This paper is a response to Professor Chitty's "Educational Review" Guest Lecture article, "Educating for political activity". I address the three sections of his paper: a global and national-based politics of war, corporate manipulation and parliamentary scandals. This provides a basis to draw upon empirical material from a recent critical ethnography with which I am involved, which suggests the need to redefine the politics "of" and "within" schools. A case study of the schooling experiences of Asian working-class young men provide insightful narratives about the complexity of educating for political activity. A number of themes are identified including: different social and cultural realities; expanding the concept of politics and a younger generation's political sensibility. (Contains 5 notes.)