Social Class And Education

Question 1

Social class

Answer 1

A social hierarchy based on income, education, and occupation (group with the same economic status)

Question 2

Underachievement

Answer 2

Performing below potential, often linked to socioeconomic factors

Question 3

Internal factors that cause social class differences in achievement

Answer 3

• teacher labelling/ self-fulfilling prophecy
• streaming and setting
• school subcultures

Question 4

External factors that cause social class differences in achievement

Answer 4

• material deprivation
• cultural capital
• parental education level

Question 5

Labelling theory- Becker

Answer 5

Interactionist Becker developed the Labelling theory
The teacher defines or labels the pupil in a particular way such as ‘bright’ or ‘dull’. The way the teacher interacts with a pupil will be determined by the label they have been given, for example only asking ‘brighter’ students to answer harder questions. The pupil may respond accordingly, the label becomes true and the prophecy is fulfilled. Becker found from his study that teachers labelled pupils accordingly to how closely they fitted the image of the ideal pupil.

Question 6

Social class and the labelling theory

Answer 6

Teachers may label working class students as ‘less-able’, leading to lower expectations and reinforcing underachievement. However, this presents all students as passive, in reality, not all students internalise labels; some resist them and manage to succeed.

Question 7

Streaming and unequal access to classroom knowledge

Answer 7

Being placed in a low stream or set may undermine pupils confidence and discourage them from trying, and teachers may be less ambitious and give less knowledge to lower stream children than they would with others
Streaming is often linked to social class- the higher a pupils social class, the greater the chance of being allocated to a top stream , therefore streaming and setting can contribute to the underachievement of working class pupils

Question 8

Subcultures

Answer 8

A pupil subcultures is a group of pupils who share similar values and behaviour patterns. Pupil subcultures often emerge as a response to the way pupils have been labelled, and in particular as a reaction to streaming

Question 9

Lacey- anti and pro-school subcultures

Answer 9

Students form pro-school or anti-school subcultures in response to school labelling and streaming

Question 10

External factors - material deprivation

Answer 10

• generally, the higher a child’s class of origin, the higher their family income. High income can provide many educational advantages (economic capital)
• children from lower classes often live in cramped, cold and unhealthy conditions and a shortage of money means they are more likely to have low achievement at school as a result

Question 11

Cooper and Stewart

Answer 11

• found that money makes a difference to children’s educational achievements; poorer children have worse cognitive, social-behaviour and health outcomes because they are poorer

Question 12

Hidden costs of ‘free’ schools

Answer 12

Schools are free to all in the UK up to the age of 19. However, there are still many hidden costs of sending a child to school and poorer working class families may struggle to meet these costs
These hidden costs amount to around £1600 per year (uniform, equipment, transport, resources, school trips, school lunches)

Question 13

Smith and Noble (snowball effect)

Answer 13

• inability to afford school uniforms, schools trips, transport, classroom materials and textbooks can lead to children being isolated and bullied
• children living in damp and overcrowded conditions are likely to underperform and are susceptible to illness
• a low income reduces the likelihood of a computer with internet access, a desk, educational toys, books, space to do homework and a comfortable heated home
• the better, well-resourced schools exist in more affluent areas and the working class struggle to afford housing in the catchment area

Question 14

Reay found that when working class students go to university they are:

Answer 14

• more likely to apply to the nearest university for financial reasons (cheaper to live at home)
• more likely to find part-time employment and as a result this can impact on their performance
• at Oxford and Cambridge, students are not allowed payed employment during term time, this may put off many working class students from even applying
  AO3:
  Students loans, aim higher scheme, Educational Maintenance Allowance, free school meals, child benefit, PP

Question 15

External factors- cultural deprivation

Answer 15

• depending on their social class parents have different norms and values
• cultural deprivation theory suggests that w/c parents have values, attitudes and behaviours that differ from the middle class culture of the education system
• working class culture is seen as deficient and the children from these families underperform at school because of this
• socialisation is key to this process according to cultural deprivation theorists- many working class families fail to socialise their children adequately, these children then grow up culturally deprived

Question 16

Basil Bernstein

Answer 16

Identifies differences between working class and middle class language that influences achievement
He argues that there is a distinct difference in the speech codes used by the working and middle classes

Question 17

Restricted code

Answer 17

Typically used by the working class- limited vocabulary, based on short and often unfinished, grammatically simple sentences, sometimes using only a gesture

Question 18

Elaborated code

Answer 18

Typically used by the middle class- wider vocabulary based on longer and grammatically more complex sentences, speech is more varied and communicates abstract ideas

Question 19

Values- Sugarman

Answer 19

Sugarman identified 4 features of the working class that act as a barrier to their children’s educational attainment
- fatalism= “what will be will be” accept position rather than trying to improve it
- collectivism= valuing being part of a group, working together provides more gains than individual effort
- immediate gratification= seeking pleasures now rather than making sacrifices for the future
- present time orientation= a lack of emphasis on long term goals and future planning

Question 20

Criticisms of the cultural deprivation theory

Answer 20

• many working class parents are very concerned and ambitious for their children’s success
• schools themselves play an important role
• Keddie argues that there is no cultural deprivation, just cultural difference, the problem is that schools are based on middle class ideas

Question 21

Class identities

Answer 21

Working class identities that are formed outside of school then interact with school and its values to produce educational success or failure
Bourdieu used the concept habitus to explain this