education - class differences in achievement - cultural deprivation Flashcards
in general who achieves the least in the education system?
•working class pupils in general achieve the less than middle class children in education.
•children who have parents of higher professions are almost twice as likely as children of manual workers to get five or more GCSE passes at grade 4 or above
what are cultural factors?
these include class differences in norms and values acquired through socialisation, attitudes to education and, speech codes etc
what are material factors?
these are the physical necessities of life, such as adequate housing, diet and income
how does cultural deprivation lead to educational failure?
•according to the cultural deprivation theory, some working class parents fail to transmit the aspirations, motivation, values, attitudes, language skills etc needed for educational success
what is a factor responsible for the working class underachieving according to cultural deprivation theorists?
•aspects of the working class subculture that contribute to underachievement such as:
-immediate gratification
-fatalism
-low value in education -hyman argues that the working class don’t value education and they don’t believe they will benefit from it, so they don’t try. douglas also argues that w/c parents show less interest in their children’s education and give them less support.
what does bernstein (a cultural deprivation theorist) believe is causing working class underachievement?
•the working class use the restricted code - this has limited vocabulary and is formed of simple sentences or even just gestures
•the middle class use elaborated code - a wide range of vocabulary and complex
•the elaborated code helps children to succeed in education, as they will need to use it in exams and university interviews etc. however working class children do not have this
what does feinstein (a cultural deprivation theorist) believe is causing working class underachievement?
feinstein argues that parents’ own education is the most important factor affecting children’s achievement. since middle class parents tend to have higher qualifications, their children gain an advantage. this occurs in several ways:
•parenting style - parents with higher qualifications emphasise consistent discipline, high expectations and active learning. parents with fewer qualifications are more likely to practice inconsistent discipline, so their children have poorer motivation academically
•parents’ educational behaviours - parents with higher qualifications are more aware of what helps children progress
•use of income - parents with higher qualifications spend less their income to promote children’s development, e.g educational toys
criticisms of cultural deprivation theory
•it blames the victims for their failure. it assumes working class children underachieve due to their own and their parents’ deficiencies
•it ignores the impact of school factors such as labelling, and the impact of material factors such as poverty
