The structural inequalities that I have become attuned to during my experience have been the varying economic statuses of the children that attend the school. Though without conducting extra research I am not sure of the exact categorization of the school, Colegio Sagrado Corazón, between public and private institution, I am aware that the family economic statuses of the children attending vary. A simple observation that I made was that some of the students have much better English-speaking and overall language skills than other students, even across age groups. Some students spoke English practically fluently while others struggled to hold conversations and relied on their peers for support. Though this could be due to previous educational differences, I did learn that some students had private tutors or attended extracurricular schools or camps focused on English language acquisition for short or extended periods of time. I am assuming that the children whose parents were able or willing to pay for these educational experiences were probably of a higher economic status than those students who did not attend these lessons. Additionally, I once asked the students if their parents paid tuition for their schooling or if it was free, like a public education. The answer I received was that families pay tuition if they are able, but if they cannot afford the tuition then they only pay what they can afford. Though the school does seem to be diverse and inclusive, there are economic differences in the families of the children that attend.
For my CapStone Interest Project I would like to research the structure of the primary and secondary school system in Spain. I would like to look at the physical structure of the school system and its history to identify its fundamental characteristics and explain why the school system is designed the way that it is. I would also like to look at differences between state funded, private, and religious institutions to make comparisons in quality and content of education.
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