Topic 3 : Class And Educational Achievement

Question 1

What is cultural deprivation?

Answer 1

The idea that some young people underachieve in education because of cultural deficiencies in their family background. Such as inadequate socialisation, failings in pre school, language and values towards education

Question 2

Causes of WC underachievement

Answer 2

Parental attitudes towards education
Amount of cultural capital
Restricted code of language
Subcultural attitudes and values
Parents level of education

Question 3

What did Sugarman argue

Answer 3

WC subculture has 4 factors that cause a barrier for educational achievement

Immediate gratification
Fatalism
Collectivism
Present-time orientation

Question 4

Feinstein

Answer 4

Main reason why wc underachieve was because of parents lack of interest in their children’s education

WC parents unlikely to give their children educational toys that will stimulate their thinking skills - this affects their intellectual development so that when they begin school they are disadvantaged compared to the MC kids

Question 5

Goodman and Gregg

Answer 5

Quality of mother - child interactions and amount of time spent with children

Parents reading to young children

Parental involvement in school - helping with HW, parents evenings

Question 6

Bourdieu’ a cultural capital

Answer 6

Each class has its own framework of ideas and values - habitus
MC habitus gives advantage to MC students

Accent / clothes / music etc. allow MC to fit in - this cultural capital helps students excel in school and makes them comfortable because school values are more in line with their own cultural values

Question 7

How economic capital has a role in education

Answer 7

Tuition / private education

Question 8

How cultural capital has a role in education

Answer 8

Parents create an environment at home where they can thrive, help with homework, take them to culturally enriching places and have an active interest

Question 9

How social capital has a role in education

Answer 9

Know how to get in the best schools and build relationships with teachers

Question 10

How symbolic capital has a role in education

Answer 10

Could help with admissions or private / selective schools

Question 11

Sullivan

Answer 11

Students who achieved higher:
Read complex fiction
Watched documentaries and current affairs
Attended ‘high culture’ events

Question 12

Ball et al. - how do parents use their capital in education

Answer 12

Economic capital - move homes, tuition, choose independent schools

Social capital - more contacts in education, headteachers etc.

Cultural capital - more knowledge of education system, league tables, admission procedures

Question 13

Reay et al

Answer 13

Students with lower cultural capital less likely to attend Russell group universities

Question 14

Evaluation of the role of cultural capital in educational achievement

Answer 14

Sullivan - cultural capital was not the biggest determinant of educational success

UCAS admissions - students from lower social classes more likely to attend post 1992 universities

Question 15

Bernstein

Answer 15

Elaborate v restricted

Schools and teachers use elaborated code - schools are MC institutions

Elaborated:
Grammatically complex
Bored vocabulary
MC

Restricted:
Grammatically simple
Narrow selection of words
WC

Question 16

How does speech codes impact education

Answer 16

Teachers speak in elaborated code
Education resources written in elaborated code
External examinations written in elaborated code

Question 17

Evaluation of Bernstein

Answer 17

Students learn the elaborated code throughout their schooling
Restricted code and elaborated code can be interchangeable in social situations

Question 18

Evaluation of the role of speech codes

Answer 18

Educational performance of Chinese and Indian students

Question 19

Douglas’s study

Answer 19

Longitudinal study on children and the value parents place on education

WC parents placed less value on education so kids were less ambitious

MC parents showed more interest (visiting schools etc.)

Therefore, parental interest is the key factor in explaining the class differences in educational achievement

Question 20

Evans’ study

Answer 20

She found that WC parents did encourage a good education bur she found it was differences in primary socialisation

MC mothers use formal style learning in their play early on so this builds up a learning platform
WC mothers do not have formal learning styles through primary socialisation

Therefore MC have a headstart
Evans rejects CDT - she sees it as different not worse

Question 21

Criticisms of the cultural deprivation theory

Answer 21

Generally blames the WC for their own failure when in fact the system is up against them

Evans - WC do value education highly

Bernstein oversimplifies the differences between speech codes - differences have declined since his research

Question 22

Connor et al

Answer 22

Group interviews with students from a range of class backgrounds

WC pupils are discouraged from going to university for 3 main reasons:

They want immediate gratification
Realise parents can’t afford to support them (tuition fees deterring WC students)
Less confidence in their ability to succeed in university

Question 23

What is material deprivation

Answer 23

Inability to afford basic resources which can impact a pupil’s educational achievement

Question 24

Sutton trust statistic on material deprivation

Answer 24

Private school students 55 times more likely to get into oxbridge

Question 25

% of students in private schools

Answer 25

7%

Question 26

Douglas about material deprivation

Answer 26

Material deprivation has a cumulative effect on achievement

Question 27

Who suffers from material deprivation

Answer 27

34% children living in poverty in UK (social metrics commission) - only 13.6% claim free school meals 45% of children in minority ethnic families in poverty (child poverty action group)

Question 28

How does material deprivation impact education

Answer 28

Lack of ability to afford resources and hidden costs (uniform, school trips) Overcrowded accommodation Part-time jobs - taking away from studies Diet and nutrition - tiredness and absence Caring responsibilities

Question 29

What have governments done to tackle material deprivation

Answer 29

New labour: Sure start EMA Excellence in cities City centre academies Coalition: Universal free school meals PP

Question 30

Evaluation of material deprivation explanations

Answer 30

Deterministic - some WC students perform well Not just material deprivation, cultural matters too Strand - Chinese students on FSM - 77% achieve 5 GCSE, Chinese students non-FSM - 78% achieve 5 GCSE

Question 31

Gibson and Asthana - 5 factors of material deprivation

Answer 31

Higher levels of illness in poorer homes -> more absence + falling behind Less able to afford ‘hidden costs’ - books, toys, computers Tuition fees are a great source of anxiety Poorer parents are less likely to have access to nursery facilities Young people from poorer families are more likely to have a part time job

Question 32

Compensatory education

Answer 32

Extra educational help for disadvantaged groups to help balance inequalities Positive discrimination - treating them more favourably to redress the balance

Question 33

3 compensatory policies

Answer 33

Sure start Pupil premium EMA

Question 34

What is PP and how do schools spend it

Answer 34

Extra funding of £1000 per student from deprived backgrounds Aim is to close the gap and increase academic ability of underprivileged students Hiring TAs to provide additional support Investing in technology and resources such as computers 1:1 tutoring Extra curricular

Question 35

Benefits of EMA

Answer 35

Institute for fiscal studies (IFS) - staying on rates improved by 5.9% - most pronounced by boys whose parents were in low skilled jobs and facing most social pressure to earn money and peer pressure that education is unimportant

Question 36

Becker

Answer 36

Labelling theory (in education) - teachers pass judgment on their students based on pre-existing stereotypes of what constitutes the ‘Ideal pupil’ - often linked to class backgrounds Teachers saw MC children as closest to their stereotype of the ‘Ideal Pupil’ and WC children as the furthest away

Question 37

Hargreaves

Answer 37

Labelling leads to certain students being given imaginary halos which stay with them throughout their educational careers - the halo effect

Question 38

Ray rist’s study

Answer 38

Children labelled as “tigers” or “clowns” based on educational ability Found that the MC were tigers and WC were clowns Children’s educational success determined by these labels as the tigers deemed themselves smarter and the clowns experienced a SFP

Question 39

Rosenthal and Jacobson

Answer 39

Randomly selected 20% of students and labelled them as spurters from a fake IQ test Teacher expectations - conveyed spurters differently and had high expectations of them - in turn these pupils internalised these views and performed better than non-spurters

Question 40

What does labelling look like in schools?

Answer 40

Setting and streaming Gifted and Talented PP

Question 41

Internal processes and WC underachievement

Answer 41

Educational triage Labelling / SFP Setting and streaming Knowledge and quality of teaching Subcultures

Question 42

Gilbourn and Youdell

Answer 42

Marketisation Educational triage: (A-C economy) Due to pressure from league tables, schools likely to ration their time and resources towards the most able students where pupils are split into 3 groups A. Those who will pass either way (stereotypically MC) - less time and resources B. Border line cases (stereotypically MC) - more time and resources C. Hopeless cases (stereotypically WC) - less time and resources Evaluation: Now league tables are 9-1 and focus more on progress - moved away from this attainment score

Question 43

Ball

Answer 43

WC students more likely to be in lower sets even if their results were the same as MC students - evidence for labelling Behaviour and quality of work got worse Leading to lower self esteem - SFP

Question 44

Keddie

Answer 44

Teaching in lower sets was more simplified and less challenging as students were seen as less intelligent Meaning students were put in lower tiered exams and were restricted in terms of their ability to progress

Question 45

Lacey - subcultures

Answer 45

The pro school subculture: Associated with MC Positive stereotypes Positive labels High expectations Positive SFP The anti-school subculture: Associated with WC Negative stereotypes Negative labels Low expectations Negative SFP Emerged as a response to streaming

Question 46

Internal V external factors for WC underachievement

Answer 46

Internal : Labelled as less able, SFP Setting and streaming Bullying by peers Teacher assumptions of WC backgrounds School’s MC habitus External: WC habitus formed out of school Poverty Restricted speech code WC home backgrounds Government policies (A-C economy)

Question 47

Archer - Nike identities

Answer 47

WC pupils - society looked down upon them Constructed meaningful class identities through branding like Nike Correct appearance earned symbolic capital and approval from peer groups MC habitus stigmatises WC pupil identities

Question 48

Criticisms of Sugarman

Answer 48

Plays on differences between classes and not similarities Overgeneralised to suggest all WC hold these values Bias towards MC as he sees these values as bad

Question 49

Criticisms of cultural deprivation theory

Answer 49

Black stone and Mortimore: WC parents do have an interest in their children’s education but do not feel comfortable visiting schools due to teacher attitudes.

Question 50

What did Stephen Ball find

Answer 50

Introduction of marketisation means that MC have a greater choice of state schools due to selection by mortgage

Question 51

Criticism of the labelling theory

Answer 51

Deterministic - assumes that being labelled will result in a SFP no matter what (fuller and the denying prophecy - black girls labelled as low achievers but did not have a SFP, they proved the teachers wrong)

Question 52

Bartlett

Answer 52

Marketisation Cream skimming and silt shifting - schools aim to select only the best students Schools ignore ‘more costly’ students