Critical Analysis and Social Care Concepts

GiJJ,*

of art, books or clothes' Finally' cultural capi-

tal is found tn irtstittttiottalized fornts such as

those held in educational qualifications' rvhich are na-rionaily accepted and

easily

translated into economic capital in the labour marlcet. It is easy to see how the embodied and institutionaiized fortns

are

acquired. through education' forming

,.rour.., to be used in the speciflc flelds of

social life- In this way, education canbe a rich

source of cuitural capitai, which potentially

benefit manY PeoPle' However, as Bernstein' Wiliis and Mac

an

Ghaitl ail saw the education system itself is

ruot lttst a neutral field divorced from the

wider society' Rather, the culture and stan-

Jards wrthin the education system reflect

that society and, in doing so' schools systematicaily advantage those

who tave

ui."uay acquired cultural capital in their

familyandlhrough the social networks in

*frl.il. it is embedded (a crucial form of social capital). Middle-class children

flt into

ifr" ..rtt*" of schools with ease; they speak .or...tly, they have the right manners

arid

they do better when it comes to exams' But

f".urrr" the education system is portrayed

andwidelyperceived as being opento all on

the basis of talent, manywor-king-class chil-

dren come to see themselves as intellectu-

Jly irrferio, and accept that they' rather than the system itself, are to blame

for their

failure. In this way, the education system is

able to play a key role in the culturai repro-

duction of social inequalities'

Ac q uirin g culrur al c aP ital

parents to create it for them. Lareau says that children from working-class back- grounds clid not talkback and accepted that

their financial situation imposed limits on

their aspirations.Working-ciass parents sa\v

a clear difference between aclults and chil-

tlren and did not see a need to engage rvith

children's feelings and opinions' preferring

to facilitate the 'accomplishment of naturaL grourth'. This parenting slyle' says

Lareau, is 'out of synch' with the current

standards of social institutions' But work-

ing-class parents and children still come

inio contact r'r'ith social institutions like

schools, and children therefore begin to

develop a growing sense of 'distance' distrust and constraint''

In an ethnographic study of twelve diverse

families in the USA, Annette Lareau [2003)

d.rew on Bourdieu's ideas, particuiarly the

concept of cultural capital, to conduct an

'intensi,re "naturaiistic" observation of

parenting styles in the different cultures of

iamity lifl oi social classes' in the working ciass and poorer families, as discussed by

Bernstein above, parents did not try to reason with children but told them what to

do. Children were also expected to flnd their

oltm forms of recreation and not to rely on

On the other hand, the middle-class chil-

dren in the study were talkative' good at

conversation and adept at social mores

such as shaking hands and making eye

contact when talking' They were also very

good at getting other family members' espe-

cially parents, to serve their needs' andwere

comfortabie with adults and authority figures, seeing themselves as their equals'

Lareau argues that middle-class parents are

constantly interested and involved il their childrens feelings and opinions and iointly

organize their leisure activities' rather than

t"o:rirrg them to make their oum' Continual

discussion between parents and children

marks out the middle-class parenting style'

which is based on a corucerted cultiuation of'

the child. The result is that the middle-class

children had. a clear sense of personal en-

dtlement rather than feeling distant and

constrained. \Ahat Lareau's study shows us

are some of the practical ways in w-hich

cultural capital is passed on across genera-

tions and how sryles of parenting are

stronglY linked to social class'

i,u."*u, says that both parenting methods

have their advantages, but' interestingly' some of the middle-class families she

stud-

ied were exhausted by their constant efforts

to fulfil their childrens demands and the

children themselves were more arxious and

stressed than the working-class children'

EDUCATION

\ /hose lamilv ties were closer aud u,ho expe-

rienced much less sibling rivalry. Lareau's conciusion is that parenting methods tend to vary much more by social class than by ethnicity and that, as several other studies have also found, the middle-class children in the study were much better prepared for success at school than were the children from workin g- class families.

Suntmary

Bourdieu's theory has been very influential in stimulating sociological research into education, ir-requality and the study of cultural reproduction. However, it has its critics. One criticism is that it appears almost irnpossible for the working ciasses to

succeed in a middle-class education system,

but, of course, a fair number do succeed. In an age of mass higher education, manymore working-class people are finding their way into universities and acquiring the kinds of institutionalized culturai capital that enables them to compete with the middle classes. They do remain in the minority though. We should also not mistake the resigned acceptance by working-class chil-

dren of their situation with a positive legiti- mation of schools and their outcomes. A-fter all, there is ample evidence of resistance and

rebellion amongst working-class pupils through truancy, bad behaviour in class- rooms and the formation of school gangs which generate alternative standards of success. Nevertheless, Bourdieu's theoreti- cal framework remains the most systematic slmthesis yet produced for understanding the role of schooling in the reproduction of social inequality.

Bourdieu's view on class and social capital are discussed in more detail'in chapter 1 I,'skatification and Socia-l

lplass'- i .,.''t. ,t, ,l ,rr .,

Euahtation

The sociological theories explored in this chapter illustrate t\ivo important aspects of

?- EE EFIT E€E&T G G EBEE' E etr&E"Y

Do you ihink the public school system (see opposite) is likely to survive in its present form in the age of mass higher

education and the opening up of educaiionai opportunities? If not, how might public schools have to change?

Drawing on Bourdieu's theorY described above, what kinds of cultural

capiial do the British pukrlic schools transmit to their studenis?

education. On the one hand, a good quality education is something that can change people's lives for the better and in many parts of the world, children like Sakina and Hawwau are desperate to gain access to schooling as the route to a better life. In this

sense, education is highly sought after and has often had to be fought for against oppo-

sition. However, on the other hand, socio- iogical research consistently flnds that education systems not only create new opportunities for advancement, but are also experienced differently by a range of social groups. Education systems cannot stand apart from the societywithin which they are embedded, and when society is riven with inequalities schools also help reproduce them, even against the best intentions of the

people who work in them. As Bernstein, Wil1s and Bourdieu's works (amongst others) demonstrate, cuitural reproduction in unequal societies ieads to patterns of educational inequality. The next section Iooks at such patterns and how the changes

they have undergone in recent times.

Soe&a3 diqrfisi*ms amd educatf,om

Much of our discussion of inequality so far has focused on social class, but in this section, we turn to other inequalities. We begin with an outline of a long-standing and

highly contentious debate on IQ and human intelligence, before moving on to