1. Cultural Deficit vs. Cultural Discontinuity
Cultural Deprivation measures culturally distinct methods of communicating against “standard English” thus incorporating a value system that ranks anything other than standard English as “deficient” or “inappropriate”
Cultural Discontinuity argues that we cannot assign value judgments nor measure different modes of communication against an Anglo, middle class norm. Rather, we should look at different modes of communication as culturally relative.
What does that mean- culturally relative? It means that instead of measuring behaviors and norms against one culture specifically the dominant culture, we should look at behaviors and norms within the context of their particular culture.

2. Cultural Discontinuity
Race and Ethnicity:
culturally based differences in the communication styles between many students of color and the Anglo culture of the school lead to conflicts, misunderstandings, and, ultimately, failure for those students
Class:
culturally based differences in the communication styles between lower class students’ home and the middle to upper class culture of the school lead to conflicts, misunderstandings, and, ultimately, failure for those students
Recommendation:
The research focuses on the process, rather than the structure of education and concludes that making the classroom more culturally appropriate will mean a higher rate of achievement

3. Class and Cultural Discontinuity
Pierre Bourdieu: the most well-known conflict constructivist within the sociology of education, characterizes education as an institution that reproduces the social order
emphasis on the cultural, interactive, and conflictual nature of education
Bourdieu’s concepts of forms of capital and habitus describe his general theory of reproduction which is acclaimed for its emphasis on culture and critique of cultural deficit models, and support for more culturally relevant pedagogy
So Bourdieu is famous for his contributions to the sociology of education in terms of culture. He was one of the first theorists to establish culture as a site of conflict and social reproduction within education.

4. Bourdieu’s Concept of Habitus
Habitus: consists of a set of historical relations ‘deposited’ within individual bodies in the form of mental and physical schemata of perception, appreciation, and action.
Schema: frameworks we use to understand interactions and events.
Habitus is our beliefs, values, cultural understandings, and ways of behaving
everything in our histories that we physically and mentally embody
This is a difficult concept to understand so we are going to have to revisit this defintiion several times in order to fully comprehend it. I think, it will also make sense after we look at his theories of capital.

5. Habitus and Social Reproduction
Habitus is a self-perpetuating mechanism that reproduces social relationships
As long as an individual is a product of the same habitus in which they continue to function, the individual will reproduce their habitus
product of habitus + functioning within that habitus= reproduction of habitus
Example: As long as I am product of the upper-middle class and continue to live and function within the upper-middle class, I will reproduce my habitus- enact it and hand it down to my children
[READ ALL ]This reproduction of habitus is tightly woven to Bourdieu’s concepts regarding education and the transmission of capital.

6. Three Forms of Capital
Economic capital- that which can be “directly convertible into money” as well as institutionalized in the form of property
Social capital: resources derived from networks of people and groups. Social capital is essentially social networking as an “investment strategy”
Cultural Capital: forms of knowledge; skill; education; any advantages a person has which give them a higher status in society, including high expectations.
Exists in three forms: embodied state, objectified state, institutionalized state
READ Title
Economic Capital- the most familiar form of capital- money and wealth.
Social Capital refers to the concept of knowing people in high places. Social Cpaitla also refers to elite social circles. So social capital is particulalry advantageous if you are working in the realm of business. Knowing the Donald Trump and Marc Cuban can have a significant impact on your money making capacity. So being a member of those social circles.

7. Cultural Capital: Embodied State
The internalization of certain “dispositions of the mind and body”- what an individual knows and utilizes from within
Includes normative behaviors such as language use, manner of dress, and the “proper” guidelines for conducting oneself
***The embodied state of cultural capital can be learned, and if learned, cultural capital can alter one’s habitus
the embodied state of cultural capital is a process not easily transmitted as with money.
READ 1 and 2
Proper is in quotes because Bourdieu is talking about learning the cultural capital necessary for success in school and social mobility. For the school, we know he is referring to the middle to upper class norms of behavior like standard English, forms of dress, and certain behaviors which we will discuss later
READ ****- This is a particulalry important point. You know how we were talking about learning the game? Okay so adopting and learning the embodied state of cultural capital is akin to learning the game. However, it could also mean assimilation if one doesn’t learn the power dynamics behind the actual game.
READ LAST- It is not easy to learn the embodied state of cultural capital. SO it is not just a matter of well, if students simply learn how to embody cultural capitla they will succeed. Part of the problem is the rareity of teachers actually teachign the embodied state of cultrural capital. The other problems is that you are basicaaly learning something that is very different from your own way of being in the world.

8. Cultural Capital: Objectified State
The “objectified state” of cultural capital refers to cultural objects such as books.
The objectified state of cultural capital may be consumed through money and/or embodied through the appreciation of a fine painting
Cultural objects can be consumed materially which presupposes economic capital
Cultural objects can be consumed symbolically which presupposes cultural capital
READ ALL: In order for someone to actually materially posses the objectified state of cultural capital you need to have money. For someone to symbolically possess or appreciate cultural objects they must be schooled in the norms that make that object significant- in other words they must have cultural capital in the embodied state.

9. Cultural Capital: Institutionalized State
Institutionalized state of cultural capital: the objectification of cultural capital in the form of academic qualification
This presupposes academic success and is therefore dependent on the embodiment of cultural capital
READ ALL
One cannot obtain the institutionalized state of cultural capital or academic qualification without performing well in school. This performance is dependent on the embodiement of cultural capital- possessing the normative behaviors such as language use, manner of dress, and the “proper” guidelines for conducting oneself that are rewarded in school.

10. Conclusions
The differential accumulation of capital through material gains and embodied features drives and reproduces social inequalities
Students from backgrounds rich in the three forms of capital have the preferred cultural capital that enables them to function in school
These students have a particular knowledge that allows them to navigate through the school system by displaying desired behavior and/or conforming to unspoken norms
Covert function of cultural capital within the school system: students that possess the appropriate cultural capital will be recognized as “advanced” leaving those that do not possess the same cultural capital left to reproduce their habitus.
Impacts the possibilities of being funneled into college prep vs. vocational courses
Masked through the ideology of meritocracy: individuals who do not have the desired cultural capital are labeled as lacking in intelligence and the drive to succeed
So what can we conclude from Bourdie’s concepts of habitus and the various forms of capital?
READ ALL UNTIL IMPACTS THE POSSIBILITIES
students from higher class backgrounds: that gain from the transmission of cultural capital are directed toward college preparation classes. Students from lower class backgrounds: are forced to suffer from the transmission of undesired cultural capital by being allocated to less advanced classes with little chance for concrete preparation for college.

11. Bourdieu and Cultural Discontinuity
Bourdieu pinpoints the conflict between cultures as they play out in power dynamics of the classroom
Though his work focuses on class, it can also be used as a springboard to talk about ethnicity
The problem according to cultural discontinuity is not about cultures being deficient but rather different.
The role of power in these situations translates difference into forms of oppression and social inequalities