Year One: Social Class And Education

Question 1

What is social class?

Answer 1

Social classes are groupings of individuals in the hierarchy, usually based on wealth, educational attainment, occupation, income, and membership in a subculture or social network

Question 2

What types of capital does Bourdieu claim exist?

Answer 2

Economic capital: wealth and income- money anything is money can buy
Social capital: the people you know and the connections you can make
Cultural capital: exposure to highly valued cultural events and artefacts

Question 3

How do we measure social class in an educational setting?

Answer 3

Free school meals. Parents who are eligible for some form of income support are also entitled to their children having free school meals. There are four children on free school meals almost always come from low income households.

Pupil premium.

Question 4

What does the data show us about social class and educational outcomes? (gcse)

Answer 4

Disadvantaged pupils lagging behind (achieving grade 9 to 5, in maths and English GCSE)

25% of poor pupils
51% others

Question 5

What does the data show us about social class and educational outcomes? (Uni)

Answer 5

96% of privately educated children go onto study at any university, 36% of state school children go onto study at any University 16% of children eligible for free school meals. Go on to study at any University.

48% of privately educated children gain a place at a highly selective University, 18% of state schoolchildren gain a place at a highly selective university 2% of children eligible for free school meals gain a place at a highly selective university.

Question 6

What does the data show us about social class and educational outcomes? (Jobs)

Answer 6

The U.K.’s top jobs are dominated by the privately educated, for example, senior judges 65% civil service permanent secretaries, 59% members of the House of Lords, 57% diplomats 52% junior ministers, 52%. Armed Forces offices, 49%

Question 7

How many of the U.K.’s pupils attend private schools?

Answer 7

7%

Question 8

What are the causes of Working-class underachievement?

Answer 8

Material deprivation, lack of money or the goods and services that money can buy

cultural deprivation, lack of values and norms of behaviour that are conductive to educational success

factors, processes, rules and teacher pupil interactions that reinforce class disadvantage

Question 9

List five material factors causing working class underachievement

Answer 9

House conditions
Catchment area
Hidden costs
Private tutors
language

Question 10

Briefly outline ‘home conditions’

Answer 10

Children growing up in poor quality housing or facing housing insecurity perform less well
More likely to suffer from associated health issues
Spaces are over- crowded and noisy
If socially deprived area, may be feelings of insecurity and vulnerability associated with high levels of crime and antisocial behaviour

Question 11

Which two sociologists explore
‘Home conditions’

Answer 11

Washbook and Harker

Question 12

What did washbrook investigate?

Answer 12

Overcrowded circumstances made independent learning difficult - negative impact on school performance

Question 13

What type of study did washbrook use?

Answer 13

Longitudinal study
( home conditions and parental level of education were key drivers of educational outcomes at age 16)

Question 14

What did Harker argue?

Answer 14

The study found that children in low income families suffered housing insecurity. They were uncertain how long they would be in their current residence, were moving frequently, or were homeless. All of which had a detrimental impact on their ability to succeed at school. This was especially true for very young children.

Question 15

Briefly outline ‘catchment area’

Answer 15

The state school a child attends is significantly affected by the area that they live in
Schools in DEPRIVED areas experience a disproportionate amount of SOCIAL PROBLEMS that accompany deprivation
This affects the schools ability to produce good outcomes

Conversely, schools in affluent areas will be populated by pupils with high levels of social and cultural capital
ABILITY TO FIND A PLACE IN A ‘GOOD’ SCHOOL WILL BE DETERMINED BY THE AREA ON CAN AFFORD TO LIVE IN

Question 16

Name one key study of ‘catchment area’
What does the research claim?

Answer 16

Sutton Trust found that house prices reflect the quality of schools nearby
Buying the house buys access to the school

Proximity to a popular school can add up to 20% to the price of a house within the schools catchment area

Results in high levels of socio-economic segregation

Question 17

Evaluation of ‘catchment area’

Answer 17

Some schools in socially deprived areas still perform well above average
Achieved through additional state funding a high quality leadership

Question 18

Evaluation of ‘home conditions’ Washbrook

Answer 18

no one factor could be taken to be the driver behind underachievement
A combined impact several factors (some cultural and not material)

Question 19

Briefly outline ‘hidden costs’

Answer 19

Whilst State schools are nominally free, parents are required to buy a wide range of additional items from uniform to books
Schools may be able to assist children from low income households with these additional costs, but those from affluent homes will always be more advantaged when it comes to purchasing the hidden extras associated with educational success

Question 20

What did Bourdieu claim?

Answer 20

There are three types of capital: economic, social and cultural

Question 21

What did Treanor argue?

Answer 21

Studied low income Scottish parents
Stuprggled with uniforms and trips

Increased levels of domestic stress which then fed into a negative attitude to school felt by parents and communicated to children

Less successful outcomes

Question 22

What did the children’s society report find?

Answer 22

Parents from low income households were having to find on average £800 a year in hidden school costs
Students who wore second hand uniform also lacked school supplies or couldn’t go on school trips
They felt stigmatised leading to decreased levels of self esteem

Question 23

Evaluation of ‘hidden costs’

Answer 23

Schools receive pupil premium funding and must use this to support children who can’t afford materials
Evident during latest lockdowns when children from low income households provided with laptops

Question 24

Briefly outline ‘private tutors’

Answer 24

A tutor costs on average £40 per hour, making such a service out of reach for low income households
One to one tutoring is likely to improve performance and therefore exam outcomes

Ultimate form of private tutoring is sending one’s child to an independent (private) schools

Yearly costs can be up to £25,000, placing them beyond them means of all but 7% of the population

Question 25

What did Reay claim?

Answer 25

A large proportion of middle class families with children in the final year of primary schooling employed tutors
The majority of mothers from a school in a very affluent area of London employed tutors for their children. The main reason for this was to secure places in preferred secondary schools

Question 26

What did Henderson argue?

Answer 26

‘Vastly superior’ resources like those owned by private schools have an impact on pupil attainment

Resources spent on private school pupils are roughly three times the state school on average

Question 27

Evaluation of ‘private tutors’

Answer 27

Rushforth argued that private tuition only had negligible effects on exam grades, adding on just half a grade in maths and nothing at all in English

Question 28

Briefly outline ‘cultural capital’

Answer 28

Bourdieu- access to cultural artefacts and activities that are highly valued

Middle class families are more likely than working class families to have access to these and encourage their children to consume them
Cultural capital ensures that middle class children have a more seamless experience of education: out of school experiences mirroring and reinforcing the ideas and values of the taught curriculum

Question 29

What does Robson argue?

Answer 29

Cultural capital led to improved exam outcomes in secondary age children
Study followed a cohort of students measured access to cultural capital and then compared exam results
Correlation, especially in arts and humanities

Question 30

What does Archer argue?

Answer 30

Cultural capital creates a more seamless relationship between home and school
Students only spend around a quarter or their waking hours in school: their experiences outside school are therefore more likely to play a role determining their educational success

Question 31

Evaluation for ‘cultural capital’

Answer 31

Only has a limited impact and only in subjects such as English, history and art
Other explanations are needed for gaps in subjects such as math and science

Question 32

Briefly outline ‘deferred gratification’

Answer 32

Working class households have a ‘PRESENT ORIENTATION’ as a consequence of being in a position of being in a position of economic uncertainty, focus on the here and now
Middle class households have a ‘FUTURE ORIENTATION’, a willingness to make sacrifices in the present in order to gain future rewards
Children who imbibe such values adopt the same approach to work and this leads to greater educational success

Question 33

What does Sugarman argue?

Answer 33

Middle class pupils understood the benefits of deferred gratification, working class pupils are more likely to prefer immediate gratification
MC more likely to want to leave school at the first opportunity and enter paid employment

Question 34

What does Perry and Francis argue?

Answer 34

INTERVIEWS with pupils in a variety of schools found a social class differential between attitudes to time spent on additional study,with MC pupils more likely to relate to present study time to a future reward, defined as access to better paid jobs in a future labour market

Question 35

Evaluation of deferred gratification

Answer 35

Marxist theorists would argue that cultural explanations such as this have the effect of blaming parents for WC underachievement, rather than seeing it as an inevitable consequence of the system

Question 36

Briefly outline ‘language’ (Bernstein)

Answer 36

Bernstein argued that differential outcomes had their basis in linguistic capacity
WC-RESTRICTIVE code (more likely to assume the listener knows what is being referred to)
MC-ELABORATIVE code (more precise- assumes no prior knowledge)
School success,especially in exams, is predicted on the ability to read, write and speak in elaborated code, thus favouring MC children

Question 37

What does Fernald argue?

Answer 37

Extensive study found that by the age of 4, children in middle and upper class families hear 15 million more words than WC children and 30 million more words than FSM children
This linguistic gap widens throughout school years

Question 38

What does Rodriguez et al. argue?

Answer 38

Found a social class difference in three core activities
1. Extent to which a child was read to
2. Frequency of non-transactional conversations between parent and child
3. Participation in non-school based learning activities

All of which contributed to a language gap between WC and MC children

Question 39

Evaluation of language

Answer 39

Bernstein’s theory has been heavily criticised for presuming that WC language is necessarily inferior
Critics point to an increasingly large cohort of working class children attending university

Question 40

Briefly outline ‘parental engagement’

Answer 40

WC parents may not have had a positive experience at school, don’t consider school success a priority
Consequently, they may not be involved in the child’s education to the same extent MC parents do
May not fully understand how the education system works, not be able to help with more complex homework
The degree to which parents are actively involved in their child’s education is highly predictive of that child’s success

Tiger parenting

Question 41

What does Douglas argue?

Answer 41

Parents attitudes to their children’s education was a crucial variable in the explanation of differential educational achievement
Link to socialisation.
Noted differences in socialisation between classes

Question 42

What does Desforges argue?

Answer 42

Differences between parents in their level of involvement are associated with social class, poverty, healthy and also with parents perception of their role and their levels of confidence in fulfilling it

Some parents are put off by feeling put down by schools and teachers

Question 43

Evaluation of parental engagement

Answer 43

Ray argued that this approach to understanding the social class gap risks ‘blaming the victims’ suggesting WC underachievement is the result of parental apathy

Question 44

Briefly outline ‘labelling’

Answer 44

According to Becker, teachers subconsciously carry an image of a model student: studious, diligent, future-oriented
In essence, a middle class child
When teachers encounter WC children, they may attribute negative characteristics: lack of intellligence, poor behaviour, present orientation etc
This may affect how the teacher interacts with the pupil; may act in accordance with the label, reinforcing the attribute, a self fulfilling prophecy

Question 45

What does Waterhouse claim?

Answer 45

Studied teacher-pupil interactions in 4 schools
Labelled as gifted, average or deviant
These labels became a ‘pivotal identity’ for the pupil and teachers
The teacher interprets behaviour through the lens of the label and the pupil begins to live up to (or down to the label)

Question 46

What do Harvey and Slatin argue?

Answer 46

The researchers showed photographs of a variety of children to 96 primary school teachers with no other info given
Ask who they thought was more likely to be academically successful
Majority identified white, middle-class children as being more likely to succeed

Question 47

Evaluation of labelling

Answer 47

Overstates the influence of individual teachers on pupils’ identities
Out of school factors such as class and ethnicity will play a more significant role

Question 48

Briefly outline ‘sub-cultures’

Answer 48

School cultures: compliant with rules, diligent approaches to work, respect authority, punctuality, homework completion, preparedness to learn

Pro-school subculture: accept and abide
Anti-school subculture: reject and rebel
These cultural expectations

Question 49

What does Willis argue?

Answer 49

Studied the dynamics of an anti-school subculture: Academic low-achievers who set themselves up in opposition to the values of the school and who saw themselves as superior to it
In order to remain affiliated to the group, the Lads had to oppose school culture and refuse to accept the need for any kind of academic success

Question 50

What does Sewell argue?

Answer 50

Mainly focused on a group of WC black boys
Rejected school culture, felt it had little to offer them
Formed groups of their own
Valued a form of hyper-masculinity (fighting, drinking, having sex) and rejected the pro-academic views of school

Question 51

Evaluation of sub-cultures

Answer 51

Most sub-cultural theory reduces groups to pro and anti school

Peter Woods eight adaptations to school life (retreating, ritualise, compliance) offers a more nuanced approach to the formation of pupil identity

Question 52

Briefly outline ‘setting’

Answer 52

Streaming: put into ability based groups for all subjects
Setting: varies according to subject
Arguably an explicit form of pupil labelling
Ball showed that bottom sets are allocated weaker teachers and poorer provision
SFP

Question 53

What does Smyth argue?

Answer 53

Research found that students in lower stream class had more negatives attitudes to school and were more likely to become disaffected
Sutton Trust found that MC children dominated top sets; more likely that those in lower sets were far more likely to come from low income households

Question 54

What does Hallam argue?

Answer 54

Negative attitudes to school were common amongst lower set vhildren
Lower set children: less well adjusted and have fewer friends
Being set often led to participation in pro and anti school subcultures thus reinforcing pupil identity

Question 55

Evaluation of setting

Answer 55

Streaming increasingly uncommon
Sets; however many classes are mixed-ability
Setting unlikely to be primary source of pupil identity