Matthew Munoz 17822099

‘Too often a child’s life chances are shaped by where they went to school and
where they’re growing up, and we shouldn’t accept that’ (Greening, 2017).

Education has long been held in high regard for the vast majority of society, often
being regarded as one of the most defining factors to a bright future. However, as
research indicates, it seems that it is a luxury reserved for the wealthy. There is a
blatant disparity in educational success and opportunities due to the inequities
between the working and middle class, which consequently creates the social justice
issue on which this essay is focusing on. Equity in education can be broken down
into two dimensions. The first dimension is fairness, which means schools should
attempt to minimise students encountering hindrances due to their unique social and
personal circumstances, such as, but not limited to, socioeconomic status (SES) ,
ethnicity, gender and sexuality. The second dimension being inclusion, which refers
to education meeting a minimum basic standard for all students, such as all students
being able to write, read and solve simple maths problems (Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development, 2008). Both dimensions are tightly linked
and must be considered when analysing strategies which have been put in place to
close the gap between educational issues of different SES communities. This essay
will be examining the effects on students low-SES backgrounds (specifically those in
Greater Western Sydney[GWS]) have on educational outcomes and how Bourdieu’s
(1985) Theory of Capital applies to the current state of educational institutes, as well
as providing possible strategies to minimise the effects of the issue at hand. The
concept of place-based approach is consistent throughout this paper when strategies
were devised as GWS is a particular demographic which needs a unique mindset
and approach to effectively address problems faced by low-SES students. This
paper will be placing additional focus on GWS, which is, as defined by the
(University of Western Sydney (2017), the regions which run from “Windsor in the
north to Campbelltown in the south, and from Parramatta in the east to Penrith and
the Blue Mountains in the west, comprising of 14 local government areas” (p.1).

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In the current education system, the prevalent neoliberal logic of those in power who
consider the be-all and end-all of academic success to be standardised test
performance. There is an obvious pattern which can be seen in the fact that close to
100% of all high performing schools are outside of GWS, and are further north/north-
east towards more affluent suburbs.

The “latte line” (Sydney Morning Herald, 2016)

This map is displays what has been dubbed the “latte line” dividing Sydney, which
shows high HSC performing schools with blue circles, and poor performing with red
circles (Sydney Morning Herald, 2016). It is clear GWS needs change to bridge this
postcode relational disparity.

The government has attempted to improve educational outcomes with monetary

focused policies. The Gonski policy was introduced in 2008 to address the issues of
inequity across schools in NSW and allocate additional funding to considered ‘in-
need’. Although there have been improvements reported across NSW since the
introduction of Gonski, results have been disappointing despite receiving a
significant increase to funding. 2016 NAPLAN results show that since 2013, reading
performance saw a 0.4 per cent increase, numeracy saw a 1.26 per cent
improvement, whilst writing saw a 0.2 per cent decline in performance (The Sydney
Morning Herald, 2018). It should also be noted, however, that despite not receiving
the desired results, professionals in the field think it just needs time, and that
continued funding is necessary to keep moving forward. "It takes three to five
years…” he [Peter Goss, Grattan Institute school education program director] said.

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"Sometimes it can take up to seven years…” (Sydney Morning Herald, 2018).

However, (Giannicot, 2016) highlights that there is no clear-cut indication that
increased funding resulted in increased academic performance. His findings showed
that schools from low-SES communities continued to perform poorly despite
receiving additional funding schools continued to do perform poorly. (Giannicot,
2016) states that there is not enough evidence to conclude that additional funding
leads to increased NAPLAN scores. Consequently, it can be safely said that funding
is essential, however, not sufficient enough to completely solving the issue of
inequity. Below is a graph which visually represents the relationship between funding
and NAPLAN scores

Chart 1b – Graph of relationship between Gonski funding and NAPLAN results

(Giannicot, 2016).

It is clear that GWS is a unique demographic within Sydney, and thus it is logical that
a tailored, specific approach is necessary to minimise the gap seen between
postcode influenced educational successes. A relevant strategy which can be
applied is applying a place-based approach to education. This addresses and
acknowledges that communties are faced with their own complex social and
environmental problems and thus aims to address the issues at a communal level
rather than those faced by individuals(Royal Childrens Hospital, Melbourne, 2011).
There are multiple factors such as family structure, type of school, absenteeism,
gender, ethnicity,geographical location and housing type, which all influence
academic results (Considine & Zappalà, 2002). This approach can effectively
crossover into an educational context provided teachers are equipped with

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knowledge of the demographic they are teaching as well as understanding cultural

and socioeconomic backgrounds different to their own (Burnett & Lampert, 2011).
Strategies,similar to ones used by (Burnett & Lampert, 2011) should be
implemented, such as incentives and schemes for high performing academics to
teach in disadvantaged schools (The exceptional teachers for disadvantaged
schools project), which has seen positive academic results and reactions from
students, schools and communities involved.

Bourdieu’s (1971) theories of Cultural capital, habitus and fields, analyse what
causes society to behave the way it does, how positions of power are created and
reproduced, and what factors drive and create dis/advantage within particular social
contexts. Bourdieu’s (1971) concept of Cultural capital, refers to what is obtained
through an individiual own unique experiences and backgrounds, which is translated
into a strength or weakness, dependant the social elements demed to be most
important, and how much social power one has (Mander, M.,1987). Cultural capital
refers to socially symbolic elements such as skills, material posessions, mannerisms,
language capability etc. which are obtained through interactions between people of a
certain social class. Having similar elements of cultural capital with peers creates a
sense of inclusion and group identity (“people like us”). However, Bourdieu highlights
that this idea can act as a driving factor in creating and maintaining social inequality
between people, as certain elements are viewed as being more valuable than others,
and can either acclerate or restraint a students social mobility (Navarro, Z., 2006).
This does not work in the favour of students coming from low-SES backgrounds, as
they are often not equipped with qualities deemed as important social capital
elements. When focusing on GWS, in particular, as the majority of students are from
disadvantaged neighbourhoods with 65% of students in GWS schools coming from
language backgrounds other than English (LBOTE), students enter the educational
environment without much social capital to begin with, such as poor english and
literacy skills or “cheap” material belongings. Due to the dominant hegemony in
schools, this can influence peers to label them as ‘other’ and prevent them from
adequately intergrating and interacting with their peers (Devine, 2012),. With 64.3%
of students enrolled in secondary schools coming from LBOTE in Sydney’s West
suburbs (New South Wales Centre for Education Statistics & Evaluation, 2016) and
only 32% of NSW being more disadvantaged (Australian Beureau of Statistics, 2011)
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than these suburbs, it is clear there will be students falling victim to these social
expectations and heirachies due to preconceived perception on them as people,
which will further disadvantage them as research shows feelings of exlusion can
negatively impact their learning (Banerjee, 2016).

Bourdieu believes that habitus also plays an important role in educational

development. Habitus is a term used to describe a system of embedded tendences
and dispoistions which influence how individuals react to and perceive the social
world (Mander, 1987). Habitus is not created through individual processes, but rather
social ones, and these patterns are consistent and transfer from one context to
another, but the relationship to specific context also shifts over time. It is not
permanent or fixed, and can be altered by experiences and environments (Navarro,
2006). An example of habitus is in education is a students perceived imporance of
doing well or how positive/negative they are towards schooling. Habitus plays an
important role in education as students coming from advantaged backrounds come
equipped with the habitus which correlates with the dominant elements of cultural
capital. They are adequately prepared with the suitable dispositions to flourish inside
of the dominant culture, where as low-SES students are further disadvantaged as
they may not have the complex set of reactional and behavioural strategies to
appropriately take the best course of action when faced with adversity (Ferfolja,
Jones Diaz and Ullman, 2015, p. 12). An example of how this crosses over into
academic context are things such as parents with little regard for improving their
childs lacking literacy ability as they hold little value on academic achievement, or a
student who cannot afford the required textbooks they (Devine, 2012), which
restrains children from academic success.

Fields are areas or establishments in which interactions take place and power is
distributed amongst thos involved, in an education context, school acts as the field.
Bourdieu states that those who create the field, are also the most powerful within the
field (Ferfolja et al., 2015, p. 12). Consequently, those same people also then form
the social expectations or doxa. This then pushes students to either, follow the doxa
or potentially restrain themselves from success. Low-SES students are once again

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diasadvantaged as they are often not able to reproduce the predisposed values and
merits held in regard by the social climate, which have been deemed natural and
acceptable. This disadvantage is then perpetuated even further as capital drives the
field, which they lack, and this capital is only obtained through a habitus which they
are not exposed to. This power reproduction process within school fields is a
reflection of the doxa of those in power; which are the states governing educational
bodies and the schools themselves.

The NSW government has attempted to apply policies which attempt to bridge the
gap between low-SES students and their peers. The NSW government has put forth
the New South Wales Government’s Charter for Equity in Education (NSWCEE
[2008]) which is a set of equity related principles which spans across the state’s
education system which promotes additional focus on disadvantage sectors. “Priority
is given to narrowing those gaps in education and training outcomes that reflect need
and prevailing social inequalities.” (p.1). Whilst intent is good, and awareness is
created, it is unclear whether this policy is of any practical value to empowering
students who are disadvantaged because of Australia’s educational social structure;
and recent NAPLAN results reinstate that they remain disadvantaged. A strategy to
combat this neoliberalist culture is encouraging teachers to adopt pedagogies which
promote critical thinking and resilience which enables and empowers students to
adequately overcome real world adversities and challenge any prejudice they
encounter throughout their educational journey.

To enable low-SES students to succeed in academic ventures and carry these

victories into an adulthood which does not replicate their struggle filled adolescence,
the relationship between their background and how it effects their academic journey
must be acknowledged and understood for effective strategies to be implemented
into school systems. Teachers must be familiar with relevant social theories, placed
based approach strategies and relevant pedagogies, and understand how efficiently
apply them when educating low-SES students. It is important for educators and
institutions to enable and empower students to become courageous and adaptive to
any barriers they may encounter, whilst also doing their part in perpetuating more
socially achievable standards and expectations of their students. Although

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government bodies have made a commitment to seeking equity for students of all
SES backgrounds, their current policies are an important piece of the puzzle, which
is yet to be completed, and will remain unfinished, until the problem is addressed
through multiple-layered strategies and policies. As the problem is more complex
than simply being fund related, it requires communication and teamwork from
students, teachers, parents, communities and governments to achieve the common
goal of equity and success for all.
Word count: 2031

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