Social Class External Factors

Question 1

What are the 3 factors in Cultural Deprivation

Answer 1

Language
Parenting
Sub-cultures

Question 2

How does Language affect educational achievement according to Bernstein

Answer 2

Two Speech Codes
Elaborate code
Restricted code
Education system uses elaborate code, those who use this code feel at home and succeed as they are able to understand teachers, resources and exams. Those who don’t use elaborate code feel alienated and their achievement is low (this tends to be working class)

Question 3

What are the features of Elaborate Code

Answer 3

Wide range of vocabulary
Longer, grammatically complex sentences
Polysyllabic words
context-free
Abstract ideas can be communicated

Question 4

What are the features of Restricted Code

Answer 4

Limited Vocabulary
Short, unfinished sentences
Monosyllabic words
Context bound
grammatically simple sentences

Question 5

What advantage does the differences in speech codes give middle class pupils

Answer 5

Middle class pupils commonly adopt Elaborate Code
They are therefore able to
Understand textbooks and resources easily
Able to express ideas in the correct written manner in examinations
Able to understand the words used and spoken by their middle class teacher

Question 6

What did Hubbs-tait find

Answer 6

When parents used language to challenge children to evaluate their own understanding their cognitive performance improved.

Question 7

How did Hubbs-tait’s findings benefit middle class students

Answer 7

Middle class parents were more likely to challenge and question their children in this way. Working class parents were not likely to challenge their children. Therefore middle class benefited from this

Question 8

What did Bereiter and Engelmann find

Answer 8

Working class families often communicated with gesture or single words and disjointed sentences

Question 9

Give 2 evaluations of Bernstein

Answer 9

Many members of the middle class do not speak fluently and have varying degrees of elaborate code, It is over generalised to say all working class and middle class speak in certain ways

Labov argued from his informal interviews with working class children in Harlem that the working class language code was not inferior, just different. He argued working class language was more direct and didn’t contain unnecessary detail

Question 10

How does Parenting affect educational achievement according to Douglas

Answer 10

Working class parents placed less value on education and did not have high expectations for their children in gaining qualifications. Working class parents would give less encouragement, attend less parents evenings. Their children therefore did not value school as highly as middle class children who were encouraged by parents

Question 11

What did Feinstein argue

Answer 11

That a parents own education is the most important factor influencing achievement as they are more advantaged in how they socialise their children. Found that Middle Class parents were
More consistent in discipline
Encouraged active learning and exploration
Better able to support their child’s educational progress
More likely to spend time with their child and read to them

Parents of Working class backgrounds tended to be the opposite

Question 12

Explain how subculture contributes to Cultural deprivation

Answer 12

Parents interests in their children’s education reflects the subcultural values of their class. Children internalise these values and goals, depending on their social class it can lead to them succeeding or failing in schools

Question 13

What did Sugarman identify

Answer 13

the key differences between the subcultural values and goals of the middle and working class

Time Orientation - Working class- Present time orientation - Middle class - future time orientation
Gratification - Working class - Immediate Gratification - Middle class - Deferred Gratification
Collectivism vs Individualism - Working class - collective action (trade unions) - Middle class - individualistic action (success through individual work)
Attitude to luck - Working class - Fatalistic - Middle class - Make your own luck and chance

Question 14

What compensatory Education policies have been implemented and to tackle which factor affecting Educational Achievement

Answer 14

Operation Head start
Sesame Street
EPA / EAZ
Sure start

Tackle cultural deprivation in deprived areas and schools

Question 15

What does Keddie think of Cultural Deprivation

Answer 15

Cultural deprivation theories are 'culture blaming' and argues it is a myth that the culture of working class is 'lacking'
She argues the culture of working class is not inferior to that of the middle class it is simply different.

It is the failings of the working class education system that does not support all of its learners that is to blame

Question 16

How do Blackstone and Mortimore evaluated Cultural deprivation

Answer 16

disagree that working class parents are less interested in their child's attainments but are simply unable to attend parents evenings due to work commitments in the evening, and are put off by the middle class ethos
It is also noted that schools with mainly working class students have poorer home-school contact systems

Question 17

How does Reay evaluate Cultural deprivation

Answer 17

Schools play an active role in influencing children’s values. Reay argues that teachers have lower expectations of Working class students resulting in a self-fulfilling prophecy

Question 18

What is Material Deprivation

Answer 18

lack of basic necessities such as an adequate diet, housing, clothing and money to buy things. Poverty is often linked to educational underachievement

Question 19

What did Smith and Noble identify as barriers to learning resulting from Material Deprivation

Answer 19

Students who cannot afford school uniforms, trips and transport to and from are more often bullied and made to feel isolated by their peers leading them to not want to attend school
Families with low income are less likely to have access to a computer and internet access as well as their homes being poorly heated with no or limited space designated for homework. Cold and damp housing can lead to ill health and absence from school
Older students from deprived families are more likely to have part-time employment or have to care for younger siblings and have less time to focus on their learning outside of school
Families are unable to purchase or rent houses in areas with more desirable schools as they cannot afford the cost resulting in no choice of school in the open enrolment process
Families are unable to afford to send their child to private school or pay for additional tuition

Question 20

How is poverty linked to educational underachievement

Answer 20

in 2012 only 1/3 of students eligible for free school meals achieved 5 A* - C GCSE grades compared to 2/3 of those not entitled

Around 90% of failing schools are in deprived areas

Children from poorer homes are more likely to truant and be excluded from school. 1/3 students who persistently truant leave school with no qualifications

Question 21

How did Howards finding relate to Material Deprivation

Answer 21

he claims that due to financial limitations the diet of students from poorer homes often lacked vitamins and minerals resulting in a weaker immune system resulting in difficulties in their concentration and health - reducing the achievement of these families

Question 22

What did Bull illustrate about Material Deprivation

Answer 22

Children from materially deprived backgrounds often miss out on experiences that would enhance their education: he refers to this as the ‘cost of free-schooling’. These can include Uniform, stationary, calculators, school trips, sports equipment etc.

often students feel isolated and stigmatised and have lower self-esteem if they are not able to ‘fit in’ 20% of those students who are entitled to free school meals do not take advantage of this as they often feel teased and victimised

Question 23

What policy was introduced to try relieve the problems of material deprivation

Answer 23

Educational Maintenance Allowance - brought in by New Labour but removed by the Coalition

Question 24

What was Callender and Jackson’s study

Answer 24

Questionnaire survey - nearly 2000 prospective university students - established w/class were more debt averse and the cost of tuition fees meant they were 5 times less likely to apply to uni than m/class
W/class who do go to uni are less likely to get financial support from their families. W/class spent twice as much time in paid work supporting their studies compared to m/class. They are also more likely to drop out. Only 30% of Uni students are from Working class backgrounds

Question 25

What did Reay contribute to Material deprivation

Answer 25

Found that w/class are more likely to choose universities closer to home to avoid accommodation and travel costs resulting in them not attending higher status unis

Question 26

What is Capital according to Bourdieu

Answer 26

That capital explains why middle classes are more likely to achieve in education. ‘Capital’ is used by Bourdieu to Culture, Economic and Education

Question 27

Explain Cultural Capital and how it affects educational achievement

Answer 27

Refers to tastes, language, values and knowledge of the middle-classes. Through socialisation middle class children develop skills of how to analyse and discuss abstract ideas and have more interest in the issues discussed within the education system. Therefore Middle class feel more at home in the education system as it is a middle class institution run by middle class professionals. Bourdieu argues that w/class suffer a ‘cultural deficit’ as their lack of cultural capital leads to exam failure with their own culture being devalued and ignored by the school

Question 28

How does Bourdieu explain Education and Economic Capital

Answer 28

He believes that those with cultural capital tend also to have economic capital (wealth) which can be transformed into education capital such as affording to buy private tuition and or pay for private education

Question 29

What did Leech and Campos find (Economic and Education Capital)

Answer 29

Middle class parents were more able to move location to get into ‘better’ schools as they could afford the more expensive house prices. They called this ‘selection by mortgage’

Question 30

What was Sullivan’s study and what was it to do with

Answer 30

Cultural Capital - 465 students questionnaire from four different schools. Asked about a range of activities such as TV and reading habits, visits to museums and art galleries and tested their knowledge on cultural figures such as Shakespeare. Students with the highest cultural capital were the children of graduates and were  the most likely to achieve in their GCSE's 
W/class with high levels of cultural capital were disadvantaged by their lack of resources and aspirations

Question 31

What are the evaluations of Cultural Capital

Answer 31

The theory ignores the processes within school such as teacher labelling and the existence of student anti-school subcultures
They fail to address the impact of material deprivation and the disadvantage that students can face due to poverty and the lack of ability to make educational purchases

Question 32

What are the external factors influencing educational achievement

Answer 32

Cultural Capital
Cultural Deprivation
Material Deprivation