Social Class differences in education Flashcards
Sociologists are interested in why students from w/c backgrounds underperform, what are the two explanations for this
Internal and external factors
Sociologists put forward 3 external factors which are…
- Cultural deprivation
- Material Deprivation
- Cultural Capital
What is cultural deprivation?
Links back to primary socialisation. Argued w/c families fail to socialise their children properly.
3 Reasons w/c children have cultural deprivation
- Parents education
- Language
- Working class subcultures
- Parents Education - what does Douglas say?
W/c parents place less value on education therefore give less encouragement to their children.
- Language - what does Bereiter and Engleman say?
W/c families are more likely to communicate wuth single words, gestures and disjointed phrases.
- Language - what does Bernstein say
- W/c typically use the ‘restricted code’ which is short, grammatically simple sentences.
- M/c usually use the elaborated code which are longer, more grammatically complex sentences.
- Leading to w/c feeling less at home at school as the language used in textbooks is elaborated code, therefore they’re de-motivated.
- Working-class subcultures - what does Sugarman say?
- W/c has 4 subcultures that act as a barriers for success
1. Fatalism - whatever will be will be so not revising
2. Collectivism - valuing being part of a group more
3. Immediate Gratification - doing things now instead of saving for future
4. Present Time Orientation - focusing on being in the present, the future doesn’t matter to them right now - By the time w/c children start school, they’ve already internalised these values.
Case Study: Solving the problem of cultural deprivation
i.e introduction of free school meals. This is to tackle the problems of cultural deprivation by providing extra resources to schools and communities in deprived areas.
Criticisms of Cultural Deprivation as an explanation
- Blackstone and Mortimore - W/c parents attend fewer parents evenings because they work longer hours, they may want to help but don’t have the knowledge to do so.
- Marxists - would say that compensatory education acts as a smoke screen, concealing the social inequalities like poverty which is the reason for underachievement.
What is Material Deprivation?
The inability to afford basic resources such as sufficient food and heating. It generally has a negative impact on educational achievement.
4 types of material deprivation
- Housing
- Diet and Health
- Education Costs
- Fear of debt
- Housing - what does Harker(2006) say?
The amount of money you have impacts on size/ quality of housing you have access to.
P - Poor conditions = can affect physical health
O - Overcrowding = lack of space to study
T - Temporary accommodation = Moving home frequently impacts emotional wellbeing and harder to settle into school
- Diet and Health - what does Howard(2001) say?
A healthy, balanced diet is expensive. W/c have lower energy levels from lack of vitamins meaning weaker immune system and higher levels of illness and absence.
- Education Costs
