External Factors: Cultural Deprivation Flashcards
Attitudes & values – working-class subculture
w/c parents tend to value education less than middle class parents, & this has a negative effect on working class students in terms of their poorer performance. E.g. research has shown that working class parents are less likely to take an interest in their child’s schoolwork & homework and are less likely to attend Parents Evenings
Sugarman related certain aspects of middle- & working-class subculture more directly to differential educational attainment. He argued that differences in the nature of jobs tended to produce differences in attitude & outlook. He claimed many m/c jobs provided an opportunity for continuous advancement in income & status. This encouraged planning for the future & deferred gratification. W/c jobs reached full earning capacity quite quickly. Manual workers are more likely to be unemployed or made redundant than middle class workers.
The absence of a career structure in many working-class jobs meant attitudes of immediate gratification & fatalism are an established part of working-class subculture which can be passed down to children and affect their achievement
Parents’ education & intellectual stimulation
Feinstein (2008) argues that the main reason for working class children underachieving was their parents’ lack of interest in their children’s education. Less educated, w/c parents are less likely to give their children educational toys & activities that will stimulate their thinking & reasoning skills, & are less likely to read to them. This affects their intellectual development so that when they begin school they are at a disadvantage compared to m/c
Lower-working-class parents may feel less confident in dealing with teachers at parents’ evenings, & in dealing with subject options & exam choices. This all gives middle-class children further advantages due to their socialisation in the family
Language
Language is an essential part of the process of education & the way in which parents communicate with their children affects their cognitive (intellectual) development & their ability to benefit from the process of schooling
Feinstein (2008) found that educated parents are more likely to use language in a way that challenges their children to evaluate their own understanding or abilities
In contrast, less educated parents tend to use language in ways that only require children to make simple descriptive statements (e.g. ‘what is that animal called?’) which results in lower performance as they are less likely to be able to explain and explore complex ideas in spoken or written language.
Bernstein distinguishes between elaborated & restricted speech codes Crucially, the elaborate code is the one used in the education system, by teachers, textbooks & exams which can give middle class children an advantage over working class children
A03
Keddie describes this cultural deprivation as a myth & sees it as a victim-blaming explanation. She argues that working-class kids are culturally different not culturally deprived. They fail because they are disadvantaged by an education system that is dominated by middle class values.
Reay (2009) points out that working-class people often lack the same degree of confidence & assertiveness that the middle classes posses in their interactions with teachers & schools. These factors can prevent working-class people from turning parental interest into practical support in the way middle-class parents can.
The fact that working-class children have fewer education toys may be more to do with material factors such as a lack of sufficient income to spend on books etc, rather than an indication that working class parents are less interested in their children’s education.
