Essay
An introduction to family, schools and identity
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- Anglia Ruskin University (ARU)
An introduction to family, schools and identity
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How might the family setting in which a child grows upand the school s/he attends affect the child’s identity?
(Resubmission)
A child’s identity can be defined as a set of determining characteristics
including their race, culture, class or sex. Woodward (2004) states, that
‘class, gender, ethnicity and place of birth are all important dimensions of
a person’s identity’. As well as this, their identity may also include the way
the child sees themselves within their society, for example the clothes
they wear and music they listen to. All of these factors add up to an
individual’s identity. This is backed up by the Oxford English Dictionary
(2014) definition, stating identity is the characteristics of who or what a
person is. A child’s identity is also determined by their family background,
and parental resources including social and cultural capital (De Graaf, De
Graaf and Kraaykamp 2000). In this essay I will be explaining the
association between the development of a child’s identity and the family
setting they grow up in and school they attend. I will do this by examining
parental resources (social and cultural capital) within different cultural
groups in schools and using educational outcomes to help illustrate my
discussion.
According to GOV.UK (2011) in relation to education, all families in the UK
have the same roles in caring for their children, even if their cultures may
differ. These roles include; providing a suitable and safe home for the
child, giving the child contact with members of the family living with
them, disciplining the child in a secure environment, and providing
accessibility for the child’s education, amongst other duties. This means
that even though a families beliefs may differ from another’s, when they
are in England their roles become governed by UK laws and if they do not
maintain the set standard of caring for their child then the matters may be
taken into local law enforcements hands. The department for education
(2011) sets out minimum care standards within a family home which
states that “Children must be able to develop a positive self-view,
emotional resilience and knowledge and understanding of their
background” and the best way to do this is through promoting their
diversity and individual potential through individualised care. This would
allow for children from different cultures to establish a positive identity
from their family and background, promoting the overall healthy
development of their identity. However according to Family Lives (2014)
although the family a child grows up in is extremely influential in a child’s
development of identity, in our multi-cultural society it is also important
for parents to accept the changes in culture their children will experience
when put into educational institutions within the UK. This means that in
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, order for children to discover their own identity, their families must let
them learn about their backgrounds without stopping them from learning
from new cultures as this could hinder their development.
Another factor that may affect a child’s identity could be the type of
family they grow up in as within the UK families are set into different
classes; working class, middle class and upper class. The different classes
within the UK are closely linked to identity because they relate to how that
family is seen within society, for example their occupation, the areas they
live in and the school the children attend. The classes are also related to
how much social and cultural capital a family have. According to Bourdieu
(1977) middle class families have more cultural capital and once a family
is within this status they are likely to maintain their position in society as
parents pass on knowledge to their children and have more resources that
allow their children to succeed and carry on the middle class standard
(Woodward, 2004). In contrast to this, lower or working class families have
less cultural capital which means they cannot pass anything on to their
children to help them climb the educational ladder. Working class parents
also have less time to help their children with homework or out of school
activities as they must work in order to pay their rent or feed their
children where as a middle class parent can concentrate on buying
expensive things such as cars or houses. Bourdieu (1977) explains that
middle class families have the time and resources to make them seem
wealthier within their society, which is known as objectified cultural
capital. This will affect a child’s identity as their family helps them to
succeed through education and life, and many children that start from a
working class family are likely to maintain that status which will therefore
become part of the way they are seen in society, and their own identity.
The government gives parents the freedom of choice to send their
children to whichever schools they want, however Dillon (2010) suggests
that cultural capital decides where a child goes to school and what
university they go to. In reality working class parents choose school on
location and income, which means the freedom of choice for them is just
an illusion.
The background of a child that starts school and the identity they have
gained from their parents can affect the way they are treated throughout
the education system, for example within educational institutions in the
UK, a child’s identity can influence the types of opportunities they have
access to and influence the grades they may get. There are statistics on
educational attainment which have been linked to certain characteristics
of children throughout schooling which suggests that if a child comes from
a certain background or group, then they are destined to fulfil targets set
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