EDUCATION: Class and education - External factors (Material deprivation)

Question 1

what are some contemporary examples where poverty is closely linked to underachievement

Answer 1

• Department for education (2012) barely 1/3 of pupils eligible for FSM achieve 5 or more at GCSE
• Flaherty (2004) money problems in the family are a significant factor in younger children non-attendance at school
• Nearly 90% of /failing schools are located in deprived areas.

Question 2

Material deprivation

• Meaning
• 3 ways its achieved

Answer 2

MEANING: Lack of material necessities such as adequate housing and income. Refers to poverty
3 FACTORS: Housing - (Md.1)
- Diet and health (Md.2)
- Financial support (Md.3)

• Fear of debt (Md.4)

Question 3

MATERIAL DEPRIVATION.1
Housing
- direct effects on children’s attainment
- indirect effects on the Childs welfare

Answer 3

DIRECT: More academics - related
overcrowding = harder to study and do hw, disturbed sleep
- development = lack of space for safe play and exploration
- Temporary accommodation = having to move a lot, constant changes in school, disrupted education

INDIRECT: More welfare - related
- crowded homes = greater risk of accidents
- cold/damp housing = ill health
- Temporary accommodation = suffer psychological distress, infections, accidents
These all result in absences from school, and disrupted learning.

Question 4

MATERIAL DEPRIVATION.2
Diet and health 
- Howard
- Wilkinson 
- Blanden, Machin

Answer 4

HOWARD: young people from poorer homes have LOWER INTAKES OF ENERGY / poor NUTRITION = WEAKening of the IMMUNE SYSTEM  = lower energy levels = illnesses, ABSENCES from school, difficulty CONCENTRATING in class 
WILKINSON: lower social class = higher the rate of hyperactivity, anxiety and conduct disorders = negative effects on their education. 
BLANDEN, MACHIN: Children from low income families are more likely to engage in 'externalising behaviour' like fights = disrupting school

Question 5

MATERIAL DEPRIVATION.3
Financial support
- Bull (free schooling) 
- Tanner et al (cost) 
- Flaherty (stigmatisation) 
- Smith and Noble (Barrier) 
- Ridge (jobs)

Answer 5

BULL: ‘cost of free schooling’ - Poor families have to do without equipment and miss out on experiences that would enhance their education achievement

TANNER ET AL: Cost of items like transport, uniforms, books, computers and such place heavy burdens on families = having to use hand-me-downs and cheaper but unfashionable equipment = isolation, bullying = disruption from school again.

FLAHERTY: Fear of stigmatisation may help to explain why 20% of those eligible for FSM don’t take up the offer

SMITH, NOBLE: poverty acts as a barrier to learning in other ways, such as inability to afford private schooling or tuition, and poorer quality local schools

RIDGE: children in poverty often take up jobs like baby-sitting to support their families = less time for education

Question 6

How could you counter the effects of material deprivation and lack of financial support?

Answer 6

• EMAS’s by New Labour providing support for poorer students to stay on into FE
  But these were abolished in by the Coalition gov. in 2011

Question 7

MATERIAL DEPRIVATION.4
Fear of debt
- Callender, Jackson
- Reay

Answer 7

CALLENDER, JACKSON: WC students are more debt averse and saw more costs than benefits in going to university.
- The increase in tuition fees to £9,000 by the Coalition from 2012 a year also deterred WC students even more

REAY: WC students were more likely to apply to local unis so they could live at home, saving on travel = less prestigious unis

• They would also work part time = less time to gain high-class degrees
• Dropout rates are also higher with unis with large proportions of WC students.