6ed

• Social Class

  The way in which people are perceived as a result of wealth and social background.
• Effects of Class on Attainment

  Strong relationship between class and performance in schools.

  Higher class - greater achievement and more likely to spend longer in education.

  Especially the middle class show improvements in performance.
• Recent Data

  Statistics link educational attainment to parental occupation, income and qualifications.

  End of primary schools - disadvantaged pupils 9 months behind wealthier classmates.

  Working class children are less likely to get places in best state schools. 2012 - 8% FSM in top 500 compared to 17% annually.

  End of secondary schools - disadvantaged pupils 18 months behind wealthier classmates.

  Geographical differences - north disadvantaged.

  26% FSM went to university, compared to 44.9% of non FSM.

  2006: FSM - 33% 5A-C GCSEs, non FSM - 61% 5A-C GCSEs.
• Material Deprivation

  Poverty and a lack of material necessities such as adequate housing and income.
• Harker (2006)

  Housing:

  Poor housing can make studying harder. Sharing bedrooms - disturbed sleep and difficulty concentrating. Less space to play - impair cognitive development and lead to depression and aggressive behaviour. Temporary accommodation - moving schools can disrupt education.
• Waldfogel and Washbrook (2010)


  Housing:

  Low income children are more likely to live in crowded or damp accommodation, which is dark, unclean and unsafe.
• Marilyn Howard (2001)


  Diet and Health:

  Young people from poorer homes have lower intakes of energy, vitamins and minerals which weakens the immune system. This may result in greater absences and difficulty concentrating.
• Cooper and Stewart (2013)


  Diet and Health:

  Poorer children have worse cognitive, social-behavioural and health outcomes because they are poor.
• Emily Tanner (2003)


  Financial:

  A study in the Oxford area found that the costs of transport, uniforms, books, computers, calculators, sports, music and art equipment, places a heavier burden on poorer families.
• Tess Ridge (2002)


  Financial:

  Some children felt teased for having hand-me-down or old clothing and shoes. Some children may not take up free school meals for fear of being stigmatised. Poor children are more likely to work - negative effect on school work.
• University

  Financial:

  Working class pupils are less likely to go to university as a result of fear of debt. Dropout rates are also higher for working class children.
• Aviva Family Finances Report , 2013


  Hidden costs of sending a child to state school - £1614 each year in 2013.

  This includes things such as uniform, PE kit, school trips, class materials, stationary, swimming lessons, school lunches, travel, photographs, charity contributions. Schools pressure parents to pay these costs, even if they are voluntary.
• Cultural Deprivation

  A lack of cultural equipment such as language, self discipline and reasoning skills.
• Douglas 'The Home and the School' (1964)


  Parental Interest:

  Studied 5000 pupils at 11 years, with 80% followed up at 16. Found that working class pupils scored lower on test of ability than middle class pupils since working class parents were less likely to support their children's intellectual development. Middles class parents: attend parents evenings, inquire about homework, offered encouragement and placed more emphasis on achievement.
• Douglas 'The Home and the School' 1964 - Criticism


  Douglas may be being unfair to working class parents. Shift work may make attending parents evenings more difficult - Blackstone and Mortimore 1994.

  Many studies exaggerate the differences and downplay the similarities between attitudes of different social classes.
• Feinstein (1998)


  Parental interest:

  Working class parents lack of interest was the main reason for children's underachievement - even more important than material deprivation.
• Goodman and Gregg (2010)

  Parents with high interest in their children's education leads to much better exam results.
• Basil Bernstein

  Language:

  Two speech codes - restricted and elaborated.

  Most middle class children had been socialised in both. Working class children are limited to the restricted code. Since teachers use the elaborated code, working class children are disadvantaged.
• Restricted speech code


  Shorthand speech, found in conversation between people who have a lot in common. It is often tied to context. Details are left out.
• Elaborated speech code


  Meanings are explicit, explanations provided , details spelt out. Context-free and universalistic.
• Basil Bernstein - Criticism

  Bernstein is blaming working class parents and their speech codes for their children's underachievement. However, Bernstein argues that schools fail to teach the elaborated code.
• Hyman (1979)


  Values and Attitudes:

  Working class culture failed to see education as a means to get on in life. School was seen as something you had to do before getting a manual job. The working class were fatalistic.
• Sugarman

  Values and Attitudes:

  Agreed with Hyman. The working class were present time oriented - living for today and seeking instant gratification. This is because the middle and working class experience the job market in different ways - middle class jobs have clear lines of progression.
• Perry and Francis (2010)


  Values and Attitudes:

  Review identifies similar attitudes to those identified by Sugarman and Hyman.
• Murray

  Values and Attitudes:

  Believes that there is an underclass who have a distinct set of values stemming from high rates if single-parenthood, welfare dependency and poor socialisation of children.
• Bourdieu

  Middle class children have greater cultural capital and thus, an advantage in school, where such interests and abilities are highly valued and rewarded with qualifications. The education system favours and transmits middle class culture.

  In contrast, working class culture is viewed as inferior.
• Cultural capital

  Knowledge, attitudes, values, language, tastes, ad abilities of the middle class.
• Diane Reay (1998)

  Values and Attitudes:

  Based on interviews of the mothers of 33 children at 2 London primary schools, she argues that mothers make cultural capital work for their children. Working and middle class mothers worked equally hard on their children's education but the latter was more successful as a result of greater cultural capital.
• Social capital


  Identified by Bourdieu. The idea that middle class parents have the connections and social networks to help their children do well at school.