factors that affect education (internal and external) Flashcards
what are children from a working-class background less/more likely to do?
- less likely to be in nursery schools
- more likely to start school unalbe to read
- more likely to fall behind in reading, writing and number skills
- are less likely to get five GCSE’s
- are less likely to go to sixth form or university
what is cultural deprivation?
this is the basic “cultural equipment” such as language, self discipline and reasoning skills acquired through primary socialisation
what do Hubbs- Tait 2002 say about language development for children?
- parents use language that challenges their children to evaluate their own understanding or abilities cognitive performance will improve
- less educated parents tend to use language in ways that only require children to make simple descriptive statements which results in lower performance
Basil Bernstein (1975) - language code
MC and WC language is different
- The restricted code- the type of speech the working classes use. Vocabulary is limited, sentences usually short and simple. IT is descriptive not analytical and speech is context bound (assumes the listener shares the same set of experiences)
- The elaborated code - the speech used by the middle class. Longer, more grammatically complex sentences with a wider vocabulary. this is context free and so language is used to explicitly spell out meaning
- These speech codes give the mc students an advantage at school as elaborated code is used by teachers, in textbooks and in exams
i= t is said Bernstein is a cultural deprivation theorists as ye describes wc speech as inadequate BUT unlike other cultural deprivation theorists, he says it is not only the home but also school who fail to adequately socialise these children into the elaborate code
Douglas (1964) - WC value on education
working class parents place less value on education and so are less ambitious for their children and less disinterested in their education
what at home factors stop WC children from achieving?
parenting styles- educated parents set high expectations and encourage active learning. less educated parents emphasise doing as you’re told and behaving yourself so preventing children from learning independence and self control
parent’s educational behaviours- reading to their children, teaching them letters, numbers,songs, poems and nursery rhymes. painting and drawing, helping with homework and being actively involved in their schooling
use of income- income is not only higher but spent in ways that promote educational success in terms of what they buy. parents also have a better understanding of nutritions and a higher income to buy more nutritious food
According to sugarman, what are the 4 key features of fatalism?
- fatalism
- collectivism
- immediate gratification
- present time orientation
what did Bourdieu define cultural capital as?
“familiarity with the legitimate culture within a society” what we might call “high culture” He saw families passing on cultural capital to their children by introducing them to dance and music, taking them to theatre, galleries and historic sites and by talking about literature and art over the dinner table.
what are the 3 sources of cultural capital?
object: cultural goods, books, works of art
embodied: language, mannerisms,preferences
institutionalised: qualifications, education credentials
what does Keddie say about the myth of cultural capital?
- “victim blaming” approach to educational underachievement
Working class children are culturally different and not culturally deprived - failure is due to mc values dominance of the education system which puts WC at a disadvantage
- schools should embrace and build on the strengths of WC culture rather than look down on it
- it is impossible that WC attend less parents evening as they are working longer or less regular hours, They may want to help their children but lack the knowledge to do so
how does material deprivation affect WC students?
- only ⅓ of students eligible for FSM achieve five or more GCSEs A*-C compared to ⅔ of other pupils
- money problems are a significant factor in younger children’s non attendance (Flaherty 2004)
- exclusions and truancy are more likely for children from poorer families
- nearly 90% of failing schools are located in deprived areas
diet and health - Howard (2001)
those from poorer homes have lower intakes of energy, vitamins and minerals. Poor nutrition leads to weaker immune systems and less energy levels, resulting to increased absence and less ability to concentrate in class
social class and anixety - Wilkinson (1996)
Researched 10 year olds
- The lower the social class the higher the rate of hyperactivity, anxiety and conduct disorders all impacting education
university attendance
the most debt averse (wc) were 5 times less likely to apply to university than the most tolerant (mc) students
increased tuition feels (2012) has impacted this further; UCAS 2012 saw an 8.6% reduction un applications from the previous yea
statistics on childhood poverty
- 2019/2020 4.3 million children were living in poverty
nearly 30% of children, or 9 in a classroom of 30 - poverty= family income of less that 60% of ave wage (£18,840)
strict limits on who is eligible for FSM £7,400 +universal credit
Becker labeling the ideal pupil:
- 60 interviews with high school teachers in chicago
- teachers had a definite view of the “ideal pupil”
- students conduct work rate and appearance were all factors that were taken into account when teachers made judgments about students
- students from middle class backgrounds were more likely to be labelled positively by teachers
Harvey and Slatin (1975) - ethnicity nad identifying intelligence
- researchers showed photos of different children from a variety of social, ethnic and cultural backgrounds
- they found that pupils from poorer or non-white backgrounds were most likely to be identified as less intelligent
Gillbourn (2011)
found that teachers were likely to deny opportunities to black children because they were not “ideal”
Rosenthal and Jacobson - pygmalion in the classroom
- conducted a field experiment at a primary school in USA
- students were given IQ test and as a small group were then selected at random from the results
- teachers were told these students were able to make significant and quick progress (spurters)
- when Rosenthal and Jacobson returned to the school to re administer the IQ test, it was these students who have made more progress than the other members of the group
Gillborn and Youdell - educational triage
- Gillbourn and Youdell argue that schools perform a triage ( like nurses at A&E) categories pupils into those who will achieve anyway and therefore don’t require too much input), hopeless cases (who would be a waste of effort) and borderline cases who require attention and input to get their 5 C’s at GCSE
- They linked this with the pressure on schools to maintain their position on league tables and the publishes A*-C grades
therefore, this could be seen as a connection between education policy (e.g marketisation policies like league tables) and processes within schools, such as labelling
what is banding, setting and streaming?
banding: where schools try to ensure that their intake has a spread of all pupils drawn from a range of abilities
streaming: is where students are divided into groups of similar abilities for all subjects
setting: where students are placed in an ability group on a subject by subject basis
evaluation for educational triage
not all working class students who are negatively labelled will fail as a result
determinism
self refuting prophecy
mary fuller
problems with banding, setting and streaming
- labelling
- self fulfilling prophecy
- restricts the grades that you get
- being places in a low set or stream can undermine pupil confidence and discourage them from trying
- teachers may have lower expectations of pupils in low sets
beachside comprehensive (1981); ball found that top stream students warmed to education in high streams and those in low streams did not - they cooled down - Smyth et al (2006) students in low streams have negative attitude; are more likely to be disengaged; are more likely to disengage with school life- it shows streams demonstrate a destructive effect on students
what are the different types of subcultures according to Mac an Ghaill?
- academic
- the macho lads
- gay students
- the new enterprises
- real Englishmen
what did carol jackson say about girls and subcultures
girls are increasingly becoming prone to anti school behaviours, adopting laddette behaviours. this included boisterous, crude and assertive attitudes which aimed to make teachers lives a “living hell” ; she also found that some of the girls would be clandestine in their approach to work hard and achieve despite laddette behaviours
Woods (evaluation)
- Division of responses to schools through subculture into pro/anti-school is not helpful and is reductive
- Woods suggested that there was a range of responses in subculture. Each of the adaptations affects the students
students may change from rebellion to compliance as they get older and choose their subjects - Woods claimed that there were eight responses, on a varying scale from pro school to anti school.
what is habitus?
the shared thought processes of a class
what did Louis Althusser say about nike identities?
- to overcome the symbolic violence they face, working class students gain self- worth through style - brand names
this gives a sense of “being me” - these identities are strongly gendered - specific to males or females
- must conform to these styles to get social approval/ status
approval from peers, but conflict with school’s habitus #working class see higher education as:- unrealistic- not for people “like us”
- undesirable- does not suit this habitus
- working class underachieve as they self- exclude from education seeing it as not part of their habitus
What is the difference between ‘Ethnicity’ and ‘Race’?
Race refers to a person’s physical characteristics such as bone structure and skin, hair or eye colour. Ethnicity, however refers to cultural factors, including nationality, regional culture, ancestry and language
what groups are more likely to have lower attainment?
Black caribbean, pakistani and irish traveller
what are groups with lower attainment more likely to have?
- below average reading skills
- less likely to stay on in education after compulsory schooling
- Black Caribbean students are more likely to be permanently excluded and for longer fixed terms than white british students
- They are over represented in lower streams (where applicable)
- more likely to leave schools with no qualifications
- The gap between Black, Caribbean, Pakistani and white british students are very similar to 1990’s - most other groups have improved
- consistently lower levels of attainment than other social groups across all national curriculum key stages
- Black Caribbean students tend to be over represented in school for those with learning disabilities
what are groups with lower attainment more likely to have?
- below average reading skills
- less likely to stay on in education after compulsory schooling
- Black Caribbean students are more likely to be permanently excluded and for longer fixed terms than white british students
- They are over represented in lower streams (where applicable)
- more likely to leave schools with no qualifications
- The gap between Black, Caribbean, Pakistani and white british students are very similar to 1990’s - most other groups have improved
- consistently lower levels of attainment than other social groups across all national curriculum key stages
- Black Caribbean students tend to be over represented in school for those with learning disabilities
what groups are likely to have higher attainment levels?
Chinese, Indian and Asian Pupils
what factors impact success?
- labelling
- money / material factors
-cultural factors / values - parental attitude
- ethnocentric curriculum
- language barriers
- family knowledge and background
- institutional and individual racism
what is the link between class/material factors and ethnicity
- 15% of ethnic minority households live in overcrowded conditions compared to 2% of white households
- Indian and Chinese are more likely to be middle class and they have higher achievement
- Pakistani and Afro- Caribbean are more likely to be working class and have higher deprivation and poor achievement rates
Sewell - Fathers, gangs and culture
- It is not the lack of male role models (Murray) that leads to underachievement but the lack of fatherly nurturing or tough love
- This results in boys forming/joining street gangs
- ‘The biggest barrier facing black boys is actually black peer pressure. We need to talk about how black students discourage their peers.’
Bereiter + Engelmann - language in the home
- language puts ethnic groups at a disadvantage as English is not spoken at home
- Number of non-English as a first language speakers more than doubled since 1977
Geay et al (2012) - rates of white non - native speakers
found an increase in white non-native speakers since the European Union’s enlargement in 2005
evaluation for ethnicity and achievement
- Sewell - racism in schools is not powerful enough to prevent individuals’ success. Instead we should focus on anti school attitudes, the peer group and the nurturing role of the father
- As well as the underachievement of black boys there is the over achievement of Indian and Chinese students therefore how can there be institutional racism in the system?
- Gilbourn responds by saying this just makes the system appear meritocratic and justified the failure of the other minority groups by blaming their behaviour, so ignoring the fact that “model minorities” still suffer racism in schools
what are the gender differences in terms of education?
- Girls outperform boys in most subjects at every level of education
- A higher proportion of girls stay on in sixth form, get 3 A levels and further education and post-18 higher education
- Maths is the only subject where there is no gender gap
- 10% fewer boys achieve 5 or more good GCSE’s
- Boys are more likely to fail their English GCSE
- Until the 1980’s girls did less well in exams, were less likely to stay on and were less likely to go to university
- From the 1980’s onwards there was improvement in all areas - due to things like GCSe and coursework
- 55% acceptance rate for girls in university
Sue Sharpe - 1976 and 1994 - just like a girl
- shows a major shift in the ways girls are seeing their future
- 1976 - low aspirations; educational success is unfeminine
- 1994- more likely to see their future as independent women
what are some material factors for external gender achievement?
- JWB Dougals found that in the 1960s more resources were devoted to the education of sons rather than daughters, particularly where finances were tight
- This helps to explain why boys were more likely to be involved in post compulsory education
what are some examples of things that were introduced to give equal oppurtunities to girls ?
- GIST/WISE - encourage girls to pursue non traditional areas
- National Curriculum makes girls and boys study mostly the same subjects
- Reading schemes used to portray women as housewives & physics books portrayed them as scared of science
- Weiner - since 1980’s teachers have challenged stereotypes and images have been changed
what are some examples of things that were introduced to give equal oppurtunities?
- GIST/WISE - encourage girls to pursue non traditional areas
- National Curriculum makes girls and boys study mostly the same subjects
- Reading schemes used to portray women as housewives & physics books portrayed them as scared of science
- Weiner - since 1980’s teachers have challenged stereotypes and images have been changed
how does gcses and coursework show the difference in gender achievement
- girls are more successful in coursework subjects as they are more consensus, meet deadlines and take more care over work
- This is supported by research showing the gap increasingly sharply in 1989 (the year coursework was introduced)
- Also GCSE has a greater use of oral exams & girls have better-developed language skills
- it is argued that these skills are developed through early gender role socialisation
Elwood (2005)- evaluation of coursework and grades
Courseworks unlikely to be the only cause as exams have more influence than coursework on grades
the feminisation of education
- School has become a female dominated environment which benefits girls and makes boys less comfortable
- 95% of staff in primary schools are female
- teachers now label female students as more likely to succeed
- Laddish subcultures prevent boys from being seen as hardworking, girls subcultures are the opposite. Therefore, schools are not nurturing masculine traits such as competitiveness and leadership.
Archer (2010) - underachievement of working class girls
- Examine the underachievement of working class girls
- She looks at the concept of “symbolic capital”
- Symbolic capital is the status, recognition and sense of worth we are able to obtain from others
- working class students would need to change how they talked and presented themselves in order to gain symbolic capital from the school.
- Those who don’t are devalued and judged negatively by school and so suffer symbolic violence
hyper- heterosexual feminine identities:
- many girls spent time and effort constructing “desirable” and glamorous” identities
- this got them status from their peer group but brought them into conflict with the school
- Teachers then labelled the girls as not engaging with education due to their distraction with make-up
- Though what Bordieu calls symbolic violence the girls were defined as incapable of success
what is the dilemma that working class girls face?
either gaining symbolic capital through the hyper-heterosexual identity
OR gaining education educational capital by rejecting their working class identity and conforming to the middle class ideas of the school
What and who did Mac an Ghaill study?
It was an ethnographic study of Parnell School and studied male and female students in their last compulsory school year and was able to build up a series of in-depth case histories on which to base his analysis.
what are the key points of Mac an Ghaill’s study?
- studied a co-educational (mixed) comprehensive school in the midlands
- research was longitudinal (1990-2) and ethnographic (observation of people in natural setting from their view point)
- crisis of masculinity- girls beating boys in GCSE results & in the race to jobs - less traditional working class jobs
- boys became demoralised & lacked purpose in life
how does the impact of feminism affect gender achievement differences?
- traditional gender roles in the media have changed
- Angela McRobbie’s (1994) study of girls’ magazines. –> In the 1970’s they emphasised the importance of getting
married and not being left on the shelf, whereas nowadays they contain images of assertive independent women
how has changes in the family affected gender achievement?
- increasing numbers of female-headed lone-parent families
may mean more women need to take on a breadwinner role. - explain underachievement in boys through lack of a male role
model in the family unit to aspire to.
how has changes in labour market affected gender achievement?
changes like 1970 Equal Pay Act and the 1975 sex discrimination act have encouraged women to see their future in terms
of paid work rather than as housewives.
evaluation for external factors for gender achievement?
- McRobbie’s research can be criticised for being an out-dated
view since it is over 20 years old - Diane Reay (1998) found that some working
class girls continue to have gender-stereotyped aspirations for
marriage and children and expect to go into traditional low
paid women’s work - The New Right claim that a decline in the nuclear family has
resulted in many boys developing an anti-school subculture
what are the internal factors that have caused a change in gender achievement?
- Weiner (1995) argues that since the 1980s, teachers have challenged such stereotypes. Also, in general, sexist imaged have been removed from learning materials
- Marketisation policies have created a more competitive climate in which schools see girls as desirable recruits because
they achieve better exam results - Epstein (1998) argues that the growth of laddish subcultures has contributed to boys’ underachievement. She examined
the way masculinity is constructed within a school and found that working-class boys are likely to be harassed, labelled as
‘sissies’ and subject to homophobic verbal abuse if they appear to be swots
evaluation for internal factors that affect gender achievement
- liberal feminists claim that small improvements inside and
outside schools has resulted in an increase in educational
achievement amongst females. - Slee (1998) argues that boys are less attractive to
schools because they are more likely to suffer from
behavioural problems and are four times more likely to be
excluded. - The feminisation of education does not consider the fact that
boys can still be seen to dominate lessons and take up more
of the teachers’ time. - Francis (2007) claims that boys were more concerned than girls about being labelled by peers as swots because this label is more of a threat to their masculinity than it is to girls’ femininity
reasons for gender differences in subject choices
- socialisation
- peer pressure
- role models
- gender identities
- teaching styles
- type of school
- stereotyping
evaluation for labelling
- it is hard to prove the extent of labelling by teachers and the extent of the impact it has on students- are they even aware of it?
- findings show many contradictory outcomes form labelling so there is no one effect
- Interactionist sociologists fail to look at the structural reasons for labelling such as class or ethnicity - DO different social groups act upon labels in different ways?
- Mirza say labelling did not have a negative effect on the black girls she studied and in fact pushed them to achieve
Willis - “learning to labour” (1977)
- he used ethnographic research from a neo marxist perspective to follow a group of working-class boys in an attempt to understand why working class boys go into working class jobs
- academic success was frowned upon and messing about in class rewarded
- they got through school by “having a laff” and pushing the boundaries as school wasn’t for them
- all ended up in wc jobs
-pupils can also form pro school subcultures which support school rules and promote hard work and compliant behaviour
evaluation of willis
- post modernists would see subcultures as part of a cultural identity rather than the product of labels or as having a clear link to achievement and attitude at school
-many subcultures at school are defined bt taste in music or fashion rather than social class or attitude to school - willis was not really focussing on the subcultures but how the class system reproduced itself with the leads ending up in jobs similar to their fathers rather than the school processes relating to it
pupil identities
- postmodern perspective
- there is an overlap between pupil identities and relationships and processes in school
- identity relates to how we see ourselves but also to how others see us
- however pupil identities are hugely complex and likely to be influenced by may factors and not just school
- teacher labels and attitudes to school may be part of the mix but also fashion and music, sport or enjoyment of art etc can influence this
- to post identity is about who we choose to be rather than how others paint us and is a fluid process
the hidden curriculum
- this links in with many of the other areas that we have discussed but is also one of the key processes within the school environment
-from a functionalist perspective the hidden curriculum is vital to embedding the universalistic norms and values of society into individuals and so helps society to function properly - conflict theorists would see it as a covert way of reinforcing the principles of capitalism or patriarchy
setting, streaming and banding
- it is often argued that students are based into sets and streams based on their teachers perceptions of those students or stereotypes
- there are also institutional labels so the principles of labelling can be applied here too
- sometimes schools try to disguise this by giving more neutral names to the stream
- setting is more flexible than streaming as it is general easier to move between sets than streams
