Talking about school and values. Educational expectations, values and beliefs of European young people

The essay analyses the results of an exploratory research in order to point out the differences between males and females in relation to school priorities and the composition of their system of values. The data come from a European research, - PACT -, carried out in 2009. After having observed the distribution of school performance among social classes, the different perception of their future in those students with a negative scholastic performance is presented and some reflections about the values set of young Europeans are offered. The analysis shows clearly the importance given to knowledge as a value for its power to improve one’s possibilities in achieving one’s future, distinguishing it from personal culture as a value perceived as less useful in the social context of adult future life. School is considered by students both as social institution and social experience, and it is mainly legitimated in its function of social training for adult life. So, aim of the work is to analyze school, one of the main agencies of socialization, through the recording of the students’ opinions and expectations, and also takes into consideration the distribution of school performance both in the parents’ social class and the students’ future social class, in the end it describes the values set of young Europeans. The difference between males and females will be used to highlight similarities and differences among students. This work will try to answer the following questions: Are there gender differences in the students’ expectations from the scholastic system? Is school socially legitimated to young people? How is school performance distributed among social classes? What role do values play? What is the value of availability of knowledge? School performance will be drawn from academic achievement, understood subjectively (the student’s opinion) and considered objectively (the opinion of the teacher as related by the student) and the opinions of the students about the future usefulness of scholastic knowledge in relation with: -revelation of sectors in which it will be possible to profit by scholastic training (work, daily life, family, friendships and social relationships); -comprehension of the priorities which young people think scholastic institutions must have (“to provide an adequate number of competencies”, “to provide the ability to know how to live together and collaborate with others”, “to make the student able to see a profound sense to their own lives”). Subsequently, the distribution of the school performance among social classes will be analysed and some considerations about the possible influence in influencing the values of young Europeans will be offered. The analysis of the data will be closed taking into account the values system of the European students underlining similarities and differences between males and females and of country of origin. Although we are aware of the explanatory value of the “gender” variable, compared to the “sex” variable, which, as Besozzi sustains (2003), implies an explanatory value superior to the distinction male sex – female sex, the choice to divide the samples in males and females was suitable to underline the many converging points and some substantial differences of opinion among the young Europeans. The aim is, therefore, to reconstruct the values universe of young Europeans which gives significance to their actions, not exclusively in the scholastic/formative context but, in the broadest social context. From a close examination which places at the centre of attention the role played by scholastic institutions, we can expand the vision of the investigation, which is no longer focused on the individual’s relationship to the school or to his values system, but to depart from the individual to contextualize him within his socio-relational universe.