Abstract
Although the number of people with higher education is growing in the Czech Republic, the reproduction of social inequalities remained almost unchanged (OECD, 2019). Willis (1977) showed that low social mobility of children is due to their acceptance of norms, values and lifestyle of their parents, which is in opposition to the one of academically educated people (i.e. teachers), similarly in Czech society Katrňák (2004).
However, we can look at the problem from the other side; school should be the elevator of social mobility. Leaving children of low educated parents behind, school is failing its mission.
The pupil identity is the tool for social mobility. The institution of school does not bestow those children the pupil identity because they hold their parents' values, the values that do not concur with those of school.
I aim to show structures leading to the social reproduction of working class children on a three-year study of one school class at vocational high school (16-18 year-olds) in the Czech Republic. School as training on becoming labourers of capitalism (Bhattacharya 2017).