Class Identity Flashcards
1
Q
What is social class identity
A
- Cultural background of an individual shapes their identity
- Schools reinforce or reject the identity of different social classes
- Schools shape identity of students in their own image - W/C identity is rejected in favour of M/C identity
2
Q
How do schools shape identity
A
- Archer - W/C students develop own identity through branded sportwear and hyper-heterosexual identities
- Schools reject the working-class habitus which is seen as an act of symbolic violence
- Symbolic capital awarded for conforming to habitus of W/C students reject education in favour of collectivist nature of peers
3
Q
Teacher interactions and identity
A
- Teacher reactions to students either reinforce or reject students identity
- W/C habitus rejected or altered - anti school subcultures
- M/C habitus reinforced - pro-school subcultures
- In both cases the identity of subculture forms part of student identity
4
Q
Selection Policies and Social Class
A
External Sleection - working class rejected from top schools
- Internal selection - lower class more likely to be in lower sets and streams
- Reay - students see school as a mirror of themselves
- Boaler - lower sets a form of psychological prison
5
Q
The curriculum and identity
A
- Curriculum based upon habitus of dominant social class
- Working class students tastes and attitudes rejected
- Reay - working class see university as not for the likes of them
6
Q
Contemporary applications
A
- Appearance in schools - uniform policies
- Extra-curricular activities
- Ofsted - cultural capital and cultural literacy
- Changes to curriculum in 2015 - more focus on middle-class habitus
7
Q
Evaluations
A
- Working-Class underachievement
- Formation of anti-school subcultures
- Deterministic - identity is multi-faceted and school is one aspect of students identity
- internal and external interplay - how much of identity is shaped by home and how much does the school react
