Class Of Origin, Institutional Habitus And Reproduction Of Inequalities: The Confirmative Effect Of School Guidance On Student Choices In: SCUOLA DEMOCRATICA (Eds.). Book of Abstracts of the International Conference of the journal Scuola Democratica. Reinventing Education, Rome, Associazione “Per Scuola Democratica”

This study analyzes the phenomenon of guidance and school choices of students in their third year of lower secondary schools in Rome, linking them to the reproduction of inequalities in schooling.The theme of inequalities and differences in educational processes became central when the 1960s witnessed the expansion of schooling and participation in second and third grade education in industrialized countries.In fact, with new categories of students belonging to the poorest and most disadvantaged groups accessing the educational system, the conditions were created for the experience of social inequality (Cavalli & de Lillo 1988).In this study we adopt the Bourdieusian perspective (Bourdieu & Passeron 1970) which, through the concepts of habitus, symbolic violence and field, emphasizes the influence of class of origin on academic achievement and career duration.The Bourdieusian theoretical apparatus, however, also takes into account the distinction of linguistic codes elaborated by Bernestein (1977) and the economic conditioning and cost-benefit calculus of Boudon (1974), up to the point of using the concept of governmental device of Foucauldian memory (Mac &Ghaill 1994; Romito 2017).Most of the relevant literature emphasizes the influence of extra-curricular factors (economic, cultural and social) in school choice. Few studies focus on the role of teachers and guidance activities.The study proposed here aims to understand both the influence of extracurricular factors, mostly those related to social class, and school factors, (such as guidance advice that teachers give to students).The research work started from the hypothesis that alongside the primary effects (link between family background and outcomes) and secondary effects (the influence of background on choice) resulting from class, the existence of a tertiary effect of school is also affirmed (Schneider, 2014; Esser, 2016; Argentin & Pavolini 2020).The latter in particular is studied through the more general consequences of school practices related to the institutional habitus of each school (Ingram 2011) and the symbolic violence exercised by teachers that is expressed in the guidance council, when biases aimed at lowering students' aspirations are applied unconsciously (Boone & Van Houtte 2013; Romito 2016).A mixed-method research design was used that included both quantitative (semi-structured questionnaires) and qualitative (interviews) data collection tools. Five secondary schools belonging to different areas of the city of Rome participated in the study, from which some third classes were randomly drawn.Two questionnaires on school choice and orientation were administered to the students in these classes and, finally, some non-directive interviews were conducted with their teachers. In summary, the results of this work state that: 1) social background conditions students' school choice, 2) institutional elements of the school context shape teachers' assessment and guidance practices, and 3) the latter in turn reinforce the classroom conditioning on which students' choice intentions are based. In the various school contexts, therefore, diversified chances to continue studies are activated and school careers are promoted that strengthen inequalities in terms of social composition, thus encouraging scholastic and territorial segregation. All this, in a broader perspective, tends to reproduce the class dynamics already existing in society and, therefore, social immobility for certain categories of students.