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Social class differences in achievement - Coggle Diagram
Social class differences in achievement
Internal factors affecting achievement
Labelling
Hargreaves et al
Speculation- teachers make guesses about students
Elaboration- teachers look for evidence which supports or contradicts it
Stabilisation- teachers feel they know the pupil
Becker's
Ideal pupil = middle class children, appearance, work & conduct
Dunne and Gazeley
Schools consistently produce underachieving working class pupils because of teachers labels.
Working class = parents uninterested in child's education, normalised the pupils underachievement, enter working class pupils for easy exams
Middle class = parents are supportive of child's education, pupils underachieving were supported, sets extension work for underachieving middle class
Labelling theory
:check: Research into negative effects of labelling is very useful as it shows that schools are not neutral or fair institutions but can actively create social inequalities.
:red_cross: Labelling theory is deterministic as it assumes pupils who are labelled have no choice but to fulfil the prophecy and inevitably fail but Fullers research shows that this is not always true.
The self fulfilling prophecy
Teacher labels pupil --> Pupil behaves in accordance to the given label --> Outcome of behaviour is consistent with the given label
Rosenthal and Jacobson
Pygmalion effect - investigated the effect on teacher's expectations on the pupils academic performance (pupils given fake IQ test, told teachers which was going to bloom, tested pupils again 8 months label)
:red_cross: Teachers won't always tell you what they think and won't seperate pupils based on class for example = low validity.
Streaming (sets)
Gillbourn and Youdel
Educational triage-
High ability --> likely to achieve good grades without support
Middle ability --> likely to achieve good grades with support
Low ability -->likely to underachieve as they get no support from teachers
Education continues to support streaming by-
marketisation policies
government funding
importance of exam league tables
easier to educate pupils by sets
Pupil subcultures
Examples of pupil subcultures-
Rebels
Nerds
Sports teams
Popular
Goths
Theatre kids
Lacey
Identified the development of pupil subcultures through the processes of differentiation and polarisation
Differentiation --> The processes of teachers categorising pupils according to their perception
Polarisation --> The process in which pupils respond to streaming by moving to one of two extremes ; pro school & anti school subcultures
Pro school
= pupils placed in high sets, middle class pupils, approved by teachers, status gained through academic success
Anti school subculture
= pupils placed in low sets, working class pupils, labelled as failure so they look for alternative ways to gain status
The variety of pupil responses
Woods
Integration --> teachers pet
Ritualism --> pupils who attend and stay out of trouble
Retreatism --> daydreaming and messing about
Rebellion --> outright rejection of everything that school stands for
Working class identities and school
Archer et al
Habitus -
ways of thinking and behaving are shaped by social class, including outlook on life, tastes, preferences
Symbolic capital and violence -
pupils socialised into middle class habitus at home gain symbolic capital status recognition from school as they are more valued than working class habitus
Nike identities -
styles are usually policed by peers and the right appearance brings symbolic capital approval from peer groups and safety from bullying
Working class identity and success -
Ingram found that working class identity was inseperable from working class locality
Class identity and self exclusion -
Evans found that many working class pupils are reluctant to apply to prestigious universities like Oxford and Cambridge of fear of not fitting in
External factors affecting achievement
Cultural deprivation
Language
The restricted code
-Used by the working class
-Limited vocabulary
-Simple sentences
-Context bound eg a teacher asking "what is cultural deprivation" A context bound response would be "What we learnt yesterday"
The elaborated code
-Used by middle class
-Wide vocabulary
-Complex sentences
-Context free eg a teacher asking "What is the capital city of USA" A context free response would be "Washington"
Language use of pupils
"bare" meaning lots/many
"gaff" meaning house
Parents' education
Working class parents
-Inconsistent discipline
-Lack ability to support child's learning
-Low income so restricted in the way in which they are able to provide educational support through toys
Middle class parents
-Consistent discipline
-Aware of what is needed for educational success
-High income so more ways to promote child educational success through educational toys
Working class subculture
Goals/beliefs of working class parents
-A job instead of higher education
-To live nearby to family
-Can't succeed or go far
Sugarman - Barriers to educational achievement
Fatalism --> belief in fate, can't change your status
Collectivism --> valuing being part of a group more than succeeding as an individual
Immediate gratification --> seeking pleasure now rather than later
Present time orientation --> the present is more important than future goals
Compensatory education
These programmes aim to tackle the problem of cultural deprivation
Examples-
Sure start centres
-Aim to work with parents to promote physical, intellectual and social development of young children
-3500 centres in low income areas
Sesame street USA
-Teaches maths, science, engineering and problem solving to kids
-Set out to bridge the gap between working class children and middle class children
:check: Schools may support this research as it shows the importance of home life and educational achievement.
:red_cross: Some parents may be reluctant to discuss attitudes towards education because of their poor experiences or may feel they are getting blamed for their child's underachievement at school
Material deprivation
Financial support
Lack of money means parents can only buy essential items for school such as
uniform
lunches
textbooks
travel (buses etc)
Ways having a low income can affect education
can lead to teachers labelling = self fulfilling prophecy
may need a part time job, will have less time to do work
not enough sleep if working
lack of concentration if hungry & can't afford food
:check: Parents may be willing to discuss their inability to purchase school equipment if they feel that this may lead to greater support for their children
:red_cross: Some parents may be reluctant to discuss poverty and low income because they may fear their child will become stigmatised
Callender and Jackson
did a nationwide survey of 2000 perspective students and found that working class students are more averse to debt and saw more costs than benefits to uni
Cultural capital
Bourdieu
Identified 2 further types which influence pupil's achievement. Which are - Educational capital
Cultural capital
Economic capital
Bourdieu argues that middle class are more successful as they possess all these types of capital
Cultural capital
The attitudes & values that an individual possesses that helps them progress in education
For example, do they go to museums? do they watch documentaries?
Educational capital
The qualifications they have which help them get a career
Economic capital
Monetary wealth
Sullivan
Carried out a survey of 465 pupils from 4 schools
Asked them about a range of activities such as reading, watching TV and whether they have visited museums, art galleries etc
Found that pupils who read fiction and watch documentaries had wider vocab and greater cultural knowledge = greater cultural capital
Concludes that the greater resources and aspirations of middle class families explain the class gap in achievement
Difficulties in researching cultural capital and its' effects on pupils achievement
:red_cross: Pupils from low income families may be reluctant to take part in research as they may be embarrassed or feared they'll become stigmatised
:red_cross: Some students may exaggerate their cultural experiences so the results would lack validity