Abstract:
This study used the theory of Pierre Bourdieu to
investigate what types of economic, social, cultural and
symbolic capital influenced the individual academic
achievement and personal life trajectories of two, female,
high school students identified as at-risk. The critical
ethnography collected data from classroom observations,
critical dialogues and discussions between the researcher and
participants over a four month period in a high school in the
Midwest. The qualitative study produced a description of the
types of capital that influenced each participant's personal
life and academic achievement as situated within each
participant's specific sociocultural scenario. The study
critiqued the use of Bourdieu's theories for a study of
students at-risk and produced findings which correlated each
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type of capital to each participant's academic achievement
and personal life trajectory. The study concluded that (a)
criteria for the label "at-risk" should include factors
within the school as well as those outside the school, (b)
schools privilege the knowledge and behaviors of some
individuals over others, (c) the participants identified and
used separate and distinct street and school "selves" to
maximize their capital in settings inside and outside the
school, and (d) school policies and practices which restrict
access to certain types of information place at-risk students
in a position of educational disadvantage.
