Literacy,schooling and ideology in a multilingual state

In this article I argue that current government policy for teaching literacy in schools in England is part of a broader ideology of homogeneity which is visible in other dominant-culture institutions. Despite the multilingual nature of England and its schools, the dominant discourse is one which values English at the expense of other languages, leading to the ‘misrecognition’ (Bourdieu, 1998b: 131), by majority and minority language speakers alike, of English as the sole language of symbolic capital. While the first part of this article outlines the monolingual ideology of current literacy policy in schools in England, and locates this in the context of a similar ideology evident in discourses beyond education, I also suggest that this process of symbolic domination is not inevitable. Schools need not be sites of social and cultural reproduction. They can challenge existing relations of power in society, and put in place structures and practices which question and even reverse the coercive relations between majority-culture schools and minority-culture communities and their children. I propose some ways forward in the development of structures which can enable schools to become sites of social and cultural transformation, rather than reproduction.     

权力再生产的教育机制——布尔迪厄教育社会学理论及其现实意义

在现代社会,高等教育日益成为社会流动的主要渠道。法国社会学家布尔迪厄通过对高等教育与社会流动之间关系的研究,提出了以场域为核心、以学校为中介的社会再生产模式。这一理论揭示了权力与资本在学校场域中通过国家意识和个体惯习的符号化实现再生产的过程。其观点揭示了高等教育的社会流动功能既具有稳定性也具有虚无主义的特征。布氏的理论与方法对于研究中国20世纪以来社会流动与教育的关系及其背景有着重要价值。     

Reputation and parental logics of action in local school choice space in Finland

Differences in reputation between schools and in classes within schools shape parental choice in the Finnish urban context, even if the differences in school performance and the risks of making a ‘bad’ choice are relatively small. This study analyses the instrumental and expressive orders of schools in a specific educational context. Two overlapping local school choice spaces emerge: the local space of school catchment areas, and the selective space of the city in interaction with neighbouring cities. Entry into the selective space requires different forms of parental capital, and may reproduce educational and social distinctions. Institutions that provide less future exchange value according to the parental conceptions, with socially and ethnically mixed student populations and low expectations of pupils’ contentment are seen to be worth avoiding. The discussion on the choice between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ schools seems to be superficial and to conceal certain educational reproduction processes, which do not officially exist in the Finnish education system. Choosing between classes (general and classes with special emphasis) within a school also works as a distinction strategy.     

Girls in Boys’ Public Schools: a prelude to further research

Traditionally Headmasters’ Conference schools have been concerned with both the reproduction of class relations and gender relations and have served an elite group of males. However, these schools are at present undergoing dramatic changes and by 1981, over half of the HMC schools admitted girls as well as boys.

The paper discusses the pressures and processes which led to the introduction of girls and uses interview data from a detailed case study as illustrative material. It is suggested that economic and social changes were important considerations and that the initial phases of the process can be understood in terms of the exploitation of a ‘dual student market’.     

The construction of bilingualism in an American context: three levels of analysis

This paper represents part of an ethnographic study conducted in a small college town in the northern United States. Based on Fairclough's conceptualization of language as a site of social meaning construction and power struggle, I conduct critical discourse analyses on data collected at broad, mid, and micro level contexts. I demonstrate how contrasting meanings associated with bilingualism have ideological origins and reflect underlying power relations, which are evident in academic research, federal and state legislation and policy, local language programming, and classroom interaction. Revealing how unequal relations of power shape meaning through language creates a conscious awareness, which can lead to emancipation for disempowered populations and has significant implications for challenging discriminatory educational policies and practices and identifying the ways in which language proficiency positions students in schools.     

从城市人际关系网络看薄弱学校的改造与发展

薄弱学校生存的社会环境正经历"城市化进程"的加速发展,导致了传统"共同体"的瓦解,人与人之间的关系从亲密和谐走向孤立疏离。薄弱学校的发展需要各类"社会资本"的支撑,其中"人际关系"是一项重要的社会资本,它突出强调组织管理中人的因素。薄弱学校改造与发展的后期工作当实现从"物"的因素向"人"的因素转移,人际关系网络的建设将成为一种独特途径,具体包括"学校外部宏观社会关系网络的建设"和"学校内部微观人际互动模式的建设"两方面。     

Female Education in Saudi Arabia and the Reproduction of Gender Division

This paper explains the reproduction of gender divisions and power relations through education in a traditional Islamic country, Saudi Arabia. That country has drawn both upon Islam and its oil wealth to expand female education vastly within traditional boundaries. Its model of female education is unique among all Islamic countries, in its structure and strategies for the reproduction of gender divisions through (1) a dual system of male and female education; (2) a gender‐specific educational policy that emphasizes women's domestic function; (3) gender‐segregated schools and colleges; and (4) curriculum differentiation at the various educational levels. The author maintains that Saudi education, a microcosm of Saudi Arabian society, has intentionally instituted these mechanisms and structures as a means of cultural conservation and social control. The Saudi experience proves previous research findings that female educational expansion does indeed increase women's social and occupational options, but does not necessarily alter gender and power relations.     

Revisiting Bourdieu: alternative educational systems in the light of the theory of social and cultural reproduction

The paper reflects upon the principles and practice of an alternative educational system operating in rural Mexico in the light of Bourdieu’s theory of cultural and social reproduction. Bourdieu’s theory seeks to explain processes of reproduction of power relations within schools and society; whereas alternative educational systems seek to expand educational access in deprived areas in order to counteract processes of social inequality. The paper argues that, although Bourdieu’s theory does not fully explain the gradual inclusion of more people from disadvantaged backgrounds into education through alternative educational systems, processes of social reproduction in deprived communities still occur mainly because of lack of state support after primary school level, and a shortage of better infrastructure and opportunities for this sector of the population. Since the widespread upward educational and class mobility of the rural poor has not yet been achieved, the paper concludes that the processes of cultural and social reproduction continue despite the introduction of alternative educational systems.     

Creating a niche in the education market: the rise of internationalised secondary education in the Netherlands

The past decades saw a rise in internationalised education in Europe. Based on case studies at Dutch schools, I argue that the introduction of this type of education can be understood by the increased need for schools to adapt to the social reproduction strategies of privileged social classes. School managers regard internationalised streams as a way to counter a decline of pupils or as a strategy to improve an already secure position. In both cases, they resisted protesting staff in their efforts to establish an exclusive image of their internationalised stream. I argue that school managers’ inclination to emphasise the exclusive and ‘high‐quality’ profile of their internationalised streams and their propensity to celebrate the abilities of their pupils stem from their competitive engagement with local education markets.     

Socio-educational bullying: repercussions revealed

Using a narrative autoethnographical approach, this article details the identity-related and social repercussions of my experiences as a former victim of social, verbal, and physical bullying in public Franco-Ontarian elementary (1986–1994) and high (1994–1999) schools. The highlighted experiences are more specifically correlated with social representations of feminine beauty and alternative sexual orientations. This article is based on a study that encompasses the following elements: the social environment that contributes to the production, development, internalization, and reproduction of social representations, norms, and identities through interaction; experience which includes stigmatization and bullying; and the continuity of experience inherent to socialization and identity formation. Other concepts (e.g. marginalized multiplicities and intersectionality) are also discussed.     

Rethinking intervention: changing the cultures of schooling

In this paper I will discuss intervention in the culture of schools as part of a range of responses to the concerns expressed, the difficulties caused by and the dissatisfaction and unhappiness experienced by pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. I will discuss such intervention at the levels of staff relations and inter‐agency working. My focus will be on the development of collaborative working cultures for the creation of knowledge within the general systems of activity that constitute schooling. I will open the discussion with a brief introduction to the theoretical framework which both guides and is developed through this work.     

‘Changing the context’: Tackling discrimination at school and in society

In this paper we propose a social psychological framework for studying the role of schools in promoting positive intercultural relations. We draw on data from schools in England where addressing issues of cultural diversity is a key aim of educational practice. We focus specifically on the role of social context in educational activities that tackle discrimination. We consider the socio-political context, local community context, and immediate school context from a social representations theory perspective. Using data from interviews with staff and focus groups with students in schools from three very different localities, we show that the socio-political context may limit schools’ ability to promote positive intercultural relations but also that it is possible for schools to promote broader change from the bottom-up, acting as agents of change at a societal level, i.e. in terms of changing the local and broader societal contexts in which they are located.     

Contextual Effects on Student Achievement: School Leadership and Professional Community

This paper contains empirical evidence of a positiverelationship between faculty relations and studentachievement in mathematics in U.S. high schools. Thefindings are based on composite measures ofprofessional community and transformational leadershipwhich were defined and constructed through comparisonsof theoretical models from studies of the socialorganization of schools. I find that the effects oftransformational leadership and professional communityare interdependent. However, these two processes arenot equally dependent on each other. Professionalcommunity only has a positive effect on studentachievement in mathematics in schools whose teachersexperience above average transformational leadership. I also find that these effects are strongest in lowersocioeconomic status (SES) schools. Thus, I confirmfindings from in-depth studies and studies ofpurposeful samples that the social organization ofteachers and administrators within schools can affectstudent achievement.     

Sharing the same world: boys' relations with girls during their last year of primary school

This paper explores the effect of cross gender relations on the construction of boys' masculine identities. The findings are based on data gathered from a year long empirical study of 10 to 11‐year‐old boys set in three UK junior schools. Although masculinity is defined against femininity and boys needed to mark out a set of distinctions from themselves and girls, I found that most boys categorized girls as different (they are not us) rather than oppositional, and the most common reaction was one of detachment and disinterest. Rather than maintaining that there are two separate worlds, I argue that there are two complementary gendered cultures, sharing the one overall school world, which are further nuanced by social class and race/ethnicity. Although there was a tendency of boys to dominate space and girls were often excluded from playground games, many girls refused to be dominated by boys, and some were able to deliberately exercise power over them.     

The impact of social capital in socio-emotional competencies of Spanish and immigrant adolescents from the Southeast of Spain

How important is the role that the different social institutions play in adolescents’ emotional development? This study alludes to the social capital framework to explain the influence that the family, school and peer relations have on the social-emotional competencies (SEC) of adolescents, immigrants and locals living in Southeastern Spain. Three social capital and socio-emotional competencies assessments scales were used in the study with 1614 pupils from 7 secondary schools. The results show that: (1) The social capital is a predictive and explanatory factor in adolescence. (2) The social relations that influence the SEC the most are those developed at school, followed by peer relations and, lastly, the family. (3) Spanish and Romanian teenagers show higher social capital and more SEC than Moroccans. (4) There are SEC gender differences among the Spanish group. (5) An immigrant school puzzle is observed in the Moroccan teenagers group who value school the most. (6) The family’s low emotional influence, particularly among Moroccan women, suggests that there is a deterioration of the institution and the existence of inter-generational differences. According to the results, schools remain a privileged space for SEC intervention programmes.     

The impact of social capital in socio-emotional competencies of Spanish and immigrant adolescents from the southeast of Spain

How important is the role that the different social institutions play in adolescents’ emotional development? This study alludes to the social capital framework to explain the influence that the family, school and peer relations have on the social-emotional competencies (SEC) of adolescents, immigrants and locals living in Southeastern Spain. Three social capital and socio-emotional competencies assessments scales were used in the study with 1614 pupils from 7 secondary schools. The results show that: (1) The social capital is a predictive and explanatory factor in adolescence. (2) The social relations that influence the SEC the most are those developed at school, followed by peer relations and, lastly, the family. (3) Spanish and Romanian teenagers show higher social capital and more SEC than Moroccans. (4) There are SEC gender differences among the Spanish group. (5) An immigrant school puzzle is observed in the Moroccan teenagers group who value school the most. (6) The family’s low emotional influence, particularly among Moroccan women, suggests that there is a deterioration of the institution and the existence of inter-generational differences. According to the results, schools remain a privileged space for SEC intervention programmes.     

日常生活的社会互动与制度变迁——兼析公共制度变迁的一种模式

社会关系是人在社会互动中形成的关系,人类活动的种种制度化形式,都是在种种人类互动中发生的社会关系的凝固化、制度化形式。社会互动作为社会学一个中心概念,它是个体层次与社会结构层次的中介,是由个人走向群体以至更大的社会组织制度的转折点。研究日常生活中的社会互动与制度变迁的关系,对我们探索宏观的社会整体以及复杂的社会结构具有重要意义。     

The Reproduction of Class in Canada's Elite Independent Schools

The changing forms and processes of social reproduction undertaken by Canada's elite independent schools are examined. Ideology, values, recruitment, and socialization processes and mechanisms in the member schools of the Canadian Association of Independent Schools are analysed. The focus is on reproduction theory (both the reproduction of the structure of classes and the intergenerational reproduction of families). The various forms of reproduction are examined in relation to class, ethnicity and gender. All have undergone considerable change; while the schools have remained critical agents for the reproduction of elites in Canadian society, the rise of meritocratic ideology and recruitment have had a paradoxical effect.     

Beyond Decontextualisation and Cynicism

Some see schools primarily as places where students learn academic skills that are crucial to individual and social development. Others see them primarily as places where students are stigmatised and where social inequality is reproduced. Despite their differences, both views of schooling tend to assume the same unrealistic conception of schooled knowledge as being decontextualised, as being separate from the social identification, power relations, and interpersonal struggles that occur in all cognitive practices. In this article I argue for a more complex account of schooling, one that reimagines the intertwining of academic learning and social identification without privileging one over the other.     

我国教育的城乡差异研究——一种文化再生产的视角

文化再生产视角下,我国城乡教育在儿童入学前家庭文化资本、入学后学校教育文化资本等方面存在明显的差异,这些差异通过教育中的文化再生产而引起社会再生产和再分配。教育的这种隐性文化再生产功能强化了我国城乡的二元结构,在创造公平机会的同时又在制造着公平机会内的不公平。因此,如何最大程度地创建公平合理的教育制度,为农村儿童构建趋于平等的教育竞争环境,促进社会公平的实现,是教育必须考虑的问题。