A change of habitus: Working-class students and educational success
(2004) A change of habitus: Working-class students and educational success. In Bailey, C. and Cabrera, D. and Buys, L., Eds. Proceedings Social Change in the 21st Century Conference; Centre for Social Change Research.
Full text available as: |
Abstract
For students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, the cultures of secondary schools can be alienating and the schooling experience can be traumatic in various ways. For such students to complete senior secondary school and enter university can be considered quite a remarkable success. As the coordinator of a university access program targeting low socio-economic students, I wanted to find out from those who had made a successful transition to university how they dealt with their high school environments. This paper summarises some of the research done with a group of students participating in the access program and takes some of their comments to exemplify their common experiences. Through their anecdotes and insights, a pattern or trajectory emerged which has relevance for discussions of the deterministic nature of habitus. This paper is intended to illustrate the possibility that individual habitus can change through conscious effort but that change may come at a high price.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper |
|---|---|
| Status: | Published |
| Subjects: | 370000 Studies in Human Society > 370100 Sociology > 370107 Social Change 330000 Education > 330100 Education Studies > 330103 Sociology of Education |
| ID Code: | 648 |
| Deposited By: | Callan, Paula |
| Deposited On: | 21 December 2004 |
| Copyright Owner: | Copyright 2004 Derek C. Bland |
| Additional Information: | Winner for Best Paper by an Emerging Researcher 2004 |