Social Class Differences in Achievement

Question 1

Explaining class differences:

What kind of jobs are those in M/C and W/C usually get?

Answer 1

Those who are M/C are more likely to get non-manual occupations such as doctors/teachers, office workers and owners of businesses.

However, those who are W/C are more likely to get manual jobs such as plumbing, lorry drivers or cleaners.

This is usually based on their class and the way that they have been brought up.

Question 2

Explaining class differences:

How does social class affect a child’s chances of success in education:

Answer 2

Children from middle-class families on average perform better than working-class children e.g M/C are more likely to be in full-time education and go university. - parents can afford to send their children to private schools, which many believe provide a higher standard of education.

For example, average class sizes are less than half those in state schools. This means that these children are more likely to receive undivided attention which ultimately means that they will have a better performance in their education.

The Sutton Trust (2011), Eton - sent 211 pupils to Oxbridge, while over 1,300 state schools sent no pupils at all to these universities.

Question 3

Explaining class differences:

Criticism of its not private school help to elevate a child’s success chances

Answer 3

private education does not account for class differences within state education, and most sociological research has focused on why middle-class pupils do better than working-class pupils within the state sector itself.

Question 4

Cultural deprivation:

What is cultural deprivation

EXTERNAL FACTOR

Answer 4

Cultural deprivation is a theory in sociology where a person has inferior norms, values, skills and knowledge.

This means that they struggle to operate in society as they don’t have the vital skills that the need in order to be an asset.

Question 5

Cultural deprivation:

How do cultural deprivation theorists think cultural deprivation occurs

EXTERNAL FACTOR

Answer 5

Some sociologists claim that this is the result of cultural deprivation. They argue that most of us begin to acquire the basic values, attitudes and skills that are needed for educational success through primary socialisation in the family. This basic ‘cultural equipment includes things such as language, self-discipline and reasoning skills.

However, according to cultural deprivation theorists, many working-class families fail to socialise their children adequately. These children grow up ‘culturally deprived’.

That is, they lack the cultural equipment needed to do well at school and so they underachieve.

Question 6

Cultural deprivation:

How can language show cultural deprivation (use sociologists)

EXTERNAL FACTOR

Answer 6

Language is an essential part of the process of education and the way in which parents communicate with their children affects their cognitive (intellectual) development and their ability to benefit from the process of schooling.

Feinstein (2008) found that educated parents are more likely to use language that encourages children to think for themselves.

By contrast, less educated parents tend to use language in ways that only require children to make simple descriptive statements (for example, ‘what’s that animal called?’). This results in lower performance.

Bereiter and Engelmann (1966) claim that the language used in lower-class homes is deficient. They describe lower-class families as communicating by gestures, single words or disjointed phrases.

As a result, their children fail to develop the necessary language skills. They grow up incapable of abstract thinking and unable to use language to explain, describe, enquire or compare. Because of this, they are unable to take advantage of the opportunities that school offers.

Question 7

Cultural deprivation: Speech codes:

How can speech codes show cultural deprivation? (use sociologists)

EXTERNAL FACTOR

Answer 7

Basil Bernstein (1975) also identifies differences between working-class and middle-class language that influence achievement. He distinguishes between two types of speech code:

• The restricted code is the speech code typically used by the working class. It has a limited vocabulary and uses simple sentences. It is descriptive not analytic.
• The elaborated code is typically used by the middle class. It has a wider vocabulary and uses more complex sentences. Speech is more varied and communicates abstract ideas.

Question 8

Cultural deprivation: Speech Codes:

How does using the elaborated code advantage the M/C?

EXTERNAL FACTOR

Answer 8

The elaborated speech code gives the middle-class children an advantage at school and put working-class children at a disadvantage.

This is because the elaborated code is the language used by teachers, textbooks and exams.

Early socialisation into the elaborated code means that middle-class children are already fluent users of the code when they start school. Thus they feel comfortable in school and are more likely to succeed.

By contrast, working-class children, lacking the code in which schooling takes place, are likely to feel excluded and to be less successful.

Question 9

Cultural deprivation: Parents Education:

How does a parent’s education affect how their children will achieve (use sociologists)

EXTERNAL FACTOR

Answer 9

Douglas (1964) found that working-class parents placed less value on education.

As a result, they were less ambitious for their children, gave them less encouragement and took less interest in their education.

They visited schools less often and were less likely to discuss their children’s progress with teachers. As a result, their children had lower levels of motivation and achievement.

Leon Feinstein (2008) also found that W/C parents place less value on education.

He argues that parents’ own education is the most important factor affecting children’s achievement and, since middle-class parents tend to be better educated, they are able to give their children an advantage by how they socialise them.

Question 10

Cultural deprivation: Parents Education:

How does parenting style affect a child’s education:

EXTERNAL FACTOR

Answer 10

Educated parents’ parenting style emphasises consistent discipline and high expectations of their children, and this supports achievement by encouraging active learning and exploration.

By contrast, less educated parents’ parenting style is marked by harsh or inconsistent discipline that emphasises ‘doing as you’re told and ‘behaving yourself’.

This prevents the child from learning independence and self-control, leading to poorer motivation at school and problems interacting with teachers.

Question 11

Cultural deprivation: Parents Education:

How does parents educational behaviours affect their child’s education: (use sociologists)

EXTERNAL FACTOR

Answer 11

Educated parents are more aware of what is needed to assist their children’s educational progress. As a result, they engage in behaviour such as: reading to their children and helping with homework.

e.g Bernstein and Young (1967) found, middle-class mothers are more likely to buy educational toys, books and activities that encourage reasoning skills and stimulate intellectual development.

Educated parents are also better able to get expert advice on childrearing, more successful in establishing good relationships with teachers and better at guiding their children’s interactions with school. These parents also recognise the educational value of activities such as visits to museums and libraries.

e.g Gerwirtz (1995)- Privileged skills choosers, they were mainly professional M/C parents who used their economic and cultural capital to gain educational capital for their children, they were able to take full advantage of the choices open to them. As well as visited schools and could afford to pay extra travel costs so children could attend better schools that weren’t in the area.

Question 12

Cultural deprivation: Parents Education:

How does a parents use of income affect their child’s education (use sociologists)

EXTERNAL FACTOR

Answer 12

Better educated parents not only tend to have higher incomes. They also spend their income in ways that promote their children’s educational success.

e.g Bernstein and Young (1967) found, middle-class mothers are more likely to buy educational toys, books and activities that encourage reasoning skills and stimulate intellectual development. Working-class homes are more likely to lack these resources and this means children from such homes start school without the intellectual skills needed to progress.

Educated parents also have a better understanding of nutrition and its importance in child development and a higher income with which to buy more nutritious food.

Marilyn Howard (2001) notes that young people from poorer homes have lower intakes of energy, vitamins and minerals.

Question 13

Cultural deprivation: Working class subculture:

What is the W/C subculture

EXTERNAL FACTOR

Answer 13

Cultural deprivation theorists argue that lack of parental interest in their children’s education reflects the subcultural values of the working class.

A subculture is a group whose attitudes and values differ from those of the mainstream culture.

According to cultural deprivation theorists, large sections of the working class have different goals, beliefs, attitudes and values from the rest of society and this is why their children fail at school.

Question 14

Cultural deprivation: Working class subculture:

How can having a W/C subculture lead to educational underachievement (use sociologists)

e.g gratification

EXTERNAL FACTOR

Answer 14

Sugarman (1970) takes this view. He argues that working-class subculture act as a barrier to educational achievement 

• Immediate gratification: seeking pleasure now rather than making sacrifices in order to get rewards in the future. By contrast, middle-class values emphasise deferred gratification, making sacrifices now for greater rewards later.

Deferred gratification:

Sugarman argues that they stem from the fact that middle-class jobs are secure careers offering prospects for continuous individual advancement. This encourages ambition, long-term planning and a willingness to invest time and effort in gaining qualifications.

By contrast, working-class jobs are less secure and have no career structure through which individuals can advance. There are few promotion opportunities and earnings peak at an early age.

Cultural deprivation theorists argue that parents pass on the values of their class to their children through primary socialisation. Middle-class values equip children for success, whereas working-class values fail to do so.

Question 15

Cultural deprivation: Working class subculture:

How can having a W/C subculture lead to educational underachievement (use sociologists)

e.g fatalism

EXTERNAL FACTOR

Answer 15

Sugarman (1970):

Fatalism: a belief in fate- that whatever will be will be and there is noting that you can do to change your status.

This contrasts with M/C which emphasise that you can change your position through your own efforts (meritocracy) (Parsons)

Question 16

Cultural deprivation: Working class subculture:

How can having a W/C subculture lead to educational underachievement (use sociologists)

e.g collectivism

EXTERNAL FACTOR

Answer 16

Sugarman (1970):

Valuing being part of a group more than succeeding as an individual,

This contrasts with the M/C view that an individual should not be held back by group loyalties.

Question 17

Cultural deprivation: Working class subculture:

How can having a W/C subculture lead to educational underachievement (use sociologists)

e.g present- time orientation

EXTERNAL FACTOR

Answer 17

Sugarman (1970):

seeing the present as more important than the future and so not having term goals or plans.

By contrast M/C culture has a future time orientation that sees planning the future as important.

Question 18

Cultural deprivation: Working class subculture:

how does having a W/C subculture affect educational achievement (use sociologists)

EXTERNAL FACTOR

Answer 18

Sugarman (1970):

W/C children internalise the beliefs and values of their subculture through socialisation and this results them underachieving in school.

e.g children don’t try in school as parent’s don’t have values that school is important therefore children don’t try either which leads them not to try in school and fail.

Question 19

Cultural deprivation: Working class subculture:

Why are there differences between the W/C and the M/C values (use sociologists)

EXTERNAL FACTOR

Answer 19

Sugarman (1970) argues that they stem from the fact that the M/C jobs are in secure careers offering prospects for continuous individual advancement. This encourages ambition, long term planning and a willingness to invest time and effort in gaining qualifications.

By contrast w/c jobs are less secure and have no career through which can advance. There are few promotions opportunities and earning peaks at an early age.

Cultural deprivation theorists argue that parents pass on the values of their class to their children through primary socialisation. Many m/c values equip children for success whereas w/c values fail to do so

Question 20

Cultural deprivation: Compensatory education:

what is compensatory education

EXTERNAL FACTOR

Answer 20

compensatory education programmes aim to tackle cultural deprivation by providing extra resources to school and communities in deprived areas.

They intervene early in the socialisation process to compensate child for the deprivation they experience at home.

Question 21

Cultural deprivation: Compensatory education:

Examples of compensatory education programmes

EXTERNAL FACTOR

Answer 21

Operation Head Start (1960) - pre school education in poorer areas in the USA. Its aim was enrich a child’s environment to develop skills and instil achievement motivation. It included parenting skills, setting up nursery classes and home visits by educational psychologists.

TV programme- Sesame Street- providing a means of transmitting values attitudes and kills needs for educational success such as the importance of punctuality, numeracy and literacy.

Question 22

Cultural deprivation: The myth of cultural deprivation:

is cultural deprivation is a myth (use sociologists)

EXTERNAL FACTOR

Answer 22

Keddie (1973)- describes cultural deprivation as a myth and sees it as a victim blaming explanation. She argues that w/c culture is culturally different not culturally deprived. They fail because they are put at a disadvantage by an education system that is ruled by m/c values.

Troyna and Williams (1986)- argues that the problem is not the child’s language but the school’s attitude towards it. Teachers have a speech hierarchy with white m/c speech at the top then white w/c and black speech.

Blackstone and Mortimore (1994) reject the view that w/c parents aren’t interested in their children’s education. They attend fewer parents evenings not because of their lack of interest but because they work longer , or less regular hours or are put off by the school’s m/c values.

Question 23

Material Deprivation:

what is material deprivation

EXTERNAL FACTORS:

Answer 23

refers to poverty and a lack of material necessities such as adequate housing and income.

Question 24

Material Deprivation:

how is poverty closely linked to educational underachievement. (use sociologists)

EXTERNAL FACTORS:

Answer 24

Department of Education (2012)- 1/3 of pupils eligible for free school meals achieve 5 or more GCSE’s in English and Maths compared to 2/3 who aren’t on free school meals. - no money means hungry and being hungry means cant work properly meaning failure.

Flaherty (2004)- money problems in the family are a significant factor in younger children’s non attendance in school. - parents work lots, don’t have time to keep eye on children so children don’t go to school.

Question 25

Material Deprivation:

How does housing affect educational achievement

EXTERNAL FACTORS:

Answer 25

Overcrowding can have a direct effect by making it harder for a child to study. Overcrowding means less room for educational activities, nowhere to do homework, disturbed sleep from sharing beds which leads to those from w/c doing worse in schools.

Poor housing can have indirect impacts on children’s health and welfare. Cold and damp housing conditions leads to ill health. Families living in temporary accommodation suffer from more psychological stress and health problems means more absences at school.

Question 26

Material Deprivation:

how does diet and health affect educational achievement (use sociologists)

EXTERNAL FACTORS:

Answer 26

Wilkinson (1996)- among ten year olds, the lower the social class, the higher the rate of hyperactivity, anxiety and conduct orders which all lead to have an effect on child’s education. Lack of nutrients cause children not to focus.

Blanden and Machin (2007)-found that children from low income families were much more likely to engage in ‘externalising behaviour such as fighting which are likely to disrupt their schooling.

Question 27

Material Deprivation:

how does financial support and the cost of education affect educational achievement (use sociologists)

EXTERNAL FACTORS:

Answer 27

Tanner et al (2003)- found that the cost of items such as transport, uniforms, books, sports places a heavy burden on poor families. (costs of free schooling)

As a result, poor children may have to make do with hand me downs and cheaper but unfashionable and this may result them in being isolated, stigmatised or bullied by peers, yet for many children suitable are essential for self esteem and fitting in.

Smith and Noble (1995)- add that poverty acts as a barrier to learning in other ways such as the inability to afford private schooling or tuition or poorer quality schools. This means that children from a w/c can’t have the same opportunities as m/c and fall behind.

Question 28

Material Deprivation:

how does the fear of debt effect educational achievement (use sociologists)

EXTERNAL FACTORS:

Answer 28

Callender and Jackson (2005)- found that w/c students were more debt averse. They also found out that the attitude towards det was important in deciding whether to apply to uni or not. w/c students were 5 times less likely to apply to uni compared to m/c students.

National Union of Students (2010)- found that 81% of those from a m/c background received help from home against 43% of those from w/c

Reay (2005)- w/c are more likely to apply to local uni’s so that they could live at home and save n travel costs, but this gave them less opportunity to go to the highest status unis.

Question 29

Material Deprivation:

Cultural capital: what is cultural capital (use sociologists)

EXTERNAL FACTORS:

Answer 29

Bourdeiu (1984)- refers to the knowledge, attitudes, values, language, tastes and abilities of the m/c.

Question 30

Material Deprivation:

Cultural capital: what types of capital does the M/C possess according to what sociologist. (use sociologists)

EXTERNAL FACTORS:

Answer 30

Bourdeiu (1984)- argues that both cultural and material factors contribute to educational achievement and are not separate but interrelated.

He uses the concept of capital to explain why the m/c are more successful.

The term capital refers to wealth but in addition to this economic capital, Bourdieu identifies two further types.

These are ‘educational capital’ or qualifications and cultural capital. He argues that the m/c possess more of al three types of capital.

Question 31

Material Deprivation:

How does cultural capital advantage m/c children to which sociologist. (use sociologists)

EXTERNAL FACTORS:

Answer 31

Bourdeiu (1984)- refers to the knowledge, attitudes, values, language, tastes and abilities of the m/c.

He sees the m/c culture as a type of capital because like wealth, it gives an advantage to those who possess it.

he argues that through their socialisation, m/c children acquire the ability to grasp, analyse and express their abstract ideas. They are more likely to develop intellectual interests and an understanding of what the education system requires for success.

This gives the m/c an advantage in schools where such abilities and interests are highly valued and rewarded with qualifications. This is because the education system is not neutral but favours and transmits the dominant m/c culture

Question 32

Labelling:

What is labelling

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 32

to label someone is to attach a meaning or definition to them. e.g a teacher may label a pupil as bright or thick, trouble-maker or hardworking.

Question 33

Material Deprivation:

Sociologists opinions on educational and economic capital. (use sociologists)
EXTERNAL FACTORS:

Answer 33

Bourdeiu (1984) argues that educational, economic and cultural capital can be converted into one another.

m/c children with cultural are better equipped to meet the demands of the school curriculum and gain qualifications.

similarly, wealthier parents can convert their economic capital into educational capital by sending their children to a private school and paying extra tuition

Leech and Campos (2003)- m/c parents are more likely to afford a house in the catchment area of a school that is highly placed in the exam league tables. This has become known as the ‘selection by mortgage’ because it drives up the cost of houses near to successful schools and excludes working class families.

Question 34

Material Deprivation:

Sociologist that puts cultural capital into practice. (use sociologists)

EXTERNAL FACTORS:

Answer 34

Sullivan (2001- found that those who read complex fiction and watched serious TV documentaries developed a wider vocab and greater cultural knowledge.

The pupils with the greatest cultural capital were the children of those who were m/c. These pupils were more likely to be successful at GCSE.

Question 35

Labelling:

How do teachers label students

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 35

Studies show that teachers often attach such labels regardless of the pupil’s actual ability or attitude. Instead, they label pupils based on stereotypes assumptions about their class background, labelling w/c pupils negatively and m/c pupils positively.

Question 36

Labelling:

How does labelling affect a child’s educational achievement (use sociologists)
INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 36

Becker (1971) he found that they judged pupils according to how closely they fitted the image of an ideal pupil.

The teachers saw children from a m/c background as the closest to the ideal pupil (quiet, passive, obedient) while those from a w/c background was not ideal as they regarded them as badly behaved.

Hempel-Jorgensen (2009)- largely aspen primary school where staff said that discipline- that is children were defined in terms of their behaviour not their ability. .

Question 37

Labelling:

What does a sociologist say about labelling in secondary schools (use sociologists)

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 37

Dunne and Gazeley (2008)- argue that schools persistently produce working class underachievement because of the labels and assumptions of teachers

they found that from teachers ‘normalised’ the underachievement of w/c pupils seemed unconcerned and felt that there was little that they could do about it. whereas they believed that they could overcome the underachievement of the m/c pupils.

This led to class differences in how teachers dealt with pupils they perceived as underachieving- setting extension work for underachieving m/c pupils but entering w/c with easier exams.

Question 38

Labelling:

What does a sociologist say about labelling in primary schools (use sociologists)

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 38

Rist’s (1970)- found that the teacher used information about the children’s home background and appearance to place them in separate groups, seating each group at a different table.

Teachers labelled the fast learners as ‘tigers’ and they tended to be m/c and they were neat and tidy and they sat closest to the teacher to show them greatest encouragement

The slow learners were called ‘clowns’ and they sat at the back of the classroom and they were often w/c- given lower books to read and not encouraged to answer questions.

Question 39

The self fulfilling prophecy:

what is the self fulfilling prophecy.

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 39

a self fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that comes true simply by virtue of having it been made.

Interactionalists argue that labelling can affect pupils achievement by creating the self fulfilling prophecy.

Question 40

The self fulfilling prophecy:

How does the self fulfilling prophecy work.

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 40

Step 1: The teacher labels a pupil (e.g as being intelligent) and on the basis of that label makes predictions about them. ( e.g he will get good grades)

Step 2: The teacher treats the pupil as if that prediction is already true (e.g by giving him more attention and expecting a higher standard of work from them)

Step 3: The pupil internalises the teacher’s expectations, which becomes part of their self image so now they become the kind of pupil the teacher believed them to be in the fist place (the prediction is fulfilled)

Question 41

The self fulfilling prophecy:

How can the self fulfilling prophecy affect achievement (use sociologists)

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 41

Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968)- they told the school that they had a new test designed to see who would achieve well (this was untrue).

They picked 20% of the pupils at random and told the school that those students that they picked would achieve. On returning to the school a year later they found that 47% of those identified as spurters made a significant progress.

Rosenthal and Jacobson suggest that the teachers’ beliefs about the pupil had been influenced by the test results. The teacher had then conveyed these beliefs to the pupils through the way that they had interacted with them e.g through their body language and the amount of encouragement and time they gave them.

This shows the self-fulfilling prophecy by accepting the prediction that some children would do well the teachers brough it about.

Question 42

The self fulfilling prophecy:

How can the self fulfilling prophecy lead to underachievement

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 42

The self fulfilling can produce underachievement. If teachers have low expectations of certain children and communicate their expectations in their interaction, these children may develop a negative self image.

They may come to see themselves as failures and give up trying, therefore fulfilling the first prophecy.

Question 43

Streaming:

what is the self fulfilling prophecy

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 43

streaming involves separating children into different ability groups/classes called ‘streams’ Each ability group is then taught separately from the others for all subjects.

Studies have shown that the self fulfilling prophecy is likely to occur when children are streamed.

Question 44

Streaming:

how does streaming cause the self fulfilling prophecy (use sociologists)

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 44

once streamed it is difficult to move up to a higher stream, children are ‘locked’ into their teachers expectations of them. Children in lower streams ‘get the message’ that their teachers have written them off as no hopers

This creates the self fulfilling prophecy in which pupils live up to their teachers low expectations of them so therefore underachieve

e.g Douglas found that those put in a lower stream achieved a lower IQ level by age 11.

Question 45

Streaming:

How do M/C pupils benefit from streaming (use sociologists)

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 45

M/C pupils tend to benefit from streaming.

They are likely to be put into a higher streams reflecting teachers views of them as the ideal pupil.

As a result, they develop a more positive self image, gain confidence, work harder and improve their grades.

Douglas found that children placed in a higher stream at age 8 improved their IQ score by age 11

Question 46

Streaming:

what sociologists talks about how teachers view children and how it links to streaming (use sociologists)

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 46

Gillbourn and Youdell (2001)- they found that teachers are less likely to see w/c and black pupils as having ability.

As a result, these pupils are placed into lower streams and entered in lower GCSE tiers. This denies them the knowledge and opportunity needed to gain good grades and widens the class gap in achievement

Question 47

Streaming:

How does streaming link to an A-C economy (use sociologists)

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 47

Gillbourn and Youdell (2001)- link streaming to the policy of publishing exam league tables. These rank schools according to its exam performance e.g in terms of the percentage of pupils gaining 5 or more GCSEs grade A*-C.

Schools need to achieve a good league table position in order attract more pupils and funding.

Publishing league tables creates what Gillbourn and Youdell call the A-C economy.

This is a system in which schools focus their time, effort and resources on those pupils who they have potential to get 5 grade C’s and so boost their league table position.

So those who are going to achieve C’s get put in higher streams and get given more attention. These students are mostly M/C.

Question 48

Streaming:

How does the educational triage link to the A-C economy. (use sociologists)

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 48

Gillbourn and Youdell (2001) call this the educational triage.

Triage- sorting.

The term is normally used to describe the process where medical staff decide who is to be given the scarce resources.

Medics have to sort people into three categories.

1- the walking wounded- who can be ignored because they will survive.

2- those who will die anyway who will also be ignored.

3- those with a chance of survival who are given treatment in the hope of saving them.

Gillbourn and Youdell argue that the A-C economy produces the educational triage.

School categories pupils into three categories

1- those who will pass anyway and can be left to get on with it.

2 those with potential and who will be helped to get a grade C or better.

3- Hopeless cases who are doomed to fail.

Question 49

Streaming:

How does the educational triage lead to under achievement

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 49

Teachers do this using a stereotypical view of sorting the working class and black pupils as lacking ability. As a result, they are likely to be labelled as lacking ability. and because of this more likely to be labelled as hopeless cases.

and put into the bottom set. This produces the self fulfilling prophecy and leads to failure.

The need to gain good league table position drives the educational triage. this becomes the basis for streaming, where teachers beliefs about the lack of ability of the working class pupils are used to segregate them into lower streams or sets where they receive less attention, support and resources.

This results in lower levels of achievement for w/c pupils.

Question 50

Streaming:

How can streaming be used in a wider social context that links to underachievement (use sociologists)

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 50

Gillbourn and Youdell (2001)-

while they use concepts such as teacher labelling and stereotyping in micro-level, face to face interactions they also put these processes in a wider context.

Schools operate within a wider education system whose marketisation policies affect those micro level processes to produce class differences in achievement.

e.g publication of exam league tables

Question 51

Pupil subcultures:

what are pupil subcultures

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 51

a pupil subculture is a group of pupils who share similar values and behaviour patterns.

Question 52

Pupil subcultures:

how do pupil subcultures link to labelling/streaming

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 52

Pupil subcultures often happen as a response to the way that a student has been labelled as a reaction to streaming

Question 53

Pupil subcultures:

what sociologist describes how differentiation links to how pupil subcultures develop. (use sociologists)

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 53

Lacey’s (1970)- explains how differentiation and polarisation link to how pupil subcultures develop.

Differentiation- the process of teachers categorising pupils according to how they perceive their ability, attitude or behaviour.

Streaming is a form of differentiation since it categories pupils into separate classes. those that the school deems ‘more able’ are given higher status by being placed into a high stream, whereas those less able are placed into a lower stream and given inferior status.

Question 54

Pupil subcultures:

what sociologist describes how polarisation links to how pupil subcultures develop. (use sociologists)

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 54

Lacey’s (1970)- explains how differentiation and polarisation link to how pupil subcultures develop.

Polarisation is the process in which pupils respond to streaming by moving towards one of two opposite ‘poles’ or extremes. e.g either being really good or really bad.

In his study of Hightown boys’ grammar school, Lacey found that streaming polarised boys into a pro-school and an anti-school subculture.

Question 55

Pupil subcultures:

What is a pro-school subculture

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 55

Pupils placed in high streams (who are largely middle-class) tend to remain committed to the values of the school.

They gain their status in the approved manner, through academic success. Their values are those of the school e.g passive and hardworking.

They tend to form a pro-school subculture.

Question 56

Pupil subcultures:

what is an anti- school subculture.

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 56

Those placed in low streams (who tend to be working-class suffer a loss of self-esteem.

The school has undermined their self-worth by placing them in a position of inferior status.

This label of failure pushes them to search for alternative ways of gaining status. Usually this involves not listening to the school’s values of hard work, obedience and punctuality.

Pupils form an anti-school subculture as a means of gaining status among their peers, for example by cheeking a teacher, truanting, not doing homework, smoking etc.

Question 57

Pupil subcultures:

How does an anti-school subculture lead to more problems at school. (use sociologists)

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 57

Joining an anti-school subculture is likely to become a self-fulfilling prophecy of educational failure.

Hargreaves (1967) found a similar response to labelling and streaming in a secondary modern school.

From the point of view of the education system, boys in the lower streams were triple failures: they had failed their 11+ exam; they had been placed in low streams; and they had been labelled as ‘worthless louts’.

One solution to this status problem was for these pupils to seek each other out and form a group within which high status went to those who flouted the school’s rules. In this way, they formed a an anti- school subculture that helped to guarantee their educational failure.

Question 58

Pupil subcultures:

How does abolishing pupil subcultures affect educational achievement.

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 58

Ball (1981)- found that when the school abolished streaming, the basis for pupils to polarise into subcultures was largely removed and the influence of the anti-school subculture declined.

Although pupil polarisation (forming subcultures) disappeared, differentiation (labelling) continued.

Teachers continued to categorise pupils differently and were more likely to label middle-class pupils as cooperative and able.

This positive labelling was reflected in their better exam results, suggesting that a self-fulfilling prophecy had occurred.

Question 59

Pupils’ class identities and the school:

how can inequality continue as a result of teacher labelling. (use sociologists)

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 59

Ball’s study (1981) shows that class inequalities can continue as a result of teachers’ labelling even without subcultures or streaming.

Since the Education Reform Act (1988), there has been a trend towards more streaming and towards a variety of types of school, some of which have a more academic curriculum than others.

This has created new opportunities for schools and teachers to differentiate between pupils on the basis of their class, ethnicity or gender and treat them unequally.

Question 60

Pupil subcultures:

What responses do pupil’s have when they get streamed according to which sociologist (use sociologists)

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 60

Woods (1979) argues that most students either respond with a pro-school subculture or anti school subculture, other responses can also happen.

ingratiation: being the ‘teacher’s pet’

ritualism: going through the motions and staying out of trouble

retreatism: daydreaming and mucking about

rebellion: outright rejection of everything the school stands for.

Question 61

Pupil subcultures:

Which sociologist says that pupil’s aren’t fixed to one particular subculture/response. (use sociologists)

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 61

Furlong (1984)- many pupils are not committed permanently to any one response.

but may move between different types of response, acting differently in lessons with different teachers.

Question 62

criticisms of the labelling theory:
(use sociologists)

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 62

The labelling theory has been accused of being deterministic the pupils as it assumes that pupils who are labelled have no choice but to fulfil the prophecy and will inevitably fail is not always true.

Fuller 1984 study - instead of accepting negative stereotypes of themselves, the girls challenged their anger in order to reach educational success.

They did not seek approval from teachers and didn’t limit their choice of friends. They worked conscientiously but gave the appearance that they weren’t. This shows that these girls were able to reject the labels that were placed on them and they remained determined to succeed.

Marxists argue that labels are not merely the result of teachers’ individual prejudices, but stem from the fact that teachers work in a system that reproduces class divisions. - Althusser (1971)- ISA (the ideological state apparatus) - which maintain the rule of the bourgeoisie by controlling people’s ideas, values and beliefs.

the function of the education system is to legitimise class inequality by producing ideologies that disguise its true cause. The function of ideology is to persuade workers that inequality is inevitable and tat they deserve their subordinate position in society. If they accept these ideas they are less likely to challenge/threaten capitalism.

Question 63

Pupils’ class identities and the school:

What is habitus

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 63

Habitus refers to the ways of thinking, being and acting that are shared by a particular social class.

It includes their tastes and preferences about lifestyles and consumption (such as fashion and leisure pursuits), their outlook on life and their expectations about what is normal or realistic for ‘people like us’.

A group’s habitus is formed as a response to its position in the class structure.

Question 64

Pupils’ class identities and the school:

How is the m/c habitus better than the w/c habitus.

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 64

Although one class’s habitus is not intrinsically better than another’s, the middle class has the power to define its habitus as superior and to impose it on the education system.

As a result, the school puts a higher value on middle-class tastes, preferences and so on.

This is linked to Bourdieu’s concept ‘of cultural capital. Because the school has a middle-class habitus, this gives middle-class pupils an advantage, while working-class culture is regarded as inferior.

Question 65

Pupils’ class identities and the school:

what is symbolic violence/symbolic capital (use sociologists)

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 65

Bourdieu calls this withholding of symbolic capital symbolic violence’.

By defining the working class and their tastes and lifestyles as inferior, symbolic violence reproduces the class structure and keeps the lower classes ‘in their place’.

Because schools have a middle-class habitus, pupils who have been socialised at home into middle-class tastes and preferences gain ‘symbolic capital’ or status and recognition from the school and are deemed to have worth or value.

By contrast, the school devalues the working-class habitus, so that working-class pupils’ tastes (for example in clothing appearance and accent) are deemed to be tasteless and worthless.

Question 66

Pupils’ class identities and the school:

How does symbolic violence lead to underachievement

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 66

Because there is a clash between working-class pupils’ habitus and the school’s middle-class habitus.

As a result, working-class students may experience the world of education as alien and unnatural and they underachieve.

Question 67

Pupils’ class identities and the school:

Which sociologist talks about how symbolic violence affects w/c students.

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 67

Archer found that working-class pupils felt that to be educationally successful, they would have to change how they talked and presented themselves.

For working-class students, educational success is often experienced as a process of ‘losing yourself’.

They felt unable to access ‘posh’, middle-class spaces such as university and professional careers, which were seen as not like the rest of us

Question 68

Pupils’ class identities and the school:

What is a nike identity

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 68

refers to a form of social identity associated with the Nike brand.

It’s often related to working-class young people who adopt certain branded sportswear and styles as a way to attain status among their peers, especially when other forms of status may be denied to them due to their socioeconomic background.

This identity is linked to their physical appearance, taste, and style, and can influence their views on education and future choices.

Question 69

Pupils’ class identities and the school:

Why are Nike identities important to W/C pupils.

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 69

Many pupils were conscious that society and school looked down on them. This symbolic violence led them to seek alternative ways of creating self-worth, status and value.

Style performances were heavily policed by peer groups and not conforming was ‘social suicide. The right appearance earned symbolic capital and approval from peer groups and brought safety from bullying.

Question 70

Pupils’ class identities and the school:

How does Nike identities come in conflict with schools.

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 70

However, at the same time, it led to conflict with the schools dress code.

Reflecting the school’s middle-class habitus, teachers opposed ‘street’ styles as showing ‘bad taste or even as a threat.

Pupils who adopted street styles risked being labelled as rebels.

Question 71

Pupils’ class identities and the school:

How does m/c and w/c identity link to achievement according to which sociologists (use sociologists)

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 71

One group had passed their 11-plus exam and gone to grammar school, while the other group had failed and gone to a local secondary school.

The grammar school had a strongly middle-class habitus of high expectations and academic achievement, while the secondary school had a habitus of low expectations of its underachieving pupils.

Ingram (2009)- found that having a working-class identity was inseparable from belonging to a working-class locality. The neighbourhood’s dense networks of family and friends were a key part of the boys’ habitus. It gave them an intense feeling of belonging.

Ingram- working-class communities place great emphasis on conformity. The boys experienced a great pressure to ‘fit in’ and this was a particular problem for the grammar school boys, who experienced a tension between the habitus of their working-class neighbourhood and that of their M/C school.

Question 71

Pupils’ class identities and the school:

Which sociologist talks about Nike Identities (use sociologists)

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 71

Archer (2010) argues that the school’s middle-class habitus stigmatises working-class pupils’ identities.

The pupils’ performances of style are a struggle for recognition: while the middle class see their ‘Nike’ identities as tasteless, to the young people they are a means of generating symbolic capital and self-worth.

The w/c investment in ‘Nike’ identities is not only a cause of their educational marginalisation by the school; it also expresses their positive preference for a particular lifestyle (immediate gratification)

As a result, they ‘get the message that education is not for the likes of them, but they actively choose to reject it because it does not fit in with their identity or way of life.

Question 71

Pupils’ class identities and the school:

How does the Nike identity show the w/c rejection to higher education

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 71

Nike styles also play a part in working-class pupils’ rejection of higher education, which they saw as both unrealistic and undesirable:

Unrealistic because it was not for ‘people like us’, but for richer, posher, cleverer people, and they would not fit in. It was also seen as an unaffordable and risky investment.

Undesirable because it would not ‘suit’ their preferred lifestyle or habitus. For example, they did not want to live on a student loan because they would be unable to afford the street styles that gave them their identity.

Question 71

Pupils’ class identities and the school:

How do internal and external factors link to each other and how does this lead to underachievement

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 71

w/c pupils’ habitus and identities formed outside school may conflict with the school’s middle-class habitus, resulting in symbolic violence and pupils feeling that education is not for the likes of them.

w/c pupils using the restricted speech code (an external cultural factor) may be labelled by teachers as less able, leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy (an internal factor).

 Poverty - an external material factor - may lead to bullying and stigmatisation by peer groups - an internal process within school. In turn this may lead to absence from school and failure.

Question 71

Pupils’ class identities and the school:

How does class identity link to self exclusion according to which sociologists. (use sociologists)

INTERNAL FACTOR:

Answer 71

Evans (2009)- found that they were reluctant to apply to elite universities such as Oxbridge and that the few who did apply felt a sense of hidden barriers and of not fitting in.

Bourdieu (1984), many working-class people think of places like Oxbridge as being ‘not for the likes of us’. This feeling comes from their habitus, which includes beliefs about what opportunities really exist for them and whether they would ‘fit in’. Such thinking becomes part of their identity and leads working-class students to exclude themselves from elite universities.

This shows middle-class education system that devalues the experiences and choices of working-class people as worthless or inappropriate.

As a result, working-class pupils are often forced to choose between maintaining their working-class identities, or abandoning them and conforming to the middle-class habitus of education in order to succeed class identity and self exclusion