Education - Class differences in achievement (external factors)

Question 1

What is meant by external factors?

Answer 1

factors outside the education system such as the influence of home and family background and wider society

Question 2

Results from Centre for longitudinal studies (2007)

Answer 2

by the age of 3, children from disadvantaged backgrounds are already up to one year behind those from more privileged homes and the gap widens with age

Question 3

What is cultural deprivation?

Answer 3

working class families lack the cultural equipment (language, self discipline, reasoning skills), needed to do well at school and therefore underachieve

Question 4

What are the three main aspects of cultural deprivation?

Answer 4

1. Language
2. Parents education
3. Working class subculture

Question 5

What did Hubbs - Tait (2002) find?

Answer 5

where parents use language that challenges their children to evaluate their own understanding or abilities, cognitive performance improves

Question 6

How did Bernstein differentiate language between classes?

Answer 6

Restricted and elaborated code

Question 7

Restricted code (Bernstein)

Answer 7

speech code typically used by working class families - has limited vocabulary. Short simple sentences - descriptive not analytic.E

Question 8

Elaborated code (Bernstein)

Answer 8

typically used by middle class - wider vocabulary and more complex sentences. Communicates abstract ideas

Question 9

How does restricted speech code (Bernstein) disadvantage children?

Answer 9

Elaborated code is used by teachers and in textbooks/exams. Middle class children are already fluent users of the code when starting school therefore more likely to succeed.

Question 10

Douglas (1964) - Parents education

Answer 10

Found that working class parents placed less value on education and as a result were less ambitious for their children. Less encouragement and interest. Children therefore had lower levels of motivation and achievement

Question 11

Feinstein - Parents education

Answer 11

Middle class parents tend to be better educated - more educational capital - advantage cause they can better socialise their children.

Question 12

Bernstein and Young - Parents use of income

Answer 12

middle class mothers more likely to buy educational toys and books that encourage reasoning skills and stimulate intellectual development. working class homes lack these resources
educated parents = better knowledge of nutrition

Question 13

What does Sugarman (1970) argue?

Answer 13

Working class subculture has 4 key features that act as a barrier to educational achievement

Question 14

Name Sugarman’s 4 features

Answer 14

1. Fatalism
2. Collectivism
3. Immediate gratification
4. Present time orientation

Question 15

Fatalism (Sugarman working class subculture)

Answer 15

belief in fate - “whatever will be, will be” - nothing you can do to change status

Question 16

Collectivism (Sugarman working class subculture)

Answer 16

valuing being part of a group more than succeeding as an individual

Question 17

Immediate gratification (Sugarman working class subculture)

Answer 17

seeking pleasure now rather than making sacrifices in order to get rewards in the future (middle class value deferred gratification)

Question 18

Present time orientation (Sugarman working class subculture)

Answer 18

seeing the present as more important than the future so not having long-term goals

Question 19

Name 3 compensatory education programmes

Answer 19

1. Sesame street
2. Sure start
3. Education action zones

Question 20

Keddie (1973)

Answer 20

describes cultural deprivation as a “myth” and sees it as a victim blaming explanation - dismisses the idea that failure at school can be blamed on a culturally deprived home background. Working class children are cultural different not deprived.

Question 21

Blackstone and Mortimore

Answer 21

reject the view that working class parents are not interested in their children’s education - work longer/ less regular hours therefore cant attend parents evenings and help with hw

Question 22

What is meant by material deprivation?

Answer 22

refers to poverty and a lack of material necessities such as adequate housing and income

Question 23

Department of education (2012) - material deprivation

Answer 23

barely a third of pupils eligble for free school meals achieve 5 or more GCSE’s

Question 24

How can housing affect pupils achievement?

Answer 24

overcrowding = less room for educational activities, disturbed sleeping, impaired development due to lack of space

cold or damp housing can cause ill health = absence from school

families in temporary housing suffer more psychological distress, infections and accidents

Question 25

Howard (2001) - Diet and Health

Answer 25

young people from poorer homes have lower intakes of energy, vitamins and minerals - affects health - absences or difficulty concentrating

Question 26

Wilkinson (1996) - Diet and Health

Answer 26

among ten year olds, the lower the social class, the higher the rate of hyperactivity, anxiety and conduct disorders

Question 27

Blanden and Machin

Answer 27

found that children from low income families were more likely to engage in “externalising behaviour” like fighting which disrupt schooling

Question 28

Bull (1980) - Costs of education
Tanner (2003)

Answer 28

“costs of free schooling” - children from poor families dont have educational equipment

cost of items such as transport, uniform, books ect place heavy burden on poor families

Question 29

Flaherty - financial support

Answer 29

fear of stigmatisation helps explain why 20% of those eligible for free school meals do not take up their entitlement

Question 30

Callender and Jackson

Answer 30

working class students are more debt averse - stopped them from going to university and therefore achieving higher education to achieve more

Question 31

What does Bourdieu argue?

Answer 31

both cultural and material factors contribute to educational achievement and are interrelated - 3 types of capital
1. Cultural
2. Educational
3. Economic

Question 32

Leech and Campos

Answer 32

middle class parents are more likely to be able to afford a house in the catchment area of a school that is highly placed in the exam league tables

Question 33

SULLIVAN (2001)

Answer 33

used questionnaires to conduct survey to assess cultural capital - found those who read complex fiction and watched documentaries developed a wider vocabulary and cultural knowledge - these were children of graduates and were more likely to be successful at GCSE