Unit 1 Education Flashcards
Why do middle class pupils do better than working class pupils?
White working-class pupils or pupils receiving free school meals leave school with
the lowest qualifications of any social group. There are many different reasons put
forward to explain this, including cultural reasons, material reasons and what goes
on inside the school.
How do cultural factors affect attainment?
Cultural factors are cited as a cause of working-class underachievement in
education. The idea of cultural deprivation being the cause is less popular today
because it blames the working-class child and the working-class upbringing and
ignores the influence of the school.
Research indicates that many working-class parents value education and want their
children to do well, but might not be successful in getting around the education system.
How does cultural capital and social capital affect attainment?
Marxist sociologist Pierre Bourdieu argues that cultural capital is needed for children
to succeed at school and that working-class cultural capital is not valued in the
education system.
Some sociologists argue that working-class parents want their children to do well,
but do not understand the ‘rules of the game’ or do not have enough social capital
or support from social networks to help them.
How do material factors affect achievement?
Material deprivation might be a cause of lower achievement in school suffered by families on low incomes. Those with high incomes have many educational advantages.
How do schools affect educational achievement?
The school has a significant influence on pupils’ achievements at school. This could
be in terms of:
-the way they treat and label different pupils
-the school’s ethos
-the curriculum taught.
How do labelling and teacher expectations affect achievement?
Teachers label children as part of their job. These labels may be based on
characteristics such as appearance and behaviour as much as ability and are
associated with social class. We will see later that pupils can also be labelled on the
basis of their ethnicity and gender. These labels can have consequences for the
achievement of pupils: pupils labelled ‘bright’ by teachers tend to improve, whereas
those labelled ‘less able’ tend to deteriorate.
Why are there differences in achievement between ethnic groups?
There are differences in the achievements of children from different ethnic groups. While there have been improvements in the achievements of some minority groups, African- Caribbean and Pakistani children continue to underachieve in the system. Poverty is likely to contribute to this underachievement.
How does culture impact on ethnic differences in achievement?
Parental aspirations might be a factor in the high achievement of children from
Chinese backgrounds and some other minority groups.
Anti-school subcultures among some African-Caribbean boys are likely to affect
their achievements in school.
How does the school impact on ethnic differences in achievement?
There is evidence that the organisation, ethos and approach of a school is likely
to affect attainment in terms of conscious and unconscious racism. This might be
apparent in:
-labelling and low expectations
-children from ethnic groups being put into low sets
-high exclusion rates for some ethnic groups.
Why do students form anti-school subcultures?
Interactionists argue that anti-school subcultures are a reaction to children being
labelled as failures.
In contrast, Paul Willis argues that some children realise that it is not possible for
everyone in the school to succeed at school and in careers, and so they reject school
and its academic nature.
Whats is the hidden curriculum?
The hidden curriculum passes on messages and ideas throughout the school day.
- Feminists believe these messages are patriarchal.
- Functionalists believe they benefit society and its members.
- Marxists believe they benefit the upper class.
Why have girls overtaken boys in terms of their educational achievement?
Girls have overtaken boys in attainment at every stage of education. Some reasons
for this are to do with changes outside school, such as changes in the workforce and
changes within families. Other reasons stem from changes in schools, such as the
introduction of the National Curriculum.
Why are boys under perform compared to girls?
Boys’ attainment has improved steadily as a general trend, but remains lower than
girls’. Many reasons have been suggested for this, including:
-the decline in manual jobs leading to male unemployment and academic
demotivation
-‘laddish’ or ‘anti-academic’ subcultures
-the ‘feminisation’ of schools.
What advantages do private schools bring students?
Private schools are feepaying in Britain. Families pay for their children to attend them. Public schools, such as Eton and Harrow, are the elite of the private schools. Going to a public school leads to many advantages for its pupils.
Has parental choice and competition between schools led to greater inequality?
The emphasis in education has moved away from equality of opportunity to
competition between schools and the idea of parental choice. This might instead
lead to more inequality between schools as more educated parents choose what
they perceive as ‘better’ schools.
The popular schools receive more funding and so are more able to continue to do
well, and the least popular schools receive less funding and therefore have fewer
resources and so on.
