The communicated knowledge in a classroom is considered as
2013
The communicated knowledge in a classroom is considered as
Answer: D. cultural capital — Concept. Cultural capital is Pierre Bourdieu’s term for the non-financial assets a person accumulates — knowledge, skills, language, taste, manners and formal…
- A.
non-pervasive treasure
- B.
limited judgement
- C.
autonomous virtue
- D.
cultural capital
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Concept. Cultural capital is Pierre Bourdieu’s term for the non-financial assets a person accumulates — knowledge, skills, language, taste, manners and formal credentials — which, like money, can be stored, transmitted, invested and converted into social advantage. Bourdieu holds that it exists in three states.
State | What it consists of | Where it is seen |
|---|---|---|
Embodied | Durable dispositions and competence carried in the person | A learner’s grasp of a subject and its vocabulary |
Objectified | Cultural goods whose use requires that competence | Textbooks, instruments, laboratory apparatus |
Institutionalised | Formal recognition conferred by an institution | Degrees, diplomas, examination certificates |
Application. Trace what happens to knowledge that a classroom communicates.
A teacher transmits knowledge to the learners. Unlike a consumable, it is not used up: it settles in each learner as durable competence — the embodied state.
Examination and certification then convert that competence into a formal qualification — the institutionalised state.
The qualification is exchangeable for admission to further study and for occupational entry, so the time invested in the classroom yields a return.
A resource that is accumulated, transmitted, invested and converted into other advantage is capital in Bourdieu’s sense; because its currency is cultural and not monetary, it is cultural capital.
Contrast with the other values.
"non-pervasive treasure" — names a holding prized for staying scarce and undiffused. Knowledge in a classroom is defined by being diffused to everyone present, which is the opposite property.
"limited judgement" — names an act of appraisal that a person performs. What a classroom hands over is a stock the learner retains, not a verdict the learner issues.
"autonomous virtue" — belongs to moral philosophy: a self-governing excellence of character. It describes how a person acts, not what a person accumulates and can later exchange.
Cross-check. Apply the four capital tests — can it be accumulated, transmitted, invested and converted? School knowledge passes all four, since a degree converts into employment; a scarce hoard, an appraisal and a moral disposition do not. This also matches Bourdieu’s central thesis on education: the school is the chief institution through which cultural capital is transmitted and legitimised, which is precisely the classroom setting the question describes.