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Class Differences in Achievement - External Factors - Coggle Diagram
Class Differences in Achievement - External Factors
Material Deprivation
Housing
Poor housing can affect pupil's achievement - eg overcrowding can make it harder for a child to study, less room for educational activities, nowhere to do homework etc. Development for young children can be impaired through lack of space for safe play. Temporary accommodation may find themselves having to move frequently, resulting in the constant school changes.
Indirect effects - crowded homes --> greater risk of accidents, cold/ damp housing --> ill health, more absences from school
Diet and Health
Howard
notes that young people from poorer homes have lower intakes of energy, vitamins and minerals. Poor nutrition affects health by weakening the immune system, resulting in more absences from school and difficulty concentrating.
Poor home children are more likely to have behavioural or emotional problems -
Wilkinson
found that the lower the class, the higher the rate of hyperactivity which have a negative effect on education
Financial Support
Lack of financial support means that children from poor families have to do without equipment and and miss out on experiences that would enhance their educational achievement.
Bull
refers to this as 'the costs of free schooling'. As a result, poor children have to do with hand-me-downs and cheaper equipment, which may result in isolation or bullying.
Smith and Noble
say that poverty acts as a barrier to learning in other ways, such as inability to afford tuition. Lack of funds also means that children from low-income families often need to work.
Fear of Debt
University involves getting into debt to cover the cost of tuition, books and living expenses, and this may deter working-class students from going to university.
Callender and Jackson
found that most debt averse students were over 5 times less likely to apply than most debt tolerant students. Working class students who do go to university will receive less financial support from their family.
Cultural Deprivation
Working Class subculture
Argue that the lack of parental interest in their children's education reflects the subcultural values of the working class - they have different goals, attitudes and values and this is why their children fail in school
Barry Sugarman
argues that working-class subculture has 4 key features that act as a barrier to educational achievement:
Fatalism - belief that there is nothing that you can do to change your status
Collectivism - valuing being part of a group more than succeeding as an individual
Immediate Gratification - seeking pleasure now rather than making sacrifices in order to get rewards in the future
Present time orientation - seeing the present as more important than the future
Sugarman argues that these differences in values stem from the fact that middle-class jobs are secure that offer continuous individual advancement.
Parent's Education
Parents attitudes to education are a key factor affecting children's achievement
Douglas
found that working class parents places less value on education, and as a result were less ambitious for their children, giving less encouragement and showing less interest
Feinstein
argues that parents education is the most important factor, as middle-class parents are more likely to be better educated and give their children an advantage by how they socialise them
Advantages can be given in many ways:
Parenting Style
- educated parents emphasise consistent discipline and high expectations of their children, supporting achievement by encouraging active learning; contrasted by less educated parents harsh/inconsistent discipline to do what you are told, preventing the child from learning independence
Parents' Educational Behaviour
- educated parents are more aware of what is needed to assist their children's educational progress, able to get expert advice on childrearing, establish good relationships with teachers and recognise the educational value of activities
Use of Income
- Better educated parents tend to have higher incomes, and use their income to promote their children's educational success; they can also afford more nutritious food-
Bernstein and Young
found that middle-class mothers are more likely to buy educational toys. Working homes are more likely to lack these resources.
Language
An essential part of the process of education - how parents communicate with their children affects their intellectual development
Hubbs-Tait et al
found that where parents use language that challenges their children to evaluate their own understanding, cognitive performance improves -
Feinstein
found that educated parents are more likely to use language this way, and are more likely to use praise
Bereiter and Engelmann
claim that the language used in lower-class homes is deficient, and as a result children fail to develop the necessary language skills
Speech Codes
Bernstein
identifies differences between working-class and middle-class language that influence achievement:
Restricted Code
- typically used by the working class, limited vocabulary and simple grammar. Speech is unpredictable, context-bound (the speaker assumes that the listener shares the same set of experiences)
Elaborated Code
- middle-class, wider vocabulary and more complex sentences, can communicate abstract ideas, things are spelt out explicitly for the user
Gives middle class children an advantage at school as elaborated code is what is used by teachers and exams - early socialisation into elaborated code means middle class children are fluent when they start school, and thus feel at home and more likely to succeed
Cultural Capital [Bourdieu]
Cultural Capital
Refers to the knowledge, attitudes, values etc of the middle class - he sees this as a capital as it gives those that possess it an advantage. Like
Bernstein
, he argues that through their socialisation, middle-class children acquire the ability to express abstract ideas, giving them an advantage in school.
Educational and Economic Capital
Educational, economic and cultural capital can be converted into one another - wealthy parents can convert their economic capital into educational capital by sending their children to private school.
Bourdieu
argues that both cultural and material factors contribute to educational achievement and are interrelated; he uses the concept of 'capital', educational, economic and cultural to explain why the middle class are more succesful.