Vocational High Schools Students’ Views on Culture and Vocational Courses that Represent Capital: The Example of Eski̇sehi̇r Province
Sermayenin Temsili Bağlamında Meslek Lisesi Öğrencilerinin Kültür ve Meslek Derslerine Yönelik Görüşleri: Eskişehir İli Örneği
In Turkey, as in many countries, the structure and funcitoning of high schools is considerably affected by the fact that secondary education is organized as general-vocational education. Duality in the axes of space, curriculum, teachers, and students significantly differentiates vocational high schools. Students in vocational high schools are probably exposed to a two-dimensional education process. In such schools, one aspect of dual structure focuses on the capital form based on vocational skills, and the other dimension focuses on the capital form based on academic skills. In this respect, vocational high schools can be characterized as a labyrinth based on these two forms of capital, which include both various possibilities and various limitations. This research aims to reveal and interpret the opinions of vocational high school students on culture and vocational courses, which represent the types of capital based on academic and vocational skills. The primary questions that need to be answered in the research are:
1. Did participating students’ attitudes regarding the cultural and vocational courses change?
2. Why did participating students’ attitudes toward cultural and vocational courses change?
The research is based on the data from field research conducted in seven vocational and technical Anatolian schools affiliated with the Eskişehir Provincial Directorate of National Education during December 2016–January 2017. The data were obtained via questionnaire from 794 12th-grade students, and 25 students including eight students, eight graduates, and nine teachers who participated in semi-structured interviews. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed simultaneously. When the socioeconomic characteristics of the students were examined, it was found that they were mostly from working poor families with low education and income levels. The preference for vocational courses and the indifference to culture courses were found to be strong. Student-based qualifications, such as low socioeconomic indicators, a low level of academic achievement, the desire to begin a career as soon as possible, and school-based qualifications such as passing a grade level, and the superficial nature of culture courses make vocational high schools a field where a capital form based on vocational skills is of top priority.
Within the framework of quantitative data, the courses students were most interested in, and of which they desired weekly lecture hours to be increased, were found to be vocational courses. It has been determined that vocational courses representing the capital based on vocational skills are more important to the students.
Qualitative data show that the preference for vocational courses and the indifference to culture courses are strong, and these attitudes are intertwined. It can be said that the preference for vocational courses coincides with the meanings implied in the illusio concept, and the tendency to indifference to cultural courses coincides with the meanings implied in the ataraxia concept. If the vocational education process at the secondary education level is equated with a game, the vocational courses representing different structures of this game are considered more valuable by the students when played compared with culture courses. Culture courses represent a structure to which one is indifferent and where amotivation dominates rather than meets with active resistance. The tendency to develop preferences and indifference to courses is nourished by two sources in the axis of individual and school practices. It should also be noted that both the tendency to develop preference and indifference, as well as the individual factors and school practices that are sources of these tendencies, are intertwined.
Student-based qualifications, such as low socioeconomic indicators, inadequate academic achievement level (which is also related to past educational experiences), and the desire to start a career as soon as possible can make a capital form based on vocational skills in vocational high schools an appealing priority For students, the way to attain employment and a regular income on the basis of one occupation is through vocational courses. This, in turn, may foster a capital form based on academic skills and indifference to or lack of motivation for cultural courses that represent this capital. In the context of school and applications, the higher number of weekly class hours of vocational courses and the class-passing system accompanying this practice may increase interest and motivation toward vocational courses. Considering the inadequacy of the academic achievement level within the framework of personnel culture and the tendency to start a career, the goals and expectations about the culture lessons are weakened. The enduring of the stereotypical failure perception directed toward students at vocational high schools can obstruct effective teaching methods. This can also lead to superficialization of culture courses in terms of content, which are limited in terms of quantity. Nevertheless, the student profile that gets homogeneous in terms of indicators for low academic achievement can weaken competition based on academic achievement. To summarize, the student’s tendency to develop a preference for vocational courses and indifference to cultural courses in the framework of the interaction of both student- and school-based factors can be strengthened.
