External And Internal Factors Flashcards
Overall
Working class students consistently underachieve compared to middle class students
Working class students underachieve considerably compared to middle class students
Education is not a level playing field (meritocracy) for working class and middle class students
Summary
Average attainment 8 score was 36.9 compared with 51.9 for non eligible students
Centre for longitudinal studies looked at children’s intellectual studies
By age of 3, m/c children were one whole year ahead of working class children
The widens with time
Cultural deprivation- Language
Language at home influences a child’s intellectual development
More complex and challenging language helps children consolidate their understanding
Cultural deprivation theorists believe m/c families are more likely to use he order, w/c more likely to use the latter
Basil Bernstein- Restricted code
Restricted code is used by the w/c students and contains grammatical errors, short simple sentences and is description based
Elaborated code is used by the m/c and contains a wider vocabulary, more complex longer sentences and is analytical
Restricted code AO3
Do people with restricted code really fail? Alan Sugar
Shouldn’t schools take some of the blame for not teaching English properly
It’s not all families thought sometimes RC us good- used in humour
Parents education- Douglas
Middle class parents are more likely to have achieved better in education and have higher qualifications. This means that:
Parenting style- m/c parents more likely to emphasise discipline and high expectations
Parents educational behaviour- m/c parents are more likely to read to their children, help with homework and attend events, eg parents evening
More income- m/c parents earn more because of their education and higher income is correlated to higher educational achievement for students
Use of income- m/c parents are likely to spend their income in ways that benefit their child’s education
Parents education AO3- parenting style
W/c parents also have high standards around discipline and education. M/c may be more laid back
Parent educational behaviour- w/c parents have other pressures on their time that put them at a disadvantage. M/c may have busy jobs which mean they can’t do these behaviours
More income- can lead to a complacency about how hard students have to work
Cultural deprivation sugarman
Working class subcultures: Sugarman
Cultural deprivation theorists argue that w/c students form subcultures outside of school which contain 3 main factors-
1) Immediate gratification- wanting rewards NOW, not later
2) Fatalism- believing that no matter what they do, they won’t be successful
3) Low value on education: instead valuing alternatives, eg sporting achievement
Diet
How can w/c students poor diet lead to low educational achievement
Can lead ill health and missed days at school
Students may find concentrating in lessons more difficult
Housing
W/c households are more likely to be:
-more crowded
-colder due to poorer insulation and less money for heating
-less settled as more likely to be renting
Fear of debt
Going to university usually involves getting into debt to cover the cost of tuition fees, books and living expenses
Claire Callender and Jon Jackson (2005)- w/c students are more debt averse-
-They see more costs than benefits for going to university
-Tuition fees increase from 2012 may mean that increased debt burden will deter
General criticism
M/D theorists ignore the importance of cultural deprivation
As with all external factors, it ignores the impact of internal factors
Doesn’t the government assist people suffering from MD?
Cultural capital
Bourdieu says that material and cultural deprivation are not separate and are instead interlinked
Cultural capital refers to the knowledge, attitudes, values, language, taste and abilities of middle class
Sees those who possess middle class culture have an advantage
Argues that through their socialisation, mc children acquire ability to grasp, analyse and express abstract ideas
Educational/economic capital-
Mc children with cultural capital are better equipped to meet the demands of the school curriculum and gain qualifications
Wealthier parents can convert their economic capital into educational capital by sending children to private school and paying for tuition
Leech and Compos shows mc more likely to be able to afford a house in catchment area of a school that is highly placed in the exam league tables
Known as ‘selection by mortgage’ as it drives up cost of houses near successful schools and excludes w/c families.
Internal factors
Labelling
Setting and streaming
Educational triage
Subcultures
Educational policies
Labelling
Labelling theory suggests that labels attached to students go through stages: speculation, elaboration, negotiation, and stabilisation. Hargreaves describes the speculation phase as where teachers form preconceived ideas based on prior data, reputation, and behaviour like missing equipment or incorrect uniform. Becker argues that the ideal pupil varies by school and subject, shaped by teacher-student interactions.
Amelia Hempel Jorgensen’s research shows that the ideal pupil differs by socio-economic background. In schools with disciplinary issues, teachers prefer quiet, obedient students, while in affluent schools, they favour engaged, academic students. Labelling is linked to teacher expectations, which vary across subjects and year levels.
Working-class students are labelled negatively because their behaviour doesn’t fit the ideal pupil framework, leading to symbolic violence. This can create a self-fulfilling prophecy, contributing to working-class underachievement.
Setting and streaming
Teacher expectations are linked to setting and streaming. Setting groups students by ability in individual subjects, while streaming groups them by ability across all subjects. Labelling can lead to students being placed in lower sets or streams if they fail to meet expectations.
Working-class students are more likely to be placed in lower sets due to factors like material deprivation, cultural deprivation, and lack of cultural capital, limiting their access to the curriculum. For example, lack of a frame of reference (e.g., understanding Shakespeare) can result in disengagement and being deemed less able.
These placements can negatively impact self-esteem, motivation, and opportunities for improvement. Sociologists like Bourdieu and Bernstein highlight how social class shapes educational outcomes, underlining the importance of addressing external factors that influence student achievement.
Educational triage
Educational triage divides students into three groups based on predicted outcomes: those likely to succeed regardless of support, those unlikely to succeed even with support, and those in the middle who may achieve more with adequate support. Schools allocate resources mainly to the middle group to boost their performance.
This approach is linked to setting and streaming, where resources are focused on students deemed “borderline,” aiming to move them to higher grades. Working-class students, often placed in lower ability groups, are more likely to fall into the group expected to underachieve, receiving less support compared to middle-class students, who are more likely to be in the middle group and get more resources to improve.
Subcultures
Subcultures, particularly anti-school and pro-school subcultures, play a key role in understanding class and educational achievement. Working-class students are more likely to adopt an anti-school subculture, rejecting school values due to struggles with academic status and extracurricular involvement. In contrast, middle-class students tend to adopt a pro-school subculture, engaging more with academic achievement and school activities.
Working-class students often seek immediate gratification, contrasting with the school’s emphasis on deferred gratification, which can lead to anti-school attitudes. However, not all students fit neatly into these subcultures, and attributing underachievement solely to the anti-school subculture oversimplifies the issue. Bourdieu’s concept of habitus highlights that working-class students may have different cultural backgrounds, misaligned with school values, leading to symbolic violence. Schools should reconsider their approach to accommodate these differences.
Educational policies
The final factor contributing to the internal reasons for educational achievement among working class students pertains to school policies, particularly the implementation of marketization policies. These policies aim to foster competition among schools, enhance academic standards, and ultimately promote educational equality. However, research has shown that these policies do not necessarily achieve their intended outcomes. Rather, they tend to create a systemic disadvantage for working class students. This disadvantage arises due to the absence of free choice in school selection and enrolment. Working class students often face various constraints that limit their access to certain schools, including distance and uniform requirements. This factor relates to the external issue of material deprivation.
Additionally, marketization policies compel schools to prioritize league table rankings. Consequently, schools tend to favour middle class students who conform to the ideals of an ideal student. Such students are more likely to achieve the high grades that elevate a school’s ranking, attract more students, and secure more funding. Therefore, marketization policies, which aim to improve the education system, tend to disadvantage working class students. By not providing equal opportunities for all students, these policies reflect the institutionalized middle-class nature of the education system. This contradiction illustrates that the education system, despite claiming to be a means of promoting equality, is, in reality, not an equitable institution for all students.
