Gatekeepers or facilitators: the influence of teacher habitus on students’ applications to elite universities

Abstract

Low application rates of state school students to elite universities have been identified as a factor in their limited participation in elite universities. This article explores the role of teachers in state schools and colleges in guiding higher education (HE) choice. Drawing on qualitative research with teachers and students in six institutions, we identify differential practices that corroborate explanations of an 'institutional habitus' shaping students' likely pathways to HE. However, we suggest that attention is paid to teacher habitus, demonstrating how teachers' political and ethical dispositions as well as their social capital are potential factors shaping students' decision-making about HE, and elite university applications in particular.

Students’ Decision-Making About Postgraduate Education at G University in China: The Main Factors and the Role of Family and of Teachers

“…Institutional habitus could be understood as the impact of a social group or class on individuals' behaviour which is mediated through an organization (Reay et al 2001;Smyth and Banks 2012). Some researchers have applied this empirically (Reay et al 2001;Oliver and Kettley 2010). Recently, there has been a trend to bring both family and institutional habitus together to account for student choice about higher education (Smyth and Banks 2012); however, related empirical research is still limited, especially in the context of China.…”

“…Habitus is defined as 'a habitual or typical condition, state or appearance, particularly of the body' (quoted in Jenkins 2002, p. 74). They are durable and transposable dispositions acquired in one's early life, which are embodied through an individual's manner, styles and language (Oliver and Kettley 2010;Jenkins 2002). Reay (1998, p. 527) extended the habitus to familial/family habitus as the 'deeply ingrained system of perspectives, experiences and predispositions family members share'.…”

A Bourdieuian Analysis: Teachers’ Beliefs about English Language Learners' Academic Challenges (pp. 40-55)

“…Thus, the classroom can be seen as sub-context of the wider school context in which teachers' habitus and their pedagogical decisions can reproduce inequality already in place (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977). In this regard, the effect of teachers' habitus on students is evidenced in Oliver and Kettley's (2010) study that has highlighted the importance of individual teachers' dispositions and their beliefs as important factors in creating (or not creating) the conditions for students to consider the possibility of pursuing higher education. According to the study findings, the teachers' beliefs about student cognitive capacities stemming from teachers' political and cultural dispositions are potential factors shaping students' decisionmaking regarding pursuing higher education.…”

Applying to higher education: comparisons of independent and state schools

“…We add an extra dimension to other studies that have pointed to sustained social-class differences and the consolidation of middle-class educational privilege in the transition to HE (Smyth and Hannan, 2007;Waters and Brooks, 2010;Oliver and Kettley, 2010). While institutional types in the post-16 and HE sectors are central here, they do not map neatly onto any of the current ways of estimating social class (e.g.…”

“…of social class, individual choices, social-class patterns (e.g. in educational choices) and ultimately educational and social stratification (see for example, Webb et al, 2002;Naidoo, 2004;Smyth and Hannan, 2007;Oliver and Kettley, 2010;Devas, 2011). Through these constructs Bourdieu integrates objective social structure with subjective agency providing a dynamic and relational theory of practice.…”