Drawing on the author’s own experience as a student and a teacher in England and Japan, this book is a comparative study of boys’ secondary schools in these two countries.

By comparing two nations that are very different in their history, culture, and geographical location, and by focusing on schools that are affordable to the majority of the population, the analysis carried out in this book takes the onus away from money, national culture, and religion, allowing for a more insightful understanding of those elements of schooling, which prove essential to successful class reproduction and those that are contingent. The book also explores the experiences of boys who do not fit orthodox images of heterosexual masculinity, discussing their interaction with teenage subcultures which encourage non-conformity to middle-class norms.

Representing a novel contribution to the understanding of the relationship between education, gender, and class, this book will be a valuable resource to scholars and students of education studies, Japanese studies, and the sociology of education.