Vocational High Schools Students’ Views on Culture and Vocational Courses that Represent Capital: The Example of Eski？sehi？r Province

In Turkey, as in many countries, the structure and functioning of high schools is considerably affected considering the fact that secondary education is organized as general-vocational education. Duality in the axes of space, curriculum, teachers, and students significantly differentiates vocational high schools. It can be said that students in vocational high schools are exposed to a two-dimensional education process. In these schools, one aspect of dual structure focuses on the capital form based on vocational skills and the other dimension focuses on the capital form based on academic skills. In this respect, vocational high schools can be characterized as a labyrinth based on these two forms of capital, which include both various possibilities and various limitations. This research aims to reveal and interpret the opinions of vocational high school students on culture and vocational courses that represent the types of capital based on academic and vocational skills. The research is based on the data from field research conducted in seven vocational and technical Anatolian schools affiliated with the Eski？ehir Provincial Directorate of National Education during December 2016–January 2017. The data were obtained via questionnaire submitted by 794 12th-grade students, and 25 students, including eight students, eight graduates, and nine teachers who participated in semi-structured interviews. The preference for vocational courses and the indifference to cultural courses were found to be strong. Student-based qualifications, such as low socioeconomic indicators, a low level of academic achievement, the desire to begin a career as soon as possible, and school-based qualifications such as passing a grade level and the superficial nature of culture courses make vocational high schools a field where a capital form based on vocational skills is of top priority