ABSTRACT
To develop the ideas more fully, one can suggest that the pupil orientations to school are understandable in terms of pupil fors – which provide the necessary conceptual link between pupil and social identity. The rapid decline in job opportunities for school leavers in Middleport has fundamentally altered this situation. It can be hypothesized, therefore, that any perceived change in the labour market for school leavers will have an impact on pupils who adopt some form of instrumental orientation to school and this may threaten pupil compliance. To win the compliance of large numbers of working-class pupils, the instrumental value of school continues to decline because of high rates of youth unemployment. The chapter outlines the nature of the ordinary kids' orientation to employment, possible to evaluate the impact of youth unemployment on pupil expectations of future employment and the possible impact this is having on the ordinary kids' response to school.
