What are the aims of work? Is work purely for personal benefit, or should it serve social purposes too? Is work an economic or political concern? Pick five different jobs from newspaper advertisements, as diverse and as clear as possible. Ask students to score or rank each job in categories such as pay, difficulty, benefit to society, interest, and working hours.

Use this to explore the nature of work in our society. Who should it serve? How it is perceived and valued? And ask if our conception of work needs to change. For a challenging and creative view about work, see the essay on Bertrand Russell in the Idler Library. www.idler.co.ukhtmlidols russell.htm