Sociology / Unit 8 Soc 1371 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Conflict Theory on Education: Cultural Capital
Captions available
The idea
Conflict theorists argue schools reproduce inequality, and Bourdieu's cultural capital names the culturally specific knowledge easing a student's path through a system built around the dominant class's norms.
In practice
A test item assuming familiarity with orchestral instruments rewards students whose backgrounds included exposure to that music, whatever their general aptitude.
Where people slip
The claim concerns which knowledge a system rewards, not any student's underlying capability.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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