Image and Experience of Contemporary Public Schools: informal processes and the post-school transition
Titel:
Image and Experience of Contemporary Public Schools: informal processes and the post-school transition
Auteur:
Tovey, Philip
Verschenen in:
Educational studies
Paginering:
Jaargang 18 (1992) nr. 1 pagina's 95-105
Jaar:
1992
Inhoud:
This paper considers the role of informal networks in securing post-public school occupational advantage. Both the 'official' view of the private sector and the experiences of recent pupils are cited. A significant disparity is found between the two. A denial of the relevance of the 'old boy network' is revealed in the sector's publications, a position fully consistent with the overall reconstruction of image currently being pursued. In contrast, ex-pupils unequivocally asserted the continued influence of non-meritocratic means of advancement, though crucially, only for an (elite) element of pupils. It is argued that adequate social analysis requires not simply an awareness of the presence of covert mechanisms, but also an acceptance of the socially restricted, rather than universally available, nature of the processes. Recognition is needed that contemporary informal networks have evolved from an historically familiar form, yet constitute a particular, dynamic, era-specific manifestation of it.
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