What is the meaning of the school? Bourdieusian reflections from a research on young scholarship holders in Rio de Janeiro.

Abstract

In this article, we will present a research carried out with six youths from low-income groups who, through scholarships, attended high school in two private schools in the Tijuca neighborhood, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Such a study drew on important Bourdieusian reflections, such as discussions about the concepts “excluded from the countryside”, “cultural capital”, and “social capital”. To fulfill this proposal, the paper presents the research in general lines and locates it within the broader social phenomena through which Brazilian society goes. From this, important research findings are highlighted, such as the value given to school experience and the strategies developed by young people to succeed in their trajectories. Finally, the present work will point out ways to think about the potentialities and other subjective costs embedded in the experience of the scholarship holders, in an attempt to conduct their educational trajectories in the face of the possibilities of belonging to a social group.