Developing Science Identity and Cultural Capital: A Hermeneutic Study of Teacher-Led Secondary Science Curriculum Development

Science uptake in post-compulsory education is diminishing in the UK. Data collected by the Programme for International Student Assessment, suggests stagnation in secondary science performance, with fewer high achievers. Previous research linked reduced science participation, attainment, and aspirations to lower socioeconomic status, low social mobility, and reduced access to cultural capital. Cultural capital is a concept introduced by sociologist Bourdieu and refers to social and cultural assets that influence a person’s educational outcomes.
In 2019, the UK’s national school inspection body, the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills, introduced new inspection criteria in its Education Inspection Framework. This framework placed the emphasis on inspections of the curriculum and identified the importance of this in providing opportunities to increase students’ cultural capital.
This small-scale qualitative study (involving five participants) took place in a secondary school, located in an area of England with low levels of social mobility. The area ranked 298th out of 324 in England’s 2017 Social Mobility Index, a government measure assessing individuals’ opportunities to improve their socioeconomic position. The school implemented their ‘Linear Curriculum’ which aimed to provide opportunities for students to develop science identity (perceptions of themselves as scientists) and cultural capital. The curriculum also aimed to improve student confidence and academic performance, both arguably as prerequisites for the continuation of the study of science beyond the compulsory school age.

This research examines how the Linear Curriculum impacts science students through the hermeneutic analysis of teacher perceptions. Data were generated through diary entries, semi-structured interviews, and a focus group with five teachers involved in the development and implementation of the curriculum. Perceptions were analysed using a theoretical framework developed in this research, combining the philosophies of Bourdieu and Gadamer. Triangulation of the data sought to identify and clarify the perceptions of teachers regarding the effect of the Linear Curriculum on the students and its’ impact on students’ science identity and cultural capital.

Analysis of data revealed a ‘fusion of horizons’ where teachers agreed the Linear Curriculum was well structured and challenging for all students, despite the incorporation of the content from the Triple Science General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), content included the individual GCSEs in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. There was an awareness of its limitations, and the curriculum was described as a work in progress. The participants had a shared vision of science identity, with their descriptions based on their personal qualities. However, cultural capital was less well understood and was perceived to be a tangible act or object that could be provided to the student, in terms of gained knowledge and experiences in the classroom.
Participants perceived the Linear Curriculum had the potential to increase science identity and cultural capital, whilst recognising the importance of their role in providing support for all, particularly those with less educationally dominant cultural capital. Additionally, the process of curriculum development fostered increased professionalism and identity in the participants.