ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how social ease develops and manifests itself in 5–6-year-old children in French nursery schools, focusing on the influence of family socialisation across social classes. Drawing on interviews and observations involving 35 children from diverse backgrounds, the authors analyse how children’s relational skills, self-assertion and confidence are constructed and distributed socially and by gender. The study draws on the concepts of “certitudo sui” and “sense of entitlement”, developed, respectively, by Pierre Bourdieu and Annette Lareau. The analysis highlights that social ease is not exclusive to privileged classes and takes multiple forms, challenging the idea that only certain behaviours signify confidence. The authors identify three main forms of social ease: perseverance (mastery and self-surpassing), competition and investment in social relations. They show that these forms of self-confidence are unevenly valued in both school and family environments, and how family practices and parental expectations contribute to their incorporation. Thus, the chapter reveals how early socialisation processes, shaped by class and gender, lay the groundwork for children’s self-confidence and social positioning.
