Social Class and Education Flashcards
What are some internal factors?
- quality of teaching
- labelling
- setting and streaming
- grading
- uniform
What are some external factors?
- cultural capital
- deprivation and poverty
- transport
- cultural deprivation
What are some ‘facts’ about WC children?
(Stats based)
- less likely to be found in nurseries
- more likely to be in low sets
- less likely to go to uni
- more likely to be suspended and excluded
What did J W B Douglas (1964) discover?
He discovered that MC children were succeeding and choosing to stay on at school, due to parental interest and pre-school socialisation.
He discovered this in a longitudinal study of 5000 children born in 1948; he studied them between their births and their 16th birthdays.
What does Bernstein (1972) argue?
There are 2 language codes: elaborate and restricted.
Elaborate= detailed, explanatory
Restricted= shorthand speech
What does Hyman (1967) argue?
‘The values of lower classes create a self-imposed barrier to learning’
They do this through their:
1. Low value on education
2. ‘Play safe’ culture
3. Low level of self-belief
What does Sugarman (1970) argue?
He argues the way manual/non-manual work affects attitudes to learning.
WC children tend to ‘live for today’ with a carefree attitude. They have no career plan, tend to give up and opt for the easiest path.
What is the link between poverty and underachievement?
One link is that only 33% of FSM students gained 5 or more A*-C grades in 2006, compared to 61% of non-FSM students.
Another link is that exclusion and truancy are more common in poorer students, and that 90% of failing schools are in deprived areas.
What did Howard Becker (1952) find?
He found that teachers hold strong stereotypical views about pupils from certain socio-economic backgrounds.
What was Rosenthal and Jacobson’s (1968) study and what did they find?
They told teachers that a randomly picked sample of their students were actually intellectual ‘bloomers’; although this was completely made-up. They found that teachers DID treat these students differently, and that these pupils DID fair better by the end of the year.
What did Ball (1981) find?
He showed that teachers’ expectations of some students led to streaming of certain kids, and that they varied their expectations based on these sets.
What did Gillborn find?
He found that some teachers blamed African-Caribbean students more than white students for poor behaviour, even when it is identical.
What are characteristics of a pro-school subculture?
- accept values and ethos of the school
- willingly conform to rules
- hard workers who aspire to high academic achievement
What are characteristics of an anti-school subculture?
- truancy
- breaking rules
- avoiding work
- disruptive
What did Schmid and Garrels (2021) do and what did they find?
They carried out interviews with 25 students who were at risk of failure, but succeeded. When asked what mattered, they said:
- social psychological support
- supervision of schoolwork
- high expectations and aspirations
What did Fan and Williams (2009) find?
That parents’ aspiration makes children more motivated, and that parents’ advising makes children more motivated and effective in English classes.
