EDUCATION: Class and education - External factors (General + Cultural deprivation) Flashcards
Define social class How is it usually determined
- A persons position in society
- Usually determined by looking at their occupations or if they’re children, their parents occupations
Why might pupils with parents of higher professions achieve higher
- More access to economic capital
- Different levels of education (better access to higher quality schools)
- Parents have better cultural capital
- Household will be more study-friendly
What is a modern contemporary example of the ATTAINMENT GAP between pupils in education
- Who
- What
- Statistic
- Educational policy institute - 2020
- As the school life in pupils went on, the attainment gap between pupils got bigger.
- The gap at GCSE measures 18.1 months of learning lost within working class pupils
Define external factors
Define internal factors
- Factors outside the education system
- Factors within the education system
Give a modern contemporary example of class biases in the education system
- When
- What
- Conclusion drawn
- August 2020
- In language GCSE papers, a question in particular about a skiing holiday were biased against disadvantaged pupils because they had a lack of that experience
“Not only are you asking some children to invent an answer, but write it in a foreign language as well” - The current GCSE content disadvantages some students, including socioeconomically deprived students
Give 3 social class external factors affecting children’s attainment in school
- Cultural deprivation
- Material deprivation
- Cultural capital
- Myth of cultural deprivation
Cultural deprivation
- Meaning
- 3 main ways in which cultural deprivation is achieved
MEANING: Having inferior norms and values that put you at a disadvantage in life
- Language (a part of basic cultural equipment) (cd.1)
- Parents education / attitude (cd.2)
- Working class sub-culture (cd.3)
- The underclass has a higher % of single parent families
Cultural deprivation.1
LANGUAGE - Bernstein - Bereiter / Engelmann (deficient) = - Hubbs - Tait et al (socialisation) = - Feirnstein (praise) All linked - Connor Et Al (immediate gratification)
BERNSTEIN - elaborated and restricted code (more info on the other card)
BERETIER / ENGELMANN - language used by the lower class is deficient, using LESS COMPEX and INTELLECTUALLY CHALLENGING techniques
HUBBS - Where parents use CHALLENGING LANGUAGE with their kids understanding and COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE improved. This EARLY SOCIALISATION will help them in school.
FEIRNSTEIN said EDUCATION PARENTS are more likely to use this language.
FEIRNSTEIN - Educated parents use praise, which improves children’s COMPETENCE.
- Also found low income (material deprivation) was related to the restricted speech code
ET AL - W/C pupils were discouraged from going to UNI because they wanted IMMEDIATE GRATIFICATION (rewards now instead of rewards that would help them in the future), and realised parents couldn’t AFFORD HE and they had less confidence in themselves
Cultural deprivation.1.2
Language
- Bernstein
What does he say about language
Who does it advantage and why
2 different types of speech codes
- Restricted code
Used by the W/C, has limited vocabulary, simple sentences, context bound - Elaborated code
Used by the M/C, has wide vocabulary. complex sentences and context free
This language gives the M/C children an advantage
- Teachers, textbooks and exams use the same language
- Is the ‘correct’ way to speak and write
- In Bernsteins view, it is a more effective tool for analysing and expressing thoughts clearly - a key skill in education
- Early socialisation of this elaborated code means children are also at ‘home’ in school, and are less likely to fail
What are some evaluations of theories on cultural deprivation
- School?
- Marxists
- Treatment of W/C
- White W/C
- Postmodernists
- W/C pupils fail not because they’re culturally deprived, but because school fails to teach kids how to use the elaborated speech code
- Marxists the W/C are blamed for underachievement when the parents are the victims of a capitalist society
- Treats the W/C as inferior when they’re really just different
- Only applies to white W/C culture
- Postmodernists say there is no underclass in society today not a W/C
What are some cultural factors effecting ethnic differences in educational achievement
- Parents language = children will be socialised to be less accustomed to school language
- parents attitude to education = ethnic minorities (usually asian) may be more pro-school
- Pupil subcultures = prominent in black children joining anti-educational peer groups
- Ethnocentric curriculum = will be more accustomed to White British children, only benefiting them
Cultural deprivation.2
PARENTS ATTITUDES / EDUCATION
- Douglas
- Feinstein - 3 ways (Bernstein and Young)
DOUGLAS - Working class parents placed less VALUE in education. So parents were less AMBITIOUS = children given less ENCOURAGEMENT = pupils ACHIEVE LOWER
FEINSTEIN - Parents’ own education - MC parents tend to be better educated and can give their pupils help and an advantage against the WC. This occurs in:
- Parenting Style; uneducated parents have harsh and inconsistent discipline emphasising ‘doing as your told’ and ‘behaving yourself’ which prevents the child from INDEPENDENCE and self control, leading to PROBLEMS WITH TEACHERS at school. Educated parents have consistent discipline and high EXPECTATIONS, encouraging achievement with ACTIVE LEARNING and exploration.
- Parents Educational Behaviours; Educated parents are more active and assisting in their child’s education. They can establish good relationships with teachers due to expert advice and recognise the value of educational activities like museums.
- Use Of Income; MC parents can invest more into a child’s education. BERNSTEIN AND YOUNG found MC mothers to buy more educational toys. Also have a better understanding of nutrition to aid child development
- Class, Income and Parental Education; FEINSTEIN notes parents’ own education has an influence on Childs education regardless of class of income. This may explain why not all child of WC parents do badly in school.
Cultural deprivation.3
WORKING-CLASS SUBCULTURE
- Sugarman (4 key features, and how it affects their achievement at school)
- Why do these values exist
SUGARMAN - WC subculture has 4 key features acting as a barrier to educational achievement
- Fatalism; Belief in fate ‘whatever will be, will be’ contrasting with the MC who believe you can change your position through your own efforts
- Collectivism; Valuing groups more than being your own individual
- Immediate gratification; seeking pleasure not rather than making sacrifices to get rewards in the future. MC values deterred gratification, making sacrifices now for better rewards later
- Present-time orientation; Seeing the present more important than the future. MC have future-time orientation
WC internalise these beliefs through the process of socialisation and underachieve at school.
WHY - MC jobs are more secure and structured, offering continuous individual advancement. This encourages ambition, long-term planning and time and effort investment to gain qualifications.
Cultural deprivation.3.2
WORKING-CLASS SUBCULTURE
- Compensatory education
What
Operation Head Start in the US (Sesame Street)
What operations have there been in the UK
WHAT: Aims to tackle the problem of cultural deprivation by providing extra RESOURCES to schools and communities in deprived areas.
OPERATION HEAD START: ‘PLANNED ENRICHMENT’ to develop deprived children skills and achievement.
- improving parenting skills with nursery classes for example.
- Was also a TV show, SESAME STREET which transmitted values, attitudes and skills for success like punctuality, numeracy and literacy
IN BRITAIN: Education Priority Areas, Education Action Zones, Sure Start
Cultural deprivation.4
The myth of cultural deprivation - Keddie What Why do they fail Solution
- Tronya and Williams
- Blackstone and Mortimore
KEDDIE - Says cultural deprivation is a victim-blaming explanation. Points out children can’t be deprived of their own culture and WC children are culturally different, not deprived,
- They fail because they are put at a disadvantage by the MC dominated education system.
- Schools should challenge teachers WC prejudices and build on the strengths of disadvantaged kids.
TRONYA AND WILLIAMS - The problem is the schools attitude not the Childs language (Bernstein in particular maybe).
- Teachers have a ‘SPEECH HIERARCHY’; MC class - highest, WC = second and finally black speech.
BLACKSTONE AND MORTIMORE - WC want to help their children, but can’t, eg they can’t attend parents evening because they’re working longer hours and lack the knowledge to help.
- Also evidence that schools with WC pupils have less effective systems of parent-school contacts, making it harder for parents to keep in touch about children’s progress.
