Pierre Bourdieu (1984) Three types of Capital

• Argues that both cultural and material factors influence achievement and are not separate but interrelated. • Bourdieu also talks about 'educational capital' and

'cultural capital'. He argues that the middle class possess more of all three types of capital.

Cultural Capital

• Cultural Capital refers to the knowledge, attitudes, values, language, tastes and abilities of the middle class • Bourdieu sees the middle class as a 'capital' because it

gives advantage to those who possess it. He argues that through socialisation, middle class children are more likely to develop intellectual interests and an understand what the education system needs to succeed. • The working class find that school devalues their culture

as inferior and their capital leads to exam failure. Some pupils 'get the message' that school is not for them thus leading to early leaving and truanting.

Educational and Economical Capital

• Leech and Campos' (2003) study shows that middle class parents are more likely to be able to afford a house near a desirable school. This is known as 'selection by mortgage' because it drives up demand for houses near successful schools.• Similarly, wealth parents can convert this cultural capital

into educational capital by sending their children to private schools.

Alice Sullivan (2001) Sullivan used questionnaires to conduct a survey of 465

pupils in four schools to assess their cultural capital. She asked them to do a range of activities e.g. reading.

She found that those who read complex fiction and watched serious TV documentaries developed greater cultural knowledge thus a higher cultural capital. These pupils were more likely to be successful at GCSE.• However, she also found that these students with greater

cultural capital were more likely to be middle class.