External Factors

• E - Language: way parents communicate with children affects cognitive development

  e.g. Hubbs-Tait et al - found if parents use language that challenge them, they improve

  Feinstein: found more highly qualified parents use praise, to encourage children to develop own competence

  • language used in WC families deficient - children fail to develop necessary language skills for educational success

  EVALUATION

  Tronya + Williams: problem = school's attitude to childrens' language, have "speech hierarchy" label - MC are highest
• E - Speech Codes

  Bernstein identifies 2 differences:

  restricted code - typically used by WC, limited vocab, grammatically simple sentences + context bound

  elaborated code - typically used by MC, wider vocab, longer grammatically more complex - varied + communicates abstract ideas

  • context free, used by teachers, textbooks + exams

  EVALUATION

  Bernstein is exaggerating and oversimplifying differences in speech patterns
• Parents' education

  Douglas: WC parents placed less value on education, less ambitious for children, less encouragement + interest

  • leads to children have lower levels of motivation

  Feinstein: had similar conclusions where parents' own educational level = most important factor
• Parenting style

  Parents with higher qualifications emphasise consistent discipline + high expectations

  • supports achievement encouraging active learning + exploration

  Feinstein: applying harsh/inconsistent discipline prevents child learning independence + self-control

  • leading to poor motivation
• Parents with higher qualifications are more aware of what's needed to assist child's educational progress.
• Parents with higher education tend to have a higher income.
• Bernstein and Young found that mothers were more likely to buy educational toys, books and activities to stimulate intellectual development.
• Feinstein noted that parental education has influence on children's achievement in its own right, regardless of class/income.
• Feinstein also explained why not all WC children do equally badly.
• Working-class Subculture: large section of WC with different goals, beliefs, attitudes, and values that differ from society.
• Sugarman: 4 key features that act as a barrier to educational achievement.
• Fatalism: belief in fate, nothing you do can change your status - MC believe they can change position through their own effort
• Collectivism: valuing part of a group than succeeding as an individual - MC not held back by group loyalties
• Immediate Gratification: seeking pleasure now, than sacrificing and getting rewards in the future - MC emphasise deferred gratification
• Present-time orientation: present more important than future, no long-term goals/plans
• WC parents pass beliefs through primary socialisation, which children then internalise
• Compensatory education: programmes aim to tackle cultural deprivation, providing extra resources in deprived areas

  • intervene early in socialisation process e.g. Sure Start

  EVALUATION

  Halsey + Whitty: had little impact as few resources had been allocated to them

  • e.g. Education Priority Areas accounted for 0.2% of educational spending
• the myth of cultural deprivation?

  Victim blaming: takes "deficit" view, blames victims for their own failure

  • ignores inequalities built into education system + wider society blame for underachievement

  Keddie: culturally different not deprived + fail because education system dominated by MC values

  • should challenge schools' anti-working class prejudices
• material deprivation - refers to poverty + lack of material necessities

  90% of "failing" schools are located in deprived areas
• Housing

  • overcrowding makes it harder for child to study, less room for educational activities - risk of accidents
  • temporary accommodation = moving frequently results in constant change of school + disrupted learning
  • cold/damp housing can cause ill health

  Diet + Health

  Howard: young people from poorer homes are more likely to have poor nutrition

  • weakening immune system + energy levels = more absences and difficulties concentrating

  
  

  Wilkinson: 10 year old's, lower social class = higher rate of hyperactivity, anxiety and conduct disorders

  • more likely to have emotional/behavioural problems
• Cultural or material factors?

  • some children from poorer families succeed, suggest material deprivation only part of explanation
  • cultural, religious/political values play part in creating + sustaining child's motivation, despite poverty
• Financial support and the costs of education: Children from poorer families do without equipment and miss experiences enhancing educational achievement.
• Tanner et al: study in Oxford area found cost of items places heavy burden on poorer families.
• The results of this study led to cheaper but unfashionable equipment, which in turn led to isolated or stigmatised children.
• Flaherty: 20% of those eligible for FSM don’t take them.
• Financial support for poorer students to stay in education after 16 was available, but it was abolished by the coalition government in 2011.
• Lack of funds mean children take on jobs within the home, which has a negative impact on their school work.
• Fear of debt: attitudes towards debt deter working class students from going to university.
• National Union of Students (2010) online survey of 3863 university students found that 81% from the highest social class received help from home, compared to 43% from the lowest social class.
• Cultural Capital

  Bourdieu: three types of capital

  •argues both cultural + material factors contribute to educational achievement

  INTERRELATED NOT SEPARATE

   cultural capital - knowledge, attitudes, values and language (abilities of MC)

  • through socialisation, MC children have ability to grasp, analyse + express abstract ideas - more likely to develop intellectual interests 
  • abilities + interests of MC children = highly valued and rewarded with qualifications - education favours + transmits dominant MC culture 
• Educational + Economic Capital

  • Parents can convert economic capital into educational capital by sending children to private school + pay tuition

  Leech + Campos: MC parents are able to afford a house in a catchment area of school highly placed in exam league tables

  • "selection by mortgage" drives up cost of houses near successful schools + excluded WC families
• A test of Bourdieu's ideas

  Sullivan: used questionnaires to conduct survey of 465 pupils in 4 schools

  • those who read complex fiction and watched serial TV documentaries, developed wider vocab + greater cultural knowledge
  • successful pupils with greater cultural capital more likely to be MC - greater resources + aspirations explain remainder of the class gap