Efecto de lugar: Aportes para comprender la segmentación socioeducativa en dos espacios locales de Argentina

Abstract

El planteo de la idea de efecto de lugar en la obra de Pierre Bourdieu, constituye una herramienta conceptual que permite explorar la relación entre desigualdades espaciales y desigualdades educativas, más precisamente aquellas referidas al desigual acceso de la población a las instituciones educativas diferenciadas que dan lugar a la segmentación socioeducativa. El artículo aborda los planteos en torno a la reificación del espacio social y la vigencia de la noción de ganancia de localización en tanto aportes para la comprensión sobre cómo interviene la dimensión espacial en la segmentación socioeducativa, entendida ésta como la conformación de grupos o circuitos escolares. Las desigualdades socio-espaciales y educativas son abordadas mediante la exploración de las configuraciones espaciales de las ciudades de Campana y Zárate (provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina) y una aproximación al estudio de circuitos educativos de escuelas secundarias, secundarias técnicas e instituciones de educación y formación para el trabajo a partir de la indagación en distintos factores que contribuyen a la diferenciación escolar, entre ellos la dimensión espacial. Una conclusión a la que se llega es que existen múltiples “efectos de lugares”, que son diferenciales dentro de una misma localidad, y dan terreno a que existan ganancias o desventajas de localización que inciden sobre las instituciones educativas y sobre los docentes y estudiantes que forman parte de las mismas.

Bourdieu’s idea of the site effect is a conceptual tool for exploring the relationship between spatial and educational inequalities, more precisely those referring to the unequal access of the population to differentiated educational institutions that permit socioeducational segmentation. It could be considered a less addressed aspect of Bourdieu’s work the study of the relationship between physical and social space and the putting into play of the different capitals for the access and differential appropriation of places and public goods and services, including school institutions. It is the aim of this text to recover the triallectic of symbolic, social, and physical spaces. The article discusses the issues related to the reification of social space and the validity of the notion of location gain as contributions to the understanding of how the spatial dimension intervenes in socio-educational segmentation. The school system is organized into segments according to the social classes they receive, fulfilling a function of social distribution, and legitimizing the differences that correspond to each origin group. These segments guide different social groups towards different types of education -for example, between general/ academic and technical education and between private and public education-; and towards different circuits or groups of educational institutions that resemble each other, but with dissimilar characteristics between the paths regarding buildings, human and material resources, access to transportation and environmental conditions that surround them. Socio-spatial and educational inequalities are addressed by exploring the spatial configurations of the cities of Campana and Zárate (Buenos Aires province, Argentina) and with an approach to the study of educational circuits of secondary schools and technical schools and vocational training institutions. This is based on the research of different factors that contribute to school differentiation, including the spatial dimension. In the construction of the educational circuits, the location of the educational institutions, and the barriers faced by the population were taken into account. Through the research carried out, it was possible to reconstruct three different circuits in each city. The most prestigious institutions belong to the circuits located in the geographic and symbolic centers of the cities, while the institutions with the greatest disadvantages are in the peripheral areas and devoid of physical accessibility conditions and basic services. It is concluded that there are multiple “site effects”, which are differentiated within the same place and allow access to the advantages or disadvantages of the place that affect educational institutions, and teachers and students.