Social Class Differences In Education

Question 1

What are the 4 internal factors affecting social class achievement in education?

Answer 1

Labelling and the self full filing prophecy
Setting and streaming
Unequal access to classroom knowledge
Pupil subcultures
“Wider” educational polices

Question 2

What are the 4 external factors affecting social class achievement in education?

Answer 2

Material deprivation
Culture attitudes, beliefs and views
Socio-linguistic
Cultural capital

Question 3

Material deprivation- what does Douglas say about lower income families?

Answer 3

Lower income families disadvantaged in education for many reasons e.g
Overcrowded home
Poor diets
Low income
Taking up part time job
Poverty stricken areas

Question 4

Material deprivation- what did webbs study find out?

Answer 4

2006, only 33% of children recieving free school meals gained 5 or more A_C grades
Exclusion + truancy more likely amongst W/C

Question 5

Material deprivation- what is Bulls “hidden cost of education?

Answer 5

Free schooling never really free. E.g- revision books, school uniform and trips

Question 6

Material deprivation- what did tanner say about low income families?

Answer 6

Financial burden on low income families leads to children being stigmatised and bullied

Question 7

Cultural capital- what does cultural deprivation mean?

Answer 7

Suggests that W/C lack the necessary views attitudes and knowledge and support necessary for educational success

Question 8

Cultural capital- M/C have high cultural capital, what does this mean?

Answer 8

M/C are the dominant social group and get to dictate what counts as the “right kind of knowledge” attitudes and views. Becasue society based on M/C culture they have high cultural capital

Question 9

Cultural capital- what does Douglas say about W/C parents?

Answer 9

W/C parents less likely to take interest in their child’s educational success compared to M/C parents

Question 10

Cultural capital- what does Hyman and Sugarman say about different class subcultures?

Answer 10

Takes idea that W/C and M/C have different values by suggesting that amongst W/C there is particular subculture that places no value on educational ideals

Question 11

Cultural capital- what are Hyman and Sugarmans 4 subcultures within the W/C?

Answer 11

Fatalism
Collectivism
Immediate gratification
Present time orientation

Question 12

Cultural capital- what are Hymans and sugarmans 4 M/C subcultures?

Answer 12

Optimism/desire
Individualism
Deferred gratification
Future orientation

Question 13

Cultural capital- what do Hyman and Sugar-man say reinforces there W/C subcultures?

Answer 13

Lack of job security
Lack of influence in their work
Low wages
Lack of employment opportunities

Question 14

Socio-linguistics m- what does Bernstein say about different class language?

Answer 14

W/C and M/C use different language codes. W/C code is “deficient” in terms of education and it thus contributes to W/C failure

Question 15

What are the 2 codes Bernstein describes the different language classes use?

Answer 15

W/C- restricted code
M/C-elaborated code

Question 16

Socio-linguistics- what is included in Bernsteins restricted code?

Answer 16

Limited vocabulary
Grammatically simple
Gesticulations
Context bound
Particularistic

Question 17

Socio-linguistics- what is included in Bernstein’s elaborated code?

Answer 17

Large vocabulary
Grammatically complex
Fully elaborative
Abstract
Universal

Question 18

Cultural capital- who does Bernstein say the culture of education gives an inbuilt advantage to?

Answer 18

M/C have inbuilt advantage. Argues that each social class possesses its own cultural frame work known as a Habitus

Question 19

Cultural capital- what does Bernstein’s Habitus mean?

Answer 19

Each social class has a Habitus which contains ideas about what is good/bad taste, knowledge attitudes and so on.
The dominant group get to impose their habitus onto society

Question 20

Cultural capital- what does Bourdieu say about the reproduction of class inequality?

Answer 20

M/C- High cultural capital and economic capital and thus high educational capital meaning they succeed
Therefore the opposite for W/C

Question 21

Cultural capital- what did Sullivan discover about GCSE students?

Answer 21

GCSE students who read complex fiction and serious documentaries + who had graduate parents developed wider vocabularies and achieved higher than other students- these students tended to be from M/C families

Question 22

Cultural capital- what does Gerwitz say about the marketisation of education and M/C parents?

Answer 22

Marketisation of education promoted parental choice to child’s schooling- introduced by 1988 education reform act
Parents level of cultural capital and economic capital lead to major class differences in choices parents have when choosing school for their children

Question 23

How does Whitty say that the marketisation of education has failed the working class?

Answer 23

Marketisation not led to more oppurtinties for W/C children.
Instead allowed M/C to use the knowledge and wealth even more effectively

Question 24

How does Blackstone and Mortimore criticise this view and support the myth of cultural deprivation?

Answer 24

W/C parents not disinterested in child’s education. Often unable to attend parents evenings e.g because of work

Question 25

What are the 4 internal factors affecting social class achievement ?

Answer 25

Labelling+ self fulfilling prophecy
Setting and streaming
Unequal access to classroom knowledge
Pupil subculture
“Wider” educational policies

Question 26

Labelling-what did Beckers study of labelling in secondary school conduct?

Answer 26

Interviewed 60 teachers, teachers stereotyped pupils based on appearance conduct and work
Teachers saw M/C close to stereotype of “ideal pupil” and W/C furthest away from ideal pupil

Question 27

Labelling- what is Hargreaves’s halo effect?

Answer 27

Labelling leads to certain students being given imaginary halos which stay with them throughout their educational career, further interaction with teachers are based on these halos

Question 28

What was Rist’s study?

Answer 28

Studied American kindergarten 3 groups, teacher labelled fast learners as “tigers” seated them near to teacher + showed more encouragement- tended to be M/C background
“Cardinals” and “clowns” seated further away, given low level reading books- W/C background

Question 29

What did Rist’s study conclude?

Answer 29

Labelling begins very start of child’s “educational career”
Found that teachers used information about pupils home background to place pupils in separate groups

Question 30

Unequal access to classroom knowledge- what does Keddie say about teachers distributing knowledge?

Answer 30

Teachers don’t distribute knowledge evenly in classroom, more likely to give high ability students “high status knowledge” and vice versa for low ability students

Question 31

Unequal access to classroom knowledge - what are the 4 characteristics of work that Keddie believes is given to low ability groups?

Answer 31

Descriptive
Common sense
Basic
Dumbed down

Question 32

Unequal aces to classroom knowledge- what are the 4 characteristics of work that Keddie believes is given to top ability groups?

Answer 32

Abstract
Theoretical
Detailed
Full curriculum

Question 33

Labelling- what is the self fulfilling prophecy ?

Answer 33

1) teacher labels pupil and makes assumptions in relation to label
2) teachers interacts to student based on label and assumption
3) pupil internalises label and becomes part of their self concept

Question 34

Labelling- what was Rosenthall and Jacobsons study on the self fulfilling propechy?

Answer 34

Told school they had a test to identify high ability students, teachers believed this
Pupils tested and R+J randomly selected 20% of them and told school they were top ability
Year later, 47% of these pupils made significant progress compared to remaining 53%

Question 35

Labelling- What did Rosethall and Jacobsons study on the self fulfilling prophecy conclude?

Answer 35

Suggested that teachers interacted with high ability students differently and conveyed their high expectations on to them
These pupils internalised these views and performed better

Question 36

Pupil subcultures-how does Lacey say subculture are formed?

Answer 36

Differentiation- teachers categorise/ “differentiate”
Between pupils according to stereotypes about ability, appearance etc
Polarisation- -way that pupils respond to differentiation - moving towards 2 extremes

Question 37

Pupil subcultures- what are Lacey’s 2 extremes that polarisation leads to ?

Answer 37

Pro school subculture
Anti school subculture

Question 38

What are characteristics of Lacey’s “pro school subculture”?

Answer 38

Associated with M/C
Positive stereotypes
“Halos”
High status knowledge and more attention
Warmed up

Question 39

Pupil subculture- what she characteristics of Lacey’s “anti school subculture”?

Answer 39

Associated with W/C
Negative stereotypes
No “halos” low status knowledge and less attention
Cooled down