Wednesday 24 November 2010
AS LITERATURE - hwk/strike
Well, it looks as though the strike is going ahead, which means I won't see you until Monday. Remember that I have asked you to find out as much as you can about the word GRIOT, and then to have a think about Iweala's use of it as a name in Beasts... I'm sure you have plenty to do to make sure your 1st draft is ready for Norman on Friday. And remember that if you haven't done the student survey yet, you need to - click here.
AS & A2 COMMUNICATION & CULTURE: Cultural capital
Cultural capital is an important idea at A2 - but it also fits in with Socialisation, which we cover at AS. The following is the best explanation of it that I have found. It is taken from William Bowles' website (http://www.williambowles.info/mimo/refs/tece1ef.htm):
'Children, are not simply socialised into the "values of society as a whole". Rather, they are socialised into the culture that corresponds to their class and, in Bourdieu's terms, this set of cultural experiences, values beliefs and so forth represents a form of "Cultural Capital". That is, a set of values, beliefs, norms, attitudes, experiences and so forth that equip people for their life in society.
The term cultural capital is used because, like money, our cultural inheritance can be translated into social resources (things like wealth, power and status) and the cultural capital we accumulate from birth can be "spent" in the education system as we try to achieve things that are considered to be culturally important (mainly educational qualifications for the majority of children - but status can also be considered here when we think about the way the rich can educate their children privately at high status schools such as Eton and so forth).
Not all classes start with the same kind or level of cultural capital of course. Children socialised into the dominant culture will have a big advantage over children not socialised into this culture because schools attempt to reproduce a general set of dominant cultural values and ideas.
We can imagine this idea in terms of the education system being a shop where we spend our cultural capital on qualifications:
The Upper class child has a large amount of currency that is recognised by the shopkeeper as valid coinage - they can accordingly buy many things.
The working class child has a devalued currency (in the eyes of the shopkeeper). They can buy things, but not as much or of as high a quality.
Perhaps a better analogy might be if you think about culture in terms of language.
Imagine three people (one French, one German and one English) going into a shop in France (the "dominant culture", in this respect, would be French).
The French person can speak the language.
The German knows some French (enough to get by).
The English person knows no French.
Each of the above has a stock of cultural capital (in this analogy, their knowledge of languages) which they then proceed to spend by trying to buy things:
The French person does this quickly and efficiently - the shopkeeper (i.e. teachers in an educational system) understands this person perfectly.
The German takes longer to express him / herself and may not be able to buy everything they want. The shopkeeper has a problem understanding but with a bit of time and patience business is transacted amicably.
The English person - after much shouting, pointing and general gesticulation - succeeds in buying some basic things (or leaves the shop without being able to buy anything because the shopkeeper could not understand). For the shopkeeper, this customer is difficult to serve because they do not "speak the same language". It's not impossible for the shopkeeper to understand, but it takes a great deal of time, effort, co-operation and patience for this to happen.
In class terms, therefore:
The French person is equivalent to the Upper class child.
The German person is equivalent to the Middle class child.
The English person is equivalent to the Working class child.
In cultural terms, each of the above can speak a language, but some are more successful than others in making themselves understood. In educational terms, the ability to "speak the language" of the educational system, teachers and so forth produces big advantages.
Thus, children who have been socialised into dominant cultural values appear to the teacher to be "more gifted" - just as to a French shopkeeper the French person would appear to be "more gifted" or fluent than the English woman. In this sense, therefore, the education system itself may appear to be "neutral" or "meritocratic".
Everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed, just everyone has an equal opportunity to buy something. However, it is only meritocratic in relation to a pupil's ability to fit-in with the dominant cultural values perpetuated through the school system.'
'Children, are not simply socialised into the "values of society as a whole". Rather, they are socialised into the culture that corresponds to their class and, in Bourdieu's terms, this set of cultural experiences, values beliefs and so forth represents a form of "Cultural Capital". That is, a set of values, beliefs, norms, attitudes, experiences and so forth that equip people for their life in society.
The term cultural capital is used because, like money, our cultural inheritance can be translated into social resources (things like wealth, power and status) and the cultural capital we accumulate from birth can be "spent" in the education system as we try to achieve things that are considered to be culturally important (mainly educational qualifications for the majority of children - but status can also be considered here when we think about the way the rich can educate their children privately at high status schools such as Eton and so forth).
Not all classes start with the same kind or level of cultural capital of course. Children socialised into the dominant culture will have a big advantage over children not socialised into this culture because schools attempt to reproduce a general set of dominant cultural values and ideas.
We can imagine this idea in terms of the education system being a shop where we spend our cultural capital on qualifications:
The Upper class child has a large amount of currency that is recognised by the shopkeeper as valid coinage - they can accordingly buy many things.
The working class child has a devalued currency (in the eyes of the shopkeeper). They can buy things, but not as much or of as high a quality.
Perhaps a better analogy might be if you think about culture in terms of language.
Imagine three people (one French, one German and one English) going into a shop in France (the "dominant culture", in this respect, would be French).
The French person can speak the language.
The German knows some French (enough to get by).
The English person knows no French.
Each of the above has a stock of cultural capital (in this analogy, their knowledge of languages) which they then proceed to spend by trying to buy things:
The French person does this quickly and efficiently - the shopkeeper (i.e. teachers in an educational system) understands this person perfectly.
The German takes longer to express him / herself and may not be able to buy everything they want. The shopkeeper has a problem understanding but with a bit of time and patience business is transacted amicably.
The English person - after much shouting, pointing and general gesticulation - succeeds in buying some basic things (or leaves the shop without being able to buy anything because the shopkeeper could not understand). For the shopkeeper, this customer is difficult to serve because they do not "speak the same language". It's not impossible for the shopkeeper to understand, but it takes a great deal of time, effort, co-operation and patience for this to happen.
In class terms, therefore:
The French person is equivalent to the Upper class child.
The German person is equivalent to the Middle class child.
The English person is equivalent to the Working class child.
In cultural terms, each of the above can speak a language, but some are more successful than others in making themselves understood. In educational terms, the ability to "speak the language" of the educational system, teachers and so forth produces big advantages.
Thus, children who have been socialised into dominant cultural values appear to the teacher to be "more gifted" - just as to a French shopkeeper the French person would appear to be "more gifted" or fluent than the English woman. In this sense, therefore, the education system itself may appear to be "neutral" or "meritocratic".
Everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed, just everyone has an equal opportunity to buy something. However, it is only meritocratic in relation to a pupil's ability to fit-in with the dominant cultural values perpetuated through the school system.'
Wednesday 17 November 2010
A2 COMMS & CULTURE - Objects of Desire hwk & extension work
For homework I'd like you to listen to 3 clips from the BBC World Service on how products are sold. The links are here to make it easy for you. One clip is about product, one is about audience and one is about style. If you want to go further, then I recommend listening to the programmes about the psychology of consumerism around the world so that you gain a more global view...
Tuesday 16 November 2010
A2 LITERATURE - Playing Wagner
Here an actor explains both the role of Wagner in Dr Faustus, and how he goes about playing him.
AS LITERATURE - Student Survey Autumn 2010
Please let us know how you feel AS Literature is going so far by taking part in our student survey - you can find it by clicking here. It takes less than 10 minutes to do - thanks!
A2 COMMS & CULTURE - The changing design of mobile phones
We've come a long way since this classic phone from 1983:
Can you believe that this is what (a relatively few) people used to carry around with them?! Take a look at how the design of mobile phones has evolved over time by visiting this webpage. What do you notice about the changes which have taken place?
Can you believe that this is what (a relatively few) people used to carry around with them?! Take a look at how the design of mobile phones has evolved over time by visiting this webpage. What do you notice about the changes which have taken place?
Tuesday 9 November 2010
A2 COMMS & CULTURE: Student Survey
What do you think of A2 Comms & Culture so far? Has it been what you were expecting? Please take your opportunity to have a say by taking a quick online survey by clicking here. It will only take 5-10 minutes... Thanks!
AS COMMS & CULTURE: Student Survey
We want to know how you think AS Comms is going so far. Please click here to take part in the Student Survey - it should take no longer than 10 minutes to do it & it's your chance to have your say!
Monday 8 November 2010
AS LITERATURE - Iweala reads from Chapter 2
If you follow this link, you can hear Iweala read from the beginning of Chapter 2 of Beasts of No Nation...
Friday 5 November 2010
AS COMMS & CULTURE - The meanings of the hijab
As some of you continue to reflect about the meanings encoded by and associated with different items of clothing, it might be interesting to read this article from the BBC website about the hijab. (I hope the coursework is going well.)
A2 COMMS & CULTURE: Cultural imperialism
Here's another good programme from 'The History of Ideas' - this time about cultural imperialism. It's definitely worth listening to as we start to wrap up Post Colonialism...
A2 LITERATURE - What does 'hell' mean to you?
As we get going with Dr Faustus, I'd like you to reflect on what your understanding of hell is. Do you believe in it? If you do, what is it like? It would be interesting to compare your interpretation of hell with the way it has been viewed through the centuries, which you can find out about here ...
Wednesday 3 November 2010
A2 COMMS & CULTURE - JAY Z
You might be interested to hear the radio interview that Jay Z gave on Radio 4 today - you can listen to it here. Jay Z is one of the co-producers of Fela! - the musical that I am hoping we will be running a trip to see. Remember that you need to have paid by the end of next Tuesday if you want to come...
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