Boarding Schools and Capital Benefits: Implications for Urban School Reform

ABSTRACT

The author discusses the boarding school model as a schooling alternative to improve life chances for disadvantaged youth, particularly African American youth, by positively meeting their social and educational needs. Bourdieu, Coleman, and other social scientists purported that these needs can be better met by exposing students to social and cultural capital. In this qualitative study, the environment of a boarding school is studied to determine to what extent they increase students’ exposure to social, cultural, and education capital (Bourdieu, 1977, 1993, 1996). Findings indicate that the boarding school model is successful at increasing students’ exposure to social, cultural, and education capital. Implications include implementing successful practices from boarding schools into traditional day schools.

Keywords:

• African American students
• boarding schools
• Bourdieu's capitals (social capital
• cultural capital
• education capital)
• disadvantaged student
• residential schools
• urban education
• urban school reform

Notes

1. I refer to African American, Native American, Pacific Islander, and Hispanic students in this analysis when discussing underachieving students of color throughout this article.

2. Public boarding schools can be started as charter schools and receive district funding, donations, and grants to cover the additional expenses such as housing, staffing, and food related to the boarding school structure.

3. Boarding and residential schools may be used interchangeably to discuss schools that provide housing for students. Students who attend boarding or residential schools live on the school's campus in a situation similar to living on a college campus. The difference is that students have less freedom in K–12 residential schools.