Topic 2 External class differences

Question 1

What are external factors?

Answer 1

Factors from outside schools and the education system itself. These include the influences on students from their home and family background, and from communities.

Question 2

Define material deprivation

Answer 2

This refers to the more practical educational disadvantages working class student’s experience.
Things like a lack of equipment or a quiet place to do homework. This is concerned not with what the cultural theorists point out to be cultural differences (in values and beliefs etc), but in the actual factors of poverty, like the availability of necessities like good housing and income.

Question 3

Define cultural deprivation

Question 4

What are the three main aspects of cultural deprivation?

Answer 4

• Intellectual development
• Language
• Attitudes and values

Question 5

According to Young and Bernstein, how does intellectual development impact education?

Answer 5

Douglas Young and Basil Bernstein found mothers choice of toys affects their child’s intellectual development.
Middle class mothers tend to choose toys which encourage thinking and reasoning skills and prepare children for school.
eg jigsaws, top trumps

Question 6

What are the different ways of speaking?

Answer 6

Bernstein argues there are two different ways of speaking.
- restricted (WC) limited vocabulary
- elaborated (MC)

Question 7

How does language impact educational achievement?

Answer 7

Working class children are socialised using less advanced academic knowledge, known as restricted code.
This causes them to underachieve in education, as all resources like textbooks are written in elaborated code, therefore they’re less likely to achieve.

Question 8

How do parents attitudes and values impact a child’s educational achievement?

Answer 8

Douglas found that working class parents do not place a high value on education compared to middle class parents. They are less ambitious for their child’s career, show less encouragement for educational achievement and take less of an interest in their child’s education.
- they paid schools/teachers less visits and their child’s motivation/achievement was low.
-

Question 9

According to Sugarman, what are the 4 main elements of working class sub-culture?

Answer 9

• Fatalism: belief in fate, ‘whatever will be will be’, there’s nothing you can do about it
• Collectivism: belief that being part of a group is more important than individual success. (This is a contrast to the middle class thinking that group loyalty shouldn’t hold you back).
• Immediate gratification: seeking rewards now rather than making sacrifices for future gain.
• Present time orientation: seeing the present as more important than the future and having no long-term plans, eg mess around in school

Question 10

Define compensatory education

Answer 10

Compensatory education is a policy that is designed to tackle the problem of cultural deprivation, by pumping in extra resources, like money, to make up for the educational disadvantage that working class pupils experience.

Question 11

How did sure start tackle cultural deprivation?

Answer 11

• Established 3,500 centres that provided integrated education, care, family support, health services

Question 12

How do Sesame Street help tackle cultural deprivation?

Answer 12

• making fun and entertaining ways of learning
• trying to teach the children that are put in front of the TV
• help children to pay attention and make learning memorable

Question 13

How can the belief in cultural deprivation be evaluated?

Answer 13

• Cultural theorists are criticised for placing the blame for working class underachievement with the working class themselves.
• Nell Keddie calls the approach victim-blaming. It is cultural difference not cultural deprivation.
• Keddie also argues working class pupils fail educationally because they are put at a disadvantage by a middle class dominated unfair education system.

Question 14

What are the key trends associated with class and educational achievement?

Answer 14

Children’s parents who have professional jobs and are paid more do better in education. 83% of children whose parents have a high professional job achieved five or more A* - C grade at GCSE. Whereas only 43% of children whose parents works in routine jobs, like sales assistant achieved this.

Question 15

Who are the three cultural deprivation theorists?

Answer 15

• Barry Sugarman (instant gratification)
• Basil Bernstein (difference in language)
• Douglas Young (parent’s attitudes and values towards education).

Question 16

What are the four key characteristics of the working-class culture according to Sugarman?

Answer 16

Fatalism (whatever will be will be), Collectivism (being part of a group is more important), Immediate gratification (seeking pleasure now) and Present time orientation (seeing the present more important than the future so they mess around in school).

Question 17

What is the difference between elaborated and restricted code?

Answer 17

Elaborated code is usually used by middle class and has a wider vocabulary with longer complex sentences. Many textbooks and resources are written in elaborated code. Restricted code tends to be by working class which as limited vocabulary with short, unfinished sentences including slang.

Question 18

What are the three aspects of material deprivation?

Answer 18

Housing, diet and nutrition and finance/costs of education.

Question 19

What did Bourdieu discuss?

Answer 19

Bourdieu argues that both cultural and material factors contribute to a child’s educational achievement, and they are in fact interrelated rather than being separate issues. As well as ‘educational capital’, which refers to a person’s qualification that can aid them through life, Bourdieu feels that middle class also have ‘cultural capital’.

Question 20

What is the difference between privileged-skilled choosers, disconnected-local choosers, and semi-skilled choosers?

Answer 20

• Privileged-skilled choosers take full advantage of the choices open to them and they know how the school admission system works and research to find the best ones (Ofsted and league tables).
• Disconnected-local choosers are working class parents who choices are restricted by their lack of capital. Distance and cost are major restrictions on their choice of school, they are most likely to attend their local school.
• Semi-skilled choosers are working class but slightly more ambitious but lack cultural capital to make fully informed decisions.

Question 21

Why is cultural deprivation a myth?

Answer 21

Keddie points out that a child cannot be deprived of their own culture, it is cultural difference not cultural deprivation. Working class kids fail because they are put at a disadvantage by a middle class dominated unfair education system.