Class Differences In Achievement ~ External Factors Flashcards
Define cultural deprivation
The theory that many working-class and black children are inadequately socialised and therefore lack the ‘right’ culture needed for educational success.
What did the nationwide study by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (2007) find and what do sociologists say about this?
By the age of three, children from disadvantaged backgrounds are already up to one year behind those from more privileged homes and that the gap widens with age. Some sociologists claim that this is a result of cultural deprivation as they argue most acquire basic values, attitudes and skills needed for educational success through primary socialisation within the family.
What are the three main aspects of cultural deprivation?
- Language
- Parents’ education
- A working-class subculture
What did Hubbs-Tait et all find out about parents’ use of language and what did Feinstein find out about educated parents vs uneducated parents?
When parents use language that challenges their children to evaluate their own understanding or abilities, cognitive performance improves.
E.g. ‘What do you think?’
Feinstein found that educated parents are more likely to use language this way as well as using praise compared to less educated parents who use simple language that only requires children to make short, descriptive statements, resulting in lower performance.
What does Bereiter and Engelmann find out about the use of language in the home?
- What’s the consequences of this?
They claim that language used in lower-class homes is deficient and describes them as communicating through gestures, single words or disjointed phrases.
As a result of this children fail to develop necessary language skills and therefore grow up incapable of abstract thinking and are unable to use language to explain, describe, enquire or compare. This leads to them not being able to take advantage of the opportunities that school offers.
What did Bernstein find about middle-class and working-class language?
He distinguishes two types of speech codes:
Restricted code > working-class ~ limited vocabulary, speech is predictable, grammatically simple
Elaborated code > middle-class ~ wide vocabulary, speech is more varied/ abstract, grammatically
complex
What does class differences in speech codes lead to in the school environment?
Middle-class children have an advantage because elaborated code is used by teachers, textbooks and exams. Early socialisation into elaborated code means middle-class users are already fluent users when they begin school. By contrast, working-class children must learn the code and are likely to feel excluded and be less successful
What is Bernstein’s overall conclusion on speech codes?
- Working-class speech is inadequate
- He recognises that school, not only the home, influence a child’s achievement
- Working-class pupils don’t fail because they are culturally deprived but because schools fail to teach them how to use elaborated code
What did Douglas find out about the perception of education within the classes?
Working-class parents place less value on education and as a result are less ambitious for their children. They gave them less encouragement and took less interest into their education as a whole. The working-class parents visited schools less often and were less likely to discuss their child’s progress with teachers, leading to their children having lower levels of achievement and motivation
What did Feinstein find out about parents’ education?
Parents’ own education is the most important factor affecting children’s achievement and since middle-class parents tend to be more educated, they are able to give their children an advantage by how they socialise them this can occur in:
- parenting style
- parents educational behaviours
- use of income
- class, income, and parental education
How does parents style differ with educated and less educated parents?
Educated parents = consistent discipline and high expectations
This supports achievement by encouraging active learning and exploration
Less educated parents = inconsistent/harsh discipline (‘behaving yourself’) and low expectations
This prevents children from learning independence and self-control. Meaning
the child has poorer motivation and struggles interacting with teachers
How does parents’ educational behaviours impact a child’s achievement?
Educated parents are more aware of what is needed to progress their children in education and are more likely to have them engage in reading, teaching them numbers, letters, poems etc.
They are also able to get expert advice on childbearing, can establish better relationships with teachers. They recognise the educational value of activities such as visits to museums and library’s.
What did Bernstein and Young find out about parents’ use of income?
Educated parents are more likely to buy educational toys/books/activities that encourage reasoning skills. Whereas working-class homes are likely to lack these resources meaning these children start school without the intellectual needs to progress.
Educated parents tend to buy more nutritious food as they understand the importance of it on a child’s development.
What did Feinstein note about parental education?
Parental education has an influence on children’s achievement in its own right, regardless of class or income.
This explains how not all working-class children do badly and not all middle-class children succeed.
Define subculture
A subculture is a group whose attitudes and values differ from those of the mainstream culture.
