Pomiędzy rodziną, szkołą i uniwersytetem : refleksje socjologa o barierach edukacyjnych na Górnym Śląsku

The article includes a few sociological reflections on functioning of educational barriers in Upper Silesia. The author cites a classic theory of P. Bourdieu and J. C. Passeron about the role of education in the reproduction of the society and tries to adapt it to the situation in Upper Silesia. The author’s analysis is based on reinterpretation of the material collected during the studies of evolution of culture of Silesian local communities. The following factors played a major role in the reproduction of the situation of Silesian community in the social structure: — distance between primary and secondary habitus; — depriving Silesian culture of its “legal” character; — linguistic capital of the Upper-Silesian community; -- cultural and social capital; — functioning of the law of the background (F. Znaniecki, S. Ossowski); — space of language communication marked by dialect, German and Polish languages; — living conditions; — group ethos; — self-evaluation of educational chances; — inheriting the profession; — structure of education. All these factors impeded the possibilities of social rise among the Silesian population and thus influenced the reproduction of the situation of the Silesian population in the social structure. The author observes present changes in educational aspirations of the Upper- -Silesian community and emphasises the role of regional education in reducing the educational barriers in Upper Silesia. He shows that regional education must take transformational challenges into account, on which depends the future of Silesia — whether it will become a skansen of Europe or a region that will develop very dynamically. Regional education, which develops in more and more schools, allows to: — identify a “legal” character of Silesian culture and raise the rank of the system of values created at home; — limit the symbolical violence; — limit the distance between primary and secondary habitus; — accumulate cultural and social capital.