class identity

• Habitus = the dispositions, ways of thinking and preferences of a particular social class (a bit like culture
• Bourdieu argues the middle class has the power to define its habitus as superior and impose it on the education system. As a result, the school puts a higher value on middle class tastes, preferences etc… (linked to Cultural Capital).
• •MC get given ‘symbolic capital’ (worth/value) in school and are praised for their tastes and interests.-
• Symbolic Violence (aka metaphorically ‘hurt/damaged’) – WC tastes and lifestyles are looked down on by the school and teachers as inferior.•Because of the WC/MC habitus clash, education may feel alien and unnatural to WC students.
• •Archer – for WC to achieve they have to ‘lose themselves’ e.g. change way they talk/dress, leading to feeling alienated from MC spaces such as university and professional jobs.
• ARCHER - ‘Nike’ Identities


  •Many WC pupils were aware that society looked down on them, but they created their own identities and sense of status by investing heavily in ‘styles’ (clothing & looks e.g. trainers, branded clothing such as Nike wear)•These were policed by peer groups – the right styles gave students symbolic capital, approval from peers, safety from bullying, while the wrong ones were ‘social suicide’•These styles though, conflict with school dress code, which represents MC habitus – teachers oppose ‘street’ styles, which could lead to labelling.
• ARCHER - ‘Nike’ Identities

  •Higher Education was therefore seen by some WC pupils as unrealistic (unaffordable, not for the likes of us) and undesirable (would not suit their lifestyle – struggling for money to form their styles)These identities (and clash with school habitus) cause educational marginalisation, WC choose self-exclusion from education. Not only do they ‘get the message’ that education is not for the likes of them, they actively choose to reject it as it does not fit in with their identity
• Ingram - Working-class identity & educational success

  Two similar sets of students in Belfast: some went to grammar school, some went to local secondary school.

  Those that went to MC grammar found it extremely hard to fit in, as clash of WC / MC habitus.
• Class identity & Self-exclusion


  •EVANS (2009) – Students at comprehensive schools reluctant to apply to Oxbridge / Russell Group universities.•BORDIEU (1984) – Oxbridge not for the likes of us. ‘What opportunities are really available for us? And will I fit it?’ They exclude themselves from applying.•EVANS – WC students have strong affinities to their local communities (MC more transient & individualist), and less likely to move away from home to study. Limits their success.