Cultural deprivation

• cultural deprivation

  • there is three main aspects of cultural deprivation: language, parents education and working class subculture
  • class differences in childrens development and achievement appear very early in life
  • e.g. a study in 2007 found that children age 3 that come from disadvantaged backgrounds are already one year behind those more privileged home and the gap widens with age
  • argue that most of us acquire the basic values, attitudes and skills that are needed for educational success through primary socialisation in the family
  • this basic 'cultural equipment' includes things such as language, self-discipline and reasoning skills
  • cultural deprivation theorists argue that working-class families fail to socialise their children properly, so they end up culturally deprived
  • This means many working-class pupils lack the cultural equipment to do well at school, so they underachieve
• language

  • language is an essential part of the process of education and the way in which parents communicate with thei children affects their cognitive development and their ability to benefit from the process of schooling
  • cultural deprivation theorists see these differences in how parents use language as linked to social class
  • Bereiter and Englefield 1966 claim that the language used in lower class homes is deficient
  • they describe lower class families as communicating by gestures, single words and disjointed phrases
  • as a result their children fail to develop the necessary language skills
  • they grow up incapable of abstract thinking and unable to use language to explain, describe, enquire or compare
  • because of this they are unable to take advantage of the opportunities that school offers
• Hubbs-Tait et al 2002

  • found that where parents use language that challenges their children to evaluate their own understanding or abilities, cognitive performance improves
• Feinstein 2008

  • found that educated parents are more likely to use language in this way
  • by contrast less educated parents tend to use language in ways that only require children to make simple descriptive
  • Feinstein also found that educated parents are more likely to use praise
  • this encourages their children to develop a sense of their competence
• speech codes

  • Bernstein 1975 identifies differences between working class and middle class language that influence achievement
  • he distinguishes between two types of speech codes
  • the restricted code
  • the speech code that is typically used by the working class
  • has limited vocabulary and is based on the use of short, often unfinished, grammatically simple sentences
  • speech is unpredictable and may involve only one single word or even a gesture instead
  • descriptive not analytic
  • the speaker assumes that the listener shares the same set of experiences
  • the elaborated code
  • typically used by the middle class
  • wider vocabulary and is based no longer, grammatically more complex sentences
  • speech is more varied and communicates abstract ideas
  • the elaborated code is context-free
  • the speaker does not assume that the listener shares the same experiences and so they use language to spell out their meanings explicitly for the listener
• speech codes pt2

  • these differences in speech codes gives middle class children an advantage at school and put working class children at a disadvantage
  • this is because the elaborated code is the language used by teachers, textbooks and exams
  • not only is it taken as the 'correct' way to speak and write but in Bernsteins view it is also a more effective tool for analysing and reasoning and for expressing thoughts clearly and effectively - essential skills in education
  • early socialisation into the elaborated code means that middle class children are already fluent users of the code when they start school
  • thus they feel 'at home' in school and are more likely to succeed
  • by contrast working class children lacking the code in whcih schooling takes place are likely to feel excluded and be less successful
• critics of speech codes

  • critics argue that Bernstein is a cultural deprivation theorists because he describes working class speech as inadequate
  • however unlike most cultural deprivation theorists Bernstein recognises that the school and not just the home influences childrens educational achievement
  • he argues that the working class pupils fail not because theyu are culturally deprived but because schools fail to teach them how to use the elaborated code
• parents education

  • CD theorists argue that parents attitudes to education are a key factor affecting childrens achievement
  • Douglas 1964 found that working class parents placed less value on education
  • as a result they were less ambitious for their children, gave them less encouragement and took less interest in their education
  • they visited schools less often and were less likely to discuss their childrens progress with teachers
  • as a result their children had lower levels of motivation and achievement
  • Feinstein 2008 reaches similar conclusions
  • he argues that parents own education is the most important factor affecting childrens achievement and since middle class parents tend to be better educated they are able to give their children an advantage by how they socialise them
  • this occurs in a number of ways
• parenting style

  • educated parents parenting style emphasises consistent discipline and high expectations of their children and this supports achievement by encouraging active learning and exploration
  • by contrast less educated parents parenting style is marked by harsh or inconsistent discipline that emphasises 'doing as you're told' and 'behaving yourself'
  • this prevents the child from learning independence and self-control leading to poorer motivating at school and problems interacting with teachers
• parents educational behaviours

  • educated parents are more aware of what is needed to assist their childens educational progress
  • as a result they engage in behaviour such as
  • reading to their children
  • teaching them letters, numbers, songs
  • helping with homework
  • being actively involved in their schooling
  • educated parents are also better able to get expert advice on childrearing, more successful in establishing good relationships with teachers and better at guiding their childrens interactions with schools
  • these parents also recognise the educational value of activities such as a visits to the museum or library
• use of income

  • Better educated parents not only tend to have higher incomes they also spend their income in ways that promote their child's educational success,
  • Bernstein and Young 1967 found that middle-class mothers are more likely to buy educational toys, books and more, which encourages reasoning skills and stimulates intellectual development
  • Working-class homes are more likely to lack these resources, so they start school without the intellectual skills needed to progress
  • educated parents also have a better understanding of nutrition and its importance in child development and a higher income with which to buy more nutritious food
• class, income and parental education

  • while better paid middle class parents tend to be better educated than lower paid working class parents
  • Feinstein notes that parental education has an influence on childrens achievement in its own right regardless of class or income
  • thus even within a given social class better educated parents tend to have children who are more successful at school
  • this may help to explain why not all children of working class parents do equally badly and why not all children from middle class families are equally successful
• working class subculture

  • CD theorists argue that lack of parental interest in their childrens education reflects the subcultural values of the working class
  • a subculture is a group whose attitudes and values differ from those of the mainstream culture
  • according to CD theorists large sections of the working class have different goals, beliefs, attitudes and values from the rest of society and this is why their children fail at school
• Sugarman 1970

  • he argues that working class subculture has 4 key features that act as a barrier to educational achievement
  • fatalism
  • collectivism
  • immediate gratification
  • present time orientation
  • working class children internalise the beliefs and values of their subculture through the socialisation process and this results in them underachieving at school
  • Sugarman argues that they stem from the fact that middle class jobs are secure careers offering prospects for continous individual advancement
  • this encourages ambition and time and effort into gaining qualifications
  • by contrast working class jobs are less secure and have no career structure through how they will advance
• fatalism

  • belief in fate
  • what will be, will be - nothing can be done to change your status
• collectivism

  • valuing being part of a group over succeeding as an individual
• immediate gratification

  • seeking pleasure now
  • no making sacrifices for future rewards
• present time orientation

  • seeing now as more important than the future, therefore having no long-term goals/plans
• compensatory education

  • compensatory education programmes aim to tackle cultural deprivation by giving extra resources to schools in deprived areas
  • they intervene early in the child's socialisation process to minimise cultural deprivation they may experience at home as much as possible
  • the bets known example is Sure Start and education action zones
• the myth of cultural deprivation

  • Keddie 1973 describes cultural deprivation as a 'myth' and sees it as a victim blaming explanation
  • she ignores and dismisses the idea that failure at school can be blamed on a culturally deprived home background
  • she points out that a child cannot be deprived of its own culture and argues that working class children are simply culturally different not culturally deprived
  • they fail because they are put at a disadvantage by an education system that is dominated by middle-class values
  • Keddie argues that rather than seeing working class culture as deficit schools should recognise and build on its strengths and should challenge teachers anti-working class prejudices
  • Troyna and Williams 1986 argue that the problem is not the childs language but the schools attitude towards it
  • teachers have a 'speech hierarchy' as they label MC speech highest following by WC speech then black speech
• critics of cultural deprivation myth

  • other critics reject the view that WC parents are not interested in their childs education
  • according to Blackstone and Mortimore 1994 they attend to fewer parents evenings not because of the lack of interest but because they work longer or less regular hours or are put off by the schools middle class atmosphere
  • they may want to help their child progress but they lack the knowledge and education to do so
  • there is also evidence that schools with mainly WC pupils have less effective systems of parent-school contacts
  • this makes it harder for parents to keep in touch about their childrens progress