The Cultural Capital and Success in School

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Recommended: Social class and society

Every society has different ways in which they function and rank the individuals who are within that system. Historically these are based on birth (for an example the Chiefly system in Samoa, Monarch system in England). In New Zealand people are ranked according to their income like the other economically developed nations, which is known as the Capitalist Economic System. Poverty directly impacts on the economic status of an individual. The Socio Economic Class is a crucial concept to understand how the socioeconomic status can impact on the education achievement of a student. This essay focuses on the issues that are relating to Socioeconomic Class in the current New Zealand education system.

The Socio Economic Class (SEC) divides the individuals within the society intro groups depending on the capital, wealth they possess, and their access to resources. Snook and O’Neill (2010, p.4) specifies that social class “…denotes a group of people who share a common economic situation within the relations of capital production and whose group interests conflict with those of other groups.” The Socio-economic Status describes the “… patterned unequal distribution of opportunities, advantages, resources and power among subgroups of a given population” (p.4). The SEC theory in relation to education explains the capital you have or you do not have, and how it affects a student’s success at school.

The poverty within family not only impacts on the living conditions within that family, but also on a child’s education. For example children with inadequate capital backgrounds are likely to get absent from school with transient living, poor health and living conditions.

They are unable to fulfil costs for school stationary, uniforms, afford...

... middle of paper ...

...nt is making policies and implementing them on the education system to address the current Socio Economic Class issues. Schools and teachers also take efforts to make better study environments and improve student achievement. However addressing current issues relating to socio economic class is not simple as it seems. It is a complex and a long-term process that require optimistic solutions and persistent efforts from all students, families, entire education staff and the Government to improve the New Zealand education system.

Works Cited

Bishop, R., et al., Te Kotahitanga: Addressing educational disparities facing Maori students in New Zealand, Teaching and Teacher Education (2009), doi:10.1016/j.tate.2009.01.009

Snook, T. & O’Neill, J. (2010). Social class and educational achievement: Beyond ideology. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 45(2), 3-18.

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