Bells and punchclocks : the ideology of work in four Maltese schools

Abstract

This ethnographic study focuses on the ideology of work in four Maltese Schools. It tries to establish whether the overt and covert messages prevailing vary across Junior Lyceums and Trade Schools, and also across gender. A comparative analysis was therefore carried out in a Junior Lyceum and a Trade School for each sex. This study was spread over a period of one scholastic year (1989 - 1990) using Grounded Theory Methodology. This analysis shows that schools are preparing pupils differentially to fit in the hierarchical division of labour depending on social class and gender. Schools are therefore reproducing the inequalities inherent of the capitalist mode of production. Though hegemonic messages constitute the greater part of the ideology presented, counter hegemonic currents were also recorded. It is argued that the latter messages are a potential source of transformation both within the schools and at the workplace.