Contemporary Issues in Education !

Running head: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN EDUCATION
Contemporary Issues in Education
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN EDUCATION
Topic 5: Social realities: Class, cultural capital and equity
As opined by Bok (2010), the notion of equality has gained a substantial amount of
prominence within the cannon of the contemporary educational system and is mainly
concerned with the quality of education which is being offered to the students. I personal
believe that the problem of inequality which has dominated the different aspects of the world
since the traditional times is one of the most important problems, which is affecting the
quality of education which is being imparted to the individuals. For example, it is seen that
even in the 21st century unequal treatment is being meted to the children from cultural or
ethnic backgrounds within the various classrooms.
The concept of cultural capital articulated by Pierre Bourdieu is an important to note
in this regard. The construct of cultural capital is mainly concerned with the manner in which
culture or the social status affects the process of acquisition of knowledge or intelligence by
them (Frohard-Dourlent 2009, p. 42). I personally believe the kind of discrimination or
inequality which is being meted out to the children within the contemporary educational
setting adversely affects their learning process. For example, it is seen that because of the
inequality that the students from different ethical backgrounds like aboriginals, Torres Strait
Islander and others the students are not being able to grasp the concepts which are being
taught to them. This in turn adversely affects their growth prospects as well as professional
development in the latter part of their lives since the future prospects of an individual
depends to a great extent on the kind of education that they had received in the early part of
their lives.
The notion of equality also needs to be followed within the kind of curriculum which
is being followed within the educational system and also its contents (Kenway 2013, p. 301).
It is precisely here that the menace of inequality which is dominating the contemporary

2CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN EDUCATION
educational system becomes an important one to resolve. I believe that effective resolution of
this menace is important not only from the perspective of the mitigation of inequality as well
as discrimination within the contemporary world but also from the perspective of the quality
of education that is being imparted to the different individuals.
Topic 6: Social realities: Educating students from refugee backgrounds
Pugh, Every and Hattam (2012) are of the viewpoint that even in the 21st century the
notion of race and ethnicity dominates the contemporary Australian society and to a large
extent affects the working of the Australian society. More importantly, the adverse effects of
the construct of race and racism are manifested within the framework of the educational
system of the concerned nation as well (Edgeworth 2014, p. 361). I am of the viewpoint that
although the national authorities in the recent times have taken the initiative to educate these
refugee children yet the quality of education which is being offered to them is below par.
The factor that surprised me the most regarding the nature of the education that is
being offered to the children from refugee backgrounds is the fact that they are being made to
study the syllabus which has been designed primarily for the mainland Australian students
(Walton et al. 2014, p. 119). This acts as a disadvantage for them because of their lack of
familiarity with the culture as well as the traditions followed by the Australian people. I
personally believe that the major area of concern in this regard is the lack of content or
materials with which these children can relate themselves with these syllabus not only deters
them from taking an active interest in the things that are being taught to them but also study
these contents in an effective manner. Thus, the educational authorities in order to foster an
active interest within the studies regarding the things that are being taught to them in an
effective manner needs to integrate the themes as well as themes with which they are relate
and also the ones that are of interest to them.