Cultural Capital: The Promises and Pitffalls in Education Research

AEHE, Volume 36, Number 1

Author: Rachelle Winkle-Wagner
ISBN: 9780470887332

Amid the increased use of the notion of cultural capital as a theoretical or analytical tool in educational research remain many different definitions, misconceptions, and appropriations of the concept. Cultural capital--the cultural relevent knowledge, competencies, skills, or abilities valued in a particular context--acts as a form of social currency in educational settings. This monograph extensively reviews the past thirty years of research, investigating the strengths and weaknesses regarding the widely varying uses of cultural capital in educational research. Althougth the concept of cultural capital holds great promise for explaining the perpetuation of power and privilege, unfillled hopes remain. The use of the economic methopher implied by cultural capital, the lack of attention to race annd gender inequalities, the possibility for misunderstanding in transferring the concept between countries and a general implied deficiency model present limitations in many studies of cultur

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Publish Date: 2010-06-15

Subjects: Education / General, Education / Administration / General, Education / Decision-Making & Problem Solving

This book is available in the following Community Centers: Black Resource Center (Location: 2B)