Class differences in achievement (1) external factors

Question 1

Define external factors

Answer 1

factors outside school and the education system

Question 2

Define cultural deprivation

Answer 2

Where a pupil lacks the basic ‘cultural equipment’ gained through primary socialisation- language, self-discipline and skills.

Question 3

State the three main aspects of cultural deprivation

Answer 3

Language, parents’ education and working class sub culture

Question 4

How does the way in whch parents communciate affect children

Answer 4

the way in which parents communicate with their children affects their cognitive development

Question 5

Language: Hubbs-Tait et al (2002)

Answer 5

Found children’s cognitive ability improved when parents used challenging language such as ‘what do you think?’
- helps children evaluate their own understanding/ability

Question 6

Language: Bereiter and Engelmann (1966)

Answer 6

Say language used in lower class homes is ‘deficient’.
Describe communication in these homes as using: gestures, single words or disjointed phrases.

Question 7

Language: as a result of Bereiter and Engelmann’s ideas what does it mean for children?

Answer 7

WC children don’t develop the necessary language skills = unable to take advantage of opportunities school offers

Question 8

language (criticism): Bernstein (1975)

Answer 8

Identifies differences in WC and MC pupil’s language.
WC don’t fail because they’re culturally deprived, but because school fails to teach them the elaborated code

Question 9

language (criticism): Bernstein (1975) - state the difference between elaborated code and restricted code

Answer 9

Restricted code (WC):
- Limited vocabulary- short, descriptive, unfinished and grammatically simple sentences.
- Predictable speech- involves single words or gestures.
- Context-bound- speaker assumes listener shares same experiences.

Elaborated code (MC):
- Wider vocabulary- long and grammatically complex sentences.
- More varied speech- expresses abstract ideas.
- Context-free- speaker doesn’t assume listener has same experiences, so they use language to clearly spell out meanings.

Question 10

language (criticism): Troyna & Williams (1986)

Answer 10

Teacher’s speech hierarchy of MC speech, WC speech and black speech is the problem, not the pupil’s language.

Question 11

language: Feinstein (2008)

Answer 11

WC language was more simple/descriptive

Question 12

parents’ education: Douglas (1964)

Answer 12

WC parents placed less value on education.
- less ambitious for their children
- taking less interest in their education
- giving less encouragement.
Resulted in children with low levels of motivation and achievement.

Question 13

parents’ education: Feinstein (2008)

Answer 13

parent’s own education is the most important factor that affects student’s achievement
- MC parents have better education, they are able to give their children an advantage by how they socialise them

Question 14

parents’ education: Feinstein (2008) - state the 3 ways in which MC parents are able to give their children an advantage

Answer 14

• Parenting style
• Parents’ educational behaviours
• Use of income

Question 15

parents’ education: Feinstein (2008) - parenting style

Answer 15

Educated parents: Emphasise consistent discipline and high expectations of children - supports achievement by encouraging active learning and exploration.

Less educated parents: Harsh/inconsistent discipline, emphasis on ‘behaving yourself’ and ‘doing as you’re told’ - prevents children from learning independence and self control, which leads to poor motivation and problems interacting with teachers

Question 16

parents’ education: Feinstein (2008) - parents’ educational behaviours

Answer 16

Educated parents are more aware of what their child needs to help their educational progress, so they’ll engage in behaviours like- reading to children, teaching letters/numbers, help with homework and be actively involved in schooling + recognise the educational value of museum trips, libraries, etc.

WC families may not know what will help their child to succeed in education, so they won’t engage in activities like this = less successful at
school.

Question 17

parents’ education: Feinstein (2008) - use of income

Answer 17

Better educated parents have higher incomes, they spend on their child’s educational success + funds/knowledge about nutrition to support the child’s development.

Question 18

parents’ education: Feinstein (2008) - use of income - what does Bernstein and Young (1967) say?

Answer 18

MC mothers are more likely to buy educational toys, books and more.
This encourages reasoning skills and stimulates intellectual development.
- WC homes are more likely to lack these resources = start school with educational skills that need progress.

Question 19

parents’ education: criticism/evaluation - do all MC children succeed

Answer 19

not all WC students do equally bad, and not all MC students are successful.

Question 20

define subculture

Answer 20

Group in society whose attitudes and values differ from mainstream culture.

Question 21

working class subcultures: according to cultural deprivation theorists, why do children underachieve

Answer 21

large sections of the WC have different goals, values, attitudes and beliefs from the rest of society

Question 22

Working-class subculture: Sugarman (1970)

Answer 22

• Different values exist because MC jobs are secure and offer prospects for continuous individual advancement. This encourages ambition, long-term planning and a willingness to make sacrifices.
• WC jobs are less secure, with no career structure where you can advance, as well as few promotional opportunities and earnings peaking at an early age.
• Parents pass the views of their class to their children

Question 23

Working-class subculture: according to Sugarman (1970), what 4 key features of WC subculture act as a barrier to educational achievement

Answer 23

• Fatalism
• Collectivism
• Immediate gratification
• Present-time orientation

Question 24

Sugarman (1970) - what is Fatalism
MC VS WC VIEW

Answer 24

WC: A belief in fate, ‘what will be, will be’
- nothing can be done to change your status.

MC: meritocracy- you change your position through your own efforts.

Question 25

Sugarman (1970): what is Collectivism
MC. VS WC VIEW

Answer 25

WC: Valuing being part of a group over succeeding as an individual.

MC contrast: an individual shouldn’t be held back by group loyalties.

Question 26

Sugarman (1970): what is Immediate gratification
MC VS WC VIEW

Answer 26

WC: Seek pleasure now, no making sacrifices for future rewards.

MC contrast: emphasis on deferred gratification, sacrifices now for rewards later

Question 27

Sugarman (1970): what is Present-time orientation
MC VS WC VIEW

Answer 27

WCSeeing now as more important than the future, therefore having no long-term goals/plans.

MC contrast: Have a future-time orientation- seeing planning for the future as more important.

Question 28

what are Compensatory education programs?

Answer 28

aim to tackle CD by giving extra resources to schools in deprived areas. They intervene early in the child’s socialisation to minimise CD as much as possible.

Question 29

state two samples of Compensatory education programs

Answer 29

• Sure Start - for 2 to 3 years old/ helps children to learn new skills and support their social and emotional development = more ready for school
• Educational Priority Areas - additional financial resources designed to “raise the educational performance of children

Question 30

Define material deprivation

Answer 30

Refers to poverty and a lack of resources

Question 31

Poverty and educational underachievement: Department for education (2017)

Answer 31

Barely 1/3 of pupils eligible for FSM got 5 or more GCSEs at A* to C, compared to 2/3 of pupils who did and aren’t FSM

Question 32

Poverty and educational underachievement: Exclusion & truancy

Answer 32

• more likely in children from poor families
• 1/3 of persistent truants leave with no qualifications, and many of those excluded don’t return to mainstream.

Question 33

Poverty and educational underachievement: Flaherty (2004)

Answer 33

family’s money problems are a huge factor in young pupils’ poor attendance.

Question 34

Material deprivation: State the 4 factors affecting children’s educational achievement

Answer 34

• housing
• diet & health
• financial support & costs of education
• fear of debt

Question 35

Material deprivation(housing): how does poor housing affect pupils education

Answer 35

• Overcrowding stopping them from having a place to focus and study, or having disrupted sleep from shared rooms
  . Children’s development is impaired through lack of space = performance in class is affected
• Pupils can become ill frequently
  . Affects attendance and learning quality

Question 36

Material deprivation (diet & health): Howard (2001)

Answer 36

young people from poor homes have lower intakes of vitamins/minerals - weakening their immune system = low attendance

Question 37

Material deprivation (diet & health): Wilkinson (1996)

Answer 37

children from poor homes are more likely to have emotional/behaviour problems
- e.g. anxiety/ hyperactivity
= negatively impacts their educational achievement.

Question 38

Material deprivation ( financial support & costs of education): how does lack of financial support impact children’s educational opportunities

Answer 38

lack of financial support in poorer families means children go without equipment and miss educational opportunities that raise achievement.

Question 39

Material deprivation ( financial support & costs of education): Tanner et al (2003)

Answer 39

found costs of books, transport, uniform, etc put a heavy burden on poor families.

Question 40

Material deprivation ( financial support & costs of education): what reason does Flaherty say is why 20% of those eligible for FSM don’t take them.

Answer 40

Hand-me downs/cheaper items can result in children being bullied/isolated/stigmatised by peers

Question 41

Material deprivation (fear of debt): Callendar & Jackson (2005)

Answer 41

WC pupils are averse to going to university because of the debt that comes with it- they saw debt as something negative and to be avoided.

Question 42

Material deprivation (fear of debt): Callendar & Jackson - MC view

Answer 42

found MC pupils are without this attitude to debt, making them 5x more likely to apply to uni than WC pupils.

Question 43

Material deprivation (fear of debt) - what does UCAS (2012) say about tutition and UCAS application

Answer 43

when tuition fees rose in 2012, the number of UK applicants fell by 8.6%.

Question 44

Material deprivation: what 3 things does Bourdieu (1984) focuses on, state those 3 things?

Answer 44

focusses on three types of capital:
- Cultural capital
- Educational capital
- economic capital

Question 45

define cultural capital

Answer 45

the knowledge, skills, values, abilities and tastes of the MC.

Question 46

Is MC culture a form of cultural capital

Answer 46

yes

Question 47

why is Mc culture described as a form of cultural capital and WC not

Answer 47

because their abilities and interests are an advantage in school as they’re valued
HOWEVER:
WC culture is seen a rough/inferior by schools, which devalues pupils from this background.

Question 48

why is having a cultural Capital equal success

Answer 48

Having cultural capital often equals success in education as it’s a MC habitus
- WC pupils are left to underachieve

Question 49

what does Bourdieu (1984) say about economic and education capital

Answer 49

says cultural, educational and economic capital can all be converted into one another

Question 50

how can cultural capital be converted into educational capital

Answer 50

MC pupils with cultural capital are more equipped to meet the demands of the school curriculum and get qualifications, giving them educational capital

Question 51

how can economic capital be converted into educational capital

Answer 51

wealthy parents can convert economic capital into educational capital by sending their children to the best private schools on the league table

Question 52

what did Sullivan (2011) do to test Bourdieu’s ideas

Answer 52

used questionnaires to survey 465 pupils in 4 schools
- asked them about a range of activities such as reading and Tv viewing habits to assess their cultural capital.

Question 53

what did Sullivan (2011) find in her study

Answer 53

those who read complex fiction and watched serious documentaries had more cultural capital due to having a wider vocabulary and cultural knowledge.
+
MC pupils still performed better, which could be because they have economic, educational/cultural capital.