Class differences in educational achievement Flashcards
Internal factors (definition and examples)
Things inside of the school and education system that impact upon educational success.
Teachers
School environment
Educational policies
External factors (definition and examples)
Things outside of the school and education system that impact upon educational success
Money
Food
Home environment
Internal factors effecting class differences in educational achievement
Labelling Self fulfilling prophecy Pupil subcultures Marketisation and selection A to C economy and educational triage Competition and selection
Labelling theory primary school example
Rist
Teachers would use information about the child’s home life to put them into different groups.
Those they saw as ready to learn were taught to read and write (usually middle class).
Those they saw as not ready to learn would be left to play (usually working class).
Labelling theory secondary school example
Becker Teachers use the ideal pupil frame in order to label the students. This usually fits the middle class stereotype well in terms of having neat work, meeting deadlines and looking smart.
Labelling theory status of knowledge example
Keddie
All classes at a school using streaming were taught the same humanities course. However, teachers would use different language and ways of explaining things depending on the stream they were teaching even though they thought they were teaching them in the same way. Those who they saw as having a high status of knowledge (set A) were taught abstract and theoretical ideas. Those who they saw as having a low status of knowledge (set B) were taught descriptive, common sense ideas.
Self-fulfilling prophecy definition
A prediction made about someone becomes true because it has been made. For example, a teacher may presume that a child will do badly, they then treat them differently according to this by marking their work more harshly. This may discourage the student from trying and make the prediction come true.
Self fulfilling prophecy teacher expectations example
Rosenthal and Jacobson Oak community school were given basic IQ tests that the teachers believed would show who would spurt over the next year. 20% of the class were randomly chosen to be spurters. After a year 47% of these students had shown an improvement in their work. Researchers believed that the teacher's attitude towards those students had changed because of the test results, causing the students to improve.
Self fulfilling prophecy streaming example
Douglas
Those placed in a lower stream at age 8 declined in their IQ by 11. Those placed in a higher stream had improved their IQ. Those placed in the lower stream saw themselves as failures because of the stream they have been put in and their teacher’s attitude towards them. This caused them to give up.
Pupil subcultures definition
A group of pupils who share similar values and behaviour patterns, often emerging because of the way that they have been labelled.
Polarisation definition
Pupils respond to streaming by moving towards one of the two polar opposites (either pro or anti school subcultures).
Pro school definition
Pupils who remain committed to the values of the school as they are in a high stream and therefore gain status through educational success
Anti school subculture definition
These pupils go against schools values because they have not been able to gain status through educational success. This causes them to have a low level of self esteem and is why they turn to other ways to gain this status.
Lacey’s research
Boys who had come in the top 15% of the town’s pupils who had passed the 11+ exam were soon labelled as failures when they got to the grammar school because of its competitive nature. By their 2nd year they had joined anti school subcultures.
Marketisation and selection
Marketisation brought with it the funding formula where all schools receive the same amount of funds per pupil, league tables and competition between students and schools.
A to C economy
Gillborn and youdell
Schools ration their time, effort and resources in order to focus on those pupils who they perceive able to achieve 5 Cs. This is because it will boost their league table position.
Educational triage
A*-C will pass anyway
C/D are borderline so need to be focussed upon
D and below are hopeless cases and won’t pass
Competition and selection
Bartlett
Popular schools cream skim (select higher ability pupils to attend their school) and slit shift (off load pupils with learning difficulties to other schools) in order to appear higher on the league tables. These processes all cause success to bread success and vice versa.
Labelling theory definition
Attaching a definition or meaning to a group. For example, a teacher may label a student as naughty.
External factors effecting class differences in educational achievement.
Cultural capital Cultural deprivation (parental support, intellectual development and language) Material deprivation (housing, diet and health and finance)
Cultural capital
Bourdieu Middle class students are at an advantage as they have the correct cultural capital in the language, skills, knowledge and attitudes for school life. The more cultural capital you have, the better you will do within education. Working class students do not have access to cultural capital. Cultural reproduction is where cultural capital is passed down from the parents to the children.
Criticisms of cultural capital
Halsey argues that material factors are more important. Not all working class students fail when they do not have cultural capital.
Cultural deprivation definition
The way in which children (especially the working class) are deprived through primary socialisation. Parental support (Douglas) Intellectual development (Douglas) Language (Bernstein)
Parental support
Douglas
Most important factor
Attendance of parents evenings
Working class parents place less value on educational achievement
Intellectual development
Douglas
Working class homes lack resources children need to develop intellectually.
E.g. Books
Working class children have a lower IQ
Language
Bernstein
Elaborated speech code-full sentences with detail
Restricted-short sentences with abbreviated words, often not proper English
Middle class have an elaborated speech code, which is what teachers and exam boards use so they have an advantage over the working class
Evaluation on Bernsteins language theory
It is reliable
The restricted speech code is not wrong, just different
Poor housing
Over crowding
Damp
Lack of safe space to play
Diet and health
Howard
Lower intake of energy, vitamins and minerals
Effects health-more days off school
Effects concentration levels
Finance
Bull
Hidden cost of uniform, transport, books and trips
Working class children miss out on academic opportunities and get bullied
