Sensory Capital in Education: the Missing Piece?

One of the several reasons education is believed to be vital in every society is that it can function as a route to social mobility and economic prosperity. That is, education is expected to be facilitative in the process of developing individuals’ capitals. Likewise, capitals play an essential role in individuals’ success or failure in classrooms. Some of the most frequently discussed capitals in the sociology of education are economic, cultural, social, and symbolic capitals. Acknowledging the importance of these capitals, this paper seeks to add a psychological perspective to the concept of capitals in education through the addition of sensory capital, which has its roots in the notion of emotioncy. This capital, as the name suggests, underscores senses in the formation of emotions and claims to stand at the center of capitals while it is simultaneously affected by and affecting them. Consequently, due to its given position in connecting all the capitals to one another and facilitating the development of them, sensory capital also claims to have a role in education.