1. External factors

Question 1

Material Deprivation

Answer 1

This theory argues that poorer pupils fail at school because they come from environments that are deficient in certain factors which are important in education.

Question 2

Material Deprivation

Answer 2

• Low income: lack of educational toys, books, trips, internet or ability to afford extra private tutoring.

Question 3

Cultural Deprivation

Answer 3

This theory suggests that the working class children perform less well academically because they are socialised differently to middle and upper class.

Question 4

Cognitive development

Answer 4

• Research is closely linked to social class. Working class parents do not engage with and stimulate their children as much as middle class parents.

Question 5

Linguistic Deprivation

Answer 5

• Quality of language may account for class differences in educational achievement.
• Bernstein (1971) distinguishes between two distinctive linguistic codes

Question 6

Linguistic Deprivation

Answer 6

• Elaborated codes: involves a wide range of vocabulary and sophisticated language.
• Restricted codes: limited vocabulary and grammar, explanations either verbally or written are not clearly understood compared to elaborate speech which is clear. This often requires for more of a description to make it clear.
• middle class children can easily change from one code to another, working class children are limited to one code.

Question 7

Cultural Capital

Answer 7

Marxist Bourdieu (1977), claims for students to do well they need to explain a certain level of cultural capital.

• Two components ‘cutural’ and ‘economic’ capital

Question 8

Cultural Capital

Answer 8

• Middle Class have higher education success than working class fmailies, because they have a greater ‘quantity’ of cultural capital.
• According to Bourdieu middle class use their economic capital to convert into educational capital, which benefits the child as they get a good education.

Question 9

Subculture (values and attitudes)

Answer 9

• Sugarmann (1970) argues different social classes have different attitudes and values towards education.
• Middle class parents value education in a way in which underpins educational success and that working class values are different from those of the middle class.

Question 10

Evaluation: Cognitive Development

Answer 10

Supports research study - A longitudinal study, 2007 Institute of Education, found that the ‘home learning’ climate strongly predicts a child’s intellectual development by the age of ten, suggests that upper and middle class parents stimulate and engage more in terms of dialogue and play than working class children.

Poverty - Working class students may drop out of education earlier because their parents earn a low income rather than because of a lack of motivation and parental encouragement.

Question 11

Evaluation: Linguistic Deprivation

Answer 11

Supports research evidence - National child development study, found that the parents social class was strongly related to the child’s reading attainment at the age of 7, with significant different reading abilities between working class and middle class children.

Just different - Labov (1973) criticises the linguistic deprivation explanation as a reason for differences in education achievement

Language distinction too simple - Gaine and George (1999) argue that Bernstein’s language distinction is too simplistic, difficult to make generalisations about working and middle class families because they use language in variety of ways.