Ethnographies of Student Rights Education and Cultural Capital in Schools from Different Socio-Economic Classes in Israel

Author(s):

Avihu Shoshana(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2017

Network:

19. Ethnography

Format:

Paper

Session Information

19 SES 10 A, Young People, Voice and Resistance in Schools

Paper Session

Time:

2017-08-24

15:30-17:00

Room:

K4.12

Chair:

Juana M. Sancho-Gil

Contribution

This article, which is based on ethnographies in two schools from different socio-economic classes in Israel, examines three main issues: Do schools relate to issues of human rights and student rights, and if so, how? How does this correspond with the existing findings on the link between education and class? How does this influence the role of the school in maintaining educational (in)equality? For a theoretical understanding of these issues, two main frameworks will be utilized: cultural capital, education, and inequality; and the study of human rights education. The empirical examinations of the study issues are based on comparisons of ethnographies of educational incidents that took place simultaneously in both schools (student protests over installing surveillance cameras).

Several researchers have revealed in recent years how socialization disparities in various classes contribute to educational stratification, not only via cognitive-academic skills, but also by cultivating social and behavioral skills and "soft" skills (Jennings and DiPrete 2010). These skills are actually described as cultural capital affiliated not only with academic achievements, but also occupational achievements. They are viewed as markers of high status that give the gate keepers a message of cultural similarity or being "one of us" (Kaufman and Gabler 2004), and which are critical to obtaining senior employment positions (Rivera 2015).

In an innovative study about parenting styles, class, and everyday life, Anette Lareau (2003) explains, for instance, how children from the middle and upper class acquire ease in communication with authority figures. They feel comfortable asking for more help from their teachers and other areas (Calarco 2014) and in fact use them to their benefit.

Current ethnographies in elite schools (Demerath 2009; Khan 2011) also illustrate how cultural capital is specifically obtained, for instance through having the students practice a sense of ease (including the message that cultural hierarchies are "natural"); establishing a distinction regarding their unusual subjectivities; trying to imagine a privileged (academic and professional) future or colonizing the future; massive use of psychological discourse and capital, which encourages the students to have a preference for solipsism over structural attributes; and popular use of recognition technologies ("student of the month," "stellar student"), which in turn promote meritocratic discourse.

On the other hand, contemporary studies reveal that children from a low socio-economic class express respect and distance from authority figures. Against this backdrop, they avoid asking for help and use a "logic of appeasement" (Calarco 2014). Other studies also report that teachers apply less practices of choice and negotiation towards them, and employ authoritative discipline. These practices operate as a "hidden curriculum" (Anyon 1980), which builds an obedient subjectivity, which in turn makes it difficult to achieve rewards in elite arenas in the future.

These findings should disturb anyone who is engaged in the study of inequality, especially considering the connection between non-academic skills and academic achievements (Jennings and Diprete 2010). Considering these findings and the findings about the importance of being aware of rights and practicing them, and the differences in human rights experiences and their breach by students of various ethnic groups (Morrill et al. 2010), my study suggests viewing human rights education as cultural capital that has the (transformational) potential to maintain or undermine inequality.

Method

The findings of the study are based on ethnographies in two high schools from different socio-economic classes in Israel from September 2013 to September 2015. The observations took place in different classrooms, various lessons, teacher meetings, annual field trips, parent days, the schoolyard, and more. A particularly meticulous comparison was done on an educational incident that took place in both schools at the same time. The occurrence was connected to the installation of surveillance cameras in the schools. For this purpose, observations were executed that were affiliated with this incident, like interactions between teachers and students; parent participation, and student meetings on the matter. Likewise, in-depth interviews were conducted with the students, teachers, administrators, and parents. Over the course of January 2015 there was a commotion in both schools over surveillance cameras that were installed all over the school grounds. Just as the dynamics in the two schools are different, as is the handling of student resistance, the event that started the tumult in each school was also completely different. In the low socio-economic class school, the teachers suppressed the student protest by explaining that the law permitted installation of cameras (which is incorrect); increasing disciplinary measures and detentions; and even calling the police when several students fought with each other. The students in the high socio-economic class school also reacted with open and fierce protest, but their conduct and the response of the school administration was completely different. The students involved their parents immediately. The parents in turn passed information between themselves via the class WhatsApp application and reached a decision that several parents should challenge the principal. The parents clarified to the school principal that the cameras impair their children's privacy, that they teach obedience, and that the education of their children requires "softer" or "more sophisticated educational methods". They demanded that the school principal immediately cancel the installation of the cameras. In exchange, they suggested holding a "mock trial" in the school in the upcoming weeks, whose focus would be the issue of being for or against cameras in the school. The parents suggested that the trial would be facilitated by two parents who are lawyers, as well as a parent who is an academic lecturer on the philosophy of ethics. The cameras were removed the same day, and the event suggested by the parents indeed took place about two weeks later.

Expected Outcomes

The ethnographic comparison of two schools from different socio-economic classes illustrates the frequent discussion of student rights in the high socio-economic class school, and its complete absence in the low socio-economic class school. This is a practice of distinction in Bourdieu's (1984) terms, especially because of the construction of the high socio-economic students as "special" and requiring more "developed" educational means than a surveillance camera. I therefore suggest viewing the exposure of the high socio-economic class students to human rights, and their practicing using their rights, as cultural capital that can be redeemed in the future as economic capital and symbolic capital, thereafter improving their future life success opportunities even further. The lack of developing an awareness of rights, active practice in using rights, and the emotionally empowering experience of achieving rights maintains the disadvantaged position of the low socio-economic class students, who could have benefited from human rights education. I would like to emphasize an additional element, which is affiliated with awareness of rights, and even more so with struggles whose result is success or victory. The findings demonstrate how students from the high socio-economic class school, described important socio-psychological dynamics. These students felt a sense of satisfaction, felt that they won over the oppressive structure, that they used the system in their favor, and most importantly they felt worthy, like subjects that deserve different treatment than what the school administration offered them. Human rights education may assist low socio-economic class students in translating the structural restrictions that they experience into support and assistance that can perhaps make their lives a bit easier. I believe that awareness of rights – as well as critical awareness – can be just as therapeutic as personal empowerment seminars or a weekly visit to a psychologist or school advisor.

References

Almog, S., and Perry-Hazan, L. 2011. The Ability to Claim and the Opportunity to Imagine: Rights Consciousness and the Education of Ultra-Orthodox Girls. Journal of Law and Education 40: 273-303. Anyon, J. 1980. Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work. Journal of Education 162(1): 67-72. Bourdieu, P. 1984. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Calarco, J. 2014. The Inconsistent Curriculum: Cultural Tool Kits and Student Interpretations of Ambiguous Expectations. Social Psychology Quarterly 77(2): 185-209. Demerath, P. 2009. Producing Success. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Felstiner, W. L. F., Abel, R. L., & Sarat, A. 1980-1981. The Emergence and Transformation of Disputes. Law and Society Review 15: 631-654 Jennings, J. L., and DiPrete, T. A. 2010. Teacher Effects on Cultural Capital Development in Elementary School. Sociology of Education 83: 135–159. Kaufman, J., and Gabler, J. 2004. Cultural Capital and the Extracurricular Activities of Boys and Girls in the College Attainment Process. Poetics 32: 145–168. Khan, S. 2011. Privilege: The Making of an adolescent elite at St. Paul's school. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Lareau, A. 2003. Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life. Berkeley: University of California Press. Morrill, C., Tyson, K., Edelman, L. B., Arum, R. 2010. Legal Mobilization in Schools: The Paradox of Rights and Race among Youth. Law & Society Review, 44(3‐4): 651-694.‏ Rivera, L. 2015. Pedigree: How Elite Students Get Elite Jobs. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Author Information

Avihu Shoshana (presenting / submitting)

University of Haifa

Education

Haifa

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