Disposed to Learn explores the relationship between ethnicity and dispositions towards learning, with a focus on primary school students of Chinese, Pasifika and Anglo Australian backgrounds. The authors challenge the tendency towards the essentializing of ethnicity within multiculturalism to argue for a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between culture and academic performance. Drawing on the work of Bourdieu, they examine how home and school practices produce particular attributes that are embodied as dispositions towards learning - the scholarly habitus. These home and school practices entail different modes of discipline which help or hinder student engagement. The book underlies the need for a better understanding of cultural diversity in schooling to address issues of educational inclusion.
Megan Watkins is Senior Lecturer in the School of Education and member of the Institute for Culture and Society at the University of Western Sydney, Australia.Greg Noble is Associate Professor at the Institute for Culture and Society, University of Western Sydney, Australia.
Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Ethnicization of Educational Achievement 2. Surveying Culture and Educational Capital 3. Disposed to Learning 4. Home, Routine and Dispositions to Learning 5. Ethnicity and Schemas of Perception 6. Schools, Pedagogy and Discipline Conclusion Notes ReferencesIndex
The relationship between ethnicity, class and educational achievement continues to confound scholars. In its lived form, it has the potential to divide communities. This book is a timely engagement with this 'hot' topic. It is accessible and provides insights based on research that are considered through a robust theoretical framework. This book is a 'must read', particularly for those directly engaged with the teaching profession.