Class Differences- External Factors Flashcards
(23 cards)
What are the 3 External Factors of Education?
- Cultural deprivation
- Material Deprivation
- Cultural Capital
What is cultural deprivation?
Th theory that many W/C children are inadequately socialised and lack the ‘right’ culture needed for educational success. E.g. language and self-discipline.
What did Bernstein say?
W/c aren’t culturally deprived, schools just fail to teach them the elaborated code. Lower class children more likely to speak speak in a restricted speech code.
What did Douglas say? - parents education
W/C parents place less value on education, they can’t help with homework, lack of financial support - leads to less motivation.
What did Sugarman say? - 4 value of W/c subcultures stopping educational achievement
1) Fatalism - ‘it is what it is’ - can’t change your status
2) Collectivism - group goals more important than individual goals
3) Immediate gratification- seek pleasure now
4) Present-time orientation - Present is more important than the future.
Overall, W/c more concerned with immediate gratification than deferred gratification.
How can cultural deprivation effect educational achievement?
The realisation of parents not being able to afford higher education and wanting to avoid debt.
Evaluation of CD - Keddie
CD is victim blaming, it blames schools not the home as they fail to teach the elaborated code.
Evaluation of CD - Sure Start programme
Programmes implemented to work with parents to increase development of disadvantaged children - reducing CD
Evaluation of CD - Marxist
Would argue that CD theorists blame the W/C parents for the underachievement of their children whereas these parents are really the victims of an unequal society in which schools are run by the m/c for the m/c.
What are 3 common examples in material deprivation?
1) Housing - overcrowding makes it harder to study, lack of space, loud noise.
Council housing - frequently moves and disrupts education, damp houses cause bad health –> more absences
2) Diet and health - Lower intake of vitamins which creates a weakened immune system = absences and difficulty concentrating
3) Finance - lack equipment and miss out on other opportuning that can enhance achievement - e.g. school trips
Flaherty - MD
Money problems lead to a lack of attendance. 90% of ‘failing schools’ are in deprived areas.
Bull - MD
There is still a cost in ‘free schooling’ e.g. books, toys, trips.
Tanner et al - MD
Items like transport, uniforms, books etc - place heavy burden on poor families. They get hand me downs, cheap equipment resulting in being bullied.
Flaherty - MD (FSM)
Even though w/c have access to FSM the fear of stigmatisation meant that 20% of FSM students don’t claim their lunch as they fell embarrassed.
Fear of debt Conner et al -MD
W/c less likely to go university and can’t gain a higher education as they work part-time which is a distraction. The increase in University of fees has put them off more.
Evaluation of MD - deterministic
To say that poverty causes poor educational achievement is too deterministic as some students from poorer backgrounds do well. So we can’t establish a causal relationship between these 2 variables, we have to state it is a disadvantage.
Evaluation of MD - cultural capital
Even if there was equality and no material deprivation, the m/c can still use their cultural capital to advance more in education.
What is cultural capital? (Bordieau)
Refers to the skills and knowledge that m/c parents have that they can use to give their children an advantage in the education system.
What is educational capital?
sending children to private schools and paying for more tuition
What is economic capital?
Economic resources, cash and property - M/c are better equipped to be successful in school and gain better qualifications
Ball - ‘skilled choosers’
M/c parents are ‘skilled choosers’ and W/c parents are ‘disconnected choosers’. M/c parents are more comfortable with dealing with public institutions like schools, they are more used to assessing and extraction information. If entry to a school is limited, they are more likely to gain a place for their child.
The school and parent alliance - Cultural capital
M/c parents want m/c schools and schools want m/c parents. Schools with more m/c children have better results, they seem them more easy to teach. They will maintain the schools position in the league tables and its status in the education market.
Selection by mortgage - Leech et al
M/c buy houses in catchment areas of schools that are ranked high in league tables, this drives up costs of houses and excludes the W/c.
