The Relevance of Bourdieu’s Theory Round Economic, Social and Cultural Capital to the Unequal Educational Situation in South Africa
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The Relevance of Bourdieu’s Theory Round Economic, Social and Cultural Capital to the Unequal Educational Situation in South Africa
The education system of South Africa is stained with inequality between the rich and poor (van der Berg, 2011: 3). This ultimately leads to unequal educational outcomes and thus reproduces inequality in the South African society. But are students from poor communities reject the value of education? In other words, can Bourdieu’s theory about economic, social and cultural capital be applied to the education system in South Africa? This essay aims to demonstrate that Bourdieu’s theory under consideration can in fact not be used to explain the educational situation in South Africa.
Unequal Educational Outcomes in South Africa
A lot of the inequalities in education system today stem from Apartheid (De Lannoy, 2007: 9). In this political system, it was race that largely determined the quality of one’s education and thus one’s educational outcome (Bray et. al., 2010: 170). The apartheid government spent much more money on white pupils than on non-whites pupils (Bray et. al., 2010: 170). Therefore, white children had a much higher quality of education than other races as their schools were well-resourced and had competent teachers and thus, white children had a high educational better labour market prospects. In the same breath, non-whites attended poor quality schools equipped with poor resources and incompetent teachers, and thus, their labour market prospects were much worse. Black students suffered the most under this system as the government spent the least amount of money on them. This resulted in “unequal distribution of skills and qualifications” (Bray et. al., 2010, 170) favouring whites which served as an instrument to perpetuate the racialized class system. In 1994, the newly elected government deracialized the education system and since then targeted public spending to underprivileged children (van de Berg, 2011: 1)....
The education system of South Africa is stained with inequality between the rich and poor (van der Berg, 2011: 3). This ultimately leads to unequal educational outcomes and thus reproduces inequality in the South African society. But are students from poor communities reject the value of education? In other words, can Bourdieu’s theory about economic, social and cultural capital be applied to the education system in South Africa? This essay aims to demonstrate that Bourdieu’s theory under consideration can in fact not be used to explain the educational situation in South Africa.
Unequal Educational Outcomes in South Africa
A lot of the inequalities in education system today stem from Apartheid (De Lannoy, 2007: 9). In this political system, it was race that largely determined the quality of one’s education and thus one’s educational outcome (Bray et. al., 2010: 170). The apartheid government spent much more money on white pupils than on non-whites pupils (Bray et. al., 2010: 170). Therefore, white children had a much higher quality of education than other races as their schools were well-resourced and had competent teachers and thus, white children had a high educational better labour market prospects. In the same breath, non-whites attended poor quality schools equipped with poor resources and incompetent teachers, and thus, their labour market prospects were much worse. Black students suffered the most under this system as the government spent the least amount of money on them. This resulted in “unequal distribution of skills and qualifications” (Bray et. al., 2010, 170) favouring whites which served as an instrument to perpetuate the racialized class system. In 1994, the newly elected government deracialized the education system and since then targeted public spending to underprivileged children (van de Berg, 2011: 1)....