education and culture

Education and CultureRokeya Akhter

Ph D Research Fellow, Department of Sociology, Dhaka University; 22 December 2012

05/03/2023Education and Culture

2Background and Objective of the Paper

• Worldwide young people are now given special focus for developing a stronger generation and capitalize for better future.

• In Bangladesh the total size of the adolescent population is around 29 million which is about 20% of the total population (143 million).

• Among them the percentage of secondary school going students is 25.5% (around 7.4 million), (http://www.banbeis.gov.bd/trend_analysis1.htm).

• For secondary level there are major three education systems being operated by Government Education Boards , and in metropolitan cities there is English Medium Schools run for International Education Exams O Levels and A Levels.

• This paper is extracted from the thesis that studied, how schooling in different education system reproduces culture capital, language competence and class fractions in Bangladesh. The study shades the most popular concepts of Education and Culture of contemporary French Sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu.

http://www.banbeis.gov.bd/trend_analysis1.htm


3

Conceptual Framework

• Habitus and Pedagogic Action

• Cultural Capital and Pedagogic Communication

Cultural Capital

• Habitus , Cultural Practice and Linguistic Competence

Cultural Distinction • Symbolic Capital

• Educational Capital• Social Space• Cultural Practices

Class Fractions


4Habitus and Pedagogic Action: Pure Reason and Pure Action

bodily dispositions; the results of their organized actions and what they are practicing by social interaction in an environment.


5Pedagogic Action and Legitimate Culture

Pedagogic Action reproduces the cultural arbitrary of the dominated or of the dominant classes. Any social formation understood as a system of power, relations and sense relations between groups or classes. So dominant system of education tends to secure a monopoly of legitimate symbolic violence. The indicators of Pedagogic Action beside determinants of legitimate culture addressed in different education system. For example speaking in Bangla though mother tongue is discouraged in International schools; or In Madrasa cultural activities are prohibited if students play football must be in trousers!

Ensure Quality of Education

Co curricular Program

Multi Cultural Environment

• Teachers’ Qualification and Training

• Teaching Resources, Labs• Teacher student ratio• Special care for the weak• Discipline• Competitions• National Days• Interschool tournaments• Cultural clubs• Scouting• Exchange program (study

tour)• International Olympiads


6Family Culture and Choice of Education System

Accumulation of cultural capital by Social Groups

Struggles for recognition are a fundamental dimension of social life and for that human being stake in them the accumulation of a particular forms of capital. Interestingly one form of capital can be converted to another form of capital. For example father’s occupation gives economic and symbolic capital and inheriting those one posses cultural capital from the family and continues to accumulate more from institutions (schools selected by family culture) and also through social relationships. So it shapes three major social groups with cultural capital accumulation in three major education systems in metropolitan cities.

• Spiritual image• Religious values

Madrasa Education

• Nationalism• Public Service• Aesthetic Culture

NCTB Education

• Elite (political and Economic) Culture

• Westernization

International Education


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Linguistic Market and Linguistic Capital; Grenfell on Bourdieu 1979, conditions of linguistic market differs among the three social groups of the study so the

systems of distinction in articulation style of language, the slides 8 , 9 &10 will describe the comparative analysis of language competence based on this flow chart


8Linguistic Credentials by Education Systems

Marks Distribution by Language Subjects and as medium of education

Bangla English Arabic Other Language

Other subjects

NCTB 200 200 100 600 in Bangla

Madrasa 70+30 70+30 500 Farsi 400 in Bangla

International

100 100 3rd Language(French/ Spanish/ German)

600/700 in English


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Objectified Cultural Capital: Structuring Structures of Individual Choice through Social (Peer Group) Interactions

Music: NCTB/ InternationalPop Culture; Opa Gangnam StyleEnglish RockRemix: Bangla, English or Hindi

Literature: Fantasy /ditective/ Young adult RomanceMd Jafar Iqbal, Humayun Ahmed

NCTB

InternationalNicholas Sparks, J K Rowling, Rick Riordan, Sidney Sheldon

Entertainment: Drama House Full

NCTB/ Madrassa

InternationalSitcom; Big Bang Theory


10Language Competence and Distinction by Articulation Style

English Bangla Arabic

NCTB • Lacks expression in communication

• Lacks Vocabulary and accent

• Good in Legitimate Language

• Communicates in remix form,

Madrasa • Poor in spelling, vocabulary and Grammar

• Lacks listening and spoken form

• Poor in Legitimate language

• Quite different pronunciation

• Recite and refer the holy Quran in Daily issues

International School

• Accent, affluence, power of vocabulary in communication and articulation in expression makes a difference

• Tricky expressions in texting or chat like,

• LOL- Laugh out Loud• Ikr- I know right• Rotf- Roll on the floor• Wth- what the hell

• Very weak in Legitimate Language and also lacks vocabulary and meaning

• Remix form of pronunciation (like chewing or twisting tongue)

• Misrecognition of mistakes in the use of verb and tense in communication


11Cultural fractions in the same classroom

Conservative• Not allowed to go out with friends without parents• Gossips with simple issues of other friends or anybody• Not interested in reading non academic books; Not affluent in

English.• Very little access to Social Networks; facebook, twitter etc.

Intellectual• Teachers’ dear students• Gossips about celebrity not school friends.• Often allowed to go out particular restaurants with friends

under parents’ observation• Social network is very strong in Facebook, Twitter, and chat

about memes, enjoys pop culture

Popular/ Ultra Modern• Stylish: hair style, nails, accessories etc. everybody envy them• Have freedom to go anywhere they like, do anything they

want, Parents don’t mind• Gossips about Lounge café, dance DJ, Drinks and smoking• Facebook, twitter, memes, lives with pop culture

Through the trend of cultural practices and accumulation of multiple forms of capital as evolves cultural distinction also increases distance between different social groups (fields as per Bourdieu). In this research findings in an International school there may be different groups form in the same education system. For instance the example beside shows the intellectual group having merits in academic credentials, envy the popular group who have access to anything they wish to have, though they are not outstanding but popular in the whole school since they are stylish (because they have juniors and seniors who goes to same lounges, party, shopping and their families are also connected anyways). This situation may be representing Bourdieu’s cultural fractions.


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Bar Scene; Distinguished Youth Culture in Dhaka (Though this culture began in posh areas like Gulshan, Banani 4 star hotels and restaurants the few semi lounges with fast food and Shisha are growing up in the places where teachers offers coaching for SSC, HSC, O Levels and also near the private universities in Uttara, Shatmasjid Road and Mohammedpur).

Shisha lounge (also called a shisha bar or hookah lounge) is a new trend in Dhaka; have café, drinks and dance floor with DJ play

Shisha (flavored tobacco) from communal Hookah (Aristocratic Jamindari style)


13Thank You

Conclusion:Scientific knowledge is breaking away from the primary representations- called pre notion of Durkhiem and ideologies by Marx and it is continuous with common sense knowledge because it is the construction of constructions. The research found the westernized culture is prevailing as the dominant culture in Cosmopolitan cities in Bangladesh. The international schools has been availed by the most diversified cultural background students. So cultural fractions are prominent there. NCTB students coming from basically professional’s family also growing some westernized culture like hanging out at semi café, fast food restaurants, semi lounge and shisha bars, those are available beside coaching centers.Most interestingly Madrasa students found reproduce polarized cultural fractions in • In one hand some students think they are equal to Mainstream education system and there is no

difference with non madrasa youth; so they try to keep a private social life where they leave the madrasa style of costume and be flexible with all types forbidden things, beer, wit, smoking etc.

• On the other hand some students who internalize the ethics of Islam strongly wish to get involved in politics and governance in the locality.

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