class differences in achievement -external factors

Question 1

What is the difference between internal and external factors

Answer 1

-Within the education system e.g. interactions between pupils and teachers
-Outside the education system e.g. influence of home, family and wider society

Question 2

What are the 2 external factors?

Answer 2

-Cultural depravation
-Material depravation

Question 3

What are the 3 cultural factors?

Answer 3

-Attitudes (Sugarman)
-Language (Bernstein)
-Parental interest (Douglas)

Question 4

What does Sugarman argue about attiudes?

Answer 4

There were 2 distinct working and middle class subcultures which had different value systems.

Question 5

What are Sugarman’s 2 key attitudes?

Answer 5

-Fatalism
-Immediate gratification

Question 6

What is fatalism?
What impact does this have on education?

Answer 6

-An acceptance of ones situation and belief that ones life could not be changed.
-WC children didn’t believe education could help them in life>accepted they would go into WC jobs because they required no qualifications.
-Bad grades, poor effort in homework.

Question 7

What is immediate gratification?
What impact does this have on education?

Answer 7

-Seeking pleasure in the moment, rather than delaying pleasure for future reward.
-Encouraged WC children to leave school early to earn money immediately rather than staying and achieving a higher level qualification which would get them a higher paying job a few years later.
-Children leave school early and miss out on opportunities

Question 8

What is a benefit of a child having more developed speech of language skills?

Answer 8

They can learn faster>better educational achievement

Question 9

What did Bernstein theorise?

Answer 9

There are 2 different types of speech patterns/codes:
-restricted code (working class)
-elaborated code (middle class)

Question 10

What are 5 features of the restricted code

Answer 10

-Limited vocabulary
-Short, unfinished, gramatically simple sentences
-Predictable
-Descriptive, instead of analytic
-Context-bound=speaker DOES assume that the listener shares the same set of experiences

Question 11

What are 4 features of the elaborated code

Answer 11

-Wider vocabulary
-Longer, more gramatically complex sentences
-Varied and communicates abstract ideas
-Context-free=speaker DOESN’T assume that the listener shares the same set of experiences

Question 12

Where is elaborated code used in schools? (3)
Why is this a problem?

Answer 12

-Teachers
-Textbooks
-Exams
Working class are at a disadvantage compared to the middle class

Question 13

What did Douglas find?
What does he argue about the role of parents in their early years between the social classes?

Answer 13

-Parent’s attitudes to education impacts students greatly and it was the biggest factor in shaping a child’s support for education
-Crucial:
lower class parents=do not receive the same levels of attention and stimulus from their parents compared to other classes
middle class parents=more likely to take interest and encourage their childs interests in school

Question 14

What are 3 examples of parental interest?

Answer 14

-Dining table: asking how their day was
-Collecting from school: what they learnt that day
-On holiday: taking them to museums

Question 15

How much more likely are you to get into a top 13 university if you come from an independent school?

Answer 15

25 times more likely.

Question 16

What are working class more and less likely to do? (2)

Answer 16

More likely to leave school early
Less likely to go to university
More likely to be poor readers when they start school
Less likely to be found in nursery’s

Question 17

Give 2 statistics on material deprivation

Answer 17

4.2 million children are living in poverty
44% of children in lone-parent families are in poverty

Question 18

What are the 4 issues within material depravation?

Answer 18

-Poor housing
-Poor diet
-Cost of education
-Fear of debt

Question 19

What are the 2 problems with poor housing?
What impacts do these have on education?

Answer 19

-Overcrowding>less room for educational activities>nowhere to do hw
-Temporary accommodation>constant changes from school>disrupted education AND distress>absences from school

Question 20

What is a problem with poor diet?
What impacts do these have on education?

Answer 20

-Lower energy levels>difficulty concentrating in class

Question 21

What are the 2 problems with cost of education?
What impacts do these have on education?

Answer 21

-Lack of financial support>children from poor families have to do without equipment>miss out on experiences that would enhance education
-Hand-me-downs, cheaper or unfashionable equipment>bullied in school by peers

Question 22

What is a problem with fear of debt?
What impacts do these have on education?

Answer 22

-University involves getting into debt to cover tuition fees>attitudes may put off working class students from going to university