Differences In Achievement Flashcards
(34 cards)
What does material deprivation mean?
The view that as a result of a lack of financial resources in working class homes, children are deprived of materials and facilities which would enhance their educational progress
How can housing affect a pupil’s educational achievement?
Overcrowding in houses can make it harder to study
Can lead to disturbed sleep from sharing bedrooms
Cold or damp housing can cause ill health leading to absence
Temporary accommodation can cause psychological distress
How can diet and health affect a pupil’s educational achievement?
Howard notes that young people from poorer homes have lower intakes of energy, vitamins and minerals. This weakens the immune system and lowers energy levels
A lack of a nutritional diet leads to difficulties concentrating and more absences
How can finances affect a pupil’s educational achievement?
Children from poor families have to do without equipment and miss out on experience that would enhance their education. Bull refers to this as ‘the cost of free schooling’
Working class students are more debt-averse and don’t want to risk going to university
Critique of material deprivation
While material deprivation clearly plays a part in achievement, the fact that many working class children succeed shows that it is only part of the explanation
Governments have set up programmes of compensatory education in an attempt to overcome the problem
What is sure start?
A programme aimed at pre-school children and families in disadvantaged areas providing home visits, play centres and financial help for childcare
What is pupil premium?
Created in 2011 by the coalition government
Allocates additional funds for each poorer pupil in a school
Designed to assist their education depending on specific needs
What is cultural deprivation?
The theory that working class parents don’t encourage their children to value school and to be aspirational
As a result working class children lack the ‘cultural equipment’ needed for educational success
How can intellectual development affect a pupil’s educational success?
Many working class homes lack the books, educational toys and activities that would stimulate a child’s intellectual development
Middle class children are at an advantage because family and school environments positively reinforce eachother
How can attitudes and values affect a pupil’s educational achievement?
The degree of parental interest shown is important as it can motivate a child to do better- can be measured through attendance to school events such as parent’s evening
School is an extension of MC values so MC children are at an advantage whereas school ethos clashes with WC values
Why might some parents not be able to attend school events like parent’s evening?
Some parents may be unable to take time off work as it may result in losing money
Transport may be hard to access
Some parents might feel uncomfortable in a school setting due to their own bad experiences
What is fatalism?
Belief that you can’t change how things are
Everything is predetermined and predestined
What is activism?
A proactive approach where individuals are encouraged to take steps to improve their status
Middle class careers enable this through promotions
How can language affect a pupil’s educational achievement?
Language used in lower class homes is deficient and as a result children fail to develop the necessary language skills required in school.
This can affect the capacity to be educated and to articulate understanding
What are the characteristics of the restricted code?
People using this code assume others know what they are talking about- it’s context bound
Meaning are particular to the shared situation making it implicit
Sentences tend to be short, unfinished, grammatically incorrect and use limited adjectives
What are the characteristics of the elaborate code?
Accurate delivery of process
Meaning are explicit
Richer vocabulary
Meanings are universalistic as it is context free
Bernstein’s research
The elaborated code used in education is essential for success
Schools do not teach pupils how to use this code
Middle class students are already fluent in this code while working class students feel excluded
Critique of cultural deprivation
Nell Keddie argues that WC children are not culturally deprived but culturally different.
WC children fail because they are put at a disadvantage by a MC value dominated education system
CD deflects attention away from the problems children face at school
A victim blaming explanation
Troyna and Williams on CDT
The problem is not WC language, but school’s attitude towards it
Teachers have a ‘speech hierarchy’ where they label MC highest and WC lowest
What is cultural capital?
Refers to the knowledge, attitudes, values, tastes and abilities of the middle class. Through socialisation middle class children acquire and understanding of the education system and how to succeed.
Bourdieu on cultural capital
Children who possess MC culture are more likely to succeed in education as school has the same culture
The education system gives an advantage to MC children because it reproduces the class system
WC children respond by truanting, early leaving or just not trying
What are internal factors?
Explanations created by interactionists who argue that a pupil’s self concept is influenced by teachers and other pupils. They claim that class differences in education are socially constructed in the classroom
Hargreaves et al labelling process
1.speculation: teachers make guesses about what type of pupil they are dealing with based on enthusiasm for work, appearance and conformity
2.elaboration: teacher’s hypothesis is tested and confirmed or contradicted
3.stabilisation: teachers feel they know the student and are not surprised by their actions
Cicourel and kitsuse on labelling
They conducted a study in an American High School and found that the students social class background was the most influential factor when teachers labelled students.
