external factors for class based underachievement

Question 1

what are 4 reasons that wealthy children do better at school than poorer children?

Answer 1

-cultural capital

-material and cultural deprevation

-diet, nutrition, exercise, sleep (lack energy due to poor nutrition and overcrowded housing meaning they don’t have an adequate place to sleep)

-parents background and cultural context (did the parents go to school and do they read with them before bed, restricted language code for poorer children as they aren’t exposed to an elaborate language from parents)

Question 2

bed and fridge poverty

Answer 2

bed: children can’t be provided with an adequate sleep environment

fridge: children can’t access key protein foods as they can’t keep chilled food (e.g. meats and cheese and milk)

Question 3

how do we distinguish between the classes?

Answer 3

working class: manual occupations traditionally include skilled workers (e.g. plumbers and electricians) and it also includes unskilled workers (e.g. cleaners, hospitality and retail)

middle class: non-manual occupations traditionally include professionals (e.g. doctors and teachers), together with managers and owners of businesses

Question 4

give 4 ways social class influences a student’s educational achievement

Answer 4

-middle class children out perform working class children

-they get more and better GCSEs

-they stay in education longer

-they take up the majority if university places

Question 5

explain the popular explanation of class differences in achievement

Answer 5

Due to better off parents being able to afford to send their children to private school, which many believe provide a higher standard of education. However the existence of private education doesn’t account for class differences within state schools.

Question 6

external factors

Answer 6

factors outside the education system (e.g. influence of home and family background and wider society)

Question 7

internal factors

Answer 7

factors within schools and the education system (e.g. interactions between pupils and teachers and the inequalities between schools

Question 8

what are the 3 external factors

Answer 8

material deprivation, cultural deprivation, and cultural capital

Question 8

how are free school meals FSM) determined

Answer 8

combined house income is 26k or less then you qualify.

Question 9

material deprivation

Answer 9

refers to poverty and the lack of material necessities (e.g. adequate housing and income)

Question 9

why have free school meals changed to being called pupil premium

Answer 9

due to negative labeling and stereotyping of children under the label of having FSM

Question 10

4 statistics showing how poverty influences underachievement

Answer 10

-DFE (2012) states that 33% of children receiving FSM’s gained 5 or more GCSES at A*-C, against 61% of pupils not receiving FSM

-money problems in the family are a significant factor in younger children’s non attendance at school (e.g. can’t afford public transport or fuel)

-exclusion and truancy are more likely for children from poorer families

-nearly 90% of failing schools are located in deprived areas (vulnerable and unemployed) go to bad schools as they can’t get to better schools

Question 11

what do the statistics (on other flashcard) show for how poverty influences underachievement

Answer 11

shows that children who are poorer are more likely to underachieve due to various factors influencing how they have ended up in poverty that excludes them from good schools/better achievement

Question 12

Howard (2001) theory on how material deprivation can lead to educational underachievement

Answer 12

young people from poorer houses have lower intakes of energy (from vitamins and minerals), which affects their health by weakening their immune system and therefore results in more absences.

Question 13

Wilkinson (1996) theory on how material deprivation can lead to educational underachievement

Answer 13

poorer housed children are more likely to have emotional and behavioural problems (e.g. anxiety and ADHD).

Wilkinson found that the lower the social class, the higher the rate of hyperactivity

Question 14

Tanner (2003) theory on how material deprivation can lead to educational underachievement

Answer 14

found costs of transport, books, uniform, art, music, etc are a heavy burden on poorer families

Question 15

Ridge (2002) theory on how material deprivation can lead to educational underachievement

Answer 15

poorer children are more likely to take up part-time jobs (e.g. babysitting and paper rounds) that impact their school work.
Fewer of these children go onto uni in fear of debt due to high tuition fees

Question 16

Flaherty (2004) theory on how material deprivation can lead to educational underachievement

Answer 16

found that money problems in the family were a significant factor in younger children’s non-attendance at school.

also found that the fear of stigmatisation may help to explain the 20% of those eligible for FSM who don’t actually take them

Question 17

Bull (1980) and Smith & Noble (1995) on the financial costs of education

Answer 17

‘costs of free schooling’ which working class families may not have.
E.g. Smith and Noble (1995) argue poverty acts as a barrier to learning (such as inability too afford private schooling and tuition) and working class students are also forced to to attend poorer quality local schools (leading to underachievement).

Question 18

explain why working class students are less likely to go to uni and include Callender & Jackson’s (2005) theory into this

Answer 18

they have a greater fear of debt which may hinder their educational performance. University usually involves going into debt to cover the cost of different fees (tuition and living). Fear of debt and more limited financial support help to explain why about 30% of uni students come from working class students backgrounds, despite that they make up about 50% of the population.

C&J found working class students are more debt averse- they saw more costs than benefits in going to university.

Question 19

explain Rey’s (2005) theory to support why financial reasons restrict working class students choice of university and chances of success

Answer 19

Rey found that working class students were more likely to apply to local uni’s so they could live at home and save on travel costs, which reduced their chances of going to higher status uni’s.
They are more likely to work part-time to fund their studies, making it more difficult to obtain higher-class degrees.
This explains why drop-out rates are also higher for uni’s with a larger proportion of working class students.

Question 20

explain cultural deprivation theorists explanation of the difference in pupil achievement

Answer 20

they argue working class children lack the cultural equipment needed to do well at school.
It’s argued that working class parents fail to adequately socialise their children, so they are deficient in language and self-discipline and reasoning skills.

Question 21

explain Douglas’ (1964) theory of cultural deprivation to support how it leads to underachievement

Answer 21

he found that working class parents are less likely to support their children’s intellectual development through reading to them or other educational activities at home.

Question 22

explain Feinstein’s (2008) theory of cultural deprivation to support how it leads to underachievement

Answer 22

argues that parents’ own levels of education is the most important factor affecting children’s achievement, since middle class parents tend to be better educated they’re able to give their children an advantage in the way they socialise them/parent them (consistent in terms of discipline and educational behaviours) to encourage active learning and achievement. whereas w/c parents use inconsistent discipline that teaches the child lack of self control and problems interacting with teachers and staying motivated

Question 23

explain Bernstein and Young’s (1967) theory of use of income as an explanation for working class underachievement

Answer 23

middle class parents use their income differently compared with W/C parents.
They found that the way mothers choose and think about toys has an influence on their children’s intellectual development and M/C mothers are more likely to choose toys that encourage thinking and reasoning skills that prepare children for school.

Question 24

explain how parents’ educational behaviour influences working class underachievement

Answer 24

educated parents are more aware of what’s needed to assist their children’s educational progress.
They engage in behaviour such as: reading to their children and helping with homework.

Question 25

explain Bereiter and Englemann (1996) theory of language influencing working class underachievement

Answer 25

they claim language used in lower class homes is deficient and describe L/C families as communicating by gestures and single words or disjointed phrases. As a result they grow up incapable of abstract thinking and unable to use language to analyse, describe and compare.

Question 26

explain Hubbus-Tait et al (2002) theory of language influencing working class underachievement

Answer 26

found that where parents use language that challenges their children to evaluate their own understanding or abilities (e.g. by saying ‘what do you think?’), their cognitive performance improves.

Question 27

explain Bernstein (1975) theory of language influencing working class underachievement

Answer 27

he looked at differences in the speech between M/C and W/C pupils.
Early socialisation into the elaborated language code means M/C students are confident users by the time they start school and the education system favours this code, it is used in textbooks and by teachers and is a more effective tool for analysing and reasoning (an essential tool for educational success). Therefore W/C students feel alienated and excluded due to their restricted code.

Question 28

give 3 characteristics of the restricted and elaborate language code

Answer 28

restricted: use of gestures, grammatically simple, small vocab

elaborate: grammatically complex, abstract ideas, wider vocab

Question 29

explain Hyman’s (1967) theory of w/c values and beliefs influencing their underachievement

Answer 29

Hyman believed that the values and beliefs of w/C subculture are a self-imposed barrier to educational success. Their subcultural beliefs and values ensure that they neither want educational success, nor know how to get it.

Question 30

explain Suggarmans (1970) 4 key features of w/c subculture that act as a barrier to education achievement for the W/C

Answer 30

fatalism: a belief that whatever will be, will be and there’s nothing you can do to change your status.

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

immediate gratification: seeking pleasure now rather than making sacrifices in order to get rewards in the future.

present-time orientation: not having any long-term plans or goals

Question 31

explain why these subcultural values affect W/C job prospects/opportunities

Answer 31

because M/C jobs are secure careers offering prospects for continuous individual advancement. This encourages ambition, long-term planning and willingness to invest time and effort to gain qualifications. This contrasts with w/c subcture values which leads to insecure jobs (reinforced values to children so they end up in insecure jobs too)

Question 32

explain Gerwitz’s cultural capital and marketisation theory

Answer 32

she argues that the policies of marketisation has benefited M/C sine they’re more likely to use their economic and cultural capital to take advantage of the educational opportunities that a market place offers.

Question 33

give and explain the 3 types of parents part of Gerwitz’s cultural capital and marketisation theory

Answer 33

privileged-skilled choosers: mainly M/C parents who take full advantage of the choices open to them. They know how the school admission system works, and can use their economic capital to move to the best catchment area for the best schools.

disconnected-local choosers: W/C parents who are restricted by their lack of economic and cultural capital. They’re restricted in where they send their children due to travel costs, and have difficulty understanding admission procedures.

semi-skilled choosers: mainly W/C parents but unlike disconnected-local choosers are more ambitious for their children. Find it difficult to understand schools’ admission policies due to a lack of economic and cultural capital, and instead relied on others opinions of the school

Question 34

give 3 disadvantages to eveluate external explanations of class differences

Answer 34

fails to look at factors inside of school’s which affect pupils achievement

tends to adopt quantitative research methods, therefore their research lacks depth

focuses on family background rather than studying the experiences of individual students.

Question 35

use Keddies (1973) theory to support why the cultural deprivation theory has been widely criticised as an explanation of class differences in educational achievement

Answer 35

she describes cultural deprivation as a myth, and puts forward 3 arguments to support her case:
- a child cannot be deprived of their own culture
- cultural deprivation theory blames the victims
- it’s the education that is at fault

Question 36

use Troyna and Williams (1986) theory to support why the cultural deprivation theory has been widely criticised as an explanation of class differences in educational achievement

Answer 36

they argue that the problem is not the child’s language but the school’s attitudes towards it. Teachers adopt a speech hierarchy, M/C speech placed above W/C speech

Question 37

use Blackstone and Mortimer (1994) theory to support why the cultural deprivation theory has been widely criticised as an explanation of class differences in educational achievement

Answer 37

they reject the view that W/C parents are less interested in their child’s education. The reason why W/C parents are less likely to attend parents evening isn’t because of a lack of interest but because they work longer and less regular hours or are put off by the school’s middle class culture.

Question 38

what is cultural capital and how does it benefit the M/C through the education system

Answer 38

refers to the knowledge, attitudes, values, language, tastes and abilities of the M/C.
through socialisation M/C children acquire the ability to grasp, analyse and express abstract ideas.
They’re more likely to develop intellectual interests that give them an advantage in school, since the education system rewards such abilities and interest.

Question 39

explain Bourdieu’s (1984) theory to support how cultural capital leads to W/C underachievement

Answer 39

argues that both cultural and material factors contribute to educational underachievement, and these factors are interrelated. He argues M/C are more successful because they process more capital- economic, cultural and educational cpaital

Question 40

conventional measure of class

Answer 40

the government scales for measuring social class
-someones occupation is an accurate predictor of other factors like wealth, income, education and life chances. occupation is also believed to be the most central aspect of one’s identity (more than aspects like age and gender)