ABSTRACT
Set back from the main road is a large, shabby, turn-of-the-century schoolhouse, its great windows looking out upon the grid of iron railings walling the building. In order to break through the kinds of resistances to schooling which these young people had developed over the years, the teacher in charge of the centre wanted to create this complete change of atmosphere. This competitive atmosphere regularly produces its minority of high-flying successes, its majority of contented workers who find their place in the system and receive sufficient reward to keep them there, and a significant number of frustrated and resentful failures. Labour and the way labour is organized thus have a pivotal role to play in determining the kind of courses that individuals will have to undergo in their lifetime if they are to provide for themselves. Individuals act and interpret their situations within generalized social structures.
