ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the lived experience of boys in school. It looks at historical legacy and changing culture to examine for power and privilege, disadvantage and peril, as compared to girls; as well as the social experiences of boys within groups of other boys. Sociology of education highlights that schools are institutions that work for the state. Research on masculinities in the UK actually started with educational research. Paul Willis’s seminal book, Learning to Labour: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs examined the issue of social reproduction in schools to understand why social mobility was so stilted for working-class boys. There is a debate about whether schools’ increasing focus on academic subjects and decreased focus on vocational training or free play affects boys compared to girls. The chapter highlights a great deal of qualitative research showing a shift from hegemonic to inclusive masculinities between the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
