18 Kostas Dimopoulos
identity. The same role is played by the various features that tend to function as diacritica of
local identities, thus linking school culture with local culture. Typical examples of such
features are emblems, colours, statues of figures of local importance, mascots, etc.^6
Source: Personal archive.
Figure 5. A de-institutionalized primary school in U.S.
In addition, the domestication of the material culture of schools signifies the fact that the
distinction between school practices and ordinary domestic practices has become difficult to
draw analytically. In Figure 5 below, we present an example of a school the material culture
of which creates a domestic informal ambience.
Case study 3: Moving from highly polarized to more isotropic material arrangements of
schooling
Modern schooling enacted its emphases on strict boundaries and demarcations between
persons, subjects or activities, by producing highly polarized material arrangements with
single focal points. These polarized arrangements attributed different cultural attributes to the
entities they included according to the informational values each associated spatial
composition carries (see the relevant analysis in the preceding section). In other words in
modern schooling school space tended to be highly semiotized. The fact that traditionally
teaching staff and school administration offices were placed on a higher level than classrooms
or other teaching areas constitutes a typical example of this practice. This kind of
arrangement signifies clearly marked hierarchical relationship between school administration
and students.
Another example could be the typical seating arrangement one can find in the floor plan
of a modern school (see Figure 6).
(^6) School colors are a critical, though often overlooked item in the symbolic arsenal of schools, especially of the
American high schools as a signifier of their attachment to a local culture (Staiger, 2005).