ELITISM, RESILIENCE AND SOCIAL REPRODUCTION Teacher dictums on conditions, opportunities, and trajectories for children in the German secondary school tracking-system

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate young people’s conditions, opportunities, and trajectories in the secondary school track system of Germany, Berlin. This with a focus on the two main tracks: Gymnasium and integrated secondary school, in which students are divided into after the sixth grade. Semi-structured interviews with teachers have been used a method in the research, and the dictums have been thematically analyzed. The theoretical frame is based on Bourdieu’s work, which aims to reveal the relations that perpetuate social inequality, with a focus on what role education plays in social reproduction. In this key theoretical concept used are habitus, fields, and the different forms of capital. The results show that there are social and cultural distinctions between, and within the tracks, and in the descriptions of students in the different tracks. These are further analyzed to be related to social class, which seemingly further create distinctions between students’ conditions for school success, school track trajectory and inequal conditions and opportunities for students in the system.