Class differences in achievement (external)

Question 1

What does it mean by external factors affecting education?

Answer 1

Factors outside of the education system that impact a child’s educational success

Question 2

What is Cultural deprivation?

Answer 2

The theory that many working class and black children are inadequately socialised and therefore lack the ‘right’ culture needed for educational success

Question 3

What did the Centre Longitudinal Studies (2007) find?

Answer 3

By age 3, children from disadvantaged backgrounds are already up to one year behind those from more privileged homes

Question 4

What are examples of basic ‘cultural equipment’ needed for educational success?

Answer 4

Language, self-discipline and reasoning skills

Question 5

Why do many children end up culturally deprived?

Answer 5

Failure to socialise children adequately means the pupils lack the cultural equipment to succeed

Question 6

What did Hubbs-Tait et al find?

Answer 6

Cognitive performance improved when parents used language that challenged their child to evaluate their own understanding+abilities» Leon Feinstein found educated parents were more likely to use this language

Question 7

What do Bereiter and Engelmann claim?

Answer 7

The language used by the lower class homes is deficient, describing them as communicating through gestures, single words or disjointed phrases.

Question 8

What is the consequences of children failing to develop necessary language skills?

Answer 8

They grow up incapable of abstract thinking and unable to use language to explain, describe, compare etc putting them at a disadvantage in school

Question 9

Who identified two types of speech code?

Answer 9

Basil Bernstein

Question 10

What are the two kinds of speech codes?

Answer 10

The restricted code and the elaborated code

Question 11

What is the restricted code?

Answer 11

-Speech typically used by the working class
-Limited vocabulary and is based often on short grammatically simple sentences
-Context bound: assumes the listener shares the same set of experiences

Question 12

What is the elaborated code?

Answer 12

-Speech typically used by the middle class
-Wider vocabulary and is based on longer, grammatically more complex sentences.
-Context-free: the speaker does not assume that the listener shares the same set of experiences and so use language to spell out their meaning explicitly

Question 13

How do speech codes affect educational achievement?

Answer 13

Middle class get put at an advantage because the elaborate code is what is used by teachers, textbooks etc and is seen as the ‘correct’ way to speak and write. Due to their socialisation, they have learnt this making them more equipped and more likely to succeed.

Question 14

How do critics criticise the idea of speech codes disadvantaging a pupil?

Answer 14

They say it suggests the working class is inadequate

Question 15

What did Douglas (1964) find about working class parents?

Answer 15

They placed less value on education and as a result were less ambitious for their children, gave them less encouragement and took less interest in their education

Question 16

Why did Feinstein (2008) argue that highly educated parents had more successful children is school?

Answer 16

-Emphasise consistent discipline and high expectations. This encourages active learning and leading to better results
-More aware of what is needed to assist their children educational progress
-Spend their income in ways to boost education eg activities, books etc

Question 17

Why do less educated parents tend to have less successful children?

Answer 17

-Harsh and inconsistent parenting doesn’t allow child to to learn independence + self control > leading to poorer motivation at school
-Do not have the knowledge about what their child needs for educational success
-More likely to lack resources

Question 18

What the four key features that act as a barrier to educational achievement according to Sugarman (1970)?

Answer 18

1) Fatalism: belief in fate- nothing can be done to change status “whatever will be will be”
2) Collectivism: value being part of a group more than succeeding as an individual
3) Immediate gratification: seek pleasure now rather than making sacrifices for later rewards
4) Present time orientation: not having long term goals, focused on now

Question 19

What is the aim of the compensatory education programme?

Answer 19

Aim to tackle the problem of cultural deprivation by providing extra resources to schools and communities in deprived areas. They intervene early in socialisation processes to compensate children for the deprivation experienced at home. Eg Operation Head Start

Question 20

How does Keddie criticise the idea of cultural deprivation?

Answer 20

She says it is a ‘myth’ and sees it as a victim blaming explanation. She points out a child cannot be deprived of their own culture - they are culturally different NOT deprived but fail as they are put at a disadvantage because the education system is dominated by middle class values.

Question 21

What is material deprivation?

Answer 21

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

Question 22

What percentage of ‘failing’ schools are in deprived areas?

Answer 22

90%

Question 23

How can poor housing affect pupils achievement?

Answer 23

-Lack of space or overcrowding at home means no quiet place for revision, sharing rooms (disrupting sleep) etc
-Constantly moving houses forces a child to move schools and disrupts education
-Families in temporary homes suffer more psychological distress, infections and accidents - resulting in more absences from school

Question 24

How does diet and health impact pupils achievement?

Answer 24

-Howard (2001) notes young people from poorer homes have lower intakes of energy, vitamins and minerals - may result in more absences due to illness + difficulties concentrating in class

Question 25

How does the cost of education affect those who are materially deprived?

Answer 25

-Pupils have to do without equipment and miss put on experiences that would enhance their educational achievement (Bull calls this the ‘cost of free schooling’)
-Tanner found that the cost of transport, books, calculators, sports etc put a heavy burden on poorer families
-Stigmatisation

Question 26

How can fear of debt negatively impact achievement?

Answer 26

-Going to uni involves getting into debt to cover tuition fees, books and living expenses
-Attitudes towards debt deter working class students from going to university
-Callender and Jackson found working class students are more debt averse - seeing debt negatively and as something to be avoided - saw more costs than benefits

Question 27

What does Bourdieu argue?

Answer 27

Cultural and material deprivation are interrelated and uses the concept of ‘capital’ to explain why the middle class are more successful

Question 28

What three types of capital does Bourdieu identify?

Answer 28

1) educational capital
2) cultural capital
3) economic capital

Question 29

What does cultural capital refer to?

Answer 29

The knowledge, attitudes, values, language, tastes and abilities of the middle class

Question 30

How does cultural capital benefit the middle class?

Answer 30

Through their socialisation, middle class children acquire the ability to grasp, analyse and express abstract ideas, giving them an advantage in school as their abilities are highly valued and rewarded with qualifications