In Present Day

Although above, Bourdieu’s diagram was not criticized for its time, it was quite different story when the schema was placed in contemporary society. The teachers had different opinions, at first in relation to cultural capital. The definition of cultural capital was explaining to them during the interview. But they still respond with they own definition of it. As I discussed above, the level of study corresponds to cultural capital. Hence, the teachers were very critical of the cultural level being as low as Bourdieu described. For them, with today’s level of education, the cultural level of teachers should be much higher.

All trades of education today require a master degree in France in any case, whether for the first degree (primary) or for the second degree (secondary), so I cannot agree on separating one from the other and especially on distinguishing the cultural capital of secondary school teachers from that of primary school teachers. Why would teaching in high school increase cultural capital? It makes no sense to me. (Interviewee 1, Skype one-to-one interview, March 10, 2019)

There is real competition between primary and secondary school teachers. The teachers interviewed did not accept that there is still a salary gap between the two professions today, since they are at a similar level in terms of education. In this sense, the interviewees were quite in agreement that the Bourdieu schema applied to the present day.

Their economic level always seems lower than that of the majority of other professions, especially that of secondary school teachers.

And one more glaring example: the difference in salary that exists between us and the secondary, with equal degrees, the high school teacher is today still better paid than the teacher at primary school, which would explain the

fact that he be placed above us for economic capital (Interviewee 2, Skype one-to-one interview, March 10, 2019)

However, Interviewee 3 bucked this trend slightly. He noted that despite the fact that primary school teachers are still not paid as well as high school teachers, they still have a salary that allows them to consume more, while with a salary that is too low, some French people cannot afford it.

Despite a salary that is not the highest, many primary teachers have the

“luxury” of thinking about how they consume (with or without gluten, from the organic sector or not, etc..), which certainly is becoming more and more common but not yet a given for everyone (Interviewee 3, Skype one-to-one interview, March 10, 2019)

Despite the fact that these teachers think that their places are no longer those as given by Bourdieu, they admit that it is always in the same place (in the social space) in relation to society. Although the status has evolved to school level. These teachers think that society always reflects the same image of primary school teachers and especially of the difference between them and secondary school teachers. There has been a profound change in the profession, and it seems that only teachers themselves are feeling this—it is not the case for the rest of the population of France.

However, even though I do not personally agree with this pattern, I think it fits perfectly with the opinion of today’s society. Nowadays, there is still this

“competition” between teachers of the first degree and those of the second, but it is mainly because of the image that people have of our profession: too many holidays, not enough work, nursering child. Contemporary society still thinks as it did in the 70s–80s: that primary school is a daycare. (Interviewee 5, Skype one-to-one interview, March 10, 2019)

Once again, it is the lack of recognition for their work that emerges. These teachers take their roles very seriously but the feel that they get no return from society. Thus, there is a lack of valorization of their profession that is very present for them.

For me, we have a very important role because we train future generations.

We transmit fundamental knowledge to them.

Nevertheless, society does not have a very rewarding image of our profession, in any case, that is the impression that I have. We are often mistaken for slackers because of the quantity of our hours of work in front of the students and because of our large number of weeks of vacation. It’s not that easy.

(Interviewee 4, Skype one-to-one interview, March 10, 2019

3. Summary

Types of response profile emerge from these results. First, there are those who are in agreement with Bourdieu’s schema. However, if these teachers validate the schema, it is only for the time at which the schema was developed, that is. for the 1970s and 1980s.

At that time, the salary as a reflection of the level of culture and qualifications was not large enough to place them higher in the schema. Thus, they were considered to be at quite low level in society.

However, they all agreed that today the schema should be different. Their places have evolved, on the one hand, thanks to the level of qualifications required, which is very different today and, on the other hand, as a result of an increase in salaries. However, their economic capital remains below that of other professions. And there is still a gap, as Bourdieu shows, between cultural and economic capital. However, although their perceptions show that the pattern is not the same today, they still think in terms of the current society and the perceptions of the French population. The schema has not changed considerably. There is a contradiction between their perceptions and their paths and what the image of society reflects of themselves.