Class differences Class Flashcards
Privileged skilled workers
disconnected local choosers
Semiskilled choosers
Mainly middle class profession, culture capital, good understanding of admission process (time to visits schools research options) economic capital afford to move children around transport.
woeking class with restricted economic/ cultural capital don’t grasp admission procedures less aware of choice more concerned with safety and quality than league tables limited funding restricted ability to travel
Working-class conditions for children also find difficult to navigate rely on opinions of others frustrated at inability to get children into preferred schools
Internal factors
External factors 
Factors within the education system like how teachers and people interact with each other
Factors outside the education system like Homelife family background why does society
Middle class
Working-class
Non-manual occupations like doctors teachers managers business owners
Manual occupations skilled workers- plumbers semiskimmed- workers lorry drivers unskilled workers- cleaners
Parents attitudes
Douglas / Hyman
Douglas- working-class parents put less emphasis on education therefore don’t push the children to be ambitious and take less interest in education parents visit the schools/parents evenings.
working-class put less emphasis on education. Working class values ability stability and initiate economic benefit over status when choosing employment. Working class believe there are limited opportunities for personal achievement for themselves. They have “self-imposed barriers” between them selves and education
Sugarman working class subculture
sugarmman- argues wc have 4 features that act as a barrier to education
fatalism (they have a fatalist Mentality believe they cannot do anything to change there situation)
collectivism (I want to be part of a group rather than succeeding individually)
Immediate gratification (Pleasure now rather than waiting for Quality rewards later)
Primary time orientation (Present in the moment more important in future don’t have long term goals)
WC parents pass on beliefs through primary socialisation resulting in underachievement. WC jobs are less secure, have no career structure where individuals can advance,
MC jobs are more secure have more change to earn more, successful
Leon feinstien
language
Parents own education most important factor affecting children’s education. MC better educated parents put their children an advantage. Better educated parents have better income.
High qualified parent use self praise wich improves self confidence. Looks at speech roles identifies the in different speech, language, terms of different backgrounds
restricted- WC limited vocab, short sentences
Elaborated code- MC more vocab, long complex sentences
language quality impacts academic achievement as school use MC culture like language advantage to MC. As parents communicate with them in a way that positively effects there intellectual development.
culture capital how it benifits MC Pirre Bourdieu
Emerged in the USA in the 1950s working-class underachievement due to their own deficiencies and that of there parents.
pirre Bourdieu- culture capital refers knowledge, attitude, values, language, tastes and abilities of MC. MC culture is a capital as it gives them an advantage. MC children are socialised to abstract ideas and experiences. therefore they are more likely to understand the education system and succeed.
criticisms functionalists say education is meritocratic
who tested the ideas of Bourdieu
sullivan- conducting a survey on 465 pupils across four different schools. student with higer culture capital at home archive better in education. But culture capital isn’t the only impact. the children who did best were mc children of graduates
culture capital in WC
education is now equal favours dominant MC. WC feels school devalues there culture as rough and inferior there lack of culture capital leads to exam failure. WC get the message education is not for them so truant and dont put effort into there education. school use MC culture like language, dress code and cultural knowledge This means WC will be at a disadvatange to MC as they have less culture capital
how they over came cultural depravation
sure start- introduced by new labour government plan to tackle child poverty and social exclusion of children in deprived ares. brought in a range of services to support families by enhancing development and life changes os children under 5. health services, parenting support, early learning. The funding was taken out of this by Tori government (conservative) but has been proven to be effective.
Education triage
this is a type of sorting. schools categorizes pupiles in 3 types:
1. those who are guaranteed to pass left to get on with it
2. those with potential to pass will be helped to get a C/ better
3. hopeless doomed to fauile
teachers do this based on stereotypes WC are hopeless cases this creates a self fulfilling prophecy and failure.
Gillborn and Youdell link between steaming and league tables
Gillbon and youduell linked streaming to policies. (exam league tables) schools need to be high on the league table to attract students and get funding. Gillbon and youduell said this lead to A-C economy schools focus on student they though had potential to get 5 c grades in order to boost there position on the league table.
streaming and the A-C economy
Gillborn and Youdell study
Gillborn and Youduell- studys 2 secondary schools in London. studied how teacher steorytipes lead to them deciding on wich stream to put them in. less likely to see WC/ black student as high ability put them in lower stream and entered for lower tire GCSES. this denys them knowledge, opportunity stopping them from getting good grades
streaming high stream
supported by Douglas
MC beinfit from streaming as they are likely to be place in high streams as they are perceived as ideal students. the develop a positive self image gain confidence work hard to improve grad.
douglas- found children in high stream age 8 had improved there IQ score by age 11
streaming low stream
supported by Douglas
separating children into diffrent ability grops or classes.
beck- teacher do not see wc children as the ideal pupile they think they lack ability and have low expectations of them. therefore more like to be put in lower streams. once streams it hard for pupils to move up. students in low streams get the message they have been given up on by there teachers they dont try and then do achieve
dougiasi found children placed in lower streams at age 8 had suffered a decline in there IQ score by age 11
Subcultures
pro-school subculture- Pupils placed in high streams (largely middle
class) tend to remain committed to the values of the school.
anti-school subculture- Pupils placed in low stream (tend to be WC)
suffer a loss of self-esteem: School has undermined their self-worth by placing them in a position of inferior
Class identities
MC/ WC habitus
Bourdieu
Nike identity
Because schools have a MC habitus (ways of thinking, being and acting that are shared by a particular social class.) pupils who have been socialised at home into middle class tastes and preferences gain ‘symbolic capital’ or status. Pupils are recognised to have value
Bourdieu calls this withholding of symbolic capital ‘symbolic violence’. This keeps the lower classes ‘in their place’. Clash between WC pupils’ habitus and the school’s MC habitus WC pupils may experience the world of education as different to what there use to
Symbolic violence leads the wc to
find alternative ways of creating self-worth, status and value.
They do this by creating a class identity by wearing brands such as Nike
Not only do they ‘get the message’
that education is not for the likes of them, but they actively choose to reject it because it does not fit in with their identity or way of life.
Phymolion effect.
robert rosenthan
the operation on the pylone effect is similar to that of the pylon effect.
1. others beliefs about us shapes there conduct towards us
2.there conduct towards us influences our balifes about ourselves
3.there belief in turn impact our actions towards other
4.our actions towards others influence their beliefs about us thereby retrying to the initial stage
The self fulfilling prophecy
- teachers labeled pupiles as being more intelligent and makes predictions about them.
2.teacher treat pupiles according as if they predictions are true
3.student internalises the teachers expectations and this becomes part of there self concept and they become the pupil the teacher thought they would be in the first place
reasurch of labelling
Labelling touch meaning definition to something
Hempel jorgense- notatons vary deppening on the major social class in school. in largely wc school where there was bad disciple a ideal pupil was obedient and quite children where defined by behaviour nor ability. In MC predominate school the ideal pupile was based on personality and academic ability rather than bad behaviour as it wasn’t as bit of an issue
Teachers label students based on stereotypes about classes. wc- negative labelling. mc- positive labelling.
By looking at ethnic differences in achievement, interactionists focus on different labels teachers give to children from different ethnic backgrounds. Studies found teachers often see black and asian pupils as being far from “the ideal pupil”.
Dunne and Gazeley 2008
how tecahers see WC
-interviewed 9 state secondary schools and found teachers normalise the underachieve of wc pupiles but believe they they could do something about underachievement in mc
-teacher had attitudes about children home life. WC parents uninterested MC support childs education
-this lead to teacher setting extra work for underachieving MC children and entering wc for easier exams
external evaluation of cultural deprivation
Keddie- culture depravation is a myth, victim blaming explanation, failure at school cant be blamed on home background, wc children are not culturally deprived there cultural different, school should challenge teachers anti working class prejudice.
Blackstone & mortimore- wc parents are interested in there Childs education but attend fewer parents evening because they work longer or are put off by the mc atmosphere. schools with lots of wc pupiles have less effective parent contact systems parents find it hard to keep in touch.
