class and achievement

• meritocracy

  a social system, society or organisation in which people get success or power because of their abilities, hard work and effort, not because of their money or social position
• factors may affect how well pupils do in their qualification

  • length of travel to school
  • money - cost of education
  • home life - young carer, shared work/sleep space etc
  • parental attitude
  • primary socialisation
• middle class

  non-manual occupations include professionals such as doctors or teachers, together with managers and other "white-collar" office workers and owners of businesses
• working class

  manual occupations include skilled workers such as plumbers, semi-skilled workers such as lorry drivers, and unskilled or routine workers such as cleaners
• children from middle class families tend to perform better than working class families in school
• internal explanations

  factors within schools and the education systems
• external explanations

  factors outside the education system

  split into cultural and material deprivation
• what is culture

  shared experiences, values, characteristics passed down through generations (ideas, customs and social behaviour)

  some young people fail in education because of supposed cultural deficiencies in their home and family background, such as inadequate socialisation, failing in pre-school learning, inadequate language skills and inappropriate attitudes and values
• parents attitudes to education

  Douglas (1964) - most important factor in explaining educational attainment was parental interest

  See and Davies (2012) - high parental interest leads to better exam results, middle class parents tend to:

  • take more interest in children's progress - visit schools more often
  • more interested and encouraging as children grow older and reach the point of exams and career choices
  • are more likely to encourage staying in school beyond minimum age requirement
• parent level of education

  middle class parents may:

  • have a better understanding of the education system
  • be more confident in discussing options at parents' evening
  • be more confident challenging teachers
  • give better options, subjects and career advice, and know at what point it is needed
  • be able to help with homework
  • know what games and books to buy and know what events and activities to take their children to
  • know the complaints procedures if necessary
• sub cultural explanations - attitudes and values

  sub culture - the value, attitudes and lifestyle associated with a smaller group within a larger group (working class and middle class)

  Hyman (1970) and Sugarman (1967) investigated the effects of subcultures on educational achievement, the education system is a middle class institution and so is built around the values of the middle class

  Hyman calls this cultural framework a "habitus"
• language codes - Bernstein (1975)


  the restricted code

  • typically used by the working class
  • limited vocabulary, shorter and grammatically simple sentences
  • predictable speech, descriptive, may use just a word or gesture
  • context bound - in order to understand the sentences you need to share the same set of experiences

  the elaborated code

  • typically used by the middle class
  • wider vocabulary, longer and complex sentences
  • able to communicate abstract ideas
  • context free - the speaker doesn't assume the listener shares the same experiences so spells out meaning explicitly
• Bourdieu and cultural capital (1977)

  habitus:

  a cultural framework or set of ideas held by a particular social group

  the habitus is passed on through socialisation within the family

  education works within a middle class habitus, dominant social class impose their views onto the institution
• cultural capital

  Robson (2003):

  museums, zoos, exhibitions, reading for pleasure etc improve chances of success in education

  can be turned into educational capital (qualifications) and economic capital (high income)
• cultural capital

  Bourdieu is a marxist - working class children will struggle, they haven't been socialised to possess the cultural capital of the dominant class required to succeed
• social capital

  social networks, knowing the right people to get advice from, who can help them, who can influence other people
• culture class

  middle class students - school feels like an extension of home

  working class students are more likely to experience conflict, leading to alienation or disaffection
• future orientation

  making plans for the future and using them to inform current actions

  must plan for the future in order to gain qualifications needed for middle class jobs

  children socialised into a future orientation are able to understand the need to plan ahead to attain their qualifications, such as choosing subjects that will be helpful for their university course
• deferred gratification

  making sacrifices now for greater rewards later

  middle class children are more likely to get better grades

  children are socialised into focusing on their future and planning how they will achieve it
• individual effort

  when individuals advance their social position in society through their own efforts despite their ascribed status (linked to meritocracy)

  people from working classes may advance onto middle class jobs as the are able to achieve the qualifications needed

  working class children can be socialised into believing they can get middle class jobs if they focus on their education
• present-time orientation

  seeing the present as more important than the future and so having no long term goals

  less likely to gain the qualifications needed for a middle class job

  children are socialised into not caring about qualifications as they have no long term goals
• immediate gratification

  seeking pleasure now rather than making sacrifices in order to get rewards in the future

  middle class value deferred gratification

  working class children are socialised into not caring about their future so don't attain desired qualifications
• fatalism

  a belief in fate, there is nothing you can do to change your status, no attempts to improve your situation

  working class children will prefer to gain a social status instead of qualification

  working class children ma believe that there is no point in education as their situation won't change
• collectivism

  valuing being part of a group more than succeeding as an individual

  middle class views that an individual shouldn't be held back by group loyalty

  children could be peer-pressured into not trying hard in their education if their group doesn't care about education
• parental interest

  Douglas and Feinstein (1964/1998)

  working class parents are less likely to show an interest in their children's academic achievement, provide support, discipline, motivation, or attend school events, such as parent's evenings, compared to their middle class counterparts

  working class children will then find school more difficult/decide not to bother with school as their parents lack interest with school - less engagement within school, lack of aspirations, distruptive
• parental education level

  Sullivan (2001):

  cultural capital plays a significant role in educational achievement

  GCSE students who read complex fiction, watch serious TV documentaries and who had graduate parents developed a wider vocabulary and achieved higher than other students

  middle class children are more likely to have more aspirations, achievements and care about school as their parents brought them up this way - they can help their children with their studies and give advice - higher attainment
• Parental interest evaluation:

  • teacher assessments used by Douglas and Feinstein to measure parental interest, may not be valid, measures teachers' perceptions of interest
  • rejection of the generalised idea that wc parents are not interested in their children's education - wc parents work longer and less regular hours
  • economic capital - resources that allow mc mothers to concentrate on their children's education, having cleaners and helpers
  • Gillian Evans (2007) - wc parents placed a high value on education, mc mothers used more formal learning but wc practices were different not sub standard
• subcultures evaluation

  Sugarman used interviews and questionnaires - may not reflect the actual situation in the way empirical observation would
• language codes evaluation

  Bernstein does not say that working class language is inferior but implies it

  oversimplifies the difference between working and middle class speech

  Rosen argues that Bernstein gives little evidence of its existence and use
• cultural capital evaluation

  cultural deprivation theories have been criticised for blaming the working class for their own failings

  Keddie argues that this is a myth which presents the working class people as less educable but it is the schools fault to not do more to embrace working class culture

  Reay, economic capital, mc mums had cleaners and helpers which allowed them to concentrate on their children's education, mc mums could afford private education
• material deprivation - poor diet/cold or damp housing evidence

  NEU (2019) - 75% of 8000 teachers and school leaders reported that students that experienced hunger or fatigue had difficulty concentrating on school work, over 50% reported students had been ill and missed school work due to poverty

  IHE (2022) - increasing number of children living in households which are struggling to pay gas and electricity bills, more children are living in cold and damp houses, 1.7 million school days are lost in the EU due to illnesses related to damp and mold
• material deprivation - poor diet/cold or damp housing impact

  ill health, psychological distress, infections and accidents cause more absences in school, disrupting their education causing lower attainment
• material deprivation - smaller housing evidence

  Gibson and Asthana (1999) - the greater the level of family disadvantage (in terms of lack of parent qualifications, unemployment, not owning a car or house) the smaller the percentage of students gaining 5 or more GCSE's at grade A* to C
• material deprivation - smaller housing impact

  less room for educational activities - homework, disturbed sleep - disrupts education lowering attainment
• material deprivation - hidden costs of education evidence

  Sutton Trust (2023) - a survey of 1000 university students in January 2023, 33% of students from working class backgrounds reported skipping meals compared to 24% from middle class backgrounds, 10% of working class students compared to 4% of middle class students reported having to have moved back home with their parents to save money
• material deprivation - hidden costs of education impact

  children may have less equipment, miss out on experiences that enhance educational achievement - transport, uniform, books, computers, calculators etc are expensive so children may have to make with hand-me-downs and cheaper equipment, making them vulnerable to being isolated/bullied, lowering their attainment as they are less likely to go to school
• material deprivation - less access to preschool or private tuition evidence

  Stephen Ball (2005) - introduction of marketisation means that those who have more money have a greater choice of state schools due to selection by mortgage

  Leon Feinstein (2003) - low income is related to low cognitive reasoning skills amongst children as young as two years old
• material deprivation - less access to preschool or private tuition impact

  barrier in learning, often feel left behind in their education which lowers attainment

  may not understand the importance of education
• material deprivation - fear of debt from tuition fees evidence

  Conner et al (2001) and Furlong (2003) found that the introduction of tuition fees puts working class children off going to university due to the fear of debt
• material deprivation - fear of debt from tuition fees impact

  less likely to receive financial support from their families so are less likely to go to university or end up going to local universities

  gives them less opportunity to go to high status universities, making it more difficult for them to going higher-class degrees, lowering attainment