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Examining student engagement with science through a Bourdieusian notion of field

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Title: Examining student engagement with science through a Bourdieusian notion of field
Authors: Godec, S
King, H
Archer, L
Dawson, E
Seakins, A
Item Type: Journal Article
Abstract: Student engagement with science is a long-standing, central interest within science education research. In this article, we examine student engagement with science using a Bourdiusian lens, placing a particular emphasis on the notion of field. Over the course of one academic year, we collected data in an inner London secondary science classroom through lesson observations, interviews and discussion groups with students, and interviews with the teacher. We argue that applying Bourdieusian theory can help better understand differential patterns of student engagement by directing attention to the alignment between students’ habitus and capital, and the field. Student behaviours that did not meet the requirements of the wider field were not recognised and valued as constituting engagement. Even when the ‘rules of the game’ of the science classroom were understood by the students, the tensions they experienced within the field made engaging with science impossible and undesirable. We discuss how a greater focus on the field can be useful for planning future interventions aimed at making science education more equitable.
Issue Date: Aug-2018
Date of Acceptance: 1-Aug-2018
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/109305
DOI: 10.1007/s11191-018-9988-5
ISSN: 0926-7220
Publisher: Springer
Start Page: 501
End Page: 521
Journal / Book Title: Science and Education
Volume: 27
Issue: 5-6
Copyright Statement: © The Author(s) 2018 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Publication Status: Published
Online Publication Date: 2018-08-06
Appears in Collections:Central Faculty



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