Schools as Socializing Agents for Student Digital Participation

• In Event: 4440 - Children and Youth in a Changing World

Abstract

Sociologists of education find that participation in institutionally-valuable activities, like attending museums, and following news, politics, and art, can operate as a resource for student achievement in school. But this explanation has started to come into question since the advent and proliferation of many twenty-first century digital technologies. First, many of these cultural activities have migrated to include digital spheres, as well, such as seeking information from online news, participating in online debates, creating and sharing art of various forms online, and even accessing certain government resources. Further, in the contemporary moment, the sources of the skills needed to participate in these digital contexts are not necessarily coming from parents as mechanism for such participation outlined in previous work. Drawing on comparative ethnographic data collected in three middle schools varying by student race-ethnicity and class, I argue that schools may, in part, shape how students come to participate online. Each school differently constructs the value of kids’ digital participation in ways that affect how students behave online both in and outside of school. I find that teachers inculcate resources in students that influence whether and how youth take advantage of opportunities to engage in the digital sphere. Children learn from teachers whether it is appropriate, or even essential, to participate online in capital-enhancing activities like online news and debate, digital art, or even curating their online presence for future colleges.

Author

• Matt Rafalow, Google