Abstract
Abstract The article is based on a year's ethnographic work at a West Midlands comprehensive school, which is described. The usual genderising pattern of subject choice and behaviour are identified, and used as the basis of an analysis of the differences, real and imagined, between boys and girls and their expectations of secondary schooling. Having identified quietness as one of the distinguishing characteristics of girls at Cator Park school, I relate this to their own assessment of how they accommodate to the demands of school. This highly selective adaptation is suggested as one reason why the boys are puzzled by the behaviour of girls in school, and it is suggested that it allows the girls to retain their private identity outside school. The conclusion is that quietness is a successful adaptation to the situation of girls in school, and should not be viewed as a weakness.
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