Making Modern Lives: Subjectivity, Schooling, and Social Change

290 Pages·2006·1.4 MB·English

by  Julie McLeod, Lyn Yates

Making
Modern
Lives
Julie McLeod and Lyn Yates
Subjectivity, Schooling,
and Social Change
Making Modern Lives
SUNY Series Power, Social Identity, and Education
Lois Weis, editor
Making Modern Lives
Subjectivity, Schooling, and Social Change
Julie McLeod and Lyn Yates
S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y O F N E W Y O R K P R E S S
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2006 State University of New York
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McLeod, Julie, 1958–
Making modern lives : subjectivity, schooling, and social change /
Julie McLeod and Lyn Yates.
p. cm. — (SUNY series, power, social identity, and education)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 0–7914–6767–8 (hardcover : alk. paper) — isbn 0–7914–6768–6
(pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Education—Social aspects—Australia—Longitudinal studies.
2. Students—Australia—Longitudinal studies. 3. Subjectivity—Australia v
Longitudinal studies. I. Yates, Lyn, 1949– II. Title. III. Series.
lc191.8.a8m35 2006
306.43'2'0994—dc22 2005018998
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Clara and Eva,
and Katie and Clara,
and for our parents
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Contents
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Acknowledgments ix
Chapter 1 Modern Lives, Subjectivity, Schooling, and
Social Change 1
Chapter 2 Researching Subjectivity and Schooling—On Method
and What It Means to Work with Theory 29
Chapter 3 What Is a Good Student? 47
Chapter 4 Becoming Someone as Project and as Process 76
Chapter 5 Dreams and Pathways: Identity-Making and
Vocational Choices 102
Chapter 6 Who Is “Us”?: Australian Students on Politics,
Racism, Ethnicity, and Unemployment 128
Chapter 7 Class in the New World and the New Economy 159
Chapter 8 Gender Themes in a Changing World 188
Chapter 9 Schooling, Schooling Politics, and Making
Modern Lives 217
vii
viii Contents
Appendix 1 Participant Snapshots 231
Appendix 2a Summary of Pathways 241
Appendix 2b Who Got What—School Contrasts 243
Appendix 2c Future Daydreams and Plans 245
Notes 251
References 257
Index 269
Acknowledgments
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This project has now been over ten years in gestation, and during
that time we have drawn upon support and assistance from many
sources. Over the course of the study, our own lives have changed and
taken different turns—new jobs, interstate moves, the birth and
growing up of our own children. Longitudinal projects require a lot
of commitment and depend on generous contributions from many
people; the experiences and encounters that have happened along
the way have been immensely enjoyable.
We particularly want to thank the students who agreed to be part
of this project, and who continued to give time to us for seven or
eight years of their lives. Without their willingness, this study would
not have happened. We also thank the teachers and schools who fa-
cilitated our research, who set aside time for our visits, usually in the
midst of busy school days, and showed an interest in our work.
The 12 to 18 Project (on which this book is based) was made pos-
sible by grants from the Australian Research Council (1996–99;
1999–2000). We were given further support—through research
grants and conference and research leave—by the universities in
which we worked during the course of this project: La Trobe Univer-
sity, Deakin University, and the University of Technology Sydney. We
are extremely grateful for this as well as for support provided by re-
search administrative staff in our departments.
We were fortunate to work with many skilled research assistants
and project officers. Those who worked on and provided support to
ix