Education: Class and achievement external factors

Question 1

What is external factor

Answer 1

External factors are those factors outside the education system which influence the educational achievement of pupils such as the influence of home, family and wider society.
They include:
Material deprivation
Cultural deprivation
Cultural capital

Question 2

The 4 working class values

Answer 2

• Immediate gratification
• Present time orientation
• Fatalism
• Collectivism

Question 3

Define term immediate gratification

Answer 3

When satisfaction is granted easily/ instantly rather than it being worked for, can be through pester power.

Question 4

The 4 middle-class values

Answer 4

Deferred gratification

Planning for the future

Taking control

Individualism

Question 5

Define term deferred gratification

Answer 5

when satisfaction is gained through individuals hard work and effort

Question 6

Define present time orientation

Answer 6

Concentrating on today without much consideration for the future or the past.

Question 7

Define term fatalism

Answer 7

A state of mind where someone believes there is nothing they can do to alter their situation or circumstances.

Question 8

Define term collectivism

Answer 8

In which an individual cares about the well-being of others in their family or society rather than themselves

Question 9

Define term planning for future

Answer 9

Think about their future and what they want to be and achieve in life

Question 10

Define term taking control

Answer 10

Meaning they have control of themselves and their actions which is due to their own fault and is their duty to whether to change or not

Question 11

Define term individualism

Answer 11

in which a person only cares about their own well-being and care only for themselves and their needs and wants

Question 12

Define term cultural deprivation

Answer 12

The idea that some young people fail in education because of supposed deficiencies in their home and family background, such as inadequate socialization, failings in pre-school learning, inadequate language skills and inappropriate attitudes and values.

Question 13

Define term cultural capital

Answer 13

Have skills received from family background and have gained knowledge, skills, experiences and appropriate norms and values from the family

Question 14

Define term material deprivation

Answer 14

Living in poverty lacking basic necessities of life such as housing and income

Question 15

How can bad housing lead to failure in education?

Answer 15

Overcrowded conditions due to a small house as a result of low income - no space for revision can lead to not dong homework small house can lead to illness, lack of sleep and therefore tired at school. Temporary housing results in moving houses a lot may get moved to house far from school, therefore, might miss out and learning is disrupted

Question 16

Howard and Wilkinson theory on health

Answer 16

Howard- poorer families have a lower intake of vitamins and minerals. This affects their energy levels and in turn performance at school. Also, it can lead to frequent absences from school due to illness
Wilkinson- among 10-year-olds – the lower the social class the higher the rate of hyperactivity, anxiety and behavioural disorders. These can lead to exclusion from lessons and consequent underachievement

Question 17

Finances as part of material deprivation

Answer 17

Lack of money can lead to no books, PCs, lack of school equipment, PE kit or uniform, all of which can affect educational achievement. Many students take on part-time jobs which reduce the amount of time they have for studying

Question 18

Douglas theory on intellectual development

Answer 18

Refers to the development of reasoning and thinking skills. 
Douglas – m/c parents help develop their children’s intellect by reading to them, providing educational activities in the home, providing toys that encourage thinking and reasoning skills. 
This gives m/c class children an advantage in education as they start school equipped with reasoning skills

Question 19

Bernstein’s theory

Answer 19

Argues that there are two different speech codes – the restricted and elaborate

Question 20

Restricted code

Answer 20

Used by the w/c. It is limited in vocabulary, uses short, unfinished and grammatically simple sentences. It is descriptive and context-bound – the speaker assumes the listener is familiar with the topic

Question 21

Elaborate code

Answer 21

Used by the m/c. It has a wide vocabulary and consists of longer, grammatically correct sentences. It is context free – the speaker assumes the listener isn’t familiar with the topic so explains their meaning in detail.
Elaborated code is used by teachers, textbooks, and exams. As w/c children are not familiar with the elaborated code when they start school, it puts them at a disadvantage. On the other hand, m/c children are socialised into using the elaborated code and so feel comfortable at school

Question 22

Sugarman

Answer 22

Fatalism – belief in faith, that individuals have no control over their lives.
Collectivism – being useful to your family/friends is more important that individual success.
Immediate gratification – seeking rewards now, rather than working for long term rewards.
Present time orientation – living for today.

Question 23

Criticism of cultural deprivation

Answer 23

Is a government policy designed to tackle the problem of cultural deprivation by providing extra resources to schools and communities in deprived areas. It aims to compensate w/c children for their lack of knowledge, skills, and experiences necessary for educational success eg sure start

Question 24

Myth of cultural deprivation (Keddie)

Answer 24

Keddie claims that cultural deprivation is a myth because w/c children are culturally different rather than deprived. Schools should stop seeing w/c culture as deficient and instead build on its strengths and challenge teachers’ prejudice against the w/c.
Bernstein can be criticised because he implies that the restricted code is inferior to the elaborated code.

Question 25

Bourdieu and cultural reproduction

Answer 25

It is passed from parents to children through the process of socialisation. Bourdieu called this cultural reproduction. 
It gives middle-class children an advantage in education because the abilities, knowledge, experiences they have are highly valued and rewarded at school. 
Working class children lack cultural capital which leads to educational failure. 
Therefore the education system is not neutral as it favors and transmits the dominant, middle-class culture

Question 26

Define term educational capital

Answer 26

Educational capital - a term used to refer to educational qualifications

Question 27

Define term economic capital

Answer 27

A term used to refer to material wealth.

Question 28

Gewirtz theory on cultural capital

Answer 28

Gewirtz studied the extent to which parents use their cultural, educational and economic capital to select schools.
Her study provides evidence for Bernstein’s cultural capital theory.
The research included interviews with teachers and parents in 14 London schools.

Question 29

Gewirtz and Privileged-skilled choosers

Answer 29

Professional middle-class parents.
They use their own economic, educational and cultural capital to gain educational capital for their children.
They have cultural capital – know how the education works and how to go about getting a place for their child at the best school.
They have economic capital – can afford travel costs to the best school or even move home to be in the catchment area of the good schools

Question 30

Gewirtz and Disconnected-local choosers

Answer 30

Working class parents lacking cultural, educational and economic capital. This limits their choices.
They lack cultural capital – they are unfamiliar with the admissions procedures, pay more attention to school’s facilities than to league tables.
They lack economic capital – so they can’t afford the cost of travel to better schools.
Their children end up going to the nearest comprehensive school.

Question 31

Gerwitz and Semi-skilled choosers

Answer 31

Working class parents with ambitions for their children.
However, they lack cultural, educational and economic capital so find it difficult to understand how the education system works.
They tend to rely on other people’s opinions about schools when making their choice