Education: Social class differences Flashcards
Material explanations (external) study
Washbrook and Waldfogel (2010): children from low income families are more likely to live in poor accommodation and therefore may not have a suitable place to study or are regularly sick and therefore may have absences and fall behind in lessons.
Parental Attitudes (external) study
J.W.B Douglas (1964) based upon a questionnaire to 5,000 British parents, he found middle class children received more attention and encouragement from their parents in their early years, providing a foundation for high attainment in later life.
Language use (external) study
Basil Bernstein (1971) identified restricted and elaborate code. According to Bernstein MC students are socialised in both codes placing them at an advantage within the classrooms and in exams.
Bourdieu’s theory of Cultural Capital (external) study
Alice Sullivan (2001) used questionnaires to assess the cultural capital of 465 comp students, she asked about tv, reading, and trips out. She found the pupils with the greatest cultural capital were the ones with graduate parents.
Teacher Pupil relationships e.g. labelling and stereotypes (internal) study
Becker (1971) he interviewed 60 high school teachers and discovered they stereotype on the basis of the ideal pupil who was motivated and well behaved and therefore would treat each child based upon the stereotype they were given. This would negativity Impact the children’s self confidence affecting their academic achievement.
Organisation of teaching and learning (streaming and banding) (internal) study
Gillborn and Youdlell (2001) found that teachers more likely to place working class students in lower streams based upon stereotypes denying them knowledge and academic opportunity
Pupil identities and school subcultures (internal) study
Ball (1981) found that Top band students saw middle band students as thick, rough and simple where as the middle band saw them as brainy, unfriendly and arrogant and when that school abolished banding those identities where abolished.
The Curriculum (internal) study
Keddie found that students in the that teachers who taught higher stream classes differently than the ones in a lower stream, providing them with more knowledge to do well even though they had only been stream into the class they were based upon stereotypes based upon their social class.
