class differences in achievement (external )

• class differences in achievement (external)

  • cultural deprivation

  language

  w/c subculture

  speech codes

  parents education

  compensatory education

  • material deprivation

  housing

  diet and health

  financial support and cost of education

  fear of debt

  • cultural capital

  education and economic capital

  test of bourdieu's ideas
• nationwide study by the centre for longitudinal studies (2007) 


  by 3 years old , children from disadvantage background are one year behind from privileged homes and the gap widens with age , due to cultural deprivation
• cultural equipment includes 


  aspirations, motivation to succeed, self discipline, language skills
• what is the w/c subcultures 'Barry Sugerman 1(970)


  • fatalism - belief in fate , nothing can change your status
  • collectivism - succeeds in a group rather than individually
  • immediate gratification - seek pleasure now rather than making sacrifices
  • present- time orientation - present is more important than the future, no long term plans
• why are their different values for classes (sugerman)


  m/c jobs are secure career encouraging ambition, long term plan and willingness to invest time and effort
• language (hubbs-tait et al (2002) 


  m/c parents use language to challenge their children to evaluate their own understanding , their cognitive performance improves
• language (Leon Feinstein 2008))


  higly qualified parents are more likely to praise, ecourages children to develop sense of their own competence
• Criticism of language (troyna and Williams (1986) 


  its not children language thats the problem but school attitude towards it , teachers have 'speech hierarchy' : labelling m/c speech highest then w/c and finally black speech
• speech codes (Basil Bernstein (1975)


  • the restricted codes- w/c, limited vocabulary, short often unfinished, grammatically simple sentences. descriptive not analytic, assuming the listener shares the same set of experiences
  • the elaborated codes- m/c. wider vocabulary, based on longer, grammatically more complex sentences. speech varied and communicates abstract ideas. elaborated code is context free, not assuming the listener shares the same experiences and use language to spell their meanings explicitly for the listener
• criticism of cultural deprivation , Gaine and George (1999)


  Bernstein ecaggerates and oversimplifies the differences between w/c and m/c speech patterns
• parents education (douglas)


  w/c parents place less value on education, resulting in children being lesss encouraged and took less interest in their education
• parents education (leon Feinstein )


  since m/c parents tend to have higher qualification, their able to give their child an advantage by how they socialise them
• what do m/c parents do 


  • constant discipline and high expectation
  • encourage active learning and exploration
  • reading to them, teaching them letters, numbers, songs, poems and nursery rhymes, painting and drawing, helping with homework and talking to their teachers in school, buying educational toys, books and activities
• compensatory education 


  • tackle cultural deprivation , providing extra resources to school and communities in deprived areas
  • intervene early in socialisation process, programmes to improve parenting skills, nursery classes or raising students aspirations to go to university
• criticism of compensatory education

  • Halsey and whitty - insufficient resources, little impact as few resources has been allocated to them
  • Diane Reay - assumes w/c children fail because lack of aspiration , the true causes is povety and lack of resources
• critisism of cultural deprivation theory 


  • victim blaming - ignores inequality in education system and wider society
  • different, not deprived - w/c are culturally different not deprived
  • labelling - cultural deprivation is a negative label that teachers apply to w/c families
  • parental interest - w/c parents attend fewer parents evening not because of lack of interest but because they work longer or less regular hours
  • Hanafin and Lynch - parent took keen interest in children education but felt excluded as they lack knowledge and education
• material deprivation - housing 


  • overcrowding - harder for children to study, disturbed sleep, no space for safe play and exploration .
  • families lining in temporary accommodation may move school frequently disrupting education
  • poor housing - child health and welfare, greater risk of accidents, cold or damp housing can cause ill health, in temporary accommodation family suffer psychological stress, infections and accidents resulting in absence in school
• Diet and housing (Marilyn Howard)


  • family in poorer home has lower intake of energy, vitamins and minerals. affecting health weakening immune system - absences and difficulty concentrating
• diet and housing (wilkinson )


  • more likely to have emotional or behavioural problems
  • among 10 yrs old, lower the social calss the higher rate of hyperactivity, anxiety and conduct disorders
• diet and housing - jo blanden and Stephen Machin 


  • children from low income are more likely to engage in 'externalising' behaviour (fighting and temper tantrums ) which disrupt their schooling
• Financial support and the costs of education ( David Bull)


  • children from poor families have to do without equipment and miss out on experiences
  • the costs of items (transports, uniform, equipment etc) places heavy burdens on poorer familes
  • having to use hand me downs resulting in isolation, stigmatised or bullying
• Flaherty - free school meals 


  • fear of stigmatisation - people with free school meals would get teased and so others dont get free school meals to avoid bullying
• Financial support and the costs of education (teresa smitha nd michael nobel 


  • cant afford private schooling or tuition, and poorer quality local schools
  • children from low income families often need to work taking up their studying and free time to do work
• Fear of debt 


  • going to university involves getting in debt to over tuition fees, books and living expenses detearing working class students
  • w/c students are debt averse
  • w/d who do go to university are likely to receive less financial support from families
  • also restricts choice of uni and chances of success applying to lock universities to save on costs abd worked part time to fund their studies
  • dropout rates are also higher
• 3 types of cultural capital 


  • economic capital
  • educational capital
  • cultural capital

  uses capital to explain why m/c are more successful

  m/c generally possess more of all three types of capital
• Cultural capital 


  • knowledge, attitudes, values, language, tastes and abilities of m/c
  • through their socialisation m/c has the ability to grasp, analyse and express abstract ideas, developing intellectual interests and understanding what education system requires for success
  • their abilities and interest gained rewards with qualifications
• educational and economic capital 


  • all capitals can be converted into one another
  • m/c with cultural capital - better equipped to meet demands of school curriculum and gain qualification
  • parents convert their economic capital into educational capital by sending their children to private schools and paying for extra tuition
  • m/c parents can afford houses in the area of a good school
• test of Bourdieu ideas - alice Sullivan 


  • questionnaires to assess their cultural capital
  • she found those who read complex fiction and watched serious tv documentaries develop wider vocabulary and greater cultural knowledge and were more successful at gcse
  • more likely to be m/c