Blog Post #3

Emily Cunningham

11/14/10

As a student I feel that school is divided between labor-time and task-time. To graduate I am expected to both spend a certain amount of time in class as well as work on projects on my own schedule. I see homework as being under the category of task-time because although there is always a due date, the project can be completed at anytime between that date and the date that it was assigned. There is also no specific amount of time that must be spent on the project. The amount of time spent on a project is mostly determined by the amount of time it takes to complete it. This amount of time varies from one assignment to another, based off of a variety of factors such as amount of research needed to put into the project or difficulty of subject matter. In this way the task-time aspects of school resemble those of the pre-industrial workers. However, since my day revolves around both the task of homework and the time I must spend in classes, I can’t look at my “job” of being a student as only task-oriented. The specific amount of time spent in class can easily be seen as labor-time. The student may be expected to participate or complete assignments in class, but because it is so time specific it can be considered labor-time.

My idea of leisure time is difficult to explain because it is defined by both the task and labor time put into school. Without homework I could define my leisure time by saying that it consisted of the time outside of my classes, which meet at a designated time. With homework, my leisure time becomes more blurred with the time needed for working. I am able to decide when to make the transition from leisure time to work, but at the same time my day may become structured around an assignment. It is also possible for work and leisure to be combined. I do not know if my experience of work-time will change when I leave school. It will most likely be determined by what type of work I am able to receive. If my work more closely resembles labor-time than my leisure time will be determined by the hours of the day when I will need to be at work. It is possible but probably less common for me to get work that does not have specific hours where I need to work.

Determining whether my education at this specific school was worth the money I put into it might be difficult to do at a time when I’m still attending the school. Since I do not know where my education will take me job wise or through the progress in my art I feel like I can’t make a complete decision. At this moment I feel that the amount of money it takes to get into this school does not seem worth what I get back from it, but I am trying to think of it in terms of job training.

The main connection that I see between the French strike and the British student protests is that they both have a strong relationship to the budget that controls the outcome of their protests. There is one specific quote in a video from the second link in which a reporter explains that while Britain had to deal with budget cuts in housing and childcare benefits “France was having massive strikes and violent protests because of their austerity measures”.