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Let’s talk scholastic dispositions. This is a follow on a video from a few days ago on the topic of “social reproduction”. There is so much to cover on this topic alone and we will be getting it as much as we can on this page. My content diving into taste (art, wine, cuisine, architecture, design, etc) is being worked on in the background and I’m so excited to share that with you in the new year. I have a lot more interesting content coming to round off the year and I am in disbelief at how fast this page has grown ❤️. I’ve been loving reading your messages in the comments about how my videos have impacted you so please, continue leaving them for me!!
Transcript
A fundamental problem with education that we have yet to acknowledge and its implications are devastating. In a previous video, I spoke about how the elite inherit much more than just mine. And in that video, I briefly touch on the topic of scholastic dispositions, which is the inherited best from home with school that feels like natural talent. It's never taught explicitly, but rather a result of everyday family interactions, how questions are answered, how intellectual curiosity is modeled. And the toolkit that you get from growing up in an environment that is conducive to this includes this: These are all learned dispositions, but what French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu revealed was that schools require you to already possess the culture they claim to teach. That if you arrive without the right scholastic dispositions, you are marked as deficient. The best way to show this is with an example. So let's begin with two households in the same neighborhood. Before school even begins, children absorb fundamental orientations toward things like knowledge and authority. In Emma's home, she asks her better, why do we have to eat vegetables? And instead of saying because I said so, her mother responds by asking, well, what do you think vegetables do for your body? The conversation spirals. Fifteen minutes spent on nutrition and while Emma doesn't get most of it, she learns something crucial, that her questions matter and adults will think alongside her. Curiosity is modeled. She is challenged to think things out for herself and is supported by context from her parents. Now in Marcus's home while at dinner, Marcus asks, why is the sky blue? His father, exhausted, says, it just is bad, eat your food. What Marcus learns and said is that some questions don't have answers, or at least not ones he's entitled to. When he makes mistakes like mistaking a rectangle for a square, his errors are fixed but never explored. Now both families love their children, but they're translating radically different relationships to learning itself. Now when they go off to kindergarten, both Emma and Marcus end up in the same class. During a lesson, Emma raises her hand, asks follow-up questions, and treats tier teacher as a thinking partner. Whereas Marcus answers when he's called, he doesn't feel entitled to speculate or ask questions. And when he's confused, he assumes he's not smart enough and stays silent. The teacher, without any conscious bias, starts to form conclusions. That Emma is engaged and articulate. That Marcus is shy and disinterested. The sorting has begun. Cognitively, the two kids are identical, but as tier progress throughout school, the gap widens. Gifted programs versus reading intervention. Emma gets more attention. Marcus gets less and falls behind. By high school, Emma applies to 12 universities and gets into seven, including Yale. Marcus's future is more practical, working, maybe some college classes. Both feel their paths reflect natural abilities, but they don't realize how far back it goes to dinner table conversations at age four. Emma goes on to have a professional career and can then transmit scholastic dispositions to her own children. The cycle continues. Whereas Marcus gets a working class Tier cycle continues. Whereas Marcus gets worse working class job and wants to help his own kids better lacks a specific toolkit and the cycle continues. No, I'm limited to three minutes. So in future videos, I plan on exploring this topic even better, getting into specific traits and what parents can do knowing this information. So if you want that, please like and follow and let me know what you think in the comments.
