Programme full

Friday 17 April 2015 09:00 - 10:30
ROUNDTABLE SESSIONS
with high talents are educated to have very high levels of skill related to some professional role; in contrast, others
learn attitudes towards work rather than advanced skills because they do not require such skills. Our survey supports
the presence of this tendency in both societies; however, we find some differences between the societies as well. For
instance, Japan intends to adjust to post-industrialisation to remain globally competitive, sustaining the merits of a
society based on manufacturing. Japanese voices often place importance on communication skills and on proficiency
in English or other languages. In contrast, British voices often emphasize more basic numeracy and literacy or their
own (English) language rather than foreign languages.
Sociology of Education 2
ROUNDTABLE 25, CONFERENCE HALL, HAMISH WOOD BUILDING
‘Widening identification’: A Critique of the ‘Solution’ to Social Inequalities in Gifted Education
Beauvais, C.
(University of Cambridge)
The sociological study of child 'giftedness' is a relatively recent development in comparison to the century-old
influence of psychological and educational approaches to so-called 'gifted children'. The dominant view in the
sociology of giftedness remains quite canonically Bourdieusian: 'ideologies of giftedness', as Bourdieu calls them,
partake in the misrecognition of social inequalities by presenting children's 'abilities' as natural, when they stem for the
vast majority from middle-class upbringing and exposure to cultural capital. This paper does not oppose this view, but
adds to it. Ongoing efforts have been made to solve the problem of social inequality in gifted education by widening
'identification' of 'gifted children', either by multiplying 'areas of giftedness', or by adapting identification methods for
children from minority backgrounds. Though well-intentioned, such enterprises, this paper argues, do not challenge
but indeed powerfully perpetuate the process of misrecognition germane to ideologies of giftedness. They perform,
within the myth of giftedness, what Roland Barthes terms an 'inoculation', namely a strong but localised critique of
social inequality failing to address its actual aetiology. Through them, the reliance on 'identification' as a key stage of
'gifted education' is strengthened, but veiled by the democratic offer to recognise multiple 'gifted identities'. However, it
remains possible, I conclude, to envisage these endeavours as transformative, insofar as their very existences testify
to the difficulty of talking about giftedness outside the rhetoric of either the anecdote or the myth.
Using Bourdieu’s ‘Thinking Tools’ to Explore How NHS Nurse Executives Influence Nursing Education and
Research in Universities
Davies, N.
(Kingston University and St George's, University of London)
This paper will report on a small exploratory study which explored how NHS nurse executives influence nursing
education and research in universities. Particularly the paper will examine how Bourdieu's concepts of Habitas, Field
and Capital are relevant.
Nursing has developed during the last century with nurse education moving from hospital based apprentice training to
a graduate entry profession with teaching based in universities. There is a perception that this has distanced NHS
nursing leaders who no longer have direct influence over the education of their future workforce. Furthermore, the
value of nursing in higher education has been questioned in the general media and the professional nursing press.
This study explored whether NHS nurse executives believed they had a role in commissioning nursing education and
research, the associated opportunities and constraints and their views on the contribution or value of academic
nursing to the quality of patient care.
Bourdieu's concepts were thought to be relevant as they concern the influence and interaction of background
(habitas), capital (especially social capital and distinction) and field (e.g. juxtaposition with medicine and other
healthcare professions). Two themes central to Bourdieu's work, 'reproduction' and 'distinction' were evident in this
study. Firstly, the nurse executives' accounts of their current influence were shaped by their own previous
experiences. Secondly, ideas of social and cultural capital were articulated with descriptions of influence, the value of
nursing degree level preparation and honorary university appointments presented as providing 'distinction' and thus
power and influence.
251 BSA Annual Conference 2015
Glasgow Caledonian University