Social Class and Achievement(External)

• Social Class


  A group who share a similar economic and social

  situation.
• Material Deprivation


  Poverty and a lack of economic necessities

  needed for educational success.
• Cultural Deprivation


  Lack of correct norms and values

  necessary for educational success.
• Cultural Capital


  The knowledge, attitudes, values, languages,

  tastes and abilities of the middle class.
• Social class background


  -Social class background has been found to have a huge

  influence on a child's chances of success in school.

  -Children from middle class families on average perform

  better than working-class children.

  -The achievement gap between working class and middle

  class gets bigger as children grow older.
• Internal vs External

  -Factors WITHIN schools and the education system.

  -Factors OUTSIDE schools and the education system..
• 1.Cultural Deprivation


  -by the age of 3, children from a

  working-class background is already one year behind those

  from a privileged background.

  -Some sociologists believe that this is because working

  class children do not acquire the norms, values, attitudes

  and skills needed for educational success during primary

  socialization in the family.

  -For example, language, self-discipline, and reasoning skills.
• A. Language


  -Lower class homes being 'deficient' - Often using hand gestures, single words, slang words and disjointed phrases to communicate.

  -Consequently, this results in children developing necessary language, growing up incapable of abstract thinking and being able to use language to effectively explain, describe, enquire or compare.
• Bernstein(1975)


  identified 2 types of speech codes:

  -->Restricted code(working class)-Limited vocabulary, use of

  short unfinished, grammatically simple sentences. Effective communication is limited. Effective communication is

  not possible.

  -->Elaborated code(middle class)-Longer, more grammatically

  complex sentences. Speech is more varied and language is used to spell out meanings explicitly for listeners.
• how this affected students

  -These differences in speech gave middle-class children an

  advantage at school.

  -This is because the elaborated code is the language used by

  teachers, textbooks, and exams.

  -It is also seen as the 'correct way to speak', as it is used for

  reasoning and expressing thoughts clearly.

  -As middle-class children are exposed to the elaborate code

  during primary socialization, they are already fluent when

  they start school. They feel 'at home' in school.

  -Working class on the other hand is likely to feel excluded,

  as they lack the code.
• Evaluation

  -Critics argue that Bernstein describes working-class speech as inadequate

  and he fails to look at the variation of codes within the classes.

  -Interactionists would argue that W/C pupils fail not because they are culturally deprived, but because schools fail to teach them how to use the elaborated code.
• B. Parents Education

  -->Douglas (1964)- W/C parents valued education less and were less ambitious for their children.

  They encourage them less and take less interest in their child's education. They visited school less often and were less likely to discuss their child's progress with teachers.

  -->Feinstein (2008)-Feinstein supported Douglas.

  -Parents' own education is the most important factor

  affecting children's achievement.

  -As M/C parents are typically more educated, they have an

  advantage when it comes to socializing with their children.
• C. Working Class Subculture

  -Cultural deprivation theorists believe that this lack of parental

  interest in their children's education reflects the feelings and

  values of the whole working class subculture.
• Sugarman (1970)

  -->class subculture has 4 key features that act as an educational barrier:

  -Fatalism

  -Collectivism

  -Immediate Gratification

  -Present time orientation
• Fatalism


  A belief that 'whatever will be, will be' and there is nothing you can do to change your status. M/C people disagree and believe you can change your position with hard work.
• Collectivism


  Valuing being part of a group more than succeeding as an individual. M/C disagree and believe an individual should not be held back by group loyalties.
• Immediate gratification

  Seeking pleasure now rather than making sacrifices to get rewards in the future. M/C values emphasise deferred gratification, making sacrifices now for rewards later.
• Present time orientation


  Seeing the present as more important than the future and so not having long term goals planned.
• Evaluation

  -Compensatory education programmes have been introduced to tackle the problem of cultural deprivation by providing extra resources to schools and communities to compensate for children who are from deprived homes or had a deprived upbringing.

  -Keddie: W/C are culturally different not culturally deprived. They fail because they are put at a disadvantage by an education system that is dominated by M/C values.

  -Troyna and Williams: it is not the students language, but the schools attitude towards it. Teachers have a speech 'hierarchy', where they place middle-class speech the highest.
• 2.Material Deprivation


  -A lack of resources and money needed for educational success.

  -Liberal Functionalists.

  -Material deprivation is most likely to be experience by working class families.
• A. Housing


  -A lack of financial support means that some families are more likely to live in poor housing conditions, which can include overcrowding, cold & damp conditions and temporary accommodation.

  Direct effect:

  -Overcrowding can have a direct effect by making it hard for children to study, do homework and have undisturbed sleep. -Also, lack of space for safe play and exploring. Temporary accommodation can mean constantly moving and so disrupted education.

  Indirect effect:

  -Crowded homes can have an indirect effect by putting children at a higher risk of accidents. Cold & damp can also cause ill health, meaning more absences from school.
• Evaluation

  -Many schools now provide study facilities after school e.g. school libraries are often stay open until late to allow them to safely complete work.

  -Douglas is too deterministic and assumes all working class children live in poverty.

  -Outside of school, there are alternative places for people to study e.g. public libraries.
• B. Diet and Health - Howard


  -Families living in poverty are more likely to be unable to afford the daily recommended foods and nutrients.

  -Young people from poor homes have lower intake of energy, vitamins and minerals.

  -Wilkinson (1996) children from poorer families also have higher rate of hyperactivity, anxiety and conduct disorders all which have a negative impact on a child's education.

  -Blanden and Machin (2007) children from poor families were more likely to engage in fighting and temper tantrums.
• Evaluation

  -Policies implanted by the government which aim to improve health and diets for students. E.g. In 2014, the Coalition government approved the introduction of free school meals in funded schools.

  -Government have led to campaigns to educate people about nutritional diets both inside and outside school.E.g. Jamie Oliver campaign over school dinners.

  -Schools have an increased awareness of children's emotional and behaviour problems.
• C. Cost of Schooling

  -Lack of financial support means children from poorer families have to do without equipment.
• Bull


  -Children from poor families have to do without equipment and miss out on experiences that would typically enhance their educational achievement.

  'The cost of free schooling'

  -Poor families have to do with hand-me-downs clothing or cheaper brands which may be stigmatised and bullied by peers.

  -Yet, branded clothing is necessary for many in relation to their self-esteem.

  -Flaherty : this explains why 20% of those entitled to free schools meals do not take their entitlement.
• D. Fear of debt

  -Students from poorer families are reluctant to go to university due to fear of being in debt.

  -Using a survey conducted on 2000 people, Callender and Jackson (2000) found W/C students are more debt averse, and see more negatives to going to university than positives.

  -After student loans went up, UCAS applicants in the UK fell by 8.6% in 2012.

  -W/C students who do go to university will have less financial support from their families.
• Reay (2005)

  -Financial factors can restrict W/C students' choice and chances of success.

  -Reay found that W/C students are more likely to apply to local universities than move out, to save on travel costs, but this gave them less opportunity.

  -They were more likely to work part time to fund their studies, making to difficult for them to get high class degrees.
• SOCIAL POLICY

  -In 2004, they introduced 'Education Maintenance Allowance' to help struggling students. This was replaced by the 16-19 bursary.

  -Also schools have introduced breakfast clubs to help.
• 3. Cultural And Economic Capital or Deficit

  -->Capital - assets that can improve your life chances.

  -->Cultural capital - the knowledge, attitudes, values, language, tastes and abilities of the middle class.

  -->Economic Capital- money and wealth (gives you access to elite educational opportunities or social networks).
• A. Cultural Capital - Bourdieu


  -Cultural and material factors are connected - with both contributing to educational achievement of individuals.

  -Through socialisation, M/C children acquire the ability to grasp, analyse and express abstract ideas.

  -See's M/C culture as a type of capital because, like wealth, it gives an advantage to those who possess it

  -Middle class children with cultural capital are better equipped to meet the demands of the school curriculum.

  -As well as this, wealthy parents can convert their economic capital into educational capital by sending their children to private schools or paying for extra tuition - this leads to educational success.
• Evaluation

  -Cultural capital does not explain why some MC students openly rebel against the education system and underachieve at both GCSE and A level.

  -Cultural capital is only really applied to white middle class students. Chinese WC students are successful within education and yet according to Bourdieu, they should possess a cultural deficit.

  -Sociologists would claim that factors within school are more influential on a pupil's performance, rather than where they visit outside of the school or what they read.
• B. Measuring cultural capital - Sullivan


  -Used questionnaires to conduct a survey on 465 pupils in four schools, to assess their cultural capital, asking them about a range of activities such as reading and TV viewing habits and if they visited art galleries, museums & theatres.

  Found:

  -Those who read complex fiction and watched TV series documentaries developed a wider vocabulary and greater cultural knowledge (better cultural capital).

  -Those with the best cultural capital were more likely to be successful at GCSE
• Evaluation

  -Her work cannot be generalised as she only studied in four schools, which is not representative of the student population.

  -Her work is reliant on memory, which leads to questioning around the validity of the pupils answers - some students could lie or exaggerate.

  -There are questions whether her work is still relevant to today as there is now a wealth of information available today.