External Factors Affecting Class

Question 1

Barry Sugarman (1970)

Answer 1

Working Class Subculture (contains 4 key features which act as a barrier to educational achievement):

• fatalism
• collectivism
• immediate gratification
• present-time orientation

These beliefs are internalised through the socialisation process, leading to underachievement.

Question 2

Hubbs-Tait et al (2002)

Answer 2

When parents use language to challenge children to evaluate their own understanding or abilities, cognitive performance improves.

Feinstein (2008), found that MC parents are more likely to use language in this way.

Question 3

Basil Bernstein (1975)

Answer 3

Speech Codes:

• Restricted code (used by the WC), features limited vocabulary and is based on short, grammatically simple and in analytical sentences.
• Elaborated code (used by the MC and schools), features a wider vocabulary and longer, grammatically complex and analytical sentences.

Question 4

Douglas (1964)

Answer 4

Parents Education:

• WC parents place less value on education/ less encouraging/less ambitious for their children.
• WC visited schools less often and were less likely to discuss their child’s progress with teachers

Question 5

Feinstein (2008)

Answer 5

Argued that parents’ own education is the lost important factor in affecting children’s achievement.

• Educated parents’ parenting style emphasises consistent discipline and high standards, compared to WC who’s is harsh and inconsistent.
• Educated parents are more likely to read educational books/ poems/ songs to their children/ help them with HW/ visit libraries and museums.

Question 6

Bernstein + Young (1967)

Answer 6

Educated parents tend to have higher incomes and spend it on educational materials.

• MC mothers are more likely to buy educational toys and books which encourage reasoning skills and stimulate intellectual development.

Question 7

Counter (cultural deprivation) Feinstein

Answer 7

Regardless of class or income, parental education has an effect on a child’s education in its own right; children who’s parents are better educated tend to do better at school.

This may explain why not all children of WC parents do equally badly, and not all children from MC families are equally successful.

Question 8

Compensatory Education

Answer 8

Programmes which aim to tackle cultural deprivation by providing extra resources to communities in deprived areas through intervening in a child’s primary socialisation process.

E.g: “Operation Head Start: A US scheme to help underprivileged pre-schoolers in the 1960’s which included improving parenting skills, nursery classes and home visits from educational psychologists.

One example is “Sesame Street.”

Question 9

Counter (cultural deprivation) Nell Keddie (1973)

Answer 9

Cultural deprivation is a myth and a victim blaming explanation.

She dismisses the idea of cultural deprivation arguing that WC children are culturally different, not deprived.

• WC pupils fail due to being disadvantaged because d an education system based on MC values.

Question 10

Counter (Cultural Deprivation) : Troyna + Williams (1986)

Answer 10

Argue that the language of WC pupils is not the problem, but the schools attitude towards it.

They argue that teachers have a “speech hierarchy” with MC at the top, followed by WC and finally “black speech.”

Question 11

Counter (cultural deprivation) Blackstone + Mortimore (1994)

Answer 11

Argues that WC parents attend fewer parents evenings not because of a lack of interest, but because they are put off by the schools MC atmosphere.

-WC parents may wish to help with their child’s progress but lack the education and knowledge to do so.

Question 12

Housing

Answer 12

WC are more likely to live in poverty-stricken areas.

• Cramped conditions; less space to study without distractions.
• Sharing of rooms; disrupted sleep and poor concentration.
• Damp conditions; sickness and absences from school.

Question 13

Marilyn Howard (2001)

Answer 13

Diet & Health

• WC pupils have lower intakes of energy and weaker immune systems.
• WC pupils are have poorer nutritions/ vitamins and minerals.

Question 14

Support: Diet and Health: Wilkinson (1996)

Answer 14

• Found that among 10 year olds, the lower the social class, the higher the rate of hyper-activity, anxiety and behavioural disorders.

Question 15

Financial Support and The Costs of Education: (Emily Tanner et al(2003)

Answer 15

• The costs of items such as transport, uniforms, textbooks, computers etc. place a heavy burden on WC families.
• WC children may have to make do with “hand-me-downs” and cheaper, unfashionable equipment, leading to stigmatisation/bullying from peers.

Question 16

Financial Support + The Costs of Education: Flaherty

Answer 16

Fear of stigmatisation may explain why 20% of pupils eligible for FSM do not take it.

Question 17

David Bull (1980)

Answer 17

“The costs of free schooling.”

• Lack of financial support means that WC children are made to do without equipment and miss out on experiences which I would enhance their achievement.

Question 18

Financial Support + The Costs of Education: Smith + Noble (1995)

Answer 18

Poverty acts as a barrier to learning such as the inability to afford private schooling or tuition.

Question 19

Financial Support + The Costs of Education: Ridge

Answer 19

Children living in poverty tend to take on jobs such as baby-sitting, cleaning and paper rounds —> negative impact on schoolwork.

Question 20

Financial Support + The Costs of Education: Callander + Jackson (2005)

Answer 20

• WC pupils are more debt averse (view debt negatively) and see more costs than benefits of going to university.
• Attitudes to debt; MC pupils (debt tolerant) were over X5 more likely to apply to university.

Question 21

Mortimore + Whitty (1997)

Answer 21

Argue that material inequalities have the greatest effect on achievement.

Question 22

Peter Robinson (1997)

Answer 22

Argues that tackling child poverty would be the most effective way to boost achievement.

Question 23

Definition of Material Deprivation

Answer 23

When one lacks the appropriate physical materials needed for success within the education system.

E.g; appropriate housing/ textbooks/ food

Question 24

Definition of Cultural Deprivation

Answer 24

When one lacks the necessary norms, values, behaviours and attitudes needed for success within the education system.

E.g; use of language/ self-discipline/ reasoning skills

Question 25

[Marxist] Pierre Bourdieu (1984)

Answer 25

Cultural Capital: (knowledge, attitudes, values, language, tastes and abilities of the MC)

• Through primary socialisation, MC pupils squire the ability to grasp, analyse and express abstract ideas.
• MC more likely to develop intellectual interests + understand what the education system requires for success.

Question 26

Educational + Economic Capital

Answer 26

• MC pupils with CC are better equipped to meet the demands of the school and gain qualifications.
• MC parents can convert their economic capital into educational capital through private schools/ tuition.

Question 27

Leech + Campos (2003)

Answer 27

• Study found that MC parents are more likely to be able to afford a house in the catchment area of a school highly placed on the league tables.
• “Selection by Mortgage:” drives up the cost of houses near successful schools and excludes WC families.

Question 28

Alice Sullivan (2001)

Answer 28

• Used questionnaires to assess the CC of 465 school pupils.

- Found that pupils with the greatest CC were children of graduates, and were more likely to be successful at GCSE.

Question 29

Alice Sullivan (2001) Counter + Conclusion

Answer 29

• Found that CC only accounted for part of the class difference in achievement; where pupils of different classes had the same level of CC, MC pupils still did better.
• Concluded that the greater resources and aspirations of MC families explain the remainder of the class gap in achievement.