The influence of institutional habitus on student transition and progression Chris Keenan Bournemouth University February 2008

Outline of Session  Overview of the problem  Political Context  Overview of Habitus  Bizareness  Stepping Stones 2HE

What is the problem What is the problem  Growing concern in the sector about student retention  Political encouragement for massification of post compulsory education  Low retention rates have cost implications for UK plc  Also, financial burden to institutions  But, personal and social costs to students

Political context  “Shift from state to market” (Delanty)  “WP and neo-liberal ideology of profitability and regulation through market forces are an impossible contradiction (Delanty)  “enslaving effects of personal and international indebtedness (Selby)  The problem with the ideology of inclusion is in its potential conflict with democracy and equality (Rikowski)

But  Is it simply too reductionist to suggest that education is simply “transactional deals between traders” and “a learning factory” Also  Students are “learning for unknown futures” (Barnett) which requires transformatory curriculum and pedagogy  So  Where does this all leave students?

What is Habitus?  Wikipedia: Those aspects of culture that are anchored in the body or daily practices of individuals, groups, societies and nations. It includes the totality of learned habits, bodily skills, styles, tastes and other non-discursive knowledges that might be said to “go without saying” for a specific group.

….more definitions  Bourdieu: “classes and groups need to re- produce themselves. Dominant classes control access to education and career opportunities – dominance of cultural capital which legitimizes the maintenance of the status and power of the controlling classes – symbols of this are language, culture and artefacts that enable them to subjugate other social classes”

…..more definitions  Thomas: “a person’s habitus is acquired, at least in a significant part, through the family, and this, for example, structures their educational experience. These experiences in turn impact and modify the habitus, which again goes on to structure further experiences”  Robbins: “the disposition to act which individuals acquire in the earliest stages of socialisation and which they consolidate by their subsequent choices in life”

Bizareness  “It’s alright once you get used to the bizareness of University” student quote  What did my student mean?  Burden of adjustment -Should students expect to bear b(of)a? -Should the institution adjust its practices to ease transition? -My view:

Stepping Stones 2HE  I turned my attention to the problem of transition and induction  Aim to address retention by: -Relationship building -Understanding staff and student expectations  Active engagement with HE in transition phase  Moves induction from a passive experience to one that is relevant, meaningful and purposeful

Refs  Barnett, R. (2000) Realizing the University in an age of supercomplexity Buckingham: Open University Press  Barnett, R. (2004 Learning for an unknown future Higher Education Research and Development 24:  Bourdieu, P. (1990) The Logic of Practice Cambridge: Polity  Bufton, S. (2003) The Lifeworld of the University Student: habitus and Social Class Journal of Phenomenological Psychology 34:  Delanty, G. (2003) Ideologies of the Knowledge Society and the Cultural Contradictions of Higher Education Policy Policy Futures in Education 1:  Evert, J. (2002) Organizational Research and the Praxeology of Pierre Bourdieu Organizational Research Methods 5(1)  Gibbs, P. (2001) Higher Education as a market: a problem of a solution Studies in Higher Education 26:1  Giroux, H.A. (2003) Selling Out Higher Education Policy Studies in Education 1:  Mutch, A, (2003) Communities of Practice and Habisus: A critique Organization Studies 24(3)  Keenan, C (2008) ‘Students getting down to work before they start at university: a model for improving retention’ in G. Crosling, L. Thomas and M. Heagney, eds, Improving Student Retention in Higher Education: The Role of Learning and Teaching (Abingdon: Routledge)  Noble, G. & Watkins, M. (2003) So, how did Bourdieu learn to play tennis? Habitus, Consciousness and Habituation Cultural Studies 17(3/4)  Rikowski, G. (2001) The B Generation accessed on  Selby, P (no date) Higher Education on Credit is a different education The Church Times Issue 118  Thomas, L, (2002) Student Retention in Higher Education: the role of institutional habitus Journal of Education Policy 17: