ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book talks about the 'invisible majority' of 'ordinary' working-class pupils who neither left their names engraved on the school's honours boards, nor gouged them into the top of classroom desks. It explains why these ordinary kids did not conform to the school ethos but were nevertheless willing to 'make an effort', and why they are now at the centre of a major educational crisis. The book explains who the ordinary kids are and how youth unemployment had affected their response to school. They also seek to explain the intended and unintended consequences of the ordinary kids' actions for the reproduction of social and moral divisions among working-class pupils. The political and classroom context of the new vocationalism is then examined and an assessment is made of its likely consequences for both ordinary kids and teachers.
