Abstract
Class inequalities generally persist in South Africa and these inequalities are mirrored in the education system. Several scholars have recorded how schooling reproduces social class differences, and how schools and classroom processes amplify class differences between students ultimately disadvantaging the working class. A major concern is the persistent attainment gap between students from working class backgrounds and students from middle-class backgrounds. This study applied Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital with its sub-cultures or other sub-forms of cultural capital, mainly habitus and field, to map the influence of teachers’ class backgrounds on classroom practices and ultimately the reproduction of class and attainment disparities between township schools and former Model-C schools in Gauteng province, South Africa. This was achieved through qualitative data collection by means of focus group interviews wherein teachers from the same school were interviewed. The findings of the study indicate that class backgrounds of teachers and class modalities of the school they work at have a strong influence on pedagogic practices deployed. The study contributes to the knowledge field both locally and internationally by introducing teachers’ class background in the reproduction theory and attainment gap and the study proposes socially sensitive classroom pedagogies.
M.Ed.