Class differences in achievement (E)

Question 1

What does the cultural deprivation theory argue?

Answer 1

• theorists that argue working class families fail to socialise their children adequately > these children grow up culturally deprived, lacking the cultural equipment needed to do well at school

Question 2

How does the working class subculture affect pupils achievement?

Answer 2

• Sugarman > w/c subculture has 4 key features that act as a barrier to achievement
• Fatalism > ‘whatever will be will be’ & there is nothing you can do to change your status, contrast m/c view of meritocracy
• Collectivism > value being part of a group more than succeeding as an individual, contrast with m/c view > individual should not be held back by group loyalties
• immediate gratification > seeking pleasure now rather than later, m/c emphasise deferred gratification
• Present-time orientation > present as more important than the future so long term goals, m/c have future time orientation

Question 3

What does Sugarman states happens as a result of this w/c subculture?

Answer 3

• w/c parents pass on these beliefs and values to their children through primary socialisation, their children internalise them which results in underachievement at school

Question 4

Evaluation of Sugarman on the w/c subculture affecting class achievement

Answer 4

• overlooks the role of structural factors e.g. poverty, lack of resources
• too deterministic, w/c pupils may actively resist cultural constraints

Question 5

How does language affect educational achievement?

Answer 5

• CD theorists argue that the way w/c parents use language is deficient > as a result their children fail to develop the necessary language skills for educational success
• Bernstein identifies difference in language between w/c & m/c
  > restricted code> used by the w/c which as limited vocab, short sentences and context bound
  > elaborated code > used by the m/c which as wider vocab, long sentences & context free
• m/c gain advantage at school because they are socialised into the elaborated code which is used by teachers, textbooks, exams etc

Question 6

Evaluation of language affecting achievement

Answer 6

• they prioritise middle class norms, seeing their language as more superior
• Troyna & Williams > not language but schools attitude towards it, teachers have a speech hierarchy > label m/c speech as the highest

Question 7

How does parental education affect class achievement?

Answer 7

• parents attitudes to education are a key factor affecting achievement
• Douglas > w/c parents placed less value on their education, thus less ambitious for their children, gave them less encouragement & took less interest
• e.g. visited schools lest often & less likely to discuss child’s progress which resulted in lower levels of motivation & achievement from children
• Feinstein> parents own educational levels important in achievement e.g. m/c have better education so can socialise children better = advantage

Question 8

What policy has been brought in to tackle cultural deprivation?

Answer 8

• compensatory education programmes > provides extra resources to schools and communities in deprived areas e.g. programmes to improve parenting skills, raise aspiration etc
• use as evaluation

Question 9

Evaluation of parental attitudes affecting achievement

Answer 9

• Althusser in his concept of ISA suggest that schools perpetuate capitalist ideologies that favour the m/c regardless of parental involvement
• victim blaming

Question 10

How does housing affect pupils achievement?

Answer 10

• overcrowding can have a direct effect by making it harder for the child to study, less room for educational activities, disturbed sleep etc
• indirect effects e.g. children in crowed homes run greater risks of accidents & cold and damp housing can cause ill health

Question 11

How does financial support & the cost of education affect class achievement?

Answer 11

• lack of financial support means that children from poor families have to do without equipment & miss out on experiences that would enhance educational achievement e.g. books, computers, calculators, sports etc
• Bull > refers to this as the cost of free schooling
• as as result poor children have to make do with hand me downs & cheaper equipment which may result in stigmatisation by their peers

Question 12

How does the fear of debt affect class achievement?

Answer 12

• going to university involves getting into debt due to cost of tuition fees, books etc
• this debt may defer w/c pupil from going into higher education
• Callender & Jackson > found that attitudes to debt where important when applying to university, & restricted choices of university e.g. more likely to attend local universities so they could live at home & save on travel costs
• this restricts their chances of success

Question 13

Evaluation of fear of debt affecting class achievement

Answer 13

• EMA introduced which offered payments to poorer students to get them to stay in education after 16

Question 14

How does cultural capital affect achievement?

Answer 14

• Bourdieu > argues that both cultural and material factors contribute to educational achievement
• argues that the m/c possess cultural capital, as they have acquired the ability to grasp abstract ideas > gives them an advantage in school where such abilities are highly valued & reward with qualifications
• can also convert economic capital to educational capital
• while w/c children find that school devalues their culture and labels it as inferior > leads to exam failure