STUDENT EXPERIENCES IN THE WAYS OF RESPONDING OF SCHOOLS TO SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

Abstract

Setting out to question the fact that presenting the function of the schooling that reproduces existing inequalities as a structural issue, ignores the agency and causes an approach to regard the school as an abstract structure without a subject, this study examines how individuals represent their cultural and social positions within the school context. The aim is to determine the ways that the agents within schools respond to the advantages or disadvantages of the students. The research was designed as an interpretive qualitative study. A total of 72 students studying at the faculty of education were included in the study group. Research data were generated via a structured form consisting of open-ended questions. As a result of the analysis, three main themes and seven sub-themes were reached. This analysis framework is shaped by the areas and forms of the school's response to social and cultural advantages and disadvantages. The general conclusion is that there are two main axes shaped by cultural advantages and disadvantages in school, and these axes are differentiated as being in the center and being in the periphery. Student experiences reveal that family participation, social networks, and fulfilling both the material and cultural requirements of the school are the basic requirements for being at the center of the school context.