Pupil identities and the school

• Archer et al:

  • interaction between w/c pupils' identities and school, and how this reproduces underachievement
• Bourdieu - Habitus:

  • 'dispositions' or learned, taken-for-granted ways of thinking, being and acting that are shared by a particular social class.
  • A groups habitus is formed as a response to its position in the class structure.
• Bourdieu:

  • withholding of symbolic capital 'symbolic violence' - reproduces class structure and keeps the lower class in 'their place'
• Archer:

  • w/c pupils felt that to be educationally successful, they would have to change the way they talked and present themselves.
• Archer et al:

  • w/c pupils' investment in 'Nike' identities is not only a cause of their educational marginalization by the school; it also expresses their positive preference for a particular lifestyle.
  • schools m/c habitus stigmatises w/c pupils' identities
• Ingram:

  • having a w/c identity was inseparable from belonging to a w/c locality.
  • Archer: street culture and branded sportswear were a key part of the boys' habitus and sense of identity
  • w/c communities place great emphasis on conformity
• Evans:

  • studied a group of 21 w/c girls from a south London comp studying for their A-Levels
  • they were reluctant to apply to elite universities and the few who did apply felt a sense of hidden barriers and of not fitting in.
• Bourdieu:

  • many w/c people think of elite universities as being 'not for the likes of us'
• Evans:

  • girls had a strong attachment to their locality
• Reay et al:

  • self-exclusion from elite or distant universities narrows the options for many w/c pupils and limits their success.
• Dunne and Gazeley:

  • an internal factor actually produce underachievement
• Gillborn and Youdell:

  • is it the external factor that drives the A-to-C economy and results in labelling and streaming within schools.