.

There’s a article by John Clarke, Stuart Hall, Tony Jefferson and Brian Roberts called Subcultures, Cultures and Class published in 1975 where the authors suggest that despite the numerous codes, there are few solutions for real problems like “youth unemployment, educational disadvantage, compulsory miseducation, dead end jobs, … low pay or loss of skills” (104). There is no subcultural career. At first I disagreed with this. The jocks that went to my high school all intended to be professional athletes. Is this not a subcultural career? I feel as though the authors would have responded by stating that jock culture formed around those dedicated to athletics, instead of the other way around. Athletics led to jocks. There was never a point where a jock said: “Hey bro, let’s try gym class, it might be fun.” So while there may not be a specific career path designated for a subculture, the similar interests of the members lead to similar lifestyle choices.

Subcultures have at least some influence on a future career, but they have a far greater effect on an individual’s leisure time. A subculture predominantly involves the domain of leisure. Therefore an individual largely defines themselves through leisure. If a worker only feels like himself outside of work, their labour is only a means to an end. It is important to note the distinction between how an individual is defined by society and how they define themselves.  Some individuals are defined by their work (Einstein, Shaq, etc.) but they might have defined themselves entirely differently…

Style, Soccer Moms and Juxtaposition

Blog post # 3

Let’s talk about style. I’ll be talking about it in the next post too, but here’s a good place to start.

As much as people try to deny it, a person’s style will greatly affect how they are perceived by others. I figured I should get that out of the way quickly. It’s naïve to think that you aren’t being judged by your appearance. Last year, there was a big fiasco when a Toronto cop made an unofficial statement saying: "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized."

There was a big to-do about this, understandably. The statement makes it sound as though men are incapable of controlling themselves (meaning they are not at fault), and that women invite sexual assault by dressing provocatively. Both of these are false, and therefore the uproar is justified. However, I was involved in a class discussion at the time, where the female portion of the class felt that they should be able to wear whatever they want and not be judged based on that. I could do nothing but shake my head. Let’s step back into reality here, folks. If you step out in public wearing less than a square foot of clothing and you are going to be treated differently than if you go out wearing a paper bag. That’s just the way it is. That’s why we dress up for job interviews, so that we can present ourselves in a professional manner. If we truly didn’t judge based on appearance, we’d all be naked. Well at least indoors, where the unpredictable Canadian weather can’t reach us.

Back on topic. The outfit worn in public often signifies one’s tastes, finances and preference as well as demonstrating the individual’s position in socially prescribed roles. A soccer mom looks like a soccer mom because articles of her appearance are characteristic of that role. She’s got a Subaru stationwagon/Dodge Caravan and it’s got a soccer ball sticker/air freshener on it and she’s wearing jeans and a grey hoodie and glasses and has short-medium hair. Her class status is apparent through these symbols. This nice lady’s choice of outfit is her expression of normality, but it’s a “loaded choice”. Everything in her life makes her a “soccer mom”, but she feels as though it was her decision to become one. And perhaps she holds a certain sway in the matter through her decisions regarding other aspects of her life (i.e. what kind of car to buy), but in the end, her decisions reflect her identity, rather than her choosing her identity directly. If she suddenly decided, “I want to be a scene chick!”, no one would take her seriously; her image is not easily transferable. She would be far too busy rockin Tumblr and screaming at shows to ever take her kids to practice. The subcultures display codes of their own, that directly contrast each other.

I haven’t even brought up Hebdige yet. But I’ve been bringing up a few of his points. Hebdige gets really insightful in the second half of Subculture: The Meaning of Style. He’s talking about juxtaposition. So here’s a formula: Object + Meaning = Sign. Got it? Now, signs are generated, assembled and relocated by subcultures. So when a subculture takes multiple objects and juxtaposes them with meaning, we get signs that point us to conclusions. When it comes to clothing, these signs point to the wearer’s identity. So when someone takes a cross, an icon of Christianity, and combines it with a necklace, they have created a wearable sign, pointing viewers to the conclusion that the individual is Christian. The punk subculture is unique here, because their signs don’t always have intended conclusions. They often have intended results, but the concepts that the sign represents may be irrelevant. Two examples: The swastika and the bike part braclet. Wearing a swastika incites anger because of the acts committed by those wearing the symbol. It isn’t worn because punks are fascists, it’s worn because you won’t like it. The bike chain bracelet doesn’t mean the punk is a cyclist, it means they’re unconventional, which is a pretty vague term. The signs don’t show a way, they are intentional means of evoking a reaction. Hebdige summarizes this “unfashion” with a great moniker: “If the cap doesn’t fit, wear it.”

What I find fascinating about rebellious subcultures, such as punks, hippies and the more recent hipster culture, is that their intent of being anything but normal (re)defines what normal is. What happens when the icons of hipster culture become ‘normal’ or ‘mainstream’ as they are already?

New rebellious subcultures. That’s what happens. An old rebellion against normality is trivialized and a new one forms. The expression through rupture, as Hebdige puts it, is constant, and frankly, I’m glad. There always needs to be a voice of opposition to provide that moment of “Wait, maybe they have a point. What if I’m wrong?” But that’s a sentiment for another post. I’m off to do something artsy.

-WC-