Education - Class (External)

Question 1

What % of pupils gained a 5 or more at GCSE whose parents work higher professional jobs?

Answer 1

83%

Question 2

What % of pupils gained a 5 or more at GCSE whose parents work routine jobs?

Answer 2

44%

Question 3

What % of pupils entering higher education in 2015 were from the most disadvantaged backgrounds?

Answer 3

19%

Question 4

What % of pupils entering higher education in 2015 were from the most advantaged backgrounds?

Answer 4

57%

Question 5

Centre for Longitudinal Studies (2007) and class achievement:

Answer 5

By the age of three, children from disadvantaged backgrounds are already more than a year behind those from a more privileged background.

Question 6

Summarise ‘cultural deprivation’ theory and W/C children.

Answer 6

W/C children are not properly socialized into the basic values, attitudes, and skills (or cultural equipment) necessary for educational success; unlike M/C children, they are ‘culturally deprived’.

Question 7

Give three examples of ‘cultural equipment in cultural deprivation theory.

Answer 7

• Reasoning skills
• Communication
• Self-discipline

Question 8

What are the three main aspects of cultural deprivation theory?

Answer 8

• Language
• Parents’ education
• W/C subcultures

Question 9

Hubbs-Tait et al (2002) and cognitive development:

Answer 9

The cognitive performance of children improves when parents use language that challenges their children.

Question 10

Feinstein (2008) and W/C language:

Answer 10

Less educated parents are less likely to use the language Hubbs-Tait et al (2002) speaks of, resulting in lower performance. They are also less likely to use praise, this would help the child to develop a sense of their competence.

Question 11

Bereiter and Engelmann (1966) and W/C language:

Answer 11

The language in lower-class homes is ‘deficient’: communication is through gestures, single words, and disjointed phrases. Children therefore never learn to communicate to understand ideas or have abstract thinking.

Question 12

Bernstein’s (2008) and Restricted code:

Answer 12

Restricted code: W/C: short, often unfinished, grammatically uncomplex sentences: context-bound, assumes listener knowledge of events

Question 13

Bernstein’s (2008) and Elaborated code:

Answer 13

Elaborated code: M/C: longer, grammatically more complex sentences with wider vocabulary: context-free, does not need listener knowledge of events

Question 14

Why do different speech codes put W/C at a disadvantage in education?

Answer 14

• Schools value elaborated code as ‘correct’ so M/C children immediately feel more comfortable in education, whereas W/C children will feel excluded.
• Elaborated code is generally more useful for analysis and comprehension, making education easier.

Question 15

How is Bernstein (2008) different from other cultural deprivation theorists?

Answer 15

He strikes a balance between internal and external factors: that how W/C children are socialized affects their education, but so does the school as it fails to teach them the elaborated code.

Question 16

Douglas (1964) and the value of education:

Answer 16

W/C parents place less value on education so encourage educational achievement less, giving their children lower levels of motivation to try in school.

Question 17

Feinstein (2008) and parents’ education:

Answer 17

Parents’ educational backgrounds are the most important factor affecting a child’s achievement and M/C parents are often better educated.

Question 18

How do educated parents’ parenting styles affect achievement?

Answer 18

• Educated parents emphasize consistent discipline and high expectations of their children, supporting achievement and exploration.
• Less educated parents often use harsh or inconsistent discipline that inhibits independence and self-control.

Question 19

How do educated parents’ educational behaviours affect their children’s achievement?

Answer 19

• More aware of what is needed to assist their child’s education so are more likely to read to their children, teach them numbers and letters, etc.
• More likely to establish good relationships with teachers.

Question 20

How do educated parents’ use of incomes affect their children’s educational achievement?

Answer 20

• More income
• More likely to spend income on the promotion of children’s educational success
• More understanding of proper nutrition for better development

Question 21

Bernstein and Young (1967) and use of income:

Answer 21

• M/C mothers are more likely to buy educational toys, books, and activities to stimulate development.
• W/C mothers lack the resources for such investments

Question 22

How does the ‘W/C subculture’ affect educational achievement?

Answer 22

Large sections of the working class have developed a subculture with different values and goals from the mainstream, discouraging mainstream educational success.

Question 23

Sugarman (1970) and subculture:

Answer 23

The W/C subculture has 4 features that block educational success
- Fatalism: emphasizes that no amount of effort will change your status
- Collectivism: values being in a group more than individual success
- Immediate gratification: discourages making sacrifices for the future
- Present-time orientation: sees the present as more important than the future

Question 24

What is the source of the W/C subculture, according to Sugarman (1970)?

Answer 24

• M/C jobs are secure and offer prospects for continuous individual growth, encouraging ambition and long-term planning.
• W/C jobs are insecure and have no career structure, encouraging fatalism and present-time orientation

Question 25

Summarise the aim of compensatory education.

Answer 25

To intervene early in socialization to provide resources in deprived areas to mitigate cultural deprivation.

Question 26

Summarise ‘Sure Start’

Answer 26

3,500 local Sure Start children’s centres in the most deprived areas providing integrated education, care, family services, etc. to promote the physical, intellectual, and social development of the babies. Austerity has led to the underfunding or foreclosure of most centres.

Question 27

Give three studies that criticize cultural deprivation theory.

Answer 27

• Keddie (1973)
• Troyna and Williams (1986)
• Blackstone and Mortimore (1994)

Question 28

Keddie (1973) and cultural deprivation:

Answer 28

W/C children are culturally different, not deprived; they are disadvantaged by a system that is dominated by middle-class values.

Question 29

Troyna and Williams (1986) and M/C speech:

Answer 29

Teachers have a speech hierarchy (M/C, W/C, black speak) that devalues and subjugates the W/C’s language.

Question 30

Blackstone and Mortimore (1994) and interest in children’s education:

Answer 30

W/C parents aren’t less interested in their children’s education: they work long and irregular hours or are put off by schools’ M/C atmosphere so do not have the resources to help.

Question 31

Define material deprivation:

Answer 31

W/C pupils underachieve due to poverty and a lack of material necessities such as housing and nutrition.

Question 32

Give two studies that link poverty to educational underachievement:

Answer 32

• Department for Education (2012)
• Flaherty (2004)

Question 33

Department for Education (2012) and free school meals:

Answer 33

Barely 1/3 of pupils eligible for free school meals achieve 5+ A*-Cs at GCSE, against nearly 2/3 of the population.

Question 34

Flaherty (2004) and non-attendance:

Answer 34

Money problems are a significant factor in younger children not attending school.

Question 35

What % of failing schools are in ‘deprived areas’?

Answer 35

90%

Question 36

What are the four aspects of material deprivation?

Answer 36

• Housing
• Diet and health
• Financial support and the cost of education
• Fear of debt

Question 37

How can pour housing have direct and indirect effects on educational achievement?

Answer 37

• Direct effects: overcrowding may make it difficult for children to study and develop, families that live in temporary accomodation may disrupt their children’s schooling
• Indirect effects: overcrowding can lead to accidents, and cold and damp may mean sickness; this means more absences.

Question 38

Marilyn Howard (2007) and nutrition:

Answer 38

W/C children have lower intakes of energy, vitamins, and minerals, weakening the immune system (more absences) and giving children less energy (for learning).

Question 39

Wilkinson (1966) and W/C mental health:

Answer 39

The lower the social class, the higher rate of hyperactivity and anxiety, both having negative effects on education.

Question 40

What is ‘the cost of free schooling’?

Answer 40

Bull (1980): W/C children often cannot afford equipment necessary to learning and miss out on supercurricular activities.

Question 41

Tanner et al (2003) and the cost of schooling:

Answer 41

• Cost of items like transport and uniforms have a heavy
  burden on W/C families.
• They have to use hand me downs and cheaper versions
• Often stigmatised and bullied, discouraging standing out in education

Question 42

What do many W/C children have to do, due to lack of funds, and what is its effect on education?

Answer 42

Many have to work part-time jobs, having a negative impact on time for schoolwork/revision, energy levels, and metal health.

Question 43

How has austerity made higher education more difficult for W/C pupils?

Answer 43

Financial support, in the form of Education Maintenance Allowances, was abolished in 2011.

Question 44

Why does fear of debt affect W/C achievement?

Answer 44

W/C pupils are more likely to require loans to cover the cost of tuition, books, living expenses, etc. so are less likely to even apply to higher education.

Question 45

Callender and Jackson (2005) and debt aversion:

Answer 45

W/C pupils are more likely to be debt-averse; debt-averse pupils are 5x less likely to apply to uni.

Question 46

Why have changes to tuition fees discouraged W/C pupils?

Answer 46

Tuition fees have continuosly rose, further discouraging debt averse pupils from applying.

Question 47

How do finances affect where W/C students apply?

Answer 47

Reay (2005): W/C pupils are more likely to apply locally to save on travel and accomodation, restricting them from more prestigious unis.

Question 48

What are Bordieu’s (1984) three types of capital?

Answer 48

• Cultural
• Educational
• Economic

Question 49

Outline Bordieu’s (1984) theory.

Answer 49

Material and cultural factors are not seperate, but interelated, they are cyclical in their perpetuation of one another.

Question 50

Outline Bordieu’s (1984) cultural capital

Answer 50

Similar to Bernstein’s theory, the culture and values W/C children are socialized into are deficent and discourage by the school system

Question 51

How do different types of capital (Bordieu (1984)) perpetuate one another?

Answer 51

M/C values can be used to get you more qualifications, which can get you more money, which gets you into the places where you lern more values.

Question 52

What is ‘selection by mortgage’?

Answer 52

Middle class parentscan afford to buy houses in catchment areas of nicer schools, driving up the cost of nearby houses.

Question 53

Sullivan (2001) and testing Bordieu (methodology):

Answer 53

• Survey of 465 pupils in 4 schools
• Asked about activities like reading and visiting museums.
• Children who read complex fiction and watched TV documentaries (M/C) developed greater vocabulary
• Even with the same level of cultural capital, M/C pupils did better than W/C