social class and achievement Flashcards
patterns and trends
m/c perform better
80% of university places
gap starts as early as three years old
Jerrim - most talented children left behind if from w/c
high achieving boys from most advantaged family background 2.5 years head their counterparts from less advantageous household by age 15
how to measure social class
parents occupation
FSM - income of less than 17k - poorest 1/6th
m/c - parents in non-manual/professional occupations
external factors summary
material deprivation - lack of access that money can buy eg heating, study guides
material capital - having adequate funds for hidden costs of education eg stationary, expensive uniform
cultural deprivation - lacking norms and values
cultural capital - norms and values passed on
material deprivation - home and school
douglas - home and school
- poor housing conditions eg overcrowding
- poor diet and ill health eg tiredness, absences
- low income eg lack of books, computer, toys
part-time jobs eg conflict with study and work
material deprivation - cycle of deprivation
Gibson and Asthana
higher levels of sickness so falling behind
low income
student loans and tuition fees - anxiety and deterrence
schools may suffer - sink schools - 90% of failing schools located in deprived areas
part-time jobs
material deprivation - supporting studies
flaherty - fear of stigmatisation - 20% entitled to FSM - didnt take them as they didnt want to be stigmatised
sutton trust - private school 22 times more likely to get into high ranked uni, 55 oxbridge
evaluation of material deprivation
too deterministic - only focusing on class - poor people can succeed
feminism - girls suffer disproportionate amounts - not just due to class
cultural, religious or political values may create and sustain motivation - poor british chinese students doing just as well as rich british chinese students
material capital
middle class materially advantages
eg extra curricular, tutors, private schools
how important is material deprivation in affecting educational achievement
1 in 3 children grow up poor
£5 a day - child benefits
Poorest 1/5th - only 2% of city’s income
Circumstances eg abuse/divorce can cause poverty
Debt - anxiety, stress
Basic needs eg heating
cultural deprivation - main factors
intellectual development
attitudes and values
linguistic deprivation
intellectual development
douglas - w/c less likely to support children at home eg reading
bernstein and young - m/c mothers more likely to choose toys that encourage thinking
Melanie Philips - the neets
- new right journalistic, w/c lack intellectual development due to family disorder
- broken families, socialisation disrupted
intellectual development criticisms
Maternal deprivation more important
Victim blaming
Generalisation
Deterministic
Classist
Scapegoating
Marxism
attitudes and values
douglas - degree of parental interest and encouragement in children’s education was single most important factor
- m/c more likely to show interest eg helping with homework
Values = high ambition
= take advantage of opportunities
= education background
= teaching perspective
attitudes and values - gratification
Sugarman
immediate gratification - w/c - fatalism - working class accept their economic situation rather than trying to change it
deferred gratification - m/c put off enjoyment in order for benefit in the future
linguistic deprivation
bernstein - restricted and elaborated codes
if skills not fully developed in family - disadvanatged in school
schools use elaborated code - m/c at an advantage
eg in textbooks, essays
linguistic deprivation eval
wide differences in usage of language - difficult to generalise
Labov - the language used by w/c children is simply different not inferior - equally capable of dealing with abstract and complex ideas
troyna and williams - problem is not language but school’s attitude towards it - speech hierarchy
cultural deprivation strengths
Goodman and Grieg for Joseph Rowntree foundation
- number of ways this impacts w/c students
reading parents, attitudes, value of education, negative behaviour eg truancy
cultural values were primary cause of class inequality but material deprivation plays role in shaping achievement
- influential for government policies - compensatory education eg sure start and ema
cultural deprivation eval
keddie - victim-blaming - w/c culturally different not culturally deprived
education dominated by m/c values - marxism
blackstone and mortimore
- harder to be involved due to long working hours and m/c atmosphere
marxists - victim-blaming - lets social inequality and education system off the hook - real cause is material deprivation