PUPILS, POWER AND THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOLS

Abstract

The collective interaction of disaffected pupils is often described as a counter‐school subculture or as an informal organization within the school. This paper reports the findings of an Australian ethnography which indicate that such pupils are able not only to assert their own autonomy and to circumvent the institutional axis in which they operate, but are also able to influence what is perceived to be the formal structure of the school.