(external Factors) Social Class&Educational Achievement

Question 1

How do sociologists determine students social class

Answer 1

Parents occupation

Question 2

Explaining class differences:

Answer 2

1. Children from MC backgrounds generally achieve more in education than those from WC backgrounds

Question 3

Why do MC student’s achieve higher than WC students in education

Answer 3

1. MC parents can afford private schooling
2. 7% UK schools are private
3. Majority who are privately schooled go to university (90%)
   4.Privately educated make up more than half of oxbridge entrants

Question 4

What are external factors & social class differences in achievement

Answer 4

1. Cultural deprivation
2. Material deprivation
3. Cultural capital
4. Marketisation & parental choice

Question 5

What does cultural deprivation theorists argue

Answer 5

That most of us acquire our values & attitudes through primary socialisation

Question 6

What is the basic ‘cultural equipment’

Answer 6

Language, self discipline & reasoning

Question 7

During primary socialisation how are WC student’s culturally deprived

Answer 7

According to some theorists, the working classes do not socialise their children adequately

Question 8

W/C homes:

Answer 8

Generally lack books, educational toys & activities

Question 9

What does Douglas (1964) argue

Answer 9

W/c pupils score lower on tests than M/C pupils, he argued this was because w/c parents do not read to their children

Question 10

What does Bernstein & Young (1967) show

Answer 10

M/c mothers spend more time thinking & choosing the correct toys to stimulate their children

Question 11

How does Bereiter & Engelmann (1966)) show cultural deprivation

Answer 11

Claimed language used in W/C homes was deficient (gestures, single words, disjointed phrases)

W/c students struggle to explain, describe, enquire, or compare in lesson

Question 12

What does Bernstein distinguish (1975)

Answer 12

Distinguishes two types of speech code used by students

1.restricted code (used by w/c)
2. Elaborated code (used by m/c)

Question 13

How does elaborated code allow for m/c students to be at an advantage

Answer 13

Teachers, textbooks, & tests use the elaborated code

Question 14

What does Feinstein (1998) argue

Answer 14

Argued W/C have a negative attitude towards education;

M/C parents are more likely to provide their children with the necessary motivation, support, & discipline

Question 15

What does Hyman (1967) argue

Answer 15

Argued that the W/C created for themselves a ‘self imposed barrier’ to educational & career success

Question 16

What does sugarman (1970) argue

Answer 16

Four key features:
Fatalism, collectivism, immediate gratification, present- time orientation

Question 17

What does collectivism mean

Answer 17

Not wanting to be individualistic and being within a group e.g. not putting your hands up

Question 18

What does culture deprivation theorists show

Answer 18

Whilst m/c values (passed on via socialisation) prepare m/c children for success, the reverse is true for w/c children

Question 19

What is compensatory education

Answer 19

Is the gov policy that seeks to offset CD

Question 20

What does keddie (1973) argue

Answer 20

That CD is a myth

Shows w/c children are culturally different & not culturally deprived

Question 21

What does troyna & Williams (1985) argue

Answer 21

There exists a speech hierarchy that needs to be challenged

Question 22

What does blackstone & Mortimer (1994) show

Answer 22

W/C parents are frozen out of the system that isn’t designed to fit their needs

Question 23

What is material deprivation

Answer 23

Refers to poverty & a lack of material necessities

Question 24

Poverty & educational underachievement are closely linked:

Answer 24

1. Poor housing
2. Poor diet & health
3. The hidden costs of education
4. Fear of debt

Question 25

Examples of material deprivation

Answer 25

1. Only 33% of children in receipt of FSM achieves 5 A*- C GCSE grades 2. Nearly 90% of failing schools are deprived areas 3. Exclusion & truancy more likely in children living in poorer areas 4. Third of all persistent truants leave school with no qualifications

Question 26

What does Pierre Bourdie (1984) argue

Answer 26

Both cultural & material factors contribute to educational achievement

Question 27

How does ‘capital’ (wealth) help explain why the M/C are more successful

Answer 27

M/C culture is a form of capital, as it gives an advantage to those who possess it

Question 28

Activities outside school that helps M/C students to be successful at school (cultural capital)

Answer 28

1. Museums 2. Reading books 3. Taking children on holiday 4. Instruments/ having hobbies

Question 29

How is economic capital (money) and cultural capital (knowledge of m/c culture & values) beneficial in the education system

Answer 29

M/C parents use their economic capital to help their children gain cultural capital so that their children can acquire greater educational capital

Question 30

What did Sharon Gewirtz (1995) show

Answer 30

She examined the question whether parental choice in school has benefited one class more than another

Question 31

What are the 3 types of parents Sharon Gewirtz (1995) distinguishes

Answer 31

1. “Privileged- skill choosers”- m/c parents who use their cultural & economic capital (shop around) 2. “ disconnected- local choosers”- w/c parents who lack cultural & economic capital (closest & safest) 3. “Semi- skilled choosers”- ambitious w/c parents who rely on other people’s opinions