DJs: External explanation - Cultural deprivation Flashcards
What is Cultural deprivation?
Due to socialisation patterns, parents do not instill values which encourage children to value school and their education - they fail to nurture, stimulate and enrich their child’s educational interest. 1470 782
Give some examples of cultural deprivation:
- a book poor home
- not providing cultural opportunities and activities that enhance intellectual development.
- restricted language development
- not seeing school attendance as super important
What are the three themes within Cultural deprivation?
- Intellectual development
- Attitudes and values
- Language
INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT: How can intellectual development impact a child’s educational achievement?
Many working class homes lack the books, educational toys and activities that would stimulate a child’s intellectual development. Therefore, children from working class homes start school without having developed the intellectual skills required to progress.
INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT: What did Douglas find in his longitudinal study ‘The Home and the school’ (1964)?
- 60% of UMC children got good O - Level grades, compared to 37% of LWC
- He found important social class differences in primary socialisation patterns suggesting that middle class children receive greater attention and stimulation from their parents which in turn fosters intellectual development. This led him to suggest that middle class socialisation patterns lay a more advantaged foundation for higher achievement in school.
ATTITUDES AND VALUES: How can attitudes and values impact a child’s educational achievement?
Douglas (1964) concluded working class parents are less likely to take an interest in their child’s education and value it, e.g. not attending parents evenings, making infrequent visits to the school and not supporting children with their homework. All of this contributes to their children not being motivated in school and unambitious when it comes to their future education.
Give a critique of the theme Attitudes and Values being the reason for WC under achievement:
Blackstone and Mortimer (1994) argued that there are a variety of reasons other than a lack of interest that may impact on parent - school contact. E.g.
- lack of flexibility in lower skilled, lower payed jobs (which could lead to wage reduction)
-feel out depth due to their educational qualifications
- costs of childcare for potential younger siblings.
ATTITUDES AND VALUES: What did research by Hyman (1967) conclude?
-Values of the working class create a self-imposed barrier to educational and career success. Instead of placing value on education, and aspiring to achieve high status jobs, WC subcultural beliefs and values place a greater value on securing a good steady job straight from school.
ATTITUDES AND VALUES: What are the 4 key features of working and middle class subcultures which put them at an advantage (MC), or disadvantage (WC) - put forward by Sugarman (1970).
Working class:
- Present-time orientation, Immediate gratification, Fatalism, Collectivism.
Middle class:
- Future-time orientation, Deferred gratification, activism, individualism.
ATTITUDES AND VALUES: Why does Sugarman say there are differences between attitudes and values of the middle and working class, and what does he say about these differences (1970)
- the nature of mc and wc occupations produce different attitudes and values
- mc jobs are secure careers, offering prospects for continuous individual advancement, wc is directly opposite to this.
-the different values beliefs are internalised and then passed on to the next generation through the socialisation process - wc values and attitudes place them at a distinct disadvantage in school because they clash with the middle-class values and ethos of the school.
- school is an extension of the middle-class values and therefore middle-class culture equips children for success, whereas working class values fail to do so.
LANGUAGE: How can language impact on a child’s educational achievement?
Bereiter and Englemann (1966), say that language is crucial for educational development.
-Language in lower class homes is deficient and therefore children fail to develop the necessary language skills for school.
- Speech affects our capacity to be educated and our capacity to articulate our understanding so therefore our educational achievement.
LANGUAGE:
A) Explain Bernstein’s (1975) Restricted and elaborated code
B) Explain why one code makes children more successful in a school setting:
A) The restricted code - sentences tend to be short, grammatically simple and predictable. Meanings conveyed are particularistic and context bound, with the speaker assuming the listener shares the same experiences. The elaborate code - sentences tend to be longer and more varied, with a range of vocabulary. The speaker does not orientate to the listener but to the messages which they want to convey. Therefore the meanings are universalistic as it is context free.
B) According to Bernstein, it is the elaborate code used in school by teachers, and is therefore vital for educational success. This code is crucial for the essential skills in education, e.g. conveying meaning, developing arguments and analysing information. As schools do not teach this elaborate code, WC children who lack it are at a disadvantage, and MC children who have it are at an advantage.
Explain the critique of cultural deprivation theory: Nell Keddie (1973)
She describes CDT as a myth. That children cannot be deprived of their own culture, so they are culturally different, not deprived. They fail because they are put at a disadvantage by the education system, which is MC value dominated. She claims CDT is a victim blaming explanation, deflecting attention away from possible anti-wc prejudice in schools.
Explain the critique of cultural deprivation theory: Troyna and Williams (1986)
Critique the view that WC language is restricted and inadequate. They claim the the WC language is not the problem, but the schools attitude towards it.
Explain the critique of cultural deprivation theory: outdated
CDT was put forward by sociologists in the 1960s and 1970s. Society was very different then and it was more likely that WC communities did not value education in the same way that they do today. education is valued a lot more in today’s society than in the past - by all social classes.
