Cultural Capital And Its Impact On Education

Culturally Responsive Teaching is an emerging field that focuses on student cultural backgrounds and experiences in the development of pedagogy. According to Kea (2013) cultural difference is the single largest difference in U.S. schools and also the most neglected. The goal of Culturally Responsive Teaching is to provide an equal opportunity for all students to learn in school, regardless of their gender, social class, ethnic, racial or cultural characteristics (Banks 2005). Ladson-Billings (1994) suggest that the historic failings of educators in educating non-white students is that educators attempt to insert culture into education rather than insert education into the culture. In other words, educators are not providing an equal multi-culturally relevant education by bringing tokens of culture such as food, national flags, or maps from around the world into the classroom alone. Although these actions promote a sense of multiculturalism, an education that is relative to a diversity of cultures is not necessarily being provided. Culturally Responsive Teaching attempts to bring the various experiences of the student’s cultural home life into the classroom. Schmidt (2005) identifies seven characteristics that must be incorporated into curriculum in order to provide culturally responsive instruction. These characteristics are high expectations,

1. Ben Franklin, pointing to the sun carved on the back of the presiding officer's chair, remarked; "Throughout the days we have been laboring here, I have observed that sun, and wondered whether it was a rising sun or a setting sun. Now I know it was a rising sun."1 Throughout our lives we have been told of how our country was formed. I am here to tell you about the things the history books and teachers don’t tell you about the freemasons and there shaping of the United States of America. We will start with freemasons an agency that has been shaping history since the building of King Solomon’s temple.

Bourdieu defines cultural capital as "the general background, knowledge, disposition, and skill that are passed from one generation to the next" (13), and he affirms that children from different classes inherit different cultural capital. Bourdieu suggests that the cultural capital that upper class children

This first chapter has quick insights of how Cultural Competence could be so effectively with children. What this chapter made me recognized is that it’s essential to building a relationship with students. As the text points that students may be more comfortable with a teacher of their own background, regardless of the teachers background the true success of having a learning environment is based on a sensitive, caring and committed teacher. Having teachers getting to know their students would be encouraging for a teacher-student relationship student might discovery acceptance and comfort in having someone who provides stability and structure by getting to know them. Additionally, teachers should not be scared to permit themselves to be taught

In the article, “What is a Culturally Responsive Educator?” the author makes a point that students at the age of eight already have a decreased desire to learn and low self-esteem. School is to blame for damaging their language, culture, and identity. The demographics of the population is changing. In the future, individuals that are born will be in the minority based on their ethnicity and race. This is not just happening in the cities, but especially in the rural communities. Teachers need to remember culture is not left at the door; it follows everyone into the classroom.

Here we commence deconstructing our tapestry. Analyzing where we sit on the Cultural Proficiency Continuum of destructiveness, incapacity, blindness, pre-competence and competence. (Cultural Proficiency, A Manual for School Leaders, 2nd Ed. Lindsey, Robins, and Terrell, 2003.) We explore our emotional connections to cultural differences; we interpret how our beliefs affect our daily interactions and learning, we describe and classify our judgments. Once each thread is scrutinized, we actualize our new "fabric of community that learning, and living,

Cultural capital is different for each child. The relationships and resources between classes have profound affects on student outcomes and social mobility. When I began my research about the history of American education, I was still hypmotized by the individualistic idealism that is characterized in American culture. One of my favorite movies is Rocky Balboa, has long inspired me that anyone can make it in America with hard work ethic. I grew up with the idea that colorblindness was the appropriate way to consider society in general. My veil of ignorance is slowly being lifted as I continue to understand and learn about the communities that make up our world. If we are going to build relationships that support each other, then we have

As with many other forms of capital, financial capital and cultural capital can often be lacking for individuals of lower classes. Financial capital refers to wages, tangible items, and savings, while cultural capital refers to learned behaviors and outlooks often established by parents. There are “greater disparities between the wealthy and poor [in America] than residents in other developed nations (349).” The wealth of the upper class represents one third of the nation’s total wealth, and this wealth allows members of the upper class distinct advantages over those with low financial capital (349). Additionally, those with higher financial capital also tend to transfer greater cultural capital to their children.

Cultural capital and field results in inequality for a number of reasons. Cultural capital has to do with capital resources such as skills learned and specific knowledge pertaining to certain subjects. It also has to do with skills and behaviors learned at home. Field has to do with a social institution such as a school. These two things result in inequality because of the way children are brought up and how involved they are in social institutions. When a child is involved in a multitude extracurricular activities, they are more likely to succeed in school because they have a more stable schedule and not as much free time so they are forced to learn time management. Often times schools favor middle class cultural capital because middle class

Bourdieu claims that cultural capital acts as a social relation within a social system of exchange that includes the accumulated cultural knowledge that confers power and status. Displaying cultural capital can lead to benefits, such as gaining status or acceptance and this can also transfer into social capital. Social capital is a resource, based on group membership, relationships networks of influence and support. This social capital can have other benefits, such as gaining economic capital and this can often be reinvested in cultural capital. This process continues it is considered cyclical and shapes or effect social interactions and relationships. Displaying cultural capital can bring rewards or incur cost, depending on the cultural/social

One of the most illustrating concepts for me was to know about Bourdieu’s cultural capital. In forms of capital, Jean Bourdieu defines cultural capital as habits, manners, knowledge and style of presentations that define a person’s body and mind. Thus, Bourdieu describes cultural capital as literally the unconscious part of you that guides your actions and behaviors in the world. However, Bourdieu believed that gaining cultural capital, especially, the predominating cultural capital was not easy. In other words, it takes both time and economic capital to acquire cultural capital. For that reason, Bourdieu saw cultural capital as paradoxically a symbol of both natural gift and hard work because of the amount of time and effort

Cultural capital helps us become successful, achieve goals and rise up the social ladder. Without necessarily having financial capital or wealth. French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu saw social class groups as identifiable according to their levels of “cultural and economic capital.” Increasingly, individuals distinguish themselves not according to economic or occupational factors but on the basis of cultural tastes and leisure pursuits (Giddens 211). Cultural capital can exist in three forms: embodied state, for example, personality, skills, and speech. Institutionalized, such as, education or specialized knowledge. And objectification, in

Pierre Bourdieu developed the concept of cultural capital in order to attempt to explain the differences in educational outcomes in France during the 1960’s. Cultural capital is theorised as the forms of knowledge, skill, education; any advantages a person has which, give them a higher status in society, including high expectations (Nick Stevenson, 1995.pp.46-48). This differentiates economic and social status from the class agenda which, is rigidly sustained through an exclusive cycle. Cultural capital itself can be used in analysis of the class system, and how the dominant aesthetic and ideology is sustained from generation to generation.

When considering the cultural lens of the sociological imagination we pay attention to cultural differences and diversity (Georgeou, 2010). In relation education we look again at the historical view of education as a right and the term considered cultural capital, which has had a strong impact on the social inequalities within education.

Success, achievement and participation at school are not simply a matter of intelligence or ability. Discuss this statement with reference to the concepts of cultural capital, hidden curriculum, class and socioeconomic status.