Words: 1956
Abstract Emerging from Boride’s cultural capital theory, many sociologists found a relation between cultural capital and Habits, the effect they have on children’s educational attainment. And how it’s brought about from class differences In societies, Although Broodier focuses mainly on the importance of class and class cultures in impeding children’s negotiation of process of schooling (Larvae 1987), his findings portray how cultural resources can be used to perpetuate their position of privilege and power (Swartz 1997: 199).
Introduction The subject matter of this paper revolves around Boride’s cultural capital theory. Which states that children from upper class families are able and privileged in the educational system, because their families are able and can afford to enrich them with cultural knowledge, language and reading skills, that not only prepare them for the schooling system, but also make them more valued in a classroom (Dumas 2006:84). The paper attempts to give an insight on the linkages between cultural capital, achievements in academics, and family background.
In addition, the paper will compare Canada and the united Arab Emirates and explore the Importance of cultural capital on a global scale. Social class affects educational attainment due to cultural capital differences and countries that allow for less creativity in their school system exacerbate this effect. What Is Cultural Capital? It is a concept of Broodier, where non-financial assets (attitudes, etiquette, education, skills, etc. ) that give a person advantages to attain higher status in society.
According to Broodier (1997:49), cultural capital Is acquired at birth and accumulates throughout our life span. It has three types: embodied in the mind and body, Institutionalized In forms such as education, behaviors, attitudes, preferences, goods ND credentials (Lament and Larvae 1988), and objectified (books, paintings, etc. ). Pierre Broodier argued that culture adds to the wealth (what you own, TV, bonds, yachts) and assets (any possession that has a value in an exchange) of a particular class.
It enhances the youth, from birth, with advantages that are rewarded as higher statuses in society. Cultural capital, In other words, is any advantage a person has which gives him a higher status in society to achieve higher expectations. The most Important cultural capital element Is socializing cognitive qualities especially reading bits and linguistic fluency. (Parkas 1996; De Graff, De Graff and Kramer 2000).
Parents provide their children with cultural capital, the attitudes and knowledge that makes the educational system a comfortable and familiar place In which they can succeed easily. The cultural capital theory holds that children who are not familiar nor exposed to highbrow activities, such as museum visits or reading literature, will face a hostile school experience (indirect exclusion or teacher selection), lacking the skills required to achieve higher levels of educational attainment, refraining from it. Calm]Len and Kramer 1996).
This is also supported by Chauffeuring and Mass (1997) outcome that students with more and correct endowments, the skills and preferences AT cultural capital, winch tenant to De students Trot upper-meme class families, tend to be better at adapting and further developing their cultural abilities. Moreover, they are rewarded by the educational system, and hence are aspire and achieve a higher social status later on. It is noteworthy that the rewards of educational attainment and cultural capital differ by social status, as suggested by Rosining and Insinuators- Darnel (1999). Habits
Habits is composed of a set of dispositions such as values, tastes, habits, outlook, sensibility, and patterns of thought. It is passively and socially constructed, acquired through acquired and develops over our lifetime as a result of our class position and our accumulation of social interactions particular to that status in society. Habits, which is informally learned, shapes our view of the world, where we stand in society, and what we can expect to achieve. From childhood, the differences in cultural capital across different social classes are formally learned; as we grow older they are shaped more vividly.
How is Cultural Capital related to Social Class? Annette Larvae (1987) argues, ” Class-related cultural factors shape parents’ compliance with teachers’ requests for parental participation in schooling. ” Cultural capital reflects class position, and tends to align with upper class. While the lower working class aim to “get by’, without expectations of achieving a higher status or power, the upper middle class have an emphasis on power and control, and high achievements.
Parental investment expectations that their children will go to university and acquire a bachelor’s degree are higher and stronger in Upper class implies than in low-socioeconomic status families. Sullivan (2007) highlights the importance of parental investment in children’s development of academic ability. “Parents instill attitudes regarding work, education, vocabulary, styles of expression, ideas, and a sense of efficacy -encouraging them to view themselves as academically able”. The differences between the socioeconomic statuses of families are reflected in the parental involvement of children’s schooling.
We find that the social class, which one is born into, and the family members and community one is raised in, effects one’s behavior in school and what they can achieve. For instance, the Upper- middle class youth would stay in school due to their internalized social advantages as expectation for academic success. In contrast, the Lower-working class youth don’t aspire to high levels of educational attainment. This results from the being culturally deprived and facing limited opportunities to succeed in school. Swartz 1997: 197). A child from an upper class family, most likely, will have parents with a university degree or higher, and will be expected to achieve the same educational status, and come pursue a successful career. On the other hand, a child from a poor working class family, will most likely not achieve, nor expect, to attain such a degree, as his parents, most likely, would not have attained a post-secondary education. Parent’s cultural knowledge and attitude are highly evident in a child’s upbringing.
According to the data collected by Kaufman and Gabbler (2004), the percentage of children, who haven’t attended museum visits, that will most likely end up going to a university is enlarger amongst tense winos parents reported going to museums (8. 12%) than tense hose parents did not go to museums (0. 87%). This highlights the importance of parental involvement in a child’s schooling. Studies show that the various types of activities, which mainly the upper class can afford to matriculate their children in, and cultural capital a child acquires also leaves an impression.
These social differences are evident in the grammar and spelling used, as well as speaking the language itself, whether it is proper or colloquial. Linguistic fluency, broad cultural and general knowledge, and even problem solving skills (Sullivan 2007) also reflect the inequality in classrooms, and the preferences in achievement gaps. Values With respect to their positions in society, different classes value different features. The upper class values the respect and prestige that comes with their high status in society. The working class tends to value practical work, and trade.
The middle class values education and has an appreciation of the arts. Although no culture is inherently better, we find that the education systems value certain cultures more than others. The value one’s social class of origin places on the schooling system determines the devotion and determination the individual deposits into his educational attainment. (Broodier and Passerine 1977:147). How does Cultural Capital affect Educational Attainment? The educational system is heavily dependent on class structure and thus cultural capital.
School systems that “offer the primary institutional setting for the production, transmission and accumulation of the various forms of cultural capital (Swartz 1997: 189). Moreover, Larvae and Winger (2003) found that, education plays a crucial and growing role in the transmission of advantage across generations DiMaggio findings imply that,” cultural resources enhance educational rewards, even when the influence of prior ability and father’s education is taken into account”(De Graff, De Graff, and Karamazov 2000).
Children from upper-middle class families tend to have higher cultural capital, as it would be transmitted from home. Examples would be going to museums or reading at an early age. Such investment in one’s children would leave them with an advantage in educational attainment. The higher the cultural capital, the higher the degree or level of education attained. Broodier argues that, “the school system is actually a value-laden institution”, where students are remoter according to their abilities, and ideally when tested, only those with higher ability are rewarded (Dumas 2006).
Teacher selection Teachers will find it easier to communicate with students, usually from the upper middle class, who have more knowledge and can master the course and seem more “motivated”, and have a similar habits. Teachers relate to students who have a similar habits. They further deteriorate the inequality in the classroom by placing these upper class students in advanced groups, or by spending more one-on-one t me w n teen. Students Trot ten lower class would Tell neglected, most likely turn p late, or sip the class, not study nor put in any effort in glasswork and assignments, and this would reflect in the grades they acquire.
As a result, they wont be as “favored” or selected by their teachers. Most teachers would actually bring them down even more by holding them back at school, etc. In addition, working class parents would not feel comfortable interacting with the teachers, leading to a misinterpretation, that these parents are not interested in their own child’s educational attainment. Why is Cultural Capital more important in some countries than in others? Across efferent countries, there is a different emphasis on the value of educational systems.
Economically developed countries put more of an emphasis on education than developing countries do. Comparing Canada and the United Arab Emirates (though both are developed), differences in levels of creativity and cultures bring about how different the importance of cultural capital is. In the AJAX, a few schools are public, only for the locals of the working class. In the United Arab Emirates, the majority of immigrants and locals of the upper-middle class, enroll their children into private schools.
Furthermore, there is no space for creativity in schools; the educational system is based on memorizing information, and simply pasting it on the exam paper. In the AAU, there is more emphasis on accounting and finance, media, marketing, and business studies. In Canada however, education (up till high school education, at least) is free for everyone. Although, culture seems to be more loosely fabricated in society, and has less to do with participation in high culture forms, we find a greater appreciation for art history, philosophy, and sociology.
More research old bring about even more significant differences in the value of cultural capital and education across the globe, yet “the importance of parental involvement is virtually universal and widely praised”(Larvae and Winger 2003). Conclusion This paper endeavored to explore the relation between cultural capital and social class, its impact on educational attainment, and why its importance varies across countries. The unequal distribution of cultural capital, according to Broodier, is directly correlated with the inequality seen in classrooms and in the educational yester.
While an upper class student is motivated and encouraged to attain high achievements, a lower status student would have to “self-elect” himself out of the educational hierarchy due to their habits”(Dumas 2006). Many researches done on the topic, yet the issue remains entangled with inequality in educational systems across the globe. As Paul M. De Graff (1986) deduced, that although gender, racial, and regional inequalities might have decreased, social inequality that can be attributed to parents’ occupation and education has remained stable.