Education - Social Class & Achievement (External Factors) Flashcards
What 2 sources are used to examine the relationship between social class & educational achievement?
Free school meal achievement rates against non- FSM achievement rate
Independent school results compared to government school’s results
What are some statistics on free school meals?
26% of FSM pupils are entered for the higher status English baccalaureate compared to 43% non FSM pupils
Non FSM pupils are 2x likely to pass both English & maths than FSM pupils
What are the 3 external factors?
Cultural deprivation
Material deprivation
Cultural capital
What is cultural deprivation?
People who dont fit into the category of white middle-class values in education therefore making them disadvantaged
What is a subculture?
A group whose attitudes & values differ from those of the mainstream culture
SOCIOLOGIST: What did Sugarman say about working-class subculture?
Large sections of the working class have different goals, beliefs, attitudes & values from the rest of society (this is why they’re not successful at school)
What are some examples of differing attitudes & values between the middle & working class?
Deferred gratification (middle), fatalism (working)
Individualism (middle), collectivism (working)
SOCIOLOGIST: What did Douglas say about parental involvement?
Middle class parents are more involved in their children’s education whereas working class children arent & place less value on education - their kids had less levels of motivation & therefore achievement
What are the 2 different speech codes?
Restricted code: characterised by ‘short, grammatically simple & often unfinished sentences.’
Elaborated code: has a wider vocabulary & uses more complex grammatical structures than the restricted code
SOCIOLOGIST: What did Bernstein say about speech codes?
Working class are largely limited to speaking in the restricted code whereas the middle class used both the speech codes - explains their relative underachievement compared to the restricted code
EVALUATION: What are some limitations on cultural deprivation to explain differences in social class & achievement?
Victim blaming - the working class are seen as lacking the cultural qualities needed for educational success so it ignores the inequalities of the education system & society (they’re to blame)
Keddie - working class children are different to middle class children not deprived - failure at school cannot be blamed on a culturally deprived background as a child cannot be deprived of there own culture
What is material deprivation and how does this affect educational achievement?
When pupils & their families are unable to afford material items e.g. foods, educational resources
Because the pupils dont have access to basic necessities they cant reach their full potential in school
SOCIOLOGIST: What did Bourdieu say about cultural capital & how does this affect achievement in school?
Said middle class children or children of wealthier parents are likely to have the knowledge, attitudes & cultural experiences to ensure educational success because school sometimes assesses cultural capital rather than knowledge
Teachers also perceive cultural capital as intelligence so they may put a positive label on those students - they achieve more
