Preferences for School

Although it was more common to state a preference for making at home, there were some pupils who preferred making at school, mainly because they liked being with their friends:

A t sc h o o l.. .you can talk to lots o f people w hile you 're doing it. (HBIO)

...b ecau se you 're with your friends and you can have a laugh doing it. (N A 8)

Making at school you 've got m ore materials and it's fun because your friends can see what y ou 've achieved. (D A 5)

Another reason was because they received less, or no help, at home and at school they could learn more:

A t school w e have, like, instructions o f what to do and it's easier, but at hom e, like, you don't have as much help as at school. (H A 4)

I think at school really, because I'm learning m ore. At hom e I do it really, I don't really learn about it. (Y F6)

Y ou can fall back on teachers at school, I suppose. (M G4)

One fifteen year old boy identified passing exams as an incentive for wanting to make at school:

When you 're at school it's for exam s, you put m ore effort into it, don't you? (RK2)

5.2.5.3 Resources

Responses to the question about similarities and differences between making at home and school also referred to resources, with pupils generally claiming they were better at school:

Making at school, you have all the equipment you need and making things at hom e you don't necessarily have enough. (D A 4)

Despite acknowledging resources at school were superior, many pupils reiterated that they preferred making at home:

W ell, it's a lot m ore advanced at school, because y ou 've got all the lathes and the machinery and that.. . .but it's m ore fun at hom e rea lly .. .because you can m ake what you want really. (D A 7)

Others claimed they had better materials at home. For example one boy cited lack o f resources at school as one of five reasons why he preferred making at home:

A t hom e, away from school I like making it...b ecau se at hom e y ou 've got m ore tim e, y ou 've got nobody to disturb you and you 've got all the stuff in front o f you: at school there's only two scissors and you have to wait around and people bug you and tim e goes b y. (YF5)

One boy (TD3) noted that he had to buy his materials at home, while at school they were supplied. Finally, a few pupils were reluctant, or unable to express a preference for one or other location.

5.2 .6 Summary

The data revealed that a large number of pupils engage in practical activities and make things out o f school and that making was the favourite out of school activity for many of them. It is clear that the influence o f other people was an important factor in determining whether or not these pupils did any practical activities outside school. Some mentioned the social advantages of participating in a sport. They were influenced by peers, teachers at school and especially by family members. In this research many pupils reported having a family member who earned a living through manual labour, or engaged in manual activities during their free time. Those pupils who did were much more likely to make things outside school than those who did not. The influence of mothers was a significant influence on whether or not girls did any sewing, while the influence o f fathers on both boys and girls was significant in determining their

participation in practical activities around the house, such as DIY. Other family members, grandparents in particular, were important role models.

It is significant that pupils reported school influences making at home. They tended to prefer making at home, because o f the greater time and freedom it offered them. Many of them emphasised the advantages of being free o f time pressures at school and making to please themselves, rather than teachers. Older pupils complained about lack of time at home, due to school homework. Many pupils, aged between fourteen and sixteen, also had jobs, which were time consuming.

5.3 VALUE OF MAKING AT SCHOOL

5.3.1 Relevance to Future Lives

Pupils were asked if they thought learning how to use tools, equipment and materials and make things in school would be o f use them in their future lives. M ost pupils answered that it would be.

5.3.1.1 Home and DIY

The most common response was to mention its application in the home, doing DIY, or mending or making something:

I would think m ost definitely. M aybe not in m y job, but definitely round the house. (M G8)

...to make things in your hom e, you 'll need to know about tools and w oodw ork. (Y F9)

W hen I'm at hom e I could do w ooden banisters round the front room . I've forgotten what they are called: bidets is it? U m , didays: it's the w ooden plaques what go round the w all, is it beday rails, summat like that? [sic] (RF5)

U m , yeah, I do, 'cos even if you don't go into a career using these techniques, you can use it round the house, you can go down to MFI and you can make it. (IV 1)

D o you think that learning how to use tools, equipment and make things in school will be o f use to you in your future life?

Y eah, it w ill, because if you ever have your ow n house and to decorate things and if you had broken things in your house, you could do it, then it w ould be a lot easier, like m ost people have to pay people to mend cupboards and things. (CC 3)

I think it w ould because you would be able to do a lot m ore things around the house and things and you could just do it you rself without having to call in an expert. I m ean, som e things you would have to, but just handy jobs and things you could just do it on your ow n, if you know how to do it. (D A 4)

5.3 .1 .2 Employment

It was common for pupils to say that it would help them gain employment, even though they could not specify which job, or career they intended to have:

H opefully yes, because I want to do som ething along these lines w hen I leave school. (IV12)

Y eah, because I want to go into something that involves this. I don't know w hat, I hope som ething industrial, I don't know what. (H A 5)

Many others said that it might possibly help them to earn a living: