Paper 3 Inequalities in educational achievement

Question 1

Outside Of School
Cultural Factor - Home and Parental Interests
Douglas

Answer 1

a variety of factors affected attainment such as the students health, size of family and their school. Most significant was the degree of parents intrest in their education
Middle class parents were more likely to encourage their education compared to working class who let them fall behind

Question 2

Outside Of School
Cultural Factor - Home and Parental Interests
Feinstein

Answer 2

Parents own education is the most important factor affecting children’s achievement. Middle class parents seem to be more educated which they can give their children. This happens through many ways such as parenting styles (inconsistent discipline and low standards) for Working class

Question 3

Outside Of School
Cultural Factor - Language and Speech
Bereiter and Engelmann

Answer 3

Language used by the lower class is deficient and that they communicate by gestures, single words and disjointed phrases. This promotes children to fail to develop the necessary language skills

Question 4

Outside Of School
Cultural Factor - Language and Speech
Bernstein

Answer 4

‘Restricted code’ & ‘Elaborated code’ middle class are able to use both of these codes whereas the working class can only access the ‘Restricted code’

Question 5

Outside Of School
Cultural Factor - Language and Speech : Bernstein
Restricted code

Answer 5

Used in informal situations and lack descriptions. Code is highly predictable and lacks knowledge and understanding - Typically used by the working class

Question 6

Outside Of School
Cultural Factor - Language and Speech : Bernstein
elaborated code

Answer 6

Used in formal situations allowing people to be creative. Characterised with adjectives and pronouns which has a depth of knowledge and understanding - Typically used by the middle class

Question 7

Outside Of School
Cultural Factors - Working Class Culture
Sugarman

Answer 7

Working class formed a different subculture characterised by the following:

• Fatalism: See their futures of manual labour jobs and a lack of academic success so don’t try in school
• Immediate Gratification: Leave education with the aim to go into work for financial reasons
• Present Time Orientation: Too focused and distracted by getting involved in what is happening in current time then focusing themselves on the future
• Collectivism: Peer group culture leads to students getting involved with anti school subcultures

Question 8

Outside Of School
Cultural Factors - Working Class Culture
Willis

Answer 8

Lads - anti school subcultures formed as peer groups formed within education. They want to follow in their fathers footsteps into manual labour work meaning that they don’t try within education and therefore lack the qualifications and the skills to get a highly paid job

Question 9

Outside Of School
Cultural Factors - Working Class Culture
Mac an Ghail

Answer 9

‘The making of men’ - Macho lads : for these boys it was the ability to perform heavy physical, manual labour work which became the way for them to shape their working class identity, which meant they under performed within an education setting. When the job market changed many men lots their jobs as the market became more suited to women - men lost their jobs called it the crisis of masculinity

Question 10

Outside Of School
Cultural Factors - Cultural Capital
Bourdieu

Answer 10

States that the education system is based of the favour of the cultural norms and values of the dominant class. Also acknowledges the impact of social, economic and cultural capital

Question 11

Outside Of School
Cultural Factors - Cultural Capital
Gerwitz

Answer 11

Competition between schools benefit the middle class. Differences between economic and cultural capital led to class differences in how far parents can exercise the choice of secondary school. - Privileged skilled choosers

Question 12

Outside Of School
Material Factors - Material Deprivation
Smith and Nobel

Answer 12

‘Financial Barriers to Learning’ - students face these barriers due to their parents having a low income. Some of these might be:
- Unable to afford school uniforms, textbooks, transport ect..
- Less likely to have a computer/desk and homework
- Pupils are likely to work part time

Question 13

Outside Of School
Material Factors - Material Deprivation
Raey et al

Answer 13

Economic capital is needed to gain cultural capital meaning some students miss out which has a negative impact on their attainment. Meaning that working class students are more likely to have part time jobs and therefore more likely to work longer hours reducing their chances of attaining higher grades

Question 14

Outside Of School
Material Factors - Material Deprivation
Calendar and Jackson

Answer 14

‘Fear of debt’ found that those afraid of debt were four times more likely to apply for university. The fear was the greatest amongst the poor.

Question 15

Outside Of School
Miscellaneous Factors - Intelligence
Eysenck

Answer 15

IQ is largely inherited. Class differences intelligence largely account for class differences in educational attainment

Question 16

Inside Of School
Labelling
Keddie

Answer 16

Found evidence of teachers expectations being less for those in the bottem streams, undermining the quality of teaching. Streams had a large effect on children:

• A streamers : were trusted to work iwth the minimu of supervision and to make contribution to class discussion
• C streamers: were in need of constant social control and were never left to do their own work

Question 17

Outside Of School
Labelling
Hargreaves

Answer 17

Studied 2 streams of boys. Found that selection of streams was closely related to behaviour. Higher streams were rewarded for conforming and therefore achvied more. Lower sets felt unable to achive high status in teachers eyes thus turning to anti school subcultures which effected attainment issues. Identified that these processes occurred between the labelling of teachers about students:
- Speculation
- Working hypothesis
- Elaboration
- Stabilisation

Question 18

Outside Of School
Labelling
Rosenthal and Jacobson

Answer 18

Studied the pygmalion effect they created a fake test for students to show which pupils were ‘spurters’. They picked out that 20% at random were spurters and the the teachers (the teachers were unaware they were made up) 47% of those selcted made major progress. As teachers would make more effort to help them and spend time with them

Question 19

Outside Of School
Labelling
Becker’s

Answer 19

Teachers see middle class pupils as closest to the ideal pupil in terms of performance, conduct appearance an attitude. These labbels create self fufilling prophicies and therefore working class students may be labelled as non achivers or diviant which may then lwad to their lack of achivement

Question 20

Outside Of School
Pupil Subcultures
Hargreaves

Answer 20

Studied 2 streams of boys in a seoncdary modern school. Selection of streams was closely related to behaviour the top behaviour was rewarded and the lower stream felt unable to achive high status in the teachers eyes and thus sort alternative status from peers, forming anti school subcultures

Question 21

Outside Of School
Pupil Subcultures
Mac an Ghail

Answer 21

Macho Lads, manual work displays WC identity, deindustrialisation = crisis of masculinity, office roles traditionally ‘suited the lifestyles of women’, anti-school subculture

Question 22

Outside Of School
Pupil Subcultures
Willis

Answer 22

lads, counter school subculture, felt superior to conformist boys, follow in father’s footsteps, prepare for shop floor culture

Question 23

Outside Of School
Material Factors - Material Deprivation
Howard

Answer 23

Young people from poorer homes have lower intakes of energy vitamins and minerals which can lead to weaker immune systems and therefore more time off school.