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Question One: Analysing the intersectional educational disadvantage of

multiply-marginalized students using CRT and capital

Race, ethnicity, and class are highly dynamic social constructions of identity which

have both symbolic and material impacts (Anthias, 2001) on students’ educational aspirations

and further life outcomes. As such, the experiences of “multiply-marginalized people” (Choo

& Ferree, 2010, p. 131) will be examined through an intersectional framework, particularly

making use of critical race theory (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995) and Bourdieu’s (1986,

1989) concept of capital, to explore the ways in which racist and classist discourses are

systemically, institutionally and structurally (re)produced in the education system (Storer et

al., 2012). These theories will be explored in terms of their application to my future praxis,

through a reflection on my own responsibilities to challenge oppressive discourses and

provide an equitable learning experience as future secondary English teacher.

In order to explore the ways in which educational aspirations and life outcomes

intersect with these axes of identity, it is vital to reflect on the ways in which discourses of

race, ethnicity, and class are bound by “social relations and historical context” (Ansell, 2013,

p. 49). As best stated by Hancock (2013, p. 259), these categories of differentiation based on

race, ethnicity, and class are "social constructions that, through the diffusion of power

relationships, have vastly material effects”. Although race, ethnicity, and class have hitherto

been presented independently, it is vital to acknowledge that for multiply-marginalized

people, these identities and their associated oppressions are not experienced in isolation

(Reynolds & Pope, 1991). The framework of intersectionality rejects an “additive”

perspective of identity, wherein which each axis of identity and their corresponding

oppressions are overlaid and experienced individually from the other (Flintoff, Fitzgerald &

Scraton, 2008, p. 75). Rather, these identities interrelate (Anderson, 1996; McCall, 2001) to

produce complex experiences of discrimination (Ferdinand, Paradies & Kelaher, 2015)

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through racist and classist practice and policy on systemic, institutional and structural levels,

also referred to as a “matrix of domination” (Hatt-Echeverria & Urrieta, 2003, p. 40; Collins,

1990).

Despite the systemic inequalities which plague marginalised individuals, it would be

reasonable to defer to education as a means through which to ‘even the playing field’, as

education has been historically portrayed as “the great leveller of social inequalities” (Adams,

1977, p. 298). However, the education system is structured within the framework of the

dominant culture, and thus reflects the discourses that facilitate disadvantage on broader

institutional, social, and cultural scales (Freire, 1970). As such, despite idealistic

representations of education operating as a liberating force through which to dismantle

systemic injustice, education often functions to construct and reaffirm existing social

inequalities (Ballantine & Spade, 2011; Martino, Mills & Lingard, 2005; Cumming-Potvin,

2007).

This production of power and inequality in education is most successfully framed

through the use of critical race theory (CRT) (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995). CRT

emphasises the ways in which whiteness is constructed and valued in society, which provides

unearned privileges for white people and facilitates significant disadvantage for people of

colour (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995). The need for critical self-reflection on and the radical

deconstruction of the individual biases and larger social structures which perpetuate social

inequality (Lampert, Burnett & Morse, 2015). Although CRT specifically refers to race and

whiteness, I argue that the critical focus on deconstructing the oppressive discourses which

are embedded in individual socialisation and larger institutions is also valuable in examining

class-based inequalities.

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According to CRT, (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995) the ubiquity of white, middle-

class perspectives leads to these perspectives becoming normalised and seen as “universal” in

the education system (Young, 1990, p. 59). These ways of knowing shrink from the collective

consciousness, providing an “unmarked racialised and classed frame” from which the world

is perceived and valued (Mills & Keddie, 2012, “Research design and processes”, para. 4).

As such, white, middle-class perspectives become “invisible” through their saturation of the

education system, and therefore largely avoid the critical inquiry necessary for socially

equitable schooling (Mills & Keddie, 2012, “Research design and processes”, para. 4.)

Although their perspectives are underrepresented, students whose identities deviate

from the assumed white, middle-class perspective ironically have heightened visibility in the

education system. Young (1990) argues that the underrepresented minority groups become

conspicuous due to their difference from dominant identities, and are thereby constructed as

distinctly “Other” (p. 59). Deviation from the dominant practices and perspectives is

perceived to be a marker of deficiency, and therefore these students’ identities and practices

are inherently problematized (Aveling, 2007). Pedagogical practices, particularly in terms of

behavioural management, are developed through this white, middle class invisibility and the

othering of marginalised students. This is also intricately bound with the subjectivities of

individual teachers. As Australian teachers are “predominantly white” and “middle-class”

(Lampert, Burnett & Morse, 2015, p. 77), the reproduction of deficit perspectives to explain

student disengagement or underachievement is unfortunately a common practice (Lampert,

Burnett & Morse, 2015, p. 83).

Moreover, multiply-marginalized students are epistemologically disadvantaged, as the

educational curriculum is based on the reproduction of the dominant forms of knowledge of

the time. From the outset, Australian schools are built on a foundation that privileges white,

Eurocentric forms of knowledge and therefore undermines alternate ways of knowing

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(Hickling-Hudson & Ahlquist, 2003). For example, this is reflected in the stage 6 English

curriculum’s prescribed texts (Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards, 2014).

The requirement to study a “Shakespearean Drama” (p. 5) reflects the high value that white,

middle-class epistemologies hold in the education system. Moreover, the predominance of

white, Western authors (and proportionate lack of perspectives from women, people of

colour, and non-Europeans) reflects the ways in which classism and racism systemically

devalue other ways of knowing in the educational curriculum.

The educational privileges for white, high SES students in terms of epistemology and

pedagogy can be related to Bourdieu’s (1986) concept of capital. ‘Capital’ refers to the

qualities and resources which are valued in the dominant society. Bourdieu outlines three

types of capital as follows: “economic capital” (p. 253), referring to economic resources and

assets; “social capital” (p. 251) as the benefits afforded through social ties and interactions;

and “cultural capital” (p. 247) as the advantages gained through the cultural knowledge of

dominant social groups. Later, Bourdieu added the concept of “symbolic capital” (1989, p.

23), which refers to the benefits gained through prestige and recognition.

White, high SES students are advantaged in the education system, in that they tend to

have higher levels of these four forms of capital than multiply-marginalized students.

Moreover, the self-perpetuating nature of capital tends to exacerbate social inequalities, as it

reproduces itself and broadens an individual’s agency to attain capital in other forms

(Bourdieu, 1989, p. 21). As such, low SES individuals and people of colour tend to lack

social and class mobility, as those with high levels of capital perpetuate the pre-existing

structures which marginalise these individuals, thus continuing the cycle of social and class

inequality.

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In terms of policy, the Australian education system does acknowledge the growing

multiculturalism of Australian schools (Synott, 2009), and is particularly responding to the

needs of racially and ethnically diverse students. For example, the Melbourne Declaration on

Educational Goals for Young Australians (Ministerial Council on Education, Employment,

Training and Youth Affairs, 2008) emphasises the need to “nurture an appreciation of and

respect for social, cultural, and religious diversity” (p. 4), and the NSW Multicultural

Education Policy (NSW Department of Education, 2005a) seeks to implement “inclusive

teaching practices” (Objective 1.3) which “respect the cultural, linguistic and religious

backgrounds of all students and promote an open and tolerant attitude towards cultural

diversity” (Objective 1.2). Likewise, the NSW Anti-Racism Policy (NSW Department of

Education, 2005b) aims for the “elimination of racial discrimination” (Objective 1.1) in all

areas of school, including “learning and working environments” (Objective 1.3). These

policies lay the foundation to criticise and challenge dominant discourses which privilege

whiteness and individuals with high SES.

Although these policies theoretically reflect some of the tenants of critical race theory,

an examination of students’ educational aspirations and other life outcomes reveals the

insufficiency of the current educational policy in dealing with intersectional disadvantage.

Students with intersecting oppressions are “consistently achieving educational outcomes

lower than their peers” (Kenway, 2013, p. 288), in all areas of schooling (Gonski, et al.,

2011) and particularly in standardised tests (Bécares & Priest, 2015). The extensive forms of

poorer long-term life outcomes that result from educational disengagement and lower

academic achievement are particularly worrisome. Blanden, Hansen & Machin (2008, p. 7)

identify a “very clear pathway from childhood poverty to reduced employment

opportunities,” in terms of both lower earning rates and levels of employment. This correlates

with the lower occupational aspirations that marginalised students tend to have than their

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peers, (Howard et al., 2010) and can be linked to the lower physical health outcomes which

are experienced by these marginalised groups (Bécares & Priest, 2015). Further, racially and

ethnically marginalised people also regularly experience discrimination, which is “associated

with increased psychological distress and risk of mental illness” (Ferdinand, Paradies &

Kelaher, 2015, “Discussion,” para. 1).

These disadvantages in life outcomes for minorities are intergenerational. These lower

academic outcomes of multiply-marginalized individuals are socially reproduced, in that

children from low SES and minority racial/ethnic backgrounds are generally disadvantaged

by low levels of literacy and numeracy before they even begin at primary school (Lee &

Burkam, 2002). Moreover, these children are systemically funnelled into inferior schools,

unlike white students from high SES backgrounds, whose families are generally afforded the

privilege to be selective about their schooling choices as a result of financial and social

capital (Lee & Burkam, 2002).

Moreover, minority students are more likely to have lower educational aspirations

than their peers. Ray (2006) outlines the concept of the “aspirations window” (p. 410),

suggesting that an individual’s aspirations are broadly predetermined by the capital and life

outcomes that they observe being reached by those in their own communities. The

observation of the lower levels of academic achievement, occupational engagement and other

life outcomes experienced by other multiply-marginalized people, narrows the aspirations

windows of low SES and racially/ethnically diverse students. As such, the intergenerational

disengagement with education of marginalised groups can be linked to a limited perspective

of what is achievable – a result of the broader experiences of oppression that disadvantage

marginalised groups.

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However, it is important to note that discourses around the low aspirations of

disadvantaged students have historically been mobilised to explain the inequalities in student

achievement, without enforcing the need to address the wider social, economic, and political

contexts which contribute to these inequalities. As such, it is vital to critically re-centre the

discourses surrounding marginalised student aspirations, in order to redirect the engagement

towards challenging the structures which actually produce and perpetuate these inequalities.

(Bowden & Doughney, 2010; Sinclair, McKendrick & Scott, 2010).

These disadvantages in aspirations and life outcomes are a poignant reflection of the

failings of the education system to provide an equitable experience in the classroom.

However, despite the ways in which the education system reproduces social inequalities, it is

vital to note that this is not a deterministic assessment of the nature of education overall. In

fact, the education system can function to empower marginalised students by critically

challenging the systems and discourses which privilege particular identities (McLaren, 2003).

While there are needs to transform the current Australian educational policy and curriculum

to reflect a more culturally responsive practice, teachers currently in the field can make

significant changes to the experiences of their students through the adoption of a critical

pedagogy. As outlined by Ferfolja, Diaz & Ullman (2015), critical pedagogy aims to “bring

about a more just and equitable world for marginal and minority communities” (p. 13)

through the deconstruction of “normative assumptions about the world” (p. 12).

Naturally, my own subjectivities have shaped my intercultural assumptions. Being a

middle-class, white Australian with primarily European heritage, my socialisation has

privileged Eurocentric values, beliefs, and discourses. This middle-class, white identity has

afforded me significant economic and symbolic privileges (Liu, Pickett & Ivey, 2007; Harris,

1993). Moreover, in observing the intergenerational pattern of upward class mobility in my

family, I was socialised to ascribe to the meritocratic perspective that hard work, a positive

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attitude, and a little talent would produce results (McNamee & Miller, 2009). As such, my

distinctly white, middle-class identity, along with my academic prospects, intersect to

produce cultural, social, economic and symbolic capital (Bourdieu, 1986), which correspond

with my “white, middle-class privilege” (Liu, Pickett & Ivey, 2007, p. 195; McIntosh, 2012).

Without critical reflection on my subjectivities and biases, I would be at risk of

perpetuating discourses of “colour blindness” (Lampert, Burnett & Morse, 2015, p. 82),

which deny systemic racial oppression in a naïve attempt to deracialise the classroom.

Moreover, I may habitually “default[] to deficit” (p. 83) about students from minority

backgrounds in regards to cultural practices which conflict with my own experiences.

However, the framework of intersectionality, and an awareness of CRT support teacher

reflection on these biases in order to support a greater understanding of the challenges that

multiply-marginalized students experience in the education system.

In particular, intersectionality emphasises the need to differentiate both instruction

and curriculum content to support a more equitable educational experience (Grant & Zwier,

2011). As a pre-service English teacher, intersectional pedagogical practices may involve the

incorporation of English texts produced by or featuring minority perspectives, and the

structuring of tasks to meet different academic needs. On an ethical level, the challenging of

racist discourses and the necessity to support marginalised students are at the forefront of my

intended praxis. I intend to facilitate greater understanding of the social structures which

perpetuate inequalities on personal level, particularly by raising awareness in my students of

the ways in which disparities in capital can impact upon access and equity (Bourdieu, 1986;

Bourdieu, 1989)

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Although the education system currently disadvantages lower SES individuals in

terms of classist practices and policies of access, inclusion, and equality, there is hope for

improvement. The implementation of an intersectional perspective on multiple-marginalized

students’ experiences of inequality will assist in greater understanding students needs, which

can be supported by Bourdieu’s (1986, 1986) explanations of capital. By ensuring my praxis

embodies the qualities of CRT, I can make a material difference to the disadvantage which

multiply-marginalized students experience, both in the context of education and beyond.

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