Education (AS) Flashcards
What is cultural deprivation?
When students lack the ‘cultural equipment’ to do well in school, for example language skills.
What are the two speech codes, and who identified them?
Bernstein:
- Restricted code - limited vocab, use of short sentences and ‘slang’, typically used by the working class.
- Elaborated code - wider vocab, long and grammatically complex sentences, typically used by the middle class.
What is the impact of having different speech codes?
Some children fail to develop necessary language skills, therefore unable to take advantage of opportunities school has to offer.
This gives middle class pupils an advantage at school, as school uses elaborated code and middle class values.
What did Douglas find about parents education?
Working class parents placed less value on education, e.g. visited school less, gave their children less encouragement, etc.
What did Feinstein find about parents education?
Middle class parents tend to be better educated, therefore socialise their children to be positive towards education.
e.g. consistent discipline, high expectations, and using their better income to buy children the best equipment for school.
What is a subculture?
A group whose attitudes and values differ from the mainstream culture.
What are the 4 key beliefs of the working class, found by Sugarman?
- Fatalism - there is nothing you can do to change your status.
- Collectivism - they value being part of a group rather than succeeding as an individual. (M/C believe an individual should not be held back by the group).
- Immediate Gratification - seeking pleasures now rather than making sacrifices in order to get rewarded. (M/C emphasise making sacrifices now for greater reward later).
- Present-time Orientation - seeing the present as more important than the future. (M/C see planning for the future as more important).
What is compensatory education?
Programmes that aim to tackle the problem of cultural deprivation by providing extra resources to schools and communities in deprived areas.
Example of compensatory education?
Sesame Street - a TV show aimed at instilling educational values & skills, e.g. numeracy and literacy skills.
AO3 of cultural deprivation?
Keddie - children are not culturally deprived, but culturally different.
Therefore, it is the school’s responsibility to cater to the needs of different children.
What do Blackstone & Mortimore say about cultural deprivation?
Criticise the idea that working class parents do not care about their child’s education.
They attend less parents evenings because they work longer hours, they are put off by the middle class atmosphere of the school, and they want to help but lack the knowledge to do so.
What is material deprivation?
Refers to poverty and a lack of material necessities such as housing and income.
How can poor housing have an effect on a child’s achievement at school?
• Overcrowding - can make it hard for a child to study, less room to do homework.
• Cold/damp housing - can lead to illness, therefore absence from school.
• Lack of space - impaired development for younger children who cannot play and explore.
What does Howard say about diet and health?
Young people from poorer homes get poorer nutrition, meaning weaker immune systems, leading to illness and absence from school.
Also likely to have behavioural problems, e.g. hyperactivity, anxiety, etc.
What does Tanner say about the cost of education?
Cost of transport, books, computers and other equipment place a heavy burden on poor families.
This acts as a barrier to learning as they miss out on things that would enhance educational achievement.
What do Callendar and Jackson say about the fear of debt?
Working class students saw more costs than benefits to going to university, therefore saw it as negative and something to avoid.
What is cultural capital and who identified it?
Bourdieu:
Refers to the knowledge, attitudes, values, tastes and abilities of the middle class.
AKA “habitus” (middle class culture) - gives them an advantage.
What did Becker find on labelling?
Interviewed 60 high school teachers and found they judged pupils based on how far they fitted the image of the ‘ideal pupil’ - (e.g. white, middle class, female, passive).
What did Rosenthal & Jacobsen find about self-fulfilling prophecies?
Teachers’ beliefs about their pupils’ abilities had significant impacts on their achievement, as they internalise their label and become the kind of pupil they were expected to be - whether positive or negative.
Evaluation of labelling theory?
Not every pupil internalises their label - e.g. Fuller found that year 11 black girls used their negative labels to prove their teachers wrong, and achieved even higher.
What is streaming?
Putting children into ability groups called ‘streams’ based on how they are labelled - e.g. working class are less likely to be seen as having ability, so will be placed into lower streams based on that assumption.
What is the A-C Economy, and who identified it?
Gillborn & Youdell:
Where schools focus their effort on those capable of getting C+ so they can boost league table positions.
Pupils are sorted into 3 categories - those who will pass anyway, borderline C/D, and hopeless cases.
What are the two pupil subcultures and who identified them?
Lacey:
Pro-school subcultures - mainly middle class who are in higher streams and are committed to school values, and gain status through academic success.
Anti-school subcultures - mainly working class who suffer a loss of self-esteem through lower streams, therefore gain status in alternative ways, such as avoiding rules (e.g. not doing homework).
What is the term given (by Lacey) to the process in which pupils respond to streaming by moving towards two opposite poles (pro-school and anti-school) ?
Polarisation
What is the term given (by Lacey) to the process in which teachers categorise pupils according to perceived ability, and treats them differently due to that?
Differentiation
What is symbolic capital, and who identified it?
Archer:
Status from teachers as they have the same values as the school (therefore, middle class pupils, as they have similar habitus to the teachers).
What is the opposite of symbolic capital?
Symbolic violence - experienced by working class, as their tastes are seen as inferior by schools, therefore causing them to view education as alien.
What is the result of symbolic violence?
Working class pupils created their own status by constructing “Nike identities” - investing in ‘styles’ through branded clothing like Nike.
What did Evans find about class identity and self-exclusion?
Studied a group of W/C girls from London and found they were reluctant to apply to elite universities. Those who did feared they wouldn’t “fit in”, and the girls felt a strong attachment to their community and didn’t want to move away to study.
Self-exclusion narrows the options for many W/C pupils, limiting their success.
