How are social class identities created and reinforced?

• What is cultural capital according to Bourdieu?


  Knowledge, tastes, norms, values, and skills that provide advantages in life
• How is cultural capital associated with social classes?


  It is associated with the preferences of the middle classes
• How do middle-class families influence cultural capital?


  They pass down cultural capital to their children
• What does Bourdieu argue about the education system?


  It is biased in favor of middle-class culture
• What advantages do middle-class children have when they come to school?

  They are equipped with cultural capital that aligns with the school's ethos
• What elements comprise the cultural capital that middle-class children possess?


  Values, norms, experiences, linguistic skills, and forms of knowledge
• What is the origin of cultural capital for middle-class children?


  It is a product of their home environment and upbringing
• What does Bourdieu mean by middle-class children having 'the key to unlock the messages transmitted in the classroom'?


  They understand the cultural codes and messages of the educational system
• What do working-class children experience in terms of cultural capital?


  They experience a cultural deficit
• What must working-class children do to succeed in the education system?

  They must rapidly acquire skills associated with cultural capital
• According to Reay (1998), how can family promote class identity?


  By passing on cultural and economic capital to children
• How do middle-class mothers influence their children's primary schooling compared to working-class mothers?


  They have more cultural and social capital
• What factors limited working-class mothers' ability to influence their children's education according to Reay's research?


  They had less time due to housework, childcare, and paid employment
• What crucial factors did working-class mothers lack that affected their involvement in their children's education?


  Confidence and understanding of the school system
• What term did Paul Willis use to describe the working-class boys in his study?


  The "lads"
• How did the "lads" perceive their school experience?


  They saw themselves as school failures but turned it into a positive
• How did the "lads" treat the "ear-oles" in school?


  They disliked and bullied them for being weak and not "macho"
• What future employment did the "lads" anticipate after leaving school?


  Jobs at the local factory where their fathers worked
• What was the "lads'" attitude towards the necessity of school?


  They didn’t see school as necessary
• What did Willis find in his follow-up study of the "lads" in the factory?


  They did not share their school's value on education