Original scientific paper
Habitus, Cultural Capital and Sociological Foundation for Intercultural Education
Saša Puzić
orcid.org/0000-0001-7231-7312
; Institute for Social Research in Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
This work supports the hypothesis that the “wholeness” of intercultural education can only be ensured if cultural (less prejudice against “the other and different”) and structural aspects (educational, political and socioeconomic division) are closely related. In that sense, the two superior goals of intercultural education, one structural (equal chances for the minority students) and the other cultural (preparing all students for the multicultural society), cannot be examined separately. The author uses Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and cultural capital to explain the theory of closely related structural and cultural aspect of intercultural education. Bourdieu's theory of habitus as incorporated social structure is pointed out, namely the fact that ethno national identity is built on incorporated ethnic division in the society. On the other hand, the minority status which is the result of ethno cultural division of the society, presents the unacknowledged cultural capital and the school is a “symbolic market” where minority students show somewhat weaker education results. It is only possible to break this vicious circle by combining two strategies: one, which ensures equal chances and makes teachers aware of the specific position of their minority students and the other which, while acknowledging the equal value of minority identity, examines the symbolic structure of the existing majority/minority division.
Keywords
intercultural education; Bourdieu; cultural capital; habitus; culture; structure; ethnic division
Hrčak ID:
48977
URI
Publication date:
15.3.2010.
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