4.5 Theorists Flashcards
Social Class and Educational Attainment
Ramachandran
argues that in India, material deprivation is very serious:
* 50% of schools have a leaking roof or no water supply
* 35% have no blackboard or furniture
* 90% have no functioning toilets
She further argues that ‘Malnutrition, hunger and poor health remain core problems, which comprehensively affect attendance and performance in classes. The added burden of home chores and child labor influence a large number of children, especially girls, to drop out of school’.
Smith and Noble
Identifies barriers of learning:
* Families who cannot afford uniforms, trips, or equipment are more likely to be isolated and bullied - their learning suffers.
* Low income makes it less likely that a child has access to internet and resources outside of school.
* Marketisation: Better resourced schools are oversubscribed and are in wealthier areas.
* Older siblings may have part-time jobs or have to look after youngers.
Hirsch
identified that the wealthy are more likely to succeed because:
* More likely to have structured out-of-school activities.
* These activities meant they learned life skills and gained confidence.
* More space at home to complete school work.
* More likely to benefit from private ed.
Hirsch
Stated that material deprivation was a key factor to explain underachievement. The quality of the school only accounted for 14% of class differences in achievement.
Kynaston
The wealthy can afford private education.
Only 7% of pupils in Britain attend private schools - it’s not accessible (only 1 in 12 gets a means-tested bursary).
The Sutton Trust argued that private schooling gave major benefits to the pupils; Private-school students were 55x more likely to go to Oxbridge than those entitled to FSM and 22x more likely to get into a high-ranked uni.
However, Kynaston and Sutton Trust found that once the pupils make it to uni, state school pupils tend to do better. Kynaston concluded that private school pupils are over promoted.
Mike Britland
Argues that mc students get an advantage in state schools as they can afford tutors.
Douglas
Argued that material deprivation is too broad of an explanation for all forms of underachievement, because some materially deprived children, succeed.
Gazeley and Dunne
Suggest that schools can make a difference. Levels of working class achievement can be raised, but the behaviour and expectations of teachers can also increase (compound) the levels of material deprivation and cultural disadvantage that many wc children bring to school.
Douglas
Focuses on cultural deprivation as the main source of wc underachievement. He notes the impact of educational attainment of variables such as:
* parental attitudes, expressed in terms of levels of encouragement and interest in a child’s education.
* family size– larger wc familie smean fewer parental resources for each child.
* position within the family– older children tend to achieve more than younger members of large families.
* limited (deficient) care of babies in large families with fewer social and economic resources to devote to their care and upbringing.
Barry Sugarman
- WC don’t defer gratification - will take an immediate income rather than go to uni and get a higher income job.
- Fatalism: Don’t believe they can improve through hard work.
- Collectivism: Less likely to seek individual success in education.
Leon Fernstein
used data from the National Child Development Study and concluded that the most important factor in shaping educationnal achievement was the extent to which parents supported and encouraged their children.
Bernstein
Argued that wc restricted speech codes clashed with the elaborate speech codes of mc teachers. This influences teachers assessments: mc students, able to express themselves in the langauage of education, were consequently over-represented in top streams , sets and bands.
Goodman and Gregg
found that around 80% of the most affluent mothers assumed that their child would go to university, while around 40% of the least affluent mothers only hoped their child would go to university.
They also found that children from poorer families were ‘less academic’ and consequently less concerned about doing well academically compared to their mc peers.
Blackstone and Mortimore
Criticise the notion that wc parents are not invested in their children’s education;
* Parental interest hasn’t been measured adequately, since teacher assessments have been used, not giving the full picture.
* Further, wc parents may not visit school events as they are uncomfortable around the mc teachers - inferiority.
Gillian Evans
She carried some qualitative research by interviewing those on a London Council estate and found that most wc parents encouraged their children and placed high value on education.
She is a middle class parent and found that there was no difference in positive attitudes to education amongst mothers of different social classes.