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As a reminder the research questions that were proposed are stated below. Each will be considered in turn followed by a concluding discussion. Key recommendations in supporting youth transitions will be stated, as an outcome of this research, following the response to Question Two.

1. How are young people’s dispositions, associated with habitus, affected through factors such as the school, social class and the family in relation to their aspirations, in an area of low socio-economic status in Glasgow?

2. To what extent can the school assist young people in transforming their

habitus?

In considering the first research question above there was no one particular factor that affected a young person’s dispositions or habitus in relation to their aspirations on its own. The development, and indeed transformation, of dispositions and habitus is the result of a combination of factors, such as: the influence of family, friends, teachers and the school, the socioeconomic area they grew up in, the decision to leave school at the end of post-compulsory education or whether to participate in additional activities. Furthermore, these factors ultimately translate into whether a young person follows their habituated or

doxic aspiration, a mixture of those, or develops an emergent aspiration. Examples from

participants in this study were presented suggesting interaction between the factors above and the type(s) of aspiration they followed.

Moreover, this research has contributed to the concepts of habituated, doxic and

emergent aspirations and specifically the importance of the school’s habitus and the role of

key staff in schools in the formation of emergent aspirations. This can be achieved through providing experiences of different aspirational routes, making full use of third- sector partnerships, for example, business and college, university partnerships, additional opportunities and activities and by breaking down barriers to transform individual dispositions and habitus, as described by Gale and Parker (2015) and Zipin et al. (2015). This research provides some evidence of transformation between habituated, doxic and

emergent aspirations and the transformation of habitus using opportunities and experiences

given in school (Stahl, 2015b). This research has also demonstrated that it is important to develop individual agency in young people from an early age so that their dispositions and

habitus are fully developed to take account of their future aspirations in relation to

capital, as defined by Cote (1996), which allows for a transforming of the way young

people think, act and behave; that is, their dispositions.

Habitus transformation of young people involves them taking the best of both

worlds: their original habitus and its associated dispositions and their new transformed

habitus, which will have new dispositions associated with it, developed from the education

institution’s habitus and the experiences and opportunities taken. In a sense then, the transformed habitus comprises of dispositions present from the young person’s original

habitus and the school’s habitus. This could involve some small shift in the dispositions of

certain values, behaviour, attitudes or thought processes or an alignment with some of these dispositions. Respondent 10, S6 male, served as an example of this, as he was able to utilise the opportunities given to him to allow small shifts in his dispositions; his thought processes, attitudes and values, to overcome the ‘battle of habitus’ to progress to HE to study Medicine despite being from an area of low socioeconomic status. However, depending on what a young person’s aspiration is, some of these dispositions will be different and aligned to their chosen post-16 aspiration. This will allow a transformed

habitus that, according to Stahl (2018), takes account of an individual’s agency within their

social structure.

In turning to the second research question Bourdieu (1984) reminded us that for working class individuals to be successful in an educational field, they must be confident of their ability and to recognise the game. However, it is important for educators and policy makers to remember that in an area of low socioeconomic status not all young people will come to Secondary school with a habitus that has been developed in the same way, due to differences in cultural capital for example. Here the importance of developing resilience in working class young people is posited. However, this resilience can mean acceptance of, or resistance to, the institutional habitus. This is where the battle of the

habitus takes place for those from areas of low socio-economic status who are resistant to

the institutional habitus because they are unable or unwilling to accept the rules of the game. This research has identified two groups of young people this battle applies to. First are those unable to play the game because they do not have the dispositions and primary

habitus aligned to the institutional habitus but wish to do so, for example, those young

people who wish to progress to any positive destination or an aspiration different to their family. Second are those unwilling to play the game because their primary habitus is far removed from the institutional habitus that they simply do not have the necessary dispositions to survive and engage with education either at or before the end of post-

compulsory education. Therefore, when considering planning around young people’s aspirations, schools must take these two groups into account by providing opportunities and experiences to develop their dispositions; that is, the school uses its institutional

habitus to better develop the habitus of those from low socio-economic status. This

planning should take into account all positive destinations and not reify one over another. Rawlinson (2017) noted in her study that the pull of the primary habitus meant that more students were stopped short of habitus transformation, this study has highlighted that the continued supply of opportunities and experiences for the development of the habitus needs to take place for such a transformation of the habitus to take place. Indeed this should take place from an early age to allow the habitus time to modify, adjust and transform.

This research has identified a number of areas of good practice from the school this research was carried out in that enabled young people to transform their habitus, for example, the mentoring programmes discussed that allow subject-specific mentoring, mentoring to improve self-belief and self-efficacy, intergenerational mentoring for those who wish to progress to FE or HE and the tailor-made NPA Construction course which was tailored towards a particular group of young people who were at risk of disengaging. Other areas of good practice identified were the efficient use of school-parent communication with parents attending careers interviews with their child at a key point where young people were choosing their subjects, the use of school-college vocational programmes and other widening access programmes, and the input from business partners to reinforce career education. Therefore, one key recommendation from this dissertation in supporting habitus transformation is for schools to provide more high quality school- college vocational programmes to enhance young people’s experiences, for example through Foundation Apprenticeships and business links.

It is also important to recognise these opportunities and experiences to allow individual to transform their habitus are achieved through successful implementation of the DYW policies, for example, the Career Education Standard (CES) and Work Placement

Standard (WPS) documents outline the entitlements and expectation of various

stakeholders and what the intended outcome should be in relation to better preparing young people for their post-16 transition. Specific focus should be given to the CES, as the importance of providing career education as early as possible to provide young people with knowledge of careers and career management skills were highlighted in the literature review. This echoed the view of Furlong and Biggart (1999) and Menzies (2013).

Therefore, a second key recommendation is that career education is built into the everyday learning and teaching that goes on in classrooms, where teachers actively link aspects and elements of learning to achievable aspirations and future careers.

A third key recommendation of this dissertation is that work placements are given as a matter of priority to pupils in S4 to S6, which should be tailored and targeted to a young person’s aspiration. It is important to reiterate that it is acceptable for these placements to allow a young person to think: “I didn’t enjoy that”, as that is part of the process of developing knowledge about careers and realising that it might not be for them, saving them from making a poor choice later on. These experiences and opportunities should also allow young people to challenge the norm and associated assumptions about different post-16 destinations thus developing their habituated, doxic or emergent aspirations.

Key stakeholders include: parents, carers, teachers and practitioners, the careers service (Skills Development Scotland), the Local Authority and employers. Schools should actively engage with these stakeholders to help young people transform their dispositions and develop their habitus through the various activities and programmes discussed throughout this dissertation. By challenging the taken for granted assumptions of habituated aspirations and challenging the dominant discourse associated with doxic aspirations to allow young people, if they wish, to develop their own emergent aspirations which are fully informed and allow them to achieve positive and fulfilling career opportunities.

It is argued what DYW is aiming for is a culture change in Scottish Education where, as educators and practitioners, we do not seek to turn everyone into an academic with a university degree – we should be saying: it is perfectly acceptable to develop a trade and take up an apprenticeship, but the opportunities and experiences should be there should you wish to try something different.

Throughout this discussion it is important to remember that not everyone will realise their goals and that there will be a few young people who do have low aspirations due to the constraints put upon them that are not of their doing, for example, being born into poverty, caring for a ill relative or other limiting factors. Furthermore, DYW policy, when implemented effectively, can be adjusted to cater for local needs of young people in

schools and has the potential to directly influence young people’s thoughts and acts, their dispositions, and transform their habitus.

This research has highlighted the various programmes, events, experiences and opportunities that are afforded to the young people in this school situated in an area of relatively high socio-economic deprivation. It is important to acknowledge that in reality jobs are rationed and finite and there are inevitably losers in the game. Some of these losers may be those young people who disengage, encounter challenges or barriers, or those young people who come from socially disadvantaged areas with families who do not have the access to the appropriate resources to transform their dispositions or their habitus. It is the job of educational practitioners and the various stakeholders discussed earlier that through these experiences and opportunities, the number of losers is minimised and that young people realise their potential. There is a particular role for school here through the

More Choices More Chance Team and the process outlined in the introduction.

Lastly, it should be noted that the DYW policy does not lend itself to a particular theoretical approach; it is neither completely based on liberal or neoliberal philosophy. There is a liberal notion within the policy in terms of providing a breadth of knowledge, skills, opportunities and experiences, and also through the promotion of young people’s autonomy through recognising that each young person in an individual with different aspirations who will progress, achieve and aspire at their own pace. However, with the emphasis on skills development and the need for skills to be developed in relation to the current and future labour market, it can be argued that the DYW policy may lean towards the neoliberal use of skills, however, DYW also recognises the social usefulness of education as a public good. The DYW policies do not discriminate between different post- 16 destinations or aspirations in that regardless of what a young person’s aspiration is, they should be given equity of opportunities, experiences and choices.