Pupils’ Class Identities And The School

Question 1

What is meant by Habitus ?

Answer 1

Habitus refers to the dispositions or the learned / taken for granted ways of thinking , being and acting that are shaped by a particular social class , it includes their tastes and preferences about lifestyles and consumption such as leisure pursuits

Question 2

Who and how to individuals gain symbolic capital ?

Answer 2

Because schools have a middle class habitus , pupils who have been socialised at home into middle class tastes and preferences gain symbolic capital or status and recognition from the school and are deemed to have worth and value

Question 3

Who and how do individuals gain symbolic violence ?

Answer 3

The school devalues the working class habitus so that the working class pupils tastes are deemed to be worthless , Bourdieu calls this withholding of symbolic capital , symbolic violence by defining the working class and their tastes and lifestyles as inferior , symbolic violence reproduces the class structure and keeps the lower class in their place

Question 4

What did Archer find about what working class pupils felt they had to do to be educationally successful ?

Answer 4

Archer found that working class pupils felt that to be educationally successful , they would have to change how they talked and presented themselves . Thus , for working class students , educational success is often experience as a process of losing yourself . They often saw middle class spaces such as university and professional careers were seen as not for the likes of us

Question 5

What was one way working class gained status ?

Answer 5

Symbolic violence led working class to seek alternative ways of creating self worth , status and value by investing in Nike identities
The right appearance earned symbolic capital and approval from peer groups and bought safety from bullying

Question 6

What were the problems with working class pupils investing heavily in Nike identities ?

Answer 6

Nike identities led to conflict with the schools dress code , reflecting the schools middle class habitus , teachers opposes street styles as showing bad taste or as a threat to, pupils who adopted street styles risked being labelled as rebels