1. Education and Culture
Rokeya Akhter
Ph D Research Fellow, Department of Sociology, Dhaka University;
22 December 2012

2. Background and Objective of the
Paper
• Worldwide young people are now given special focus for developing
a stronger generation and capitalize for better future.
• In Bangladesh the total size of the adolescent population is around
29 million which is about 20% of the total population (143 million).
• Among them the percentage of secondary school going students is
25.5% (around 7.4 million),
(http://www.banbeis.gov.bd/trend_analysis1.htm).
• For secondary level there are major three education systems being
operated by Government Education Boards , and in metropolitan
cities there is English Medium Schools run for International
Education Exams O Levels and A Levels.
• This paper is extracted from the thesis that studied, how schooling in
different education system reproduces culture capital, language
competence and class fractions in Bangladesh. The study shades the
most popular concepts of Education and Culture of contemporary
French Sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu.
Education and Culture 10/24/2015
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3. Conceptual Framework
• Habitus and
Pedagogic Action
• Cultural Capital
and Pedagogic
Communication
Cultural
Capital
• Habitus , Cultural
Practice and
Linguistic
Competence
Cultural
Distinction • Symbolic Capital
• Educational Capital
• Social Space
• Cultural Practices
Class Fractions
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4. Habitus and Pedagogic Action: Pure Reason
and Pure Action
bodily dispositions;
the results of their
organized actions and
what they are
practicing by social
interaction in an
environment.
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5. Pedagogic Action and Legitimate Culture
Pedagogic Action reproduces
the cultural arbitrary of the
dominated or of the dominant
classes. Any social formation
understood as a system of
power, relations and sense
relations between groups or
classes. So dominant system of
education tends to secure a
monopoly of legitimate
symbolic violence. The
indicators of Pedagogic Action
beside determinants of
legitimate culture addressed in
different education system.
For example speaking in
Bangla though mother tongue
is discouraged in International
schools; or In Madrasa cultural
activities are prohibited if
students play football must be
in trousers!
Education and Culture
Ensure
Quality of
Education
Co curricular
Program
Multi Cultural
Environment
•Teachers’ Qualification and
Training
•Teaching Resources, Labs
•Teacher student ratio
•Special care for the weak
•Discipline
• Competitions
•National Days
•Interschool tournaments
•Cultural clubs
•Scouting
•Exchange program
(study tour)
•International Olympiads
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6. Family Culture and Choice of Education System
Accumulation of cultural capital by Social Groups
Struggles for recognition are a
fundamental dimension of
social life and for that human
being stake in them the
accumulation of a particular
forms of capital. Interestingly
one form of capital can be
converted to another form of
capital. For example father’s
occupation gives economic and
symbolic capital and inheriting
those one posses cultural
capital from the family and
continues to accumulate more
from institutions (schools
selected by family culture) and
also through social
relationships. So it shapes three
major social groups with
cultural capital accumulation in
three major education systems
in metropolitan cities.
Education and Culture
• Spiritual image
• Religious values
Madrasa
Education
• Nationalism
• Public Service
• Aesthetic Culture
NCTB
Education
• Elite (political and
Economic) Culture
• Westernization
International
Education
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7. Linguistic Market and Linguistic Capital; Grenfell on Bourdieu 1979,
conditions of linguistic market differs among the three social groups of the study so the
systems of distinction in articulation style of language, the slides 8 , 9 &10 will describe the
comparative analysis of language competence based on this flow chart
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8. Linguistic Credentials by Education Systems
Marks Distribution by Language Subjects and as medium of
education
Bangla English Arabic Other
Language
Other
subjects
NCTB 200 200 100 600 in
Bangla
Madrasa 70+30 70+30 500 Farsi 400 in
Bangla
Internationa
l
100 100 3rd Language
(French/
Spanish/
German)
600/700
in English
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9. Objectified Cultural Capital: Structuring
Structures of Individual Choice through
Social (Peer Group) Interactions
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Music:
NCTB/ International
Pop Culture; Opa Gangnam
Style
English Rock
Remix: Bangla, English or
Hindi
Literature: Fantasy
/ditective/ Young adult
Romance
Md Jafar Iqbal, Humayun
Ahmed
NCTB
International
Nicholas Sparks, J K Rowling,
Rick Riordan, Sidney
Sheldon
Entertainment: Drama
House Full
NCTB/ Madrassa
International
Sitcom; Big Bang Theory

10. Language Competence and Distinction by Articulation Style
English Bangla Arabic
NCTB • Lacks expression in
communication
• Lacks Vocabulary and accent
• Good in Legitimate
Language
• Communicates in
remix form,
Madrasa • Poor in spelling, vocabulary
and Grammar
• Lacks listening and spoken
form
• Poor in Legitimate
language
• Quite different
pronunciation
• Recite and refer the
holy Quran in Daily
issues
Internati
onal
School
• Accent, affluence, power of
vocabulary in communication
and articulation in expression
makes a difference
• Tricky expressions in texting
or chat like,
• LOL- Laugh out Loud
• Ikr- I know right
• Rotf- Roll on the floor
• Wth- what the hell
• Very weak in
Legitimate
Language and also
lacks vocabulary
and meaning
• Remix form of
pronunciation (like
chewing or twisting
tongue)
• Misrecognition of
mistakes in the use
of verb and tense
in communication
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11. Cultural fractions in the same classroom
Conservative
•Not allowed to go out with friends without parents
•Gossips with simple issues of other friends or anybody
•Not interested in reading non academic books; Not affluent in
English.
•Very little access to Social Networks; facebook, twitter etc.
Intellectual
•Teachers’ dear students
•Gossips about celebrity not school friends.
•Often allowed to go out particular restaurants with friends
under parents’ observation
•Social network is very strong in Facebook, Twitter, and chat
about memes, enjoys pop culture
Popular/ Ultra Modern
•Stylish: hair style, nails, accessories etc. everybody envy them
•Have freedom to go anywhere they like, do anything they
want, Parents don’t mind
•Gossips about Lounge café, dance DJ, Drinks and smoking
•Facebook, twitter, memes, lives with pop culture
Through the trend of cultural
practices and accumulation of
multiple forms of capital as
evolves cultural distinction also
increases distance between
different social groups (fields as
per Bourdieu). In this research
findings in an International school
there may be different groups
form in the same education
system. For instance the example
beside shows the intellectual
group having merits in academic
credentials, envy the popular
group who have access to
anything they wish to have,
though they are not outstanding
but popular in the whole school
since they are stylish (because
they have juniors and seniors who
goes to same lounges, party,
shopping and their families are
also connected anyways). This
situation may be representing
Bourdieu’s cultural fractions.
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12. Bar Scene; Distinguished Youth Culture in Dhaka
(Though this culture began in posh areas like Gulshan, Banani 4 star hotels and
restaurants the few semi lounges with fast food and Shisha are growing up in the
places where teachers offers coaching for SSC, HSC, O Levels and also near the
private universities in Uttara, Shatmasjid Road and Mohammedpur).
Shisha lounge (also called a shisha bar or
hookah lounge) is a new trend in Dhaka;
have café, drinks and dance floor with DJ
play
Education and Culture
Shisha (flavored tobacco) from
communal Hookah (Aristocratic
Jamindari style)
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13. Thank You
Conclusion:
Scientific knowledge is breaking away from the primary representations- called pre notion of
Durkhiem and ideologies by Marx and it is continuous with common sense knowledge because
it is the construction of constructions.
The research found the westernized culture is prevailing as the dominant culture in
Cosmopolitan cities in Bangladesh. The international schools has been availed by the most
diversified cultural background students. So cultural fractions are prominent there. NCTB
students coming from basically professional’s family also growing some westernized culture
like hanging out at semi café, fast food restaurants, semi lounge and shisha bars, those are
available beside coaching centers.
Most interestingly Madrasa students found reproduce polarized cultural fractions in
• In one hand some students think they are equal to Mainstream education system and there
is no difference with non madrasa youth; so they try to keep a private social life where they
leave the madrasa style of costume and be flexible with all types forbidden things, beer,
wit, smoking etc.
• On the other hand some students who internalize the ethics of Islam strongly wish to get
involved in politics and governance in the locality.
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