education Flashcards
how does the government operationalise class within children and what are the limitations of this
the government uses free school meals to operationalise class within school children, however there are children from lower class homes that don’t qualify for fsm and some who do not claim fsm even though they are applicable for it
what are the four findings from the social mobility and child poverty commission report about the patterns and trends of social class
low ability children from wealthy families overtake high ability children from poor families during primary school, the most advantaged are twice as likely to enter university compared to disadvantaged students in england, the most disadvantaged students generally outperform better educated peers from independent schools and more advantaged state schools if they get the opportunity of a university place, graduates from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to enter graduate jobs and are paid less on average compared to their advantaged peers.
what is the evidence for parental interest and support impacting the success of lower class children in education (cultural deprivation theory - outside school factor)
desforges and abouchaar say that research shows that the extent of parental involvement in their child’s education is strongly linked to social class and the good parenting of middle class homes has a significant positive impact on children’s achievement
chowdry et al split the population into groups of 20% ranked from richest to poorest and found that richer parents tend to have higher expectations of their children. eg 4 out of 5 parents in the richest socio-economic position think their child is likely to apply to university at age 14.
what is the evidence for values impacting the success of lower class children in education (cultural deprivation theory - outside school factor)
charles murray argues that an underclass has developed in britain and they socialise children into a work-shy, welfare dependent culture that doesnt value education.
sugarman argues working class people accept things the way they are (fatalism) and so put no effort into school. they also have the attitude of enjoying the present instead of planning for the future (immediate gratification.) however the middle class develop attitudes of deferred gratification.
what is the evidence for speech codes impacting the success of lower class children in education (cultural deprivation theory - outside school factor)
berstein found that the working class tend to use the restricted code at school whereas the middle class use the elaborated code at school and the restricted code at home. therefore lower class people are less able to express themselves in ways deemed acceptable.
what is the evidence for a lack of cultural capital impacting the success of lower class children (cultural and social capital theory - outside school factor)
diane ray interviewed 33 mothers at 2 london primary schools and found working class mothers worked just as hard towards ensuring their child’s success however they tended to be less knowledgeable about how the education system worked and less able to help children with homework due to less cultural capital.
reay and lucey found that working class children disproportionately end up in schools with a bad reputation due to making choices based on which school is for the ‘likes of me.’ reay et al also found that working class students are less likely to apply for top universities due to viewing them as ‘not for the likes of them.’
what is the evidence for a lack of social capital impacting the success of lower class children (cultural and social capital theory - outside school factor)
john scott found that private schools develop an old boy network which provides social capital. the cambridge student newspaper found 20% of students at cambridge had a parent who studied there and 40% had close family who went to oxbridge.
what is the evidence for reduced material factors impacting the educational success of lower class children
smith and noble - cant pay for school uniform or school trips etc leading to bullying, children from low income families suffer more ill health, unable to pay for private education or a tutor, digital underclass, may have to get a part time job - shropshire and middleton found children from poor families are aware of their parents poverty and so lower their ambitions to earn a wage as soon as possible.
blanded and gregg found that a third reduction in income from them mean increases the probability of a child getting no a* to c grades at GCSE by around 3-4% and the chances of getting into uni are reduced by a similar amount.
what is the impact of private education on the success of lower class children in school (material factors - outside school)
kynastion argues meritocracy is undermined by the existence of private schools which reproduces class inequality. only about 7% of children go to private schools but they take up 45% of oxbridge places. wesminster public school charges annual boarding fees of about £26 000 and 50% of its pupils get a place at oxbridge.
what is the impact of higher education tuition fees on the success of lower class children in school (material factors - outside school)
increasing tuition fees and the replacement of student grants with student loans has discouraged poorer students from going on to private education. callender and jackson surveyed nearly 2000 prospective higher education students and found that fear of debt was discouraging students from lower income backgrounds. in 2012 there was a sharp rise in tuition fees, leading to a 10% drop in uni applications.
university uk also found students from poorer homes were more likely to be working and worked the longest hours. leading to them often missing lectures, handing in late work and to a lower standard.
what is the impact of teacher expectations and labelling on the success of lower class children in school (inside school factors)
howard becker found that students who were labelled as the ideal pupil were more likely to be middle class and those judged to be the furthest away from the ideal were working class students. this was often based on appearance and behaviour rather than ability. dunne and gazely found that most pupils identified as underachievers were working class and teachers were more likely to blame underachievement in working class students on their home life and the culture they were raised in, whereas underachievement in middle class students was not linked to home life.
rosenthal and jacobson introduced the idea of the self fulfilling prophecy. they did an experiment where they randomly chose students and told the teachers that they had been identified as spurters and were likely to make rapid progress. a year later the randomly selected students had made more progress. this shows that labels shape teachers behaviour and expectations and students believe this label, shaping their behaviour.
what is the impact of streaming and setting on the educational success of lower class children (inside school factors)
gillborn and youdell found that rather than using objective measures of ability teachers setted students based on labels. this lead to working class students disproportionately being entered for foundation level exams.
what is the impact of student subcultures on the educational success of lower class children (inside school factors)
lacey found that high town grammar school had a subculture of success, where working hard was rewarded by both teachers and peers. whereas schools with worse reputations, were disproportionately attended by working class students there was a subculture of failure where students encouraged each other to be rude to teachers and skip school.
what are the patterns and trends of educational achievement in different ethnic minorities at GCSE level
the centre forum report shows that in the early years of education, white British people are the highest achievers but at by the end of secondary school they are overtaken by ten other ethnic groups. the DFE found that 78% of Chinese pupils achieve five or more GCSEs at A* to C compared to 14% of gipsy, aroma and Irish traveller pupils.
what are the patterns and trends of educational achievement in different ethnic minorities at higher education
the race for opportunity report showed that in 2007/8 16% of students in the UK studying for degrees were from an ethnic minority compared to 14.2% of the 18 to 24 yr old age group as a whole. however ethnic minorities are underrepresented at russell group universities eg only 10% of oxbridge students are from ethnic minorities.
