While reading
Bell Hooks' piece, I found her description of what her family transmitted to
her intriguing and important. She writes, "Class was not just about
money; it was about values which showed and determined behavior. While I often
needed more money, I never needed a new set of belief and values" (p. 76) This stuck out to me because I believe that one of the most important
things that families/parents/guardians can give their children is a strong
sense of beliefs and values. Hooks also explains how she strives to emulate her
father, who epitomized diligence and hard work, and how her mother passed down her
way with words as well as a sense of family history.
Thinking about
what Hooks’ family gave her, I couldn’t help think about Bourdieu’s different
forms of capital. Although her
family could not give her economic and social capital, they were able to
transmit cultural capital, which was integral not only in her academic success,
but also in her sense of family and community. Through her strong sense of values
and beliefs, she was able to always be a part of her community even when she
was far away.
So, knowing
that cultural capital is important, my question is how as educators in our
specific domains (we cover a wide span) can we help our students
to realize and celebrate the cultural capital that they have in order to help
them become more confident and successful in our academic setting? In addition, how can we help our
students to have a strong sense of community and family even when we encourage
them to possibly leave their communities/families to go to college?
No comments:
Post a Comment