Education Flashcards
What are the 3 external class differences in terms of cultural deprivation?
Language
Parental Attitudes and Education
Working Class Subcultures
Bernstein (2)
Differences in speech codes put working-class children at a disadvantage because the elaborated code is used by teachers, textbooks and exams.
Early socialisation into the elaborated code means that middle-class pupils are already at an advantage whilst WC generally has a restricted code of speech.
Criticisms of Bernstein (2)
Examples within society where the use of restricted code has not limited individual success e.g., Alan Sugar and Footballers
Bernstein places blame on working class families however it can be argued that the education system does not teach enough elaborated code which puts working class children at a disadvantage
Douglas
Working-class parents place less value on education; they are less ambitious for their children and give them less encouragement to participate in educational activities, such as homework. As a result of this, many working-class parents do not attend parents evening.
What are 4 ways in which parental attitudes and education affect educational achievement?
Parenting style/ Emphasis on educational discipline
Parents’ educational behaviours/ Help with work
More income
Use of income
Sugarman (4)
He identifies 4 key acts that act as a barrier to educational achievement for working class pupils:
Fatalism - there’s nothing you can do to change your status
Collectivism - valuing being part of a group more than being an individual
Immediate gratification - seeking pleasure now rather than making sacrifices in order to get rewards in the future
Present time orientation - seeing the present as more important than the future, therefore having no long-term goals
Hargreaves
Found that boys in lower streams were triple failures:
(1) They failed their 11+ exam
(2) Had been placed in lower streams
(3) Then labelled as “worthless louts”
Their solution to this was to form a group which provided status to those who flouted the school rules and guaranteed their educational failure.
Lacey (2)
Found that there were 2 ways in which pupil subcultures developed: polarisation and differentiation.
Polarisation is when pupils respond to streaming by either moving to a pro-school subculture or an anti-school subculture.
Differentiation is a form of streaming, those who are placed in higher streams gain a higher status.
What are the 3 external class differences in terms of material deprivation?
Poor Housing
Diet and Health
Money
Howard (housing)
Overcrowding means there is no room for educational activities, such as homework and reading. It also means disturbed sleep from sharing bedrooms.
Families living in temp accommodation may find themselves having to move frequently, leading to disturbed education
Overcrowded homes mean greater risk of accidents and a higher risk of getting ill. This may lead to absence from school
Damp or mouldy households also contribute to illness and absences from school
Howard (nutrition)
Young people from poorer homes have lower intakes of energy, vitamins and minerals. Poor nutrition affects health, for example, by weakening the child’s immune system- this may result in more absences from school.
Tanner
Having little money can limit the success of a child. WC families might live in poverty and as a result cannot afford to send their child to good schools. Good schools may be out of their catchment area; can’t afford tuition or transport fees
Hubbs Tait et al 2002
found that where parents use language that challenges their child to evaluate their own understanding, cognitive performance improves e.g., asking their child why do you think that that chair is wooden?
Bereiter and Engleman 1966
claim that language used in lower class homes is deficient.
Cultural Capital (Bourdieu)
Middle-class children with cultural capital are better equipped to meet the demands on the school curriculum. Parents can convert the cultural capital into economic capital, for example, they can send their children to private schools.
Hargreaves (1975) on Labelling
Believed that pupils are typed or classified based on when they first get to know new pupils. As they have limited knowledge, the use of the student’s catchment area, and image of the pupil to form a pre-perceived judgement
Evaluation of Cultural Capital
Does not explain why some middle-class students openly rebel against the education system and underachieve at GCSE and A level
Only applied to white middle-class students. Chinese WC students are successful within the education system but according to Bourdieu, they should possess a cultural deficit
Interactionists claim that factors within school are more influential on a pupil’s performance e.g. labelling
Bourdieu
Middle class have appreciation for art, literature, and other aspects of ‘high culture’. This gives them an advantage as the education system favours and transmits the dominant middle-class values and culture.
Labelling
The process of attaching a definition or meaning to an individual or group e.g. teachers may label a student as ‘troublemaker’. Often a label is a stereotype that defines all members of a group the same way.
Becker
Based on interviews with 60 Chicago high school teachers:
Teachers judge and label pupils according to how closely they fit the “ideal pupil”. This would therefore dampen the motivation of students who did not suit the ideal pupil, due to how teachers deferred their time away from them and were unwilling to help.
Rist (1970)
Studied American kindergarten and found that teachers used information about student’s home background and appearance to place them in separate groups.
Fast learners labelled as ‘tigers’ (MC & Clean Appearance), seated near the teacher & she gave them great encouragement
Two other groups ‘clowns & cardinals’ seated further away and were given lower-level books to read and fewer chances to show their abilities
Self Fulfilling Prophecy - Rosenthal AND Jacobson (1968)
When students are given a positive label, they react to it by creating a positive self-concept, which means they are motivated to work hard and improve their grades.
R&J (1968) studied this by informing teachers of students who scored highly on an IQ test and would be a quick learner. The catch was that these test results were fabricated. Teachers treated those who were falsely identified as ‘spurts’ differently. 47% of those who were identified to ‘spurt’ had made significant improvement due to how teachers paid more attention to them by giving them more feedback.
The effect was greater on younger children
Evaluation on self-fulfilling prophecy
Too deterministic:
If this was true, wouldn’t all teachers just label all students as intelligent?
Teachers would argue that they have professionalism and not label students- Interactionist approach
Sets
Ability based groups for one subject
Streaming
Ability-based groups for multiple subjects
Gillborn and Youdell (3)
Study of two London secondary schools in 2011 that shows how teachers use stereotypical notions of ‘ability’ to stream pupils
Gillborn and Youdell found that teachers labelled working-class students as unintelligent, resulting in them being placed in lower streams and sets.
Also found that teachers are less likely to see WC and black pupils having ability; resulting in them placed in lower tier GCSE’s
A-C Economy
Schools need to achieve a good league table position if they are to attract pupils and funding. Publishing league tables creates what Gillborn and Youdell call an ‘A-To-C economy’ in schools.
Educational Triage
Gillborn and Youdell argue that the A-C Economy produces educational triage. Schools categorise pupils into three types:
- Those who will pass anyway and can be left to get on with it.
- Those with potential, who will be helped to get a grade C or better.
- Hopeless cases, who are doomed to fail.
Effect of Educational Triage
Creates a stereotypical view of working-class (and black) pupils as lacking ability.
As a result, they are likely to be labelled as ‘hopeless cases’ and simply ‘warehoused’ in the bottom sets. This produces a self-fulfilling prophecy and failure. Thus, the need to gain a good league table position drives educational triage.
This becomes the basis for streaming,
Habitus
Refers to the characteristic ways of thinking, feeling, acting and experiences shared by all members of a certain group.
Archer et al
Found that working-class pupils invest in ‘Nike’ identities, leading to self-exclusion from education because it does not fit their identity and way of life; they see it as unrealistic (it is for richer and smarter people) and they also see it as undesirable (it does not suit their habitus).
Linguistic skills - Bereiter and Engelmann
Some pupils speak a different language, and some pupils speak an informal version of English. Bereiter and Engelmann state that the black Caribbean language is ungrammatical and disjointed, which means they cannot convey abstract ideas.
CD Theorists on intellectual and linguistic skills
Argue that a lack of intellectual and linguistic skills is a major factor in educational underachievement and those who mat not speak English at home may be held back educationally.
However, Official Statistics shows that English not being your home language isn’t a major factor.
Family structures - Moynihan
There are higher rates of lone-parent families in black ethnicities. Moynihan found that many black families are headed by a lone mother, leading to lower achievement of black boys due to how they do not have a male role model.
Material Deprivation on Ethnic Minorities
Many minority ethnic groups are victims of racism in wider society, subsequently they face direct or indirect discrimination at work or in the housing market, and in turn, they may be in low paid jobs or unemployed. This impacts upon the children’s educational opportunities.
A lack of language skills and foreign qualifications are not recognised by UK employers, and asylum seekers are not allowed to work
Margaret Fuller
found that high achieving black girls maintained a positive self-image by rejecting teachers’ stereotypes. They did not seek teacher approval, but valued education.
Wright on Asian Students
Wright found that Asian primary school pupils were stereotyped and treated differently. Teachers used simple language because they assumed they would speak poor English and became frustrated when pupils pronounced their names incorrectly.
Sewell on Subcultures
Conformists: keen to succeed, accepted the school’s goals.
Innovators: pro-education, but anti-school. Valued success, but not teacher’s approval.
Retreatists: disconnected from the school and black subcultures outside of it.
Rebels: rejected the school’s goals and conformed to the stereotype of the ‘black macho lad’.
Troyna and Williams
State that the British curriculum prioritises white culture and the English language, for example through holidays in line with the Christian calendar, and a focus on white leaders in History e.g. Teaching about British History and Learning European Languages
Mcrobbie on the Impact of Feminism
Studied girls magazines and found that in the 1970s, they emphasised the importance of getting married.
However, nowadays, they contain images of strong, assertive and independent women. Feminists have campaigned for women’s rights and changes in the law (e.g. equal rights)
Changes in Women Employment
Changes in the law have improved the position of working women, for example the Equal Pay Act (1970) and the Sex Discrimination Act (1975).
Sharpe on Changing Girls Ambitions
Interviewed girls and found that their ambitions in the 1970s were to marry and have children and saw their future in terms of a domestic role. However, in the 1990s, the girls’ priorities had changed to careers and wanting to be independent.
Feminism has enabled girls to have realistic ambitions e.g. Equal Pay Act and changes to how women are perceived
Mitos and Brown()
Found that girls do better than boys in coursework because they are more conscientious and better organised.
Gorad ()
found that the gender gap in achievement increased sharply when GCSE was introduced in 1988.
