“I’m No Longer Tough”: School Motivation Among Minority Danish Boys

This chapter explores the experiences of two minority Danish boys, Waseem and Amir, who have both grown up in socially deprived areas and have faced severe challenges to benefit from school, but still experience that they are high-achieving academically and well-liked by teachers. By closely examining the personal experiences of the two boys, the chapter seeks to unravel how their motivation for school evolves and disappears in response to social dynamics within and beyond the school. It shows how the lack of “structural” and “situational rationales” to participate in school may lead youth to disengage with the “illusio” of the “figured world” of school and instead engage with “the street world” with its own values, figures, and narratives. The analysis emphasises that academic success is not solely a product of an innate academic talent or parents with cultural resources. Instead, the factors that help Waseem and Amir overcome the obstacles and make school “worth the candle” are strong parental support and ambitious educational aspirations, supportive teachers, who express trust, positive expectations, and recognition of the boys’ abilities also after periods of disengagement with school, as well as like-minded friends who validate their choices and self-understanding.