Class Differences in Achievement External Factors

Question 1

What are External Factors?

Answer 1

Factors outside the education System

Question 2

What is Cultural Deprivation?

Answer 2

Lacking the values, attitudes and skills needed for educational success from primary socialisation

Question 2

What are the three external factors that affect pupil’s educational achievement?

Answer 2

Cultural Deprivation, Material Deprivation, Cultural Capital

Question 3

What are the main aspects of Cultural Deprivation?

Answer 3

Language, Parents’ education, Working-class subculture

Question 4

What do Cultural Deprivation theorists believe?

Answer 4

Many working-class families fail to socialise their children adequately, so grow up cultural deprived, leads to underachievement

Question 5

What is language?

Answer 5

The way parents communicate with their children, how it affects intellectual development

Question 6

Hubbs-tait et al (2002)

Answer 6

Found that where parents use language that challenge their children to evaluate their own understanding or abilities, eg. what do you think?

Question 7

Feinstein (2008)

Answer 7

Found that educated parents are more likely to use challenging language and more likely to use praise

Question 8

Bereiter & Engelmann (1996)

Answer 8

-Language used in lower-class homes is deficient
-communicate with gestures, single words, disjointed phrases.
-Children fail to develop necessary language skills
-grow up incapable of abstract thinking
- unable to take advantage of opportunities school offers

Question 9

What are speech codes?

Answer 9

Different ways people communicate

Question 10

Bernstein (1975)

Answer 10

Differences between WC and MC language that influences achievement.
Two types:
- Restricted Code
- Elaborated

Question 11

What is the restricted code?

Answer 11

• WC
• Limited vocab
• Short, grammatically simple sentences

Question 12

What is the elaborated code?

Answer 12

-MC
- Wider Vocab
- Grammatically more complex sentences

Question 13

What is the significance about the differences in speech codes between classes?

Answer 13

• MC advantage, elaborated code used by teachers, textbooks, exams
• WC disadvantage

Question 14

What does early socialisation into the elaborated code mean for MC children?

Answer 14

• Already fluent users of code when start school
• Feel more at home, more likely to succeed

Question 15

What does the elaborated code mean for WC children?

Answer 15

• Lack code
• Feel excluded less successful

Question 16

What is Parents’ Education?

Answer 16

The way in which parents’ academic ability and attitudes with their children affect their achievement

Question 17

Douglas (1964)

Answer 17

• WC parents placed less value on education
• Less ambitious for their children
• Gave them less encouragement took less interested, visited schools less often
• Children had lower levels of motivation, led to underachievement

Question 18

Feinstein (2008) Parents’ Education

Answer 18

• Parents’ Education most important factor
• MC parents better educated, give their child an advantage

Question 19

Difference in Parenting Style

Answer 19

• Educated parents emphasise consistent disciple and high expectations, supports achievement encourages active learning
• Less educated parents include harsh inconsistent disciple, prevents child from learning independence, self control leads to poorer motivation, problems interacting with teachers

Question 20

What are Parents’ Educational Behaviours?

Answer 20

• Educated parents more aware of what is needed to assist their children’s educational progress.
• Success in maintaining good relationships with teachers, value educational activities eg. museums , libraries

Question 21

What is use of income?

Answer 21

-Better educated parents have higher incomes
- spend to promote their children’s educational success
- Better understanding of nutrition and its importance in childs development .

Question 22

Bernstein & Young (1967) Use of Income

Answer 22

• MC mothers more likely to buy educational toys, books , activities , that encourage reasoning skills
• WC homes lack these resources means children from these homes start school without skills needed to progress

Question 23

Feinstein ; Class, income & Parental Education

Answer 23

• Parents Education has an influence on children’s achievement regardless of class or income
• better educated = more successful, explains why not all WC children do equally badly and not all MC families are successful

Question 24

What is a Subculture?

Answer 24

A group whose attitude and values differ from those of the mainstream culture

Question 25

Sugarman (1970)

Answer 25

- Large section of WC have different goals, beliefs attitudes and values from rest of society - Four key features that act as a barrier to educational achievement

Question 26

What is Fatalism?

Answer 26

- Belief in fate - 'whatever will be, will be' - nothing you do can change your status - you can change your position through your own efforts

Question 27

What is collectivism?

Answer 27

- Valuing being part of a group more than succeeding as an individual - Individual should not be held back by group loyalties

Question 28

What is immediate gratification?

Answer 28

- Seeking pleasure now rather than making sacrifices in order to get rewards in the future

Question 29

What is present-time orientation?

Answer 29

- Present more important than future, so no long term goals or plans

Question 30

Why do the differences in values exist?

Answer 30

- Sugarman argues they stem from the fact that MC jobs are secure - Encourages ambition, longterm planning and willing to invest time and effort into gaining qualifications

Question 31

What is Compensatory Education?

Answer 31

Programmes that aim to tackle the problem of cultural deprivation by providing extra resources to schools communities in deprived areas

Question 32

Example of Compensatory Education.

Answer 32

Operation Head start in the US - Aimed to 'plan enrichment of the deprived children's environment to develop skills

Question 33

What is the myth of cultural deprivation?

Answer 33

Widely criticised as an explanation of class differences in achievement

Question 34

Nell Keddie (1973) Cultural Deprivation

Answer 34

- Myth as sees out as a victim blaming explanation. - Dismisses idea that failure at school can be blamed on culturally deprived backgrounds - WC children aren't culturally different, not deprived - Fail because they are but at disadvantage by education system that is dominated by middle class values

Question 35

Barry Troyna & Jenny Williams (1986)

Answer 35

- argue not the childs language that is the problem but is the schools attitude towards it - Teachers have a 'speech hierachy' - They label MC speech highest , WC and then black speech

Question 36

Tessa Blacstone & Jo Mortimore (1994)

Answer 36

- WC attend few parents evening, bc they work longer or less regular hours, put off by schools MC atmosphere - May want to help their child progress, but lack the knowledge and education for that

Question 37

What is material Deprivation?

Answer 37

Poverty and a lack of material necessities such as adequate housing and income

Question 38

What are the main aspects of Material Deprivation?

Answer 38

Housing , Diet and Health, Fear of Debt & Financial support and the cost of education

Question 39

Statistics

Answer 39

Nearly 90% of 'failing' schools" are located in deprived areas

Question 40

What are the problems with housing?

Answer 40

- Overcrowing can make it harder for the child to study, less room for educational activities, nowhere to do homework, disturbed sleep from sharing rooms - development can be impaired due to lack of space for exploration - Temporary accommodation move frequently results in moving schools , disrupting education - Cold or damp housing can cause ill health, so more absence off school

Question 41

Howard (2001) Diet and Health

Answer 41

- lower intakes of energy, vitamins & minerals, weakens the immune system, lowers energy levels - results in absence from school and not concentrating in class

Question 42

Wilkinson (1996) Diet & Health

Answer 42

- Poorer homes, more likely to have emotional or behavioural problems

Question 43

Blanden & Manchin (2007) Diet & Health

Answer 43

- Children from low income families more likely to engage in externalising behaviour such as fighting and temper tantrums, which disrupt school

Question 44

What did sure smart do?

Answer 44

- Worked with parents to promote physical, intellectual and social development of the disadvantaged children, so they can break the cycle of disadvantage - improved children's ability to learn by encouraging high quality environments

Question 45

What does financial supports & the cost of education do?

Answer 45

- Lack of financial support means children from poorer families have no equipment , miss out on experiences that would enhance their educational achievement

Question 46

Bull (1980) Financial support & the cost of education

Answer 46

Lack of financial support as the cost of free schooling

Question 47

Tanner et al (2003) Financial support & the cost of education

Answer 47

- Study in oxford area found that cost of items such as transport, uniform, books etc place heavy burden on poor families - Means children have to make do with hand-me downs and cheaper equipment - result in bullying from peers

Question 48

Flaherty

Answer 48

Fear of stigmatisation explains why 20% of those eligible for Free school meals do not take up their entitlememt

Question 49

Smith & Noble (1995)

Answer 49

Poverty acts as a barrier to learning in other ways such as inability to afford tuiton

Question 50

Ridge

Answer 50

- Lack of funds means that children from low-income families often need to work - Children in poverty take on jobs such as babysitting and cleaning , negative impact on their school work

Question 51

What is the fear of debt?

Answer 51

- University involves getting into debt to cover cost of tuition fees and living expenses - attitudes towards debt deter WC students from going to Uni

Question 52

Callender & Jackson (2005)

Answer 52

- WC saw debt negatively, something to be avoided, saw more costs than benefits in going Uni - Attitudes to debt was more important in deciding whether to apply to Uni

Question 53

Reay (2005)

Answer 53

- WC students more likely to apply to local Uni's, so could live at home and save on travel costs - Gave them less opportunity to the highest status uni's - more likely to work part-time to fund their studies more difficult for them to gain higher- class degrees

Question 54

What is Cultural Capital?

Answer 54

- The knowledge, attitudes, values, language, tastes and abilities, that MC transmit to their children - gives an advantage - More likely to develop intellectual interest and understanding of the education system - Gives MC advantage in school where these abilities and interests are valued and rewarded with qualifications

Question 55

What were Bourdieu (1984)'s 3 types of capital?

Answer 55

Economic Educational Cultural;

Question 56

What is Educational and Economic Capital?

Answer 56

- Bourdieu argues all 3 capitals can be converted to one - MC children with cultural capital are better equipped to gain qualifications - Wealthy parents can convert their economic capital into educational by sending their children to private schools

Question 57

Sullivan (2001)

Answer 57

- Used questionnaires to conduct a survey of pupils in 4 schools - Assessed their cultural capital - Found those who read complex fiction developed wider vocab and greater cultural knowledge which resulted in greater cultural capital