Pierre Bourdieu and his concept of Symbolic Violence: what´s happening into Colombian Classrooms?

Abstract

This discussion paper arises from the academic proposal made for elective seminar of the Doctorate in Education from Universidad Santo Tomás in Bogotá Colombia ‘la violencia simbólica en la obra de Pierre Bourdieu y el acto pedagógico’. In a very particular scenario being presented in the Colombian nation in recent months in which the political, economic and cultural academic country seeks ways out of decades of war between the government and armed opposition groups, it is necessary that this topic enters into the classroom and reflect about these very pointed and particular tensions that every day are fought at schools, colleges or universities. In this sense, one of them has to do with power relationships between teachers and students, the study of its genesis, its development and evolution are essential for understanding today's school as the setting in which they are educating the new generation of Colombians who, apparently, will be the first to live in a country at peace. It is assumed therefore that the author’s ideas on Bourdieu’s theory stem from the author’s experience of working in Colombia as a teacher in several schools and universities. After years of pedagogical experiences, this would make an interesting insight, through the lens of Bourdieu, into the dominant educational pedagogical approach in a country which is perceived to be unstable by other nations. A position paper on how students may be discriminated against or oppressed because of the power struggles or tensions within the classroom and what Bourdieu might call cultural arbitraries, would make interesting reading. For this analysis, it is assumed that the theory of Pierre Bourdieu can be helpful to understand this phenomenon, since it allows to address the issue from the theoretical but also leaves the possibility of understanding the phenomenon from teaching practice and the school.