Bourdieu in the Classroom. Occasional Paper.

Pierre Bourdieu, the French sociologist whose work spanned over 40 years, died in January 2002. His work took in such diverse topics as international politics, colonialism, art and the media, marriage patterns of French farmers, and gender studies. As the Chair in Sociology at the College de France, Bourdieu published a number of major studies of French society, but it is perhaps as a sociologist of education that he will be best remembered. His interest in education began in the 1950s and resulted in studies of French schools and schooling. Later, he concerned himself increasingly with higher education and the French systems for recruiting the political elite. This paper offers a reconsideration of Bourdieu's work on education and sets out his main instruments of analysis. The paper also considers some recent trends in classroom practice in England and discusses these in the light of Bourdieu's approach. It considers how sociology can give people a perspective in aspects of education that are not immediately apparent and that certainly run counter to their stated aims and objectives. Specifically, it discusses how the ideas of Bourdieu provide insights and possible ways of understanding which enrich knowledge of pedagogic processes. (Contains 52 references.) (BT)