Class: Out of school factors Flashcards
What are the 3 material factors?
- Housing
- Diet and health
- Finances
What are the 4 cultural factors?
- Parental interest
- Attitude and Values
- Language
- Cultural Capital
How can poor housing affect a child’s educational achievement?
It can lead to inadequate space for homework, overcrowding that hampers concentration, and increased likelihood of illness leading to higher school absence rates.
How might schools and colleges help overcome the problems caused by poor housing?
By providing spaces for children to complete homework, such as homework clubs.
How does poor nutrition affect health?
It weakens the immune system.
What consequence does weakened health due to poor nutrition have on education?
It may result in more absence from school.
What is one proposed solution for schools and colleges to help overcome poor nutrition issues?
Free school meals - This initiative aims to provide better nutritional support to children from low-income families
What did Wilkinson (1996) find?
- children from poorer homes are more likely to face emotional or behavioural problems
- higher rates of hyperactivity, anxiety and conduct disorders
What correlation did Jesson & Gray (1991) find regarding free school meals?
A correlation between free school meals and low GCSE grades
What did Bernstein & Young discover about middle-class mothers?
Middle-class mothers are more likely to buy educational toys to encourage reasoning skills and stimulate intellectual development
What argument does Tanner (2003) make regarding the cost of schooling?
Schooling is costly as parents have to pay for transport, uniform, equipment/resources for education, sports, or music equipment - financial burden
What educational policy might help to overcome financial burdens related to schooling?
Offering bursaries - can provide financial support to students from low-income families
What did Callender & Jackson (2005) find regarding WC students applying for university?
WC students were 5x less likely to apply compared to MC students.
What did Reay (2005) discover about WC students’ university applications?
WC students were more likely to apply to local universities to save on finances by living at home and undertaking part-time work.
What financial support is available to reduce the cost of university?
Bursaries are available to help reduce the cost of university.
What does JWB Douglas argue is the main reason for WC children underachieving?
A lack of parental interest
What type of study did Douglas conduct?
A longitudinal study of over 5000 British children
What did Douglas find regarding MC parents’ aspirations for their children?
They were more likely to want their children to stay at school beyond the minimum leaving age
What is one evaluation point regarding Douglas’s theory?
It is based on attendance at Parent’s Evening - Some WC parents might have to work shifts and they might feel uncomfortable in the MC school environment
Who argued that the attitudes of WC and MC subcultures were linked to educational achievement?
Sugarman
What type of jobs does Sugarman argue influence attitudes towards education?
Manual and non-manual jobs
What is the term for investing time, energy, and money into training for future benefits?
delayed or deferred gratification
What method did Sugarman use to gather data for his conclusions?
Questionnaires
How many fourth year boys participated in Sugarman’s study?
540
True or False: Sugarman’s conclusions are fully representative of WC pupil behavior.
False
What do postmodernists believe about the relevance of class in attitudes?
Class is no longer a relevant issue
What are the two types of speech codes identified by Basil Bernstein?
Elaborated and restricted speech codes
What characterizes the restricted speech code?
Short, grammatically simple, often unfinished sentences
How do middle class children typically use the elaborated speech code?
It explicitly verbalizes meanings, fills in details, and provides explanations
What example did Bernstein use to illustrate his theory of language codes?
Two 5-year-old boys, one working class and one middle class - They were asked to describe a sequence of events in four pictures
What was the outcome of the boys’ descriptions using their respective speech codes?
The MC child described and analyzed relationships in detail - The WC child was limited in expression due to the restricted code
How do different speech codes relate to educational achievement according to Bernstein?
Different codes can account for differences in educational achievement - Formal education uses elaborated code, disadvantaging WC children
What critique does Bernstein acknowledge regarding his study’s sample size?
He studied only two boys, which is a very small sample
What does Pierre Bourdieu mean by cultural capital?
Cultural capital refers to the knowledge, attitudes, values, language, tastes, and abilities of the middle class that can be exchanged for educational success.
Why are middle class children more successful in education according to Bourdieu?
Middle class children have cultural capital, which equips them to meet the demands of school with the right language and values.
What does Bourdieu suggest about the conversion of economic capital into educational success?
Middle class families can convert economic capital into educational advantages, such as sending their child to private school or paying for tutoring.
What is the formula for educational success according to Bourdieu?
Economic capital + cultural capital = educational success.
According to Keddie, why do working class children fail in the education system? (A03 of Cultural Capital)
Working class children fail because they are disadvantaged by an education system dominated by middle class values.
