CULTURAL CAPITAL
DEFINITION OF CULTURAL CAPITALNon-financial social assets that promote social mobility beyond economic means, such as education, intellect, style of speech, dress, and even physical appearance.
By the end of today’s lesson you will be able to
• Define the term ‘cultural capital’.
• Explain how cultural capital affects educational achievement between different classes.
• Define marketisation
• Demonstrate how social class impacts choice of secondary schools
Theory:
• Pierre Bourdieu (1977)• Cultural and material factors contribute to
educational achievement.
• Uses the concept of ‘capital’ to explain why the middle class are more successful in education.
What is cultural capital?
What is cultural capital?
• Knowledge• Attitudes• Values• Language• Taste• Abilities
• Therefore middle class culture is a type of capital. (Like wealth, it gives an advantage to those who possess it)
Of the middle class
Definition of cultural capital:
• The values, knowledge or ideas that parents can pass on to their children, which can then influence their success at school and later in life.
• Cultural reproduction.
Cultural capital and education achievement.
• The middle class are at an advantage in school as these abilities/interests are valued and rewarded.
• Working class pupils find that school devalues and rejects their culture as ‘rough’ and inferior.
• The lack of cultural capital for the working class leads to exam failure.
Recent study:
• Sullivan (2001) applied Bourdieu’s theory.• Looked at reading, music and TV viewing
habits & visits to art galleries and museums. • Findings: Cultural capital was transmitted
within the home and had a significant effect on achievement of GCSE.
Criticisms:
• Halsey (1980) found that material factors are important. Lack of money may stop pupils staying on at school/going to university.
• Not ALL working class students fail, even if they don’t have cultural capital.
Gerwitz (1995)
Marketisation and Parental Choice
Gerwitz (1995)The study identified THREE types of parents
1.Privileged Skilled choosers
2.Semi-skilled choosers
3.Disconnected Local choosers
Gerwitz(1995)
• The Education Reform Act 1988 introduced the idea that parents could choose the school that their children went to, instead of assuming that the they could just go the local school.
• Gerwirtz studied class differences in parental choice of secondary schools
• Her study of 14 London schools was based on interviews and secondary data . She found out that economic and cultural capital leads to class differences in how far parents can choose a child’s secondary education.
Gewirtz: marketisation and parental choice
• Activity
• You are going to conduct some ‘TV’ interviews with parents about their choices of school.
• Half of you will be interviewers and half will be parents
By the end of today’s lesson you will be able to
• Define the term ‘cultural capital’.
• Explain how cultural capital affects educational achievement between different classes.
• Define marketisation
• Demonstrate how social class impacts choice of secondary schools
