The Importance Of Socialization In Education

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There are many structural equivalence models of how school context combined with class, race, gender, language, and ability status play a role in education access and opportunity. The way students perform in school can be identified by his/her engagement and attachment. Students can also be categorized by the type of student they may become the ideological feature of their racial and ethnic identities (Cater: 2005: 27). Being a female, first generation, Mexican-American, I have experienced many advantages and disadvantages in the educational system. As a result, human, cultural, and social capital has been imported in education, which is essential in student’s educational career.
To begin with, human capital has been imported in education, …show more content…

“Cultural capital maintains group identity and distinctive cultural boundaries” (Carter: 2005: 49). Being raised in Los Angeles Country, I have seen many of my friends and family struggle with the education system. I knew being a minority in this country it would be difficult to move up in the hierarchy if I did not display dominant cultural capital. Attending a low-income school where students do not feel attached or engage because they are labeled “dumb” for taking ELD (English Language Development) courses had an effect in most students. I took ELD courses up until my junior year in high school. Most of my friends tested out, so they would tease me for not testing out and receiving an “F” in the course. At the time, I reject the dominant culture for not accepting me as a Mexican-American. In fact, being in ELD courses made me feel less American. I still struggle with reading and writing both in English and Spanish because I am stuck in between two cultures. The way I socialized with my peers throughout my education journey was through the objectified cultural capital. I knew the trendy books, artwork, and music that were popular at the …show more content…

“Contemporary wisdom has it that “it is who you know” that matters in our society. Personal and social networks- whether of peers, family members, teachers or others… it has both educational and socioeconomic outcomes” (Cater: 2005: 137). Therefore, having immigrant parents that wanted to accept the dominant culture by sending my siblings and I to college was difficult. They wanted us to achieve the American dream of material success by having a multicultural navigator to guide my siblings and me. They had little education, so they did not know any Mexicans with a college degree. Until I begin my first semester at Citrus College that is when I met professors that had identical experiences as I did. I become an active club member of one of the clubs that was offered that is when I began to network with students and faculty. In fact, the faculty from Citrus College helped me apply to CSUF and other universities.
Human, cultural, cultural, and social capital has been imported in education, which is essential in student’s educational career. Wyla Tucker, an honor student with the highest self-reported grade point average, “ did not feel that either her low-income background or race would hamper her… ‘No matter where you come from just represent yourself… not where you came from.’” (Cater: 2005:

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