Time, space and the scholarly habitus: Thinking through the phenomenological dimensions of field

Abstract

This article engages critically with Bourdieu’s notion of field. It questions the emphasis that Bourdieu places on what he terms ‘objective relations’ at the expense of the actual relations of those within a field. This not only involves relations between human actors but the interactions of humans with the non-human such as inanimate objects that over time, and in particular spaces, engender certain forms of embodiment. The intention of the article is to think through these phenomenological dimensions of field. It does this by firstly examining these issues as theoretical questions before siting them within an empirical context, revisiting data from an earlier study into the differential achievement of students of Chinese-, Pacific Islander- and Anglo-Australian backgrounds to ascertain the ways in which various micropractices performed within the home promote different dispositions to learning, some more and some less of value at school.

Keywords:

• Bourdieu
• field theory
• embodiment
• practice

Acknowledgement

The data discussed here are drawn from Watkins, M. & Noble, G. (2013). Disposed to Learn: Schooling, Ethnicity and the Scholarly Habitus. London: Bloomsbury pages 73–82.

Notes

1. This information was obtained with parental consent via each student’s school. It is important to note that there is no publically available disaggregated data in terms of ethnicity or language background to provide a broader point of comparison in relation to each of the groups represented in the study.

2. Ten schools were involved in the survey stage of the study but this was reduced to six for the ethnographic stage. These six schools were selected on the basis of their response rates to the survey and the appropriateness of respondents in terms of the study’s sample.

3. Students’ ethnic background was determined on the basis of parents’ responses to questions about cultural and linguistic background, country of birth, etc.