class and attainment

• working class


  Those individuals engaged in manual work, often having low levels of educational achievement. The classic,

  traditional working class jobs include heavy labouring and factory based work.
• middle class


  Those individuals engaged in non-manual work, often having higher levels of educational achievement.

  Classic middle class jobs include everything from doctors and lawyers to clerical workers.
• upper class


  The elite class that controls the majority of wealth and power in British society.
• social class


  a persons position within society. typically determined by occupation, living standards or parents status
• how class can affect education

  • pupils from professional backgrounds are most likely to achieve higher education
  • middle class pupils are most likely to take a levels. working class pupils more likely to take vocational subjects
  • pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds more likely to leave school at 16. less likely to enter school able to read
  • pupils from unskilled backgrounds average lower sats and gcse scores
• in school factors


  • labelling
  • streaming
  • anti school subcultures
  • quality of schools
  • teacher retention
• out of school factors

  • material deprivation
  • cultural deprivation
  • parental expectations
• labelling


  • negative labelling of pupils can lead to a self fufilling prophecy of failure
  • Becker- teachers tend to evaluate pupils in terms of an ideal student by looking at appearance, speech and social class
  • if teachers have low expectations of working class children, this may affect the actual progress of the children in multiple ways
• streaming


  • negative labelling leads to being put in lower streams/bands
  • ball- found that pupils in the top band were higher social classes, teachers had higher expectations
  • lower streams may have damaged confidence levels and recieve less attention
• anti school subcultures


  • as a response to negative labelling and frustration with low status pupils may form anti school subcultures
  • Hargreaves- one of the effects of streaming is to lead to the development of anti school subcultures
  • Lacey- boys in lower stream tended to reject academic values + standards of behaviour expected by the school, which had labelled them as failures
• quality of schools


  schools in working class areas more likely to have worse amenities and higher staff turnover
• material deprivation


  in spite of free schooling there is still an obvious connection between the material conditions of the home and achievement
• economic poverty


  working class underachieve due to lack of resources and lack of money

  • lack of financial support stops w/c children staying at school
  • living conditions can affect achievement
  • unsatisfactory living conditions could cause health problems which could cause absence from schools
  • less money for study resources
  • w/c can't afford nurseries and universities
  • low income may have to get a side job
  • selection by mortgage
  • w/c areas may lack pre school facilities
• cultural deprivation


  • working class culture and parenting aren't aimed at educational success
  • parental interest is the most important factor in affecting achievement
  • middle class parents more likely to attend open evenings
  • working class parents may not visit the schools due to their own bad experiences at schools
  • some styles of parenting emphasise the importance of education more than others
  • middle class pupils more likely to be taken to the library, museums, trips etc
• cultural deprivation


  • middle class parents can afford to send children to schools further away
  • more likely to have parents that read the broadsheets and appreciate the arts
  • language is crucial for success at school, both spoken and written. middle class children are more likely to be exposed to correct English (Bernstein elaborated code)
• the Robbins report 1963


  argued social class was a significant factor in achievement. of students with a similar IQ, more than twice as many middle class pupils went on to study degree levels than working class peers
• Duckworth and seligmans 2005


  study of 13-14 year old pupils with similar IQ levels but different levels of measured self discipline- how they applied themselves to their studies- achieved on different levels
• Murayama et al 2012


  German study of mathematical achievement found IQ was only important in the initial development of mathematical competence. in the long term measured intelligence showed no relationship to mathematical achievement
• habitus


  Bordieu (1973) schools are natural habitat of the middle and upper classes. A working class child entering a micale class institution is like a fish out of water. They are disadvantaged because of their interests, beliefs, values, and norms are not only different but actively conflict with those of teachers and the education system.

  This can lead to failure and the blame will be put on the individual rather than an education system that does not favour the working class. Middle class children are given advantages due to the in depth cultural background, similar to those of teachers
• Neo marxist Poulantzas (1974) says posession of economic capital is always the most significant form of capital. The greater the individuals ability to draw on economic capital, the higher their levels of cultural capital.