‘Learning to labour’ and the labour of learning: a question of research methods

Abstract

ABSTRACT It is now half a century since Joey explained to Paul Willis: ‘Vandalising […] that’s the opposite of boredom – excitement, defying the law’, one of many similar comments subsequently recorded in Learning to Labour (34). The book rapidly became an academic best-seller, and has since become an academic ‘national treasure’. But, before a round of celebratory articles and book chapters which can be expected to mark the 50th anniversary, this article gives a critique of the research methods used and argues that the influence of the book has been detrimental to the quality and rigour of the research methods demonstrated in many current ethnographic studies.