ABSTRACT
Several methods were used to infer what was symbolised by the rituals observed. This chapter presents the two major rituals of the expressive order of the school, the school uniform and school assembly, and a note on speech days. The ritualisation of age-differences was particularly associated with single-sex modern schools and girls’ grammar schools. Ability differences were most ritualised in modern schools, least in comprehensives and boys’ grammar schools. Prefects were highly ritualised in boys’ and mixed grammar schools. The headteacher was most highly ritualised in boys’ grammar schools, but girls’ grammar and modern schools also score highly. The investigator of ritual in the school faces two problems: how to recognise a symbol and how to establish what it symbolises. Symbols used in schools seem to be of two kinds: ceremonials and emblems. Mixed schools tended not to ritualise age and ability relationships as much as single-sex schools, perhaps giving primacy to the ritualisation of sex differences.
