Bourdieu and Initial Teacher Education‐a post‐structuralist approach

Abstract

This paper details an application of the work of the French social theorist Pierre Bourdieu to research on initial teacher education. The extent to which Bourdieu's work is post‐structuralist is discussed; his major theoretical perspectives are outlined; and their relevancy outside of the purely sociological argued for. An example of research method derived from his approach is offered as a practical illustration: the training of modern language teachers. The method is based on a three‐level analysis which links notions of individual pedagogic habitus to the training field. Some detail is given of ‘mapping the field’ of training, and structural, differential responses of students within it. Training is considered as ‘discourse’, as a field of knowledge(s) and practice(s), and the policy implications of this approach discussed. Comments are made on the epistemological nature of the method employed and its scope for future research practice.

How and why do student teachers use ICT?

“…Age was a consideration in that many student teachers had themselves grown up with extended experiences of using ICT. It appeared that these experiences had given them a strong sense of identity as an ICT user and left them with a ‘habitus’ (Grenfell 1996) or disposition to use ICT. However, age should be explored cautiously; older students were not less likely to use ICT than younger ones ( P > 0.05) and the challenge of transferring knowledge of ICT into new contexts should not be underestimated.…”

Answering back to policy? Headteachers’ stress and the logic of the sympathetic interview

“…Each operates as a field -with radio being a subfield of the media field, various radio stations themselves arrayed as a field and each station operating internally as a field. 9 Within this somewhat dizzying set of relatively autonomous fields, subfields and sub-subfields, and drawing on Bourdieu as methodology (see Grenfell 1996;Bourdieu 2005;Grenfell and Hardy 2007), an analysis of the English radio field therefore must focus on:…”

Video diary: a method for exploring learning dispositions

“…A Bourdieuan ®eld study incorporates an analysis of the actors' habitus (Grenfell, 1996). Social positions, which the literature relates to children's ability to manage the complexities of transfer, are de®ned by the amount of capital which individuals and families possess.…”