Family Negotiations of Social Differences in Socioeconomically Diverse Schools: Building Democratic Citizens?

• In Event: Global Perspectives on Citizenship Education

Abstract

The article analyses the findings of a case study in two Chilean schools with exceptional levels of socioeconomic heterogeneity among their students. Using the Bourdieusian concept of ethical dispositions, we analysed the ways in which middle- and working-class parents perceive who the others at the school are. The interviews reveal the intertwined workings of heterophily and homophily, and of individual and collective moral stances. We identified three dimensions of their ethical dispositions: a) Building respectable working-class subjects; b) Restricted openness to social class difference and mixing; and c) Between appreciation of equality and self-interest. We conclude with a discussion of the extent to which these exceptionally heterogeneous schools and the subjectivities they shape might contribute to promoting sustainable citizenship.

Author

• Manuela Mendoza, Universidad de O'Higgins
  Presenting Author