Education Flashcards
Bourdieu
The Habitus theory - Differential Attainment
What did Bourdieu theorise?
That middle class students are at an advantage in school because they possess ‘cultural capital’
Examples of cultural capital
- the right language, skills, knowledge and attitudes.
- Reading non-fiction and classical literature rather than pop literature
- Watching documentaries rather than soap operas
- Learning to play classical instruments (e.g. The Piano)
- Going on educational visits – to museums and art galleries for example
- Going on holidays abroad (to ‘broaden horizons’).
How do working class students suffer from cultural capital
They experience a ‘cultural deficit’ – they soon realise that the school and teachers attach little value to their experiences and values. They may feel alienated by the middle-class nature of schooling and are more likely to come into conflict with the school and end up losing interest in their studies.
How does Bourdieu’s theory align with Marxism
he sees school as a middle-class system that leads to cultural reproduction – i.e. ultimately ensures those of higher social classes have children that succeed and maintain their parent’s class-position.
Bourdieu evaluation
- deterministic. Not all working-class students fail, even if they lack cultural capital
- ignores how many working-class students learn how to play the system, whilst still maintaining their own culture outside of school.
Bernstein
Language Codes Theory - Differential attainment
Helped pave the way for Bourdieu’s ideas
What did Bernstein believe about educational attainment?
- middle class students succeed not because of greater intelligence but merely because they use the preferred way of communicating.
- In examining the link between language and learning, Bernstein distinguished between two codes:
The restricted code
The elaborated code
The restricted code
sentences are short, vocabulary is limited, and few
adjectives are used. As a result, such language is context-bound
The elaborated code
characterised by long sentenced, a rich vocabulary
and a complicated structure of phrases t This form of language use is context-free and so is more suited to the formal communication required by the education system.
Who adopts the restricted code more?
working-class children, while the elaborated code is typically used by the middle class and therefore is the form accepted by teachers and examiners.
What are the implications for working-class students who adopt the restricted code?
Not only are they less able to express themselves in a way deemed to be acceptable, but they are also less likely to feel comfortable as they’re not in the kind of environment that the middle-class child has already become already used to through their primary socialisation.
How does Bernstein’s theory align with Marxism?
Although he wasn’t a self proclaimed Marxist, they believe that schools play a part in reproducing inequality through the generations. By having to become familiar with and use the language of the middle-class, working-class children become disadvantaged.
Bernstein evaluation
Bernstein’s work has been controversial. His ideas can be seen to imply that the working class are culturally deprived in their language use, although this was never his intention. He focuses on the ways the middle-classes are advantaged, rather than focusing on the disadvantage of the working classes.
Ball
Social Capital
Ball et al Overview
Their research showed how middle-class parents are able to use their cultural capital to play the system so as to ensure that their children are accepted into the schools of their choice.
What are strategies that Ball believed middle class parent’s view
- Attempting to make a good impression with the head teacher on open day
- Knowing how to mount an appeal if their child is unsuccessful in their application to a particular school.
What are other strategies Ball found that MC parents use
They use material capital to provide them with tutors and their social capital to make connections with important people such as governors and headteachers.
Althusser
Purpose of education is ideological control
Althusser on the purpose of education
- to transmit the ‘myth of meritocracy’ – i.e. the false idea that ability is the major mechanism of success.
- This disguises the reality of the stratification system: that those born into ruling-class or middle-class backgrounds are much more likely to achieve.
Factors in education that support Althusser’s idea further
- Hidden Curriculum – the working classes are trained to be an obedient and docile workforce - explored more by Bowles and Gintis
- Cultural Capital – the middle classes benefit from education being a middle-class system - explored more by Bourdieu.
- Material deprivation – the working classes cannot afford the same quality private schools – explored more by Smith and Noble.
If this inequality occurs why don’t WC people do anything about it ?
the ideology of meritocracy ensures that they blame themselves. The consequence of this is that the working-class rarely challenge the organisation of capitalism or see social inequality as the problem.
Althusser evaluation
- This theory has the semblance of a conspiracy, assuming that teachers nowadays are consciously backing the bourgeoisie and repressing students – despite the fact that many of them have backgrounds in their subjects and want their students to succeed.
- ignores the fact that teachers devote their careers to assisting students of all backgrounds to succeed.
Bowles and Gintis
Correspondence theory / Hidden Curriculum
