class differences in achievement - material deprivation Flashcards
What did Flaherty find about money problems?
money problems in the family are a significant factor in younger children’s non-attendance in school
How does Housing impact educational achievement?
- Difficult to study at home/lack of study space
- Disturbed sleep from having to share a bed with siblings
- More likely to get ill due to damp/cold/lack of heating
- psychological distress from moving around temporary accommodation on a regular basis – all resulting in
absence from school
What did Howard say about diet and health?
says young people from poorer homes have lower intakes of energy, vitamins and minerals. These low energy levels can mean weakened immune systems (and so time off school) and lack of concentration in class.
What did Wilkinson find about the rate of hyperactivity?
found that among 10 year olds, the lower the social class, the higher the rate of hyperactivity, anxiety and conduct disorders which all have a negative impact on the child’s education
can’t afford private schooling/work part time
What did Smith and Noble find about poverty?
poverty acts as a barrier to learning in other ways, such as inability to afford private schooling or tuition, and poorer quality local schools.
Lack of funds also means children from poorer families may have to work part-time (e.g. paper
rounds or babysitting) which can have an effect on their education.
close to home, less likely to gain a high level degree
What did Reay find about working class students and university choice?
)found that more working-class students would tend to choose a university near home to them, so they could save money by living at home and save on travel costs, even if it meant less chance of going to a higher status university.
They were also more likely to get a job and work part-time to help fund their studies, meaning they would be less likely to gain a higher level degree.
What is ‘cultural capital’ and how does it benefit the middle class?
- Language, tastes, knowlege, attitudes and values of the middle class
- Through their socialisation, middle-class children acquire the ability to grasp, analyse and express abstract ideas
- They develop intellectual interests and an understanding of what the education system requires for success
cultural capital
What does Bourdieu say about cultural capital?
- argues that both cultural and material factors contribute to educational achievement and are not separate but interrelated. He uses the term ‘capital’ to explain why the middle-class are more successful.
The term capital usually refers to wealth, but in addition to economic capital (money) he identifies two more types: ‘educational capital’ (qualifications) and ‘cultural capital’. He states the middle-class generally possess more of all three
types
What did Leech and Compos find about middle class parents and catchment areas?
is Leech and Erick Compos (2003) conducted a study in Coventry, and found that middle-class parents are also more likely to be able to afford a house in the catchment
area of a school that is highly placed in exam league tables.
This is now known as ‘selection by mortgage’ because it drives up the costs of houses near to successful schools and excludes working-class families.
evaluation
How does Sullivan criticise cultural capital?
found cultural capital only accounted for part of the class difference in achievement.
Where pupils of different classes had the same level of
cultural capital, middle-class pupils still did better.
She concludes that the greater
resources and aspirations of middle-class families explain the remainder of the class gap
in achievement.
evaluation
How do Mortimore and Whitty support the cultural deprivation theory?
argues that material inequalities
have the greatest effect on achievement
