Class and achievement external factors Flashcards
external factors
what are the main 3 external factors that affect achievement in school for W/C students
1.Material Deprivation
2.Cultural deprivation
3.cultural capital
What does it mean to be materially deprived
Material deprivation refers to living in
poverty and lacking material necessities
such as housing and income.
What are the three ways someone can be materially deprived
1.Housing
2.Health
3.Finance
Material Deprivation-Housing?
Overcrowding- lack of study space, tiredness due to lack of sleep from sharing beds. This prevents children from
learning and leads to underachievement.
Temporary Accommodation- Frequently moving out of houses might mean that the child has to move schools which might have a different spec(exam Board). This can cause depression as you keep moving schools which means having to make new friends or loosing old ones. These can cause underachievement
Cold or damp living conditions- can lead to illness
which leads to frequent absence from school. This
leads to difficulties in catching up with school-work,
lack of understanding and underachievement.
Material dep-Health?
ill health- Howard states that poorer families have lower intake of minerals and vitamins. This affects their energy levels and in turn performance at school.Also, it can lead to frequent absences from school due to illness.
Emotional problems- Wilkinson states that among 10 year olds, the lower the social class the higher the hyperactivity,anxiety and behavioural disorders. Blanden and Machin found that children from low income families are more likely to engage in externalising behaviours such as tantrums which can negatively affect their schooling.
material dep- Finance?
Lack of money can lead to no equipment or revision guides and Tanner says that these can affect educational achievement as W/C pupils are at a disadvantage. Bull calls this the cost of free schooling.
Flaherty found that many children entitled to FSM
do not take them as they fear being stigmatised by their
peers.
Ridge says many students take on part time jobs which
reduces the amount of time they have for studying.
Furthermore Callender and Jackson found that fear of debt put w/c students from going to university.
Evaluation For material Deprivation
Hint:(Sure Start)
Labour party introduced a new policy in 1997 called Sure start. this was used to reduce poverty in the UK.Over 3000 Sure Start centres were opened to provide education, care, health services and support with parental employment. However this cam to a stop in 2010 when the labour party went out of power and therefore it increased poverty in the UK yet again creating the cycle of disadvantage for W/C families
Also to encourage teens to continue post 16 education the government introduced EMA-a financial support for post 16 education.
What does Cultural deprivation mean and how does it affect W/C students.
Cultural deprivation-refers to the lack of values, skills
and attitudes needed for educational achievement
such as language, self-discipline and reasoning skills.
Affect on W/C=some working class parents fail to socialise their children into the mainstream culture’s norms and values so their children lack the skills needed for educational success. These children are said to be
culturally deprived.
Cultural dep- Speech codes(language)
Bernstein – argues that there are two different speech codes
– the restricted and elaborate.
Restricted code - used by the w/c. It is limited in vocabulary, uses short, unfinished and grammatically simple sentences. It is descriptive and context-bound (listener Confused)
Elaborated code - used by the m/c. It has a wide vocabulary
and consists of longer, grammatically correct sentences. It is context free – explains their meaning in detail so the person understands.
(Continued speech codes) WHy is the elaborated code important for educational success?
Elaborated code is used by teachers, textbooks and exams.
As w/c children are not familiar with the elaborated code
when they start school, it puts them at a disadvantage. On the other hand, m/c children are socialised into using the elaborated code and so feel comfortable at school.
Cultural dep- Parents education
Douglas states that W/C parents lack interest in their child’s education and are less ambitious for their kid. Whereas M/C parents are well educated and can help their own child become successful as they are way more ambitious and care for their child’s education. For W/c pupils it results in lower aspirations and they lack motivation
Cultural dep- Use of income
Bernstein and Young – m/c parents have the income
needed for educational activities such as visits to museums. They are more likely to buy books to help develop their children’s intellect.
Evaluation for Cultural deprivation
there are many government policies that aim to tackle culturally deprived areas by providing extra resources for school and its community. It compensates the W/C children for the lack of their knowledge. An example is Operation Head start in USA which provided enrichment for the most disadvantaged pre school kids. It aimed to improve parenting skills and create nursery school places.
More evaluation on Cultural deprivation(Keddie)
Keddie claims that cultural deprivation is a myth
because w/c children are culturally different rather
than deprived. Schools should stop seeing w/c culture
as deficient and instead build on its strengths and
challenge teachers’ prejudice against the w/c.
EVen more evaluation on cultural dep-(Blackstone and Mortimore)
criticise Douglas – w/c
parents are interested in their children’s education
but can’t attend parents’ evenings because of shift
patterns and because schools put them off attending
by promoting m/c values.
