Rural dispositions of floating children within the field of Beijing schools: can disadvantaged rural habitus turn into recognised cultural capital?

Abstract

The rapid pace of urbanisation in China has seen a massive increase in the movement of the rural population to work and live in urban regions. In this large-scale migration context, the educational, health, and psychological problems of floating children are becoming increasingly visible. Different from extant studies, we focus our investigation on the rural dispositions of floating children through interviews with leaders, teachers, and students in four schools in Beijing. Drawing on Bourdieu’s key notions of habitus, capital, and field, our study indicates that the rural habitus of floating children can differentiate these children from their urban peers. This habitus can be marginalised and stigmatised in certain fields but can be recognised and valued as capital in other fields. Our paper offers some implications for research and practice in relation to the schooling of floating children.

Keywords:

• floating children
• China
• rural dispositions
• Bourdieu

Acknowledgements

This paper was completed with the generous help and kind support of Marion Welburn, David Welburn, Cassie Welburn, Weiming Li (李伟明), Shuhuai Mu (穆书淮), Shizhuo Gui (桂士卓), Xingmou Zhang (张星谋), Jiaying Zhang (张嘉赢), Wenzhi Jia (贾文志), and Xiuhua Wang (王秀华).