Cultural Capital: Acquisition Of Wealth And Education

Culture is a key aspect of a human that reflects on their lifestyle, family, traditions and pulls together the external influences that play a role in how one chooses to live their life. For me, culture is something you collect throughout your lifetime. In my lifetime, I have been lucky enough to travel outside of the United States and meet people from all over the world. I have seen how people go about their daily routines in many different ways compared to mine. The main cultural influence that has been present in my life since day one is the closeness of my family. All my cousins are very close it has often odd when I hear about families with weak relationships and small size. Another influence that has shaped my behavior was my exposure of extreme poverty and extreme wealth while living in Mexico. Lastly, a cultural influence that has shaped my belief system is my education.

I would consider being from a small town a cultural influence on my life. In my small town, we have a population of 2,318 and my high school has a little over 200 students. This allows our teachers to individually cater to every student’s needs. However, being from a small town can shelter you and make you naive. You know everyone, trust everyone, and aren’t exposed to crime like the bigger cities are.

I have learned that it is important that educators  and health providers be trained on cultural competency to understand the population they are serving. Marks, Sims, and Osher (King, Sims, & Osher, n.d.) define cultural competency  as a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals and enables that system, agency, or those professionals to work effectively in cross–cultural situations" ( as cited in Cross et al., 1989; Isaacs & Benjamin, 1991). Health providers and educators should investigate demographic patterns or trends in the place where they live and work. This brings awareness of the types of cultures that they might come across when they are working with people. Organizations should integrate and implement policies that promote the value of  diversity, self-assessment, manage the dynamics of difference, acquire and institutionalize cultural knowledge, and adapt to diversity and the cultural contexts of communities they serve (Georgetown  University, 2004). Georgetown University (2004) also stresses that culture competency grows gradually and is always open for improvement.

According to the article Community Cultural Wealth by Dr. Taray-Yosso cultural wealth is defined as an areal of knowledge, skills, abilities and contacts possessed and utilized by communities of color to survive and resist operations. Although cultural wealth deals with the many skills aspects of economic growth, both of which are crucial to the attainment of higher education nonetheless cultural wealth can be categorized into three defiant groups known as cultural ties, cultural capital and cultural wealth. The success of a college education is dependent upon my factors most of which are concepts of family, aspirational, social and resistant capitals.

Therefore, the need to be culturally competent is paramount to fostering understanding. Cultural competency is about understanding another’s artifacts, beliefs, values and basic assumptions (Schein, 2010). Schein describes artifacts as the observable elements of a culture, such as ceremonies, non verbal cues, and language. He further describes, belief structures serve as guide posts and are useful in understanding a reason for a behavior. Finally, he states, assumptions are based on previous experience of what was and was not successful in the past for the individual or group. Recognizing and identifying these elements improves an outsider’s cultural

Several factors affect the formation of one’s culture, Palispis, E. (2007) quoted Sir Edward Tylor, “Culture… refers to that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as member of society.” (Palispis, E., 2007) In this context culture is something we acquire from the people we have lived with since we were born, it is not something a person can learn overnight nor can be disposed effortlessly.

Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital has been extremely influential, and has garnered a great deal of literature, both theoretical and empirical. Like Marx, Bourdieu posited that capital was the foundation of social life and dictated people’s position within the social hierarchy (Bourdieu 1986). According to Bourdieu, the more capital one possesses, the more prestigious a position one occupies in social life (Bourdieu 1986). In addition to that, Bourdieu extended Marx’s idea of capital beyond the economic and into cultural symbolism (Bourdieu 1986). Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital that refers to the collection of symbolic elements (e.g. skills, tastes, clothing) one acquires through being part of a particular social niche and his concept of habitus that refers to the physical manifestation of cultural capital owned by individuals due to life experiences are his major influential concepts that are very useful in deconstructing power in development and social change processes. However it must be recognized that these concepts also propagate social inequalities at the same time. This essay will closely examine his concepts of capital that comes in three forms - embodied, objectified, and institutionalised, and habitus in the fields of education and stratification have made of it. Bourdieu’s work will be analysed in the context both of the debate on class inequalities in educational attainment and of class reproduction in advanced capitalist societies.

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.

Many scholars and journalists (e.g., Bergin & Bergin, 2015; Boaler & Staples, 2008; Lareau & Horvat, 1999; Lareau, 2002; Lewin, 2005) insisted that culture initiated and possessed by different groups of people influences schooling and learning of children in distinctive ways. This paper aims to investigate students? cultural capital from home influencing schooling and learning. Regarding Bourdieu?s (1986) culture capital, group of people has been creating and living within their own habitus embedding believe, culture, cultural materials and activities, norm, and so on. Framed by Bourdieu?s cultural capital states, this paper demonstrates three aspects of cultural capital including the embodied, the objectified, and the institutionalized states. Generated within our habitus, these three aspects create us differently regarding our beliefs, thoughts, behaviors, and interaction. I interviewed several colleagues and fellows and selected five interviewees whose data is synthesized and presented in the following sections. In addition, the interviewees? personal and educational background will briefly be presented. In a conclusion section, I specifically suggest parents to support their children? cultural capital. However,

Cultural capital is an idea that was used by Bordieu to contribute to his explanation of inequality in social settings (Zepke & Leach, 2007). It comprises the “norms, values and practices of a society” (Zepke & Leach, 2007, p.657). “Cultural capital includes cultural resources and activities that are expressed in the relationships between parents and children” (Tramonte & Willms, 2010, p.203). This results in cultural capital being different in different social settings. This can create inequality because of the difference in values, knowledge and skills that individuals can bring to a certain environment. One issue can be the conflict between teacher and student because of their cultural capital and can result in unequal educational outcomes because the cultural capital of others is valued higher than other students.

Cultural capital is the cultural aspects that give a person a higher status in society; this can be in the form of education, taste, knowledge, skills, etc. The cultural habits and dispositions inherited from family are an individual’s cultural capital; the education they receive and the culture they are brought up in provides them with cultural capital. Bourdieu maintained that cultural capital was an extremely important type of capital, and cultural capital was important capable of giving an individual a much higher status in society. Bourdieu argues that cultural capital exists in three forms; in its embodied state, which refers to the cultural capital that is inherited and developed over time, through socialisation and family upbringing. It is not transferable to others. Cultural capital also exists in its objectified state, which refers to material objects which are owned; cultural goods such as valuable heirlooms or works of art that provide cultural capital but can also be sold for economic profit. Cultural capital also exists in the form of institutionalized capital, which is defined as institutional recognition, which is often in the form of academic qualifications. This form of cultural capital also can be used for economic gain, as an individual with high institutionalized cultural capital is able to obtain better employment in the

Pierre Bourdieu is a French Theorist. Bourdieu’s theory is to emphasize constructivist structuralism and he was influenced by Karl Marx by cultural capital. Bourdieu presents the question of class. Bourdieu claimed that capital forms the foundation of social life. Bourdieu thinks the more capital a person have, the more powerful they will be, and Marx had the same view as well. Bourdieu went on to claim that it had something to do with the symbolic realm of culture. When Bourdieu brings culture into it he means the peoples attribute to the world, structured by inequality and culture structures of inequality, also states that is a big part of social inequality. Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital is skills, tastes, posture, clothing, mannerisms, material belongings, credentials, etc. You usually receive them through a social class. Bourdieu divides capital into three forms embodied, objectified, and institutionalized. He gives an example of embodied cultural capital, while a luxury car is an example of cultural capital in its objectified state. In its institutionalized state cultural capital would be credentials and qualifications (degrees or titles that shows cultural authority and acceptance.

Kenya has a vast and diverse population all encompassing a rich variety of cultures and subcultures. The Army defines culture as “the learned and shared behaviors and perceptions of a group which have been transmitted from generations to generations through a shared symbol system” (QuinStreet Inc.) Developing a country’s culture happens through many years of subcultures combining into a common belief system ultimately providing an overall culture of the country. The definition of subculture is “a group of people within a larger social structure who share cultural and linguistic characteristics which are different enough to distinguish it from others within the same society.” (QuinStreet Inc.) Kenyans have traveled from all over the world, each contributing to the way the country is today, some are good and some bad. Culture has many different characteristics that define the makeup of it in a region or country. Kenya’s location, history, people, politics, society and struggles have all contributed to this ever-changing culture and people of this nation.

Culture is the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively. Is it a good thing to become culturally enlightened? This is the topic that stood out to me in Alice Walker's “Everyday Use”. The world is as big as you make it, and everyone is a part of a culture involuntarily. Whether they have been taught one, or learned a new one. Multiculturalism can be seen in the oldest daughter’s role showing benefits to your family, connections that can be established, and personal health would be positively affected.

Globalisation is the process of interconnectedness and the integration of national and regional culture, economies, and society through the global network of communication, immigration, transportation and trade (Financial Times Lexicon, 2017). According to Reiche (2014), globalisation did not mean much in the past fifty years. It could be primarily focused on the trade and also foreign direct investment which are the economic side of the world but it has been expanded to a broader range which including media, culture, technology, trades and political factors nowadays. Although globalisation is considered as a wide range nowadays, it still can be classified as four main characteristics which are stretched social relations, intensification of flows, increasing interpenetration, and global infrastructure (Held, 2004). However, cultural imperialism has the most typical impacts on globalisation. This essay will define and explain cultural imperialism and its impact from the pessimistic globalist and transformationalist perspective.