“Alienation is an individual’s feeling of uneasiness or discomfort which reflects his exclusion or

self-exclusion from social and cultural participation. It is an expression of non-belonging or non-

sharing, an uneasy awareness or perception”[CITATION Dea16 \l 1033 ]. Student alienations in
schools is receiving a great attention in media and socio-economic status is one of the major
causes of this bias. This essay agrees with this bias and outlining the theory of Bourdieu’s who
have bridged the gap between theory and practice in education areas and have given a range of
capitals to relate the theories to actual practice.

Socio-economic status is the overall social position of a person based on postal code,
achievements, income, and wealth. The children from low SES backgrounds are usually facing
struggles and hard works in accomplishing their education goals. There is an index of relative
socio-economic disadvantage introduced by Australian Bureau of Statistics (2000) which can also
be used to calculate SES on the basis of ZIP code of students' home addresses. Some patterns
are also there which can be used in reflecting their background such as: numeracy and
comprehension; low retention rates; negative attitudes toward school, lower level of literacy,
less school-to-labor market transitions (Considine, G and G. Zappala,2002).However, according
to Bourdieu (1977, 1990) the inequality in education for the minorities is based on three key
tenets: capital, habitus and field. Moreover, he emphasized on various human forms of capital
including cultural, social and economic capital (Tania Ferfolja, Criss Jones Diaz and Jacqueline
Ullman, 2015,p.11), and these processes can be transferred from one to another and vice-versa,
but these conversion processes do not occur in isolation, for instance , a child is having enough
of the resources and latest technology for studying at home, provided to him by his parents, that
is his economic capital, but it cannot be recognized by others if he is not having a link with his
friends and does not go to school, means social recognition is also essential. Bourdieu’s theory
considers schooling as the primary means by which cultural capital can be developed, and
family plays a keen role in inculcating this capital because it is considered to be the hidden
investment in the life of a child for better achievement in studies. Consequently, it can be
considered a beneficiary transferred from one generation to another.

Various reasons are there which are giving home to student alienation in schools, as Rosalind
(1952), considered school alienation to be multi-dimensional in school-context and has used four
dimensions to relate it, which are- meaninglessness, normlessness, powerlessness and social
estrangement.Firstly,the powerlessness means that the expectation to fulfil targeted goals lower
downs, like if a student gets lower score in exam than expected, so as a result students start
truancy or becomes rebellion, especially those with poor academic records, less social capital,
feels more powerlessness in school. Meaninglessness means lack of connectedness between
present and future(Manneheim,1954), this happens when students find classroom study to be
futile or non sensical for them, as they perceive no relation between their goal in life and
classroom studies, and start feeling alienated. “Normlessness occurs when individuals have little
sense of the cohesive norms and goals of the social institution” ( Rosalind Y. Mau, 1992). It
means that students in marginal positions are not integrated into the normative school structure
(Rosalind Y. Mau,1992). Social estrangement or isolation is when they do not participate in
school activities and remain isolated, it might be possible that they find school to be
monotonous, or due to bullying, or due to teacher ignorance in class. A critical research done by
Rosalind (1992), by using twenty-four statements questionnaire for students has made her to
draw a conclusion that there is relation between these dimensions of conceptualization of
alienation and empirical dimensions.

Social theorists and commentators tend to see education as an avenue for either producing and
reproducing disadvantage and privilege or reducing inequalities(Marks and McMillan,2003), but
who is responsible for generating or enhancing this inequality is the main question. Most
probably parents, teachers and school organisations all are playing a key role in enhancing this
variability, indeed, but it depends from case to case that who is dominating and more powerful
from all. Bourdieu’s social reproduction theory reflects that habitus, an important form of
cultural inheritance, related to cultural class, and class shapes the logic of child rearing in the
home (Lareau, 2011, p.12). Further, in evidence it is portrayed that parents cultural capital is
reproductive, that is it is inherited and is transferred genetically from parents to offspring, and
the links of these were identified in the longitudinal and cross-sectional studies in
research( Tzanakis. M, 2011). Further, the poverty, education level of parents also influences on
child’s cultural capital. Other than this, the social factors like the privatization of schools and
further schools competing against each other in academics and other activities, has increased
the gap between higher and lower groups, and has given an invitation of marginalization to
lower groups and to those in poverty.

The difference in the socio-economic backgrounds are highly affecting the performance of
students in the schools, as students from high SES schools have access to various resources
which are enhancing their academic grades and overall performance, on the other hand those
from poverty areas and minorities, with schools in Low SES regions remains deprived, and PISA
(Programme for International Student Assessment) helps in comparing this for schools, for
example, PISA is used to compare the academic outcomes of advantaged and disadvantaged
schools, as Australian 2015, PISA shows that by increasing the schools and student SES, the
academic outcomes turn outs to be positive. One of the factors responsible for degrading the
school socio-economic status is the participation, perception, and presence of teachers, as
teachers are considered to be the power holders in schools, and if they do not participate to
hinder this variability, and encourage them, or sometimes shortage of teachers in schools,
especially in poverty regions’ schools.
Research has shown that the economic background of the child imposes certain implications on
the reflexivity-impulsivity, cognitive, and executive functioning in school. The research done on
the brain functioning of Low SES children’s critically reveals that their environmental factors
have a relationship with the cognitive area, and the other factors accounted for this problem
are parental such as; educational level, occupational level, maternal education, family income
and habitation, for instance, in a study conducted with 622 children from Colombia and Mexico,
it was found an impact of educational level of parents and school types, on the development of
executive functioning (Ardila, Rosselli, Matute, & Guajardo, 2005). It was founded from the
study that there is connection between poverty and the performance among children’s in
processes such as problem solving, planning and cognitive control. Thus, through neuroimaging
techniques, the brain differences were predicted in association with low SES groups, and they
are due to the lower cognitive stimulation, parental characteristics, and environmental stress
(Vanessa Aran-Fillippetti and Maria Cristina Richaud,2016).

The Australian Government has introduced various policies to interpret improvement in socio-
economic status, sex and state, for instance, it was shown in the National report on schooling in
Australian data site by ACARA(2017), that year 12 certification rate for all students in low socio-
economic status deciles in Australia, time series(per cent) from 2009 to 2017 is alleviated with
time from 56 to 76 though for males it roused from 50 to 71 and females from 63 to 81, it
means feminism is making its impact, and are engaged more towards studies as compared to
males, however it also indicates that boys suffer more educational disadvantages than girls, and
the performance of boys observed to be declining than that of girls as they move down the
socio-economic scale. Other than this report, the Australian government also introduced ‘The
Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians’ whose primary role was to
promote excellence and equity, further, to minimize the increasing gap in young indigenous
Australians; providing appropriate support to disadvantaged students and upgrading school
conditions in low SES regions. Even COAG (The Council of Australian Governments) is trying to
minimize the gap between students of different backgrounds like indigenous and the non-
indigenous one’s year 12 result by 2020. In addition, COAG in 2008, had made ‘National
Partnership for Low Socio-Economic Status School Communities’, whose main aim is to support
schools and to better equip them, so as to reduce the complex challenges which the
disadvantaged students are facing, and approximately 1700 schools were participating in it, and
an aid of $1.5 billion was given at that time (ACARA:National Report on Scooling in
Australia,2011).

Teachers are role models for some students, as they can bring difference in their lives. But for
teachers working in socioeconomic schools has to deal with many challenges such as student
alienation, poor learning outcomes, and they can overcome these by following some strategies
to deal with diverse students or to inculcate the learning values among students. Teachers can
make strategies to reduce the multi-dimensional alienation, that is, meaninglessness,
normlessness, self-estrangement, isolation. For instance, normlessness can be reduced by
providing complete syllabi on the very first day of the session, so as to reduce anxiety, though
they may not get good score, but they can plan from the beginning according to the syllabus
and assessments, to avoid stress. Moreover, to reduce the feeling of isolation in the classroom,
a teacher can assign various group activities and discussions on some general articles, so that
everyone could take part in it (Barbara,1987). Even the behavior of teachers can hinder the
learning in the classrooms such as: strict classroom behavior, focusing on majority groups,
absenteeism, unable to teach diverse students, so a trained teacher can generate sense of
learning in the classroom, and can change the environment, and make it a learning room for
diverse students, or poor standard students, just the awareness and knowledge of tricks and
tactics, and strategies should be known.

‘Teacher for a Fair Go’ which was a project funded by Australian Research Council under its
Linkage Scheme, and all the teachers worked in Priority Schools who are bringing a positive
effect in learning in the classrooms, and have inhibited in students the desire of ‘want to go’ to
the classroom rather than truancy. The another way of reducing alienation is by bringing
equality in schools, that is upgrading the disadvantaged schools, and equalizing them in terms
of curriculum, resources, admission criteria’s, and by promoting inclusive education.

In the end, it could be said that student alienation on the basis of socio-economic status, is an
complex issue and the reasons for which are elaborated above, but the main reason is the
perspective that has been build up in society of marginalizing some communities, so if it is
abolished, then a perception of equality will be developed. To overcome this problem,
government should bring some more policies to promote the disadvantaged schools and
education levels, providing appropriate aids to schools, moreover, parents also make some
changes in their attributes and teach their children from the very beginning, because it is the
responsibility of all, and if everyone will join hand to abolish this problem then results will
become positive drastically.
References:

ACARA- Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Health(2017), Year 12 Certification

rates, ABS, Cat. No. 3101.0, Australian Demographic Statistics, Estimated Residential
Population.

ACARA:National Report on Schooling in Australia,(2011)

Alex Kozulin, Boris Gindis, Vladimir S. Ageyev, Suzanne M. MillerCambridge University Press, 15
Sep 2003 – Psychology p.19

Considine, G. and G. Zappala (2002), ëFactors influencing the educational performance of

students from disadvantaged backgroundsí, in T. Eardley and B. Bradbury, eds, Competing
Visions:Refereed Proceedings of the National Social Policy Conference 2001, SPRC Report 1/02,
Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 91-107

Ferfolja, T., Jones-Diaz, Criss, editor, & Ullman, Jacqueline, editor. (2015). Understanding
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Hoy, Wayne K. (1972).Dimensions of student alienation and characteristics of public high

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Curriculum Leadership Journal:Teacher for a Fair Go,( 2011), 13(9), Retrieved from

http://www.curriculum.edu.au/leader/teachers_for_a_fair_go,33406.html?issueID=12413

ACARA: National Report On Schooling in Australia (2011), Retrieved from

https://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia-2011/national-
initiatives-and-achievements/partnerships

Keating, B. (1987). Reducing Classroom Alienation: Applications from Theory. Teaching

Sociology, 15(4), 407-409. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1317998

Mannheim, K.(1954), Ideology and Utopia, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul

Marks, G., & McMillan, J. (2003). Declining inequality? The changing impact of socio-economic
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Munns, G., Sawyer, W., & Cole, B. (Eds.). (2013). Exemplary teachers of students in poverty.
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Sue Thomson, Proffesional Voice, The Effects of Inequity in Australian Schools, 12(1) 29-39

Tzanakis, M. (2011). Bourdieu’s Social Reproduction Thesis and The Role of Cultural Capital in
Educational Attainment: A Critical Review of Key Empirical Studies. Educate~, 11(1), 76 - 90.
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Vanessa Aran-Fillippetti and Maria Cristina Richaud,(2016).Socioeconomic Status: Influences,

Disparities, and Current Issues, Nova Science Publisher Incorporated (pp. 27-54)