Education, Work and Identity

Themes and Perspectives

Michael Tomlinson

• Editore: Bloomsbury Academic
• Anno: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781441161420
• Edizione: 1
• Argomento: Education
• Categoria: Education General

Education, Work and Identity explores changing patterns of education and work, the dynamic relationship between these two institutions, and the wider social and economic contexts shaping them. It locates this in processes of social and economic change, in particular the shift towards globalization and the post-industrial economy. The book examines how these changes have reshaped individuals' educational, transitional and labour market experiences. It also explores key themes and approaches in understanding the education and labour market interplay, and the way in which education and work institutions shape people's orientations and identities around work.

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction to key themes and perspectives

Over the past half a century, significant changes have taken place in educational institutions and work organizations. This has resulted in disernable shifts in the dynamic interaction between education, the economy and the state. These have had far-reaching implications for people’s relationship to, and experiences of, both education and work. Furthermore, changes in the wider economy and in work organizations have given rise to a number of contested views over the specific ways in which education regulates individuals’ future economic outcomes.

These changes have, in turn, opened up some complex sets of issues about the purpose of education, or at least the ways in which educational institutions should best be organized. Over time, there has been a general convergence of the education – work relationship, which, in part, has been mediated by national governments’ continued emphasis on education as both a source of national prosperity and a catalyst of social and economic opportunity. Changes in the political economy of nations have led to increasing concerns over the need for strong, fit-for-purpose and efficient forms of educational provision to meet the challenges of a globally competitive ‘knowledge economy’.

Reworkings to the linkages between advanced systems of capitalist and educational processes, practices and structures – never straightforward at best – are now generating contested views about the type of learner that education needs to produce. Furthermore, the redrawing of the lines between education, credentials and occupational structures raises important questions about the forms of educationally related knowledge and skills that people require to progress within the labour market. Relatedly, issues have been raised over the ways in which educational institutions should be organized to meet these changing demands.

An increasing focus within the sociology of education and work has been on the ways in which these changes have been interpreted and managed by individuals as they seek to make sense of their wider economic futures. Broader structural and macro-level changes are likely to impact profoundly on individuals’ lived experiences. A key goal of this book is, therefore, to examine and, where appropriate, problematize the different ways in which wider processes of social, economic and educational changes interact and coexist. The shifting interaction between social change, the labour market and educational change entails some significant reformations in the ways in which individuals orientate themselves to the social and economic world. This is likely to have a further significant impact on how individuals come to see the relationship between their educational experiences and future work-related activities and outcomes. But it also signifies some significant shifts in the role of education in regulating future work identities and positioning individuals in the social and economic world.

In addressing the issues outlined in this book, a broad range of disciplinary areas are drawn upon, including education, sociology, social policy, cultural studies and labour market studies. In attempting to unify these different disciplinary areas, this book is acknowledging the largely interlocking dynamics between wider social, economic and educational change: what occurs in the wider economic sphere inevitably shapes the fabric of educational institutions. It further impacts on the lived experiences of the key actors involved in education, namely, learners, teachers, managers and administrators.

In exploring the shifting dynamic between education and work institutions, key issues are raised about the role of education in both economic and social reproduction. In viewing educational institutions, and their related structures and practices, as being firmly wedded to economic and state-driven agendas, we are acknowledging the way in which educational institutions are positioned towards achieving economic, social and cultural goals. While, at one level, these goals may reflect increasing employer- and government-driven demands in the overall shaping of education, at another level they also map onto individuals’ personal understandings of the link between education and future occupational reward.

As we will illustrate throughout the book, the changing economic context has altered somewhat the role of education in reproducing the types of employment-related outcomes and experiences that have been traditionally established. Ultimately, this is resulting in tensions around the role of education in structuring life chances and opportunities, and providing individuals with the necessary platform with which to negotiate their future place in the labour market.

Education, work and identity: Introducing some key themes and concepts

Education and social and economic change

The shifting dynamics in the interrelationship between education and work reflect broader social and economic transformations, all of which have a substantial bearing on individuals’ formal (and informal) educational and labour market experiences. Changes in individuals’ educational experiences have further taken place in the context of significant politico-economic pressure from governments around enhanced economic efficiency. As the economy has become more globally competitive and knowledge-intensive, nation states have looked to ensure that individuals and institutions are adequately equipped for less predictable and potentially more precarious futures. A range of policy responses have been developed with the aim of attuning educational institutions, and their practices, structures and governance, to the perceived needs and values of the modern economy. At the same time, the relationship between people’s educational experiences and labour market outcomes has become more complex and open to a wider range of interpretations.

These developments have been reinforced by wider changes to the social and economic fabric. There continues to be much debate over the precise nature and extent of labour market change; indeed, many critically inclined commentators have taken some issue with utopian accounts of economic growth and opportunity (Bradley et al. 2000; Thompson 2004; Keep and Mayhew 2010). However, there is some significant consensus that occupational structures, forms of labour and the composition of the workforce have been reshaped over time. Changing labour market structures have altered the allocation of individuals to various positions in the workforce, as well as the types of skills and credentials they need to draw upon to attain and sustain employment.

Perhaps the most significant force underpinning socio-economic change is that of globalization, in its various economic, political and cultural forms. Globalization has not only altered the relationship between national states, markets and policy formations, but also human relationships and the way in which people live their lives. These developments resonate strongly with new conceptual movements within the social sciences that see social and economic life as becoming increasingly fragmented, complex and differentiated. At the same time, increasing responsibilities are placed on individuals to take charge of their lives. In short, people’s social and economic experiences have become increasingly individualized (Beck 1992; Beck and Beck-Gernsheim 2002). Yet, somewhat paradoxically, as individuals’ experiential frames of references have expanded through globalization, the individual self has become the main unit of resource and exchange within a socio-economic context that has generated greater possibilities and also greater uncertainties.

These wider changes have had a significant bearing on young people and adults in education and training, particularly in terms of their educational and labour market trajectories. They have also had a profound impact on the notion of youth, the transition to adulthood and the formation of adult identities. At one time, the majority of young people left school at 15, many with a fairly well-defined notion of what they wanted from the job market and what it would provide for them. This was set in the context of what was typically seen as stable and accommodating job market structures. For many young people, school was a rite of passage to particular jobs, most of which would be held for lengthy durations of their working lives. However, such certainties and expectations have been seriously upturned over the past three decades. Changing employer demands, the need for educational credentials, continued investment in further education and training, and expanded educational opportunities and pathways have all disrupted this once well-established transition. Many young people have now seen their period of youth extended and have had to align themselves with new labour market challenges. While all these changes are sometimes viewed as indicative of a new, positive relationship between education and the economy, they have also been seen to engender new risks and opportunity costs for those in formal education.

Identities: Linking structure and agency

The theme of identity is significant in the discussion of education and work as it relates significantly to individuals’ interactions with, and relationships to, broader social structures and institutions, and how they make sense of the world. Individuals’ experiences of education and their future work are dynamic and ongoing. Such experiences are likely to be derived from, while similarly feeding into, an individual’s sense of self. Moreover, within educational contexts, people inhabit particular frames of reference that are likely to inform interpretations of their situations and, subsequently, their actual lived experiences and behaviours. Understanding what constitutes people’s identities, however, is a challenging task, given the multiple ways in which this might potentially be approached and understood.

Such issues are further compounded by the often dualistic understandings of individuals’ relationship to the wider social world. Is identity constituted by a core, kernel self that is stable, enduring and motors much of an individual’s actions? Or is it socially situated, contingent and malleable? Are individuals capable of fashioning their identities through their own choosing, or are they more fundamentally constituted by the social arrangements through which they are developed? While there may not be agreement on the different ways in which people’s identities are conceptualized, there is, nevertheless, some agreement that identities play a significant role in grounding people’s social experiences and their relationships to the social and economic world.

A useful starting point might be Castells’ (1997) definition of identity as: ‘People’s source of meaning and experience’. From such a definition, we might see identity as a fundamental resource from which individuals make sense of themselves and their place in the world. Individuals actively seek out meaning from their individual experience and find ways of connecting this to their wider existential quest for understanding their own being-in-the-world. The self-perceptions of people capture perhaps the wider ways in which people think about themselves and what type of a person they strive to become.

Nonetheless, individuals’ self-perceptions and sense of self are often strongly informed by the perceptions of others. How individuals are perceived and related to by others can effectively frame people’s wider sense of self and being-in-the-world. Goffman’s (1959) classic work shows how identities are largely produced through the symbolically rich interactive spaces and specific social frames that people inhabit. In many ways, identities are produced through the ‘categories’ that we form about ourselves and others. The task of producing, projecting and maintaining a credible social identity is an important facet of our relationship to the social world. As such, we undertake significant ‘identity work’ in finding ways to achieve personal and social affirmation. Jenkins (1996) reminds us of the need to integrate the ‘personal’ dimensions of identity with the ‘social’ – that is, people’s subjective experiences and sense of self are largely constituted by their wider social experiences. Identities are invariably contingent on the social and cultural contexts through which individuals’ lived experiences are framed, and are seldom divorced from them.

A significant issue in individuals’ relationships to educational and work-related activities is the extent to which identities influence action. As Fevre (2003) discusses, identities tend to transport deeply held values and ground people’s understanding of their place in the world. It provides people with a framework of meaning, as well as action, and helps orient them to the social and economic world. Identities are, therefore, more than nebulous properties that passively resides in people’s heads; instead, they serve to guide actions and subsequent social and economic experiences and outcomes. More significantly, identities constitute a significant part of people’s embodied relationship with the social world; individuals are likely to play out their identities through the various behaviours they engage in and how they orientate to the social world.

Structuration approaches have been significant to the understanding of identities, particularly in terms of people’s interaction with wider social institutions. The social theorists, Giddens (1984, 1991) and Bourdieu (1977), have been very influential in the advancement of this framework. These theorists have emphasized the significance of both agency and structure in the construction of identities. Agency refers to people’s capacity and propensity for action and their scope for acting upon the world and producing outcomes, while structure refers to the wider social and institutional arrangements that bound individuals’ actions. Yet, agency and structure are very much constitutive of each other and often represent two sides of the same coin. Archer (2007) discusses the potency of reflexivity, including people’s ‘inner dialogues’ and conversations as a driver of action, influencing how people negotiate the social world. The reflexive self is an active, agency-seeking subject, who endeavours to establish some level of control over their place in the world.

Self-reflection and personal meanings are, nonetheless, derived from wider cultural and structural arrangements, including dominant cultural influences and frames of references. Bourdieu’s theorizing, in particular his concept of habitus, very much highlights this dynamic. For Bourdieu, habitus refers to individuals’ embodied dispositions, traits and ways of thinking and feeling. People’s habitus very much shapes people’s behaviours and choices and, at one level, are personal and idiosyncratic. However, Bourdieu also shows how an individual’s habitus is largely constitutive of the wider cultural context of their life, not least their class and gender. In many ways, habitus is where the objective cultural and material forces meet the subjective properties of people’s lived experience and reflections. Moreover, while people’s actions may be shaped by their habitus, they may also be reflexive about their choice and actions, including an awareness of where they sit within wider social relations.

Education, opportunity and social reproduction

Any analysis of the inter-dynamic between education and work requires some degree of attention to education’s role in regulating differential access and opportunities to different forms of paid employment. This is mainly because significant inequalities still exist within educational systems, reflected principally in marked differences in the nature and quality of people’s educational experiences and outcomes. A core factor shaping these differences is socio-economic status, often more commonly referred to as social class. There are, of course, a range of other factors that shape educational and economic differences, not least gender and ethnicity, and these, in turn, often interact with social class. Exploring educational inequality is important as it allows us to further probe the various cultural dynamics that underpin individuals’ and social groups’ relationship to education, and the sets of values and identities that drive these dynamics. Moreover, it may help us better understand how class-based relationships to, and within, educational contexts shape and reinforce individuals’ relative access to future economic opportunities. Peoples’ relationship with the educational context, and their own learning experiences, do not take place in isolation. Instead, they tend to be inextricably related to wider social structures and experiences, of which their class is often salient. This, in turn, tends to inform individuals’ understandings of their relationship to educational and economic life.

Sociological accounts of the relationship between learners’ class background and their educational experiences and outcomes have drawn largely upon theories of social reproduction (Bernstein 1996; Bourdieu and Passerson 1976). In essence, social reproduction theory sees education as playing an active role in reproducing class structures and their links to future social and economic opportunities. It does this through actively affirming pre-existing class-based identities and values through its various practices, pedagogies and modes of curriculum. Furthermore, educational outcomes tend to determine labour market outcomes; the hierarchies and structural divisions that occur outside of formal education are reproduced through education, which, in turn, perpetuates inequalities in the labour market.

However, wider social and economic change has again complicated the link between education, class and social reproduction. The expansion of the middle classes, the erosion of traditional forms of class-associated consumption and lifestyles, and the blurring of traditional class-based labour divisions have disrupted time-honoured patterns of social reproduction. Occupational changes have altered the work experiences of all class groups, even though some individuals continue to undertake work similar to that of five decades ago. As Brown (2003) argues, there has been a gradual refocusing within the sociology of education from what have been seen as ‘opportunity gaps’ to what might now be viewed as ‘opportunity traps’. As opportunities have expanded, the stakes have also risen for securing sought-after employment. More and more individuals are able to glimpse new economic opportunities, yet not all may get a chance to actually fulfil them. Patterns of social exclusion and closure still operate in many fields of education and in the wider labour market. Dominant social groups continue to deploy additional economic and cultural resources to achieve relative advantages. Significant here is the way in which these processes relate to, and are negotiated through, the identities that people carry, in terms of how they make sense of and approach the social and economic world more generally.

Traditional sociological analysis has tended to concentrate more on the experiences and attitudes of individua...

Indice dei contenuti

• Cover-Page
• Half-Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• 1 Introduction to key themes and perspectives
• 2 Social and economic transformations
• 3 The changing nature of work
• 4 Conceptualizing the relationshipsbetween education and work
• 5 Vocationalism, skills and employability
• 6 Lifelong learning, learner identitiesand work-related learning
• 7 Managing transitions from education to work
• 8 Transforming educational institutions for economic gain
• 9 Higher education, social change and shifting identities
• 10 Conclusions
• Bibliography
• Index