External Factors 2- Cultural Explanations Flashcards
Cultural Explanations Suggest That…
Values, attitudes, language and other aspects of cultural life of some social groups are deficient/deprived- cultural deprivation. Blame for underachievement on external factors, eg. socialisation in the family/community and cultural values.
Sodha and Margo (2010)
Cultural factors combine to create disengagement from education for disadvantaged. Cultural barrier of low expectations and aspirations and parental, sceptical and fatalist view of education as for ‘other people’
Four Explanations- Parental Attitudes (Douglas)
Douglas (1964), found that most important factor for educational success or failure was parental encouragement and engagement. Fernstein and Symons (1999), Goodman and Grey (2010) and Gorard, See and Davies (2012)- this is still true. Higher parental interest leads to better exam results.
Four Explanations- Parental Attitudes (M.C parents vs W.C parents)
Middle class parents generally: More interest in children’s progress in school- more frequent visits
More interested as children age
More likely to want children to stay in school
…compared to working class parents.
Four Explanations- Parental Attitudes (Counterpoints)
Blackstone and Mortimer argue that w/c parents:
May have less free time for school visits or parents evenings due to demands of manual labour jobs.
May be scared of judgement from teachers/authority figures.
Four Explanations- Parent’s Level of Education (Sociologist)
Feinstein notes that parental level of education has an impact regardless of social class or income- because of motivation, discipline and support.
Four Explanations- Parent’s Level of Education
M/c parents understand the school system better than w/c parents, so are more confident in an academic setting, and advising their children. They know more about schools and can disagree with teachers.
Children may also have already learnt more via socialisation before starting school.
Four Explanations- Working Class Subculture
Sugarman argues there are 4 elements that affect students:
Present time orientation
Immediate gratification
Fatalism
Collectivism
These values discourage effort for future success (in exams), ambition, and competition in education. Getting a job is perceived as more important.
Four Explanations- Working Class Subculture (Counterpoints)
W/c subculture may be a response to circumstances of life, realism as opposed to fatalism, and w/c people may defer gratification if they had the resources to future plan.
Focus on differences between the classes and ignore similarities, exaggerated view of subcultures.
Four Explanations- Speech Codes (Sociologists, not Bernstein)
Hubbs-Tait, where parents use language to challenge children to evaluate their understanding, cognitive performance improves. Feinstein found more educated parents are more likely to do this, and to praise, encouraging development of language. Bereiter and Engelmann claim language in lower class homes is deficient.
Four Explanations- Speech Codes (Bernstein)
Bernstein (1971) argues that there are two types of language use: elaborated code and restricted code. Middle class students’ familiarity with elaborated code gives them an advantage in education.
Four Explanations- Speech Codes (Elaborated vs Restricted)
Restricted- Informal, everyday language, used between friends and family. Includes slang, can be ungrammatical with limited vocabulary and context bound, used by m+w class- w/c limited to only restricted.
Elaborated- Formal, used between strangers and in formal contexts (academia or job interviews). Wider range of vocabulary, used by mainly m/c, enabling them to participate in class discussions, write essays, and read textbooks.
Criticisms of Bernstein’s Work
Bernstein assumes all m/c students have same access to elaborated code, but it is difficult to generalise.
Rosen argues Bernstein gives too few examples- constructs a myth of m/c speech superiority.
Labov criticises the idea of w/c speech as inferior. Research in Harlem- claims they are different, w/c speakers more efficient.
Cultural Capital (Bourdieu)
Bourdieu argues each social class has a habitus- cultural framework. The dominant class imposes its habitus on the education system.
Educational knowledge is culture of the dominant social class, giving m/c pupils an advantage.
M/c children ‘possess the key to unlock the messages transmitted in the classroom’
Cultural Capital Supported by R’s Research
Robson’s research supports this. Possession of cultural capital, like going to museum, zoo, theatre, and reading for pleasure improves chances in education.
Cultural capital can be turned into educational capital, leading to economic capital.
M/c students more comfortable in education than w/c peers.
