Cultural Deprivation - External Flashcards
Centre for Longitudinal Studies (2007)
They found that by the age of three, children from disadvantaged backgrounds were already up to one year behind those from more privileged homes and this gap widens with age.
Primary Socialisation
- ‘Cultural Equipment’
Some sociologists argue claim that this gap is due to cultural deprivation.
They argue that most of us begin to acquire the basic values, attitudes and skills that are needed for educational success through primary socialisation in the family.
This basic ‘cultural equipment’ includes things such as language, self-discipline and reasoning skills.
Cultural Deprivation theorists
They argue that many working-working class families fail to socialise their children adequately.
These children grow up ‘culturally deprived’.
‘Culturally Deprived’
Children lack the cultural equipment needed to do well at school and so they underachieve.
There are three main aspects of cultural deprivation:
-language
-parent’s education
-working-class subculture
Language
Language is an essential part of the process of education and the way in which parents communicate with their children affects their cognitive (intellectual) development and their ability to benefit from the process of schooling.
Hubbs-Tait et al (2002)
-language
Hubbs-Tait et al found that where parents use language that challenged their children to evaluate their own understanding or abilities - for example, what do you think? - cognitive performance improves.
Leon Feinstein (2008)
-language
(carried on from Hubbs)
Leon Feinstein found that educated parents are more likely to use language that challenges their children.
By contrast, less educated parents tend to use language in ways that only require children to make simple descriptive statements - for example. what’s the animal called? - This results in lower performance.
Feinstein also found that educated parents are more likely to use praise.
This encourages their children to develop a sense of their own competence.
Carl Bereiter and Siegfried Engelmann (1966)
Cultural Deprivation theorists
Cultural Deprivation theorists see these differences in how parents use language as linked to social class.
Carl Bereiter and Siegfried Engelmann claim that the language used in lower-class homes is deficient.
They describe lower-class families as communicating by gestures, single words or disjointed phrases.
Result of lower-class language
(Bereiter and Engelmann)
Lower-class families children fail to develop the necessary language skills.
They grow up incapable of abstract thinking and unable to use language to explain, describe, enquire or compare.
As a result of this, they are unable to take advantage of the opportunities that school offers.
Speech Codes
Basil Bernstein (1975) also identifies differences between working-class and middle-class language that influences achievement.
He distinguishes through two types of speech code.
The restricted code
This speech code typically used by the working class.
It has a limited vocabulary and is based on the use of short, often unfinished, grammatically simple sentences.
Speech is predictable and may involve only a single word, or even just a gesture instead.
It is descriptive not analytic.
The restricted code is context bound: that is the speaker assumes that the listener shares the same set of experiences.
The elaborated code
This speech code is typically used by the middle-class.
It has a wider vocabulary and is based on longer grammatically more complex sentences.
Speech is more varied and communicates abstract ideas.
The elaborated code is context-free: the speaker does not assume that the listener shares the same experiences, and so they use language to spell out their meanings explicitly for the listener.
What is the elaborated code used in?
What does Bernstein believe?
The elaborated code is the language used by teachers, in textbooks and exams.
It’s taken as the ‘correct’ way to speak and write.
Bernstein believes that it’s a more effective tool of for analysing and reasoning and for expressing thoughts clearly and effectively - essential skills in education.
Early socialisation to the elaborated code
Early socialisation to the elaborated code means that middle-class children are already fluent users of the code when they start school.
This means that they feel ‘at home’ in school and are more likely to succeed.
By contrast, working-class children, who lack the elaborated speech code, are likely to feel excluded and to be less successful.
What makes bernstiens argument different from other cultural deprivation theorists?
Bernstien recognises that the school - and not just the home - influences children’s achievement.
He argues that working-class pupils fail not because they are culturall deprived, but because schools fail to teach them how to use the elaborated code.
Parents’ education
Cultural deprivation theorists argue that parents’ attitudes to education are a key factor affecting children’s achievement.
Douglas (1964)
Douglas found that working-class parents placed less value on education.
As a result, they were less ambitious for their children, gave them less encouragement and took less interest in teir education.
They visited schools less often and were less likely to discuss their children’s progress with teachers.
As a result, their children had lower levels of motivation and achievement.
Parenting style - Educated parents
Educated parents’ parenting style emphasises consistent discipline and high expectations of their children.
This supports achievement by encouraging active learning and exploration.
Parenting style - Less educated parents
Less educated parents’ parenting style is marked by harsh or inconsistent discipline that emphasises ‘doing as you’re told’ and ‘behaving yourself’.
This prevents the child from learning independence and self-control, leading to poorer motivation at school and problems interacting with teachers.
Parents’ educational behaviours
Educated parents are more aware of what is needed to assist their children’s educational progress.
Educated parents are also better able to get expert advice on childrearing, more successful in establishing good relationships with teachers and better at guiding their children’s interactions with school.
These parents also recognise the educational value of activities such as visits to museums and libraries.
What behaviours do educated parents engage in?
They engage in behaviour such as: reading to their children, teaching them numbers, letters, painting and drawing, helping with homework and being actively involved in their schooling.
Use of income
Better educated parents tend to have higher incomes.
They also spend their income in ways that promote their children’s educational success.
Bernstein and Young (1967)
-use of income
Bernstein and Young found that middle-class mothers are more likely to buy educational toys, books and activities that encourage reasoning skills and stimulate intellectual development.
Working-class homes are more likely to lack these resources and this means children from such homes start school without the intellectual skills needed to progress.
Educated parents also have a better understanding of nutrition and its importance in child development and a higher income with which to buy more nutritious food.
Class, income and parental education
