A 'fish in water

The (Re)production of a Student's Class Habitus Through the Practice of Student Voice

Bibliographic Data

ID2938860
AuthorsRachel Finneran (0000-0002-9089-0726, Deakin University, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume47
Issue1
Pages1-11
Publication date2025-05-08
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDiscourse Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0159-6306 • E-ISSN: 1469-3739
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01596306.2025.2501553
OpenAlexW4410190425
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited47

Student voice has more frequently been researched in low socio-economic secondary school contexts. In these contexts, student voice has often been adopted by practitioners who are focused on equity as a way of including students who have been traditionally marginalised in school decision-making. Less is known about the processes and rationales of student voice in primary schools located in more socio-economically advantaged contexts and of the impact it may have on schooling inequities. In this paper I offer an analysis of data that was generated at a primary school located in a socio-economically advantaged Melbourne suburb in their enactment of student voice. Using Bourdieu’s concept of habitus, I demonstrate how middle-class ways of being and doing enable middle-class students to feel ahead of the game. I argue that student voice practice, rather than levelling the playing field, can exacerbate existing schooling inequities by further privileging those students with existing advantages

Cultural capital · Epistemology · Fish · Fishery · Habitus · Pedagogy · Social science · Sociology · Communication in Education and Healthcare · Critical Race Theory in Education · Literacy, Media, and Education · Philosophy

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