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Education Topic 3 Part 1, Compensatory Education Positive Discrimination…
Education Topic 3
Part 1
Social Class Inequality in Education
Michael Grove
' Rich thick kids do better than poor clever children'
Comparing working class children to middel class children it was found:
Do less well on tests
more likely to be placed in lower sets
more likely to undertake vocational education
more likely to start school unable to read
Explained by 2 factors:
External
Home and neighbourhood
Cultural
(values)
Inadequate language skills, inappropriate values
Deprivation theory - suggests working class underachieve because their homes culture 'is not as good enough' as the middle class
Charles Murray
Underclass is lazy and worthless, engages with criminal and delinquent behaviour and dependent on welfare benefits
Factor 1: Parents Attitude's towards Education
Douglas
Found, failure of parental encouragement and involvement with children's education
wc parents attend less parents evenings, less interested in exams
mc are more child centred
Evaluation
Parents often work and cant make it so parents evenings, Parents might not be able to afford childcare for younger children that cant come to parents evening
Schools can communicate though phones and emails now instead
Factor 2: Parents Level of Education
MC parents tend to understand the education system better - and can give advice on subjects
Mc understand league tables
Mc hold more disagreements with teachers about pupils progress
Mc help children with schoolwork
Factor 3: Subculture explanations - Attitudes and Values
Sugarman & Hyman
Working class:
Education achievement isn't important (Willis - the lads)
A present time orientation - immediate gratification
Fatalism - collective gains are more important that effect the individual effort
Immediate Gratification - Only caring at the time
More worried about getting a job than educational qualifications
Middle Class:
Future Orientation: Planning for future
Deferred gratification: Missing out now for future benefits
Individual Effort: Intelligence is seen as key to educational success
Factor 4: Language Codes
Bernstein
Education depends on literacy - if undeveloped it can lead to disadvantage at school
2 codes:
Elaborated Code
- formal, makes learning easier, used among middle class
Restricted Code
- informal, ungrammatical, used among working class
Critics
:
MC using EC - there is a division in MC as in higher and lower MC people
Rosen
: B created a myth about superiority of MC speech
Labov
: MC are bogged down for having mass of irrelevant detail (found in a NYC study)
*Factor 5: Cultural Capital
Bourdieu
Cultural Capital advantage of MC
Robson
CC is formed around reading books, going to the theatre, museum, zoo etc, - WC is unlikely to have this experience and therefore lack cultural capital.
This cultural capital can be transformed into educational capital (qualifications) which is then transferred into economic capital (high income) - Becomes '
Social Capital'
(Support network from neighbours etc. normally only possessed in MC giving a built in advantage to the education system
Bourdieu suggests school isn't neutral and fair as pupils are measured on cultural capital and they won't all have the same (MC already possess some of the CC Wc have to learn) - can be blamed on inadequate socialisation
Cultural Clash
Schools tend to be MC institutions and therefore reflects MC way of life (deferred gratification)
Archer et al.
MC kids are more likely to experience a smooth transition due to the books and classes being taught in MC standard making it harder for WC children to settle on due to difference in values and norms = Culture clash
Critics
Reay - CE blame the victim for underachievement (home and family background)
Exaggeration
Exaggerates differences and downplays similarities between social classes
Overlook practical differences and lacking of self-confidence
Douglas
- measures 'parental interest' based on teacher comments and how many times they visit the school
Many WC parents work and struggle to get time off
Lack of visits shows lack of interest
Reay - WC lack some confidence which is needed for school interactions
WC are prevented from turning parental interest into practical support like the MC parents
Ignoring the roles played by schools
Schools don't possess children's ambitions, MC do better because of the teacher praise and encouragement
Reay: 'unmotivated, unambitious and underachieving' is attached to WC families meaning teachers label them as 'born to fail' and neglect their needs for success
Kingdon and Cassen - WC are less likely to give results that boost position on league tables and therefore 'are not worth bothering'
Need for school to change
If school helped WC gain CC rather than blaming the family they wouldn't be pressed into trying to improve the situation
Keddie
There isn't cultural deprivation there is a cultural difference
School is based off of a MC white culture disadvantaging other backgrounds
Material
(Money)
Unemployment = educational books/toys, access to computers and online learning are not available at home
Waldfogel + Washbrook
- children from low income families more likely to have unclean, unsafe, damp living conditions - makes studies difficult
Poor diet = tiredness = lack of concentration at school / absence = falling behind
Lack of spare income for school trips, no private tuition can be given
Hidden costs of free state schools
:
£1614 a year (2013) - basic school expenses - uniform, stationary, pe kit and photos - school pressures parents to pay up
Priority Areas - where primary and secondary schools draw their children
Deprived areas - social problems = poor role models for children = disciple issues, preventing students from learning
Working class children that live in deprived areas mean they are more likely to attend underachieving schools
Gibson and Asthana
Greater level of disadvantage = lacking parents with qualifications
85% of ALT teachers believe poverty has a negative impact on attainment and well-being
Internal
Inside Education (Topic 2)
Gender Inequality in Education
Girls traditionally underachieve in the education system - until 1970/80's
Reasons for girl underachievement in previous years
Gender stereotyping (cooking lessons)
Socialisation of being a housewife
Unequal opportunity
Housework vs Homework
Lack of feminine teachers - lacking of role models
Patriarchy
Why girls achieve more now
Feminism, Motivation, Independency, Role models (social media), More opportunity in the labour market, Higher expectations
Over the years
Before 1980's there was a concern about the under achievement of girls
They perform better than boys up until they got to their GCSE's and then fall behind
Said that 'if the teachers spent as much time as they are obliged to with boys the girls would do better'
Not all boys underacheive - SC differences are more important than gender
Perry & Francis
: Girls on Free-School-Meals won't do better than MC boys
Reasons for girls improvement in achievement
Internal
Positive Role Models
Female teachers and head teachers = role models
Presence of female teachers 'feminises' learning environment encouraging girls to see education as a female domain - making them want educational success as a desirable feminine characteristic
Coursework and New GCSE's
Mitsos and Browne
Girls do better than boys in coursework - more conscientious and better organised - girls mature easier and can concentrate for longer
Gorard
Gender gap in achievement is increasing sharply when GCSE's where introduced in 1988 because coursework was a major part of mots subjects
Equal Opportunities - Policies in school
Feminism is widespread in the education system (shows the basic belief of gender equality and that everyone has equal capability)
GIST (Girls in Science and Tech)
WISE
National Curriculum - boys and girls largely study similar subjects
Peer Groups and Working Harder
Girls put more effort into work and have more motivation than boys
Capable of working harder than boys because of longer concentration - Better organisation and spend more time on coursework making it better
Girl peer groups are more supportive and encouraging giving higher levels of achievement
External
Changing roles in the family
Since 1970's major change in roles
Increased divorce (40% of marriages now end in divorce)
Rise in single parenthood - head of the family is 90% of the time a woman
Increased cohabitation / less marriage
More women are staying single = smaller families
(Links to the
Individualisation Thesis
Changing Ambitions
Sharpe
- In 1970's girls prioritised 'Love, marriage, husbands, kids and then jobs'
1990's they are more career driven and independent
Francis
Girls have higher aspiration and need more qualifications
Feminism
Since 1960's feminists have challenged the patriarchy
This has impacted women's rights and opportunities as well as creating changes in the law (Equal pay act, Rape in marriage)
Broadly - Feminists would have motivated and inspired girls to do well in education
McRobbie
- in a content analysis of woman's magazines in 60's and 70's:
70's girls were expected to 'find a husband' otherwise they would be left on the shelf - they valued themselves on how appealing they were to men
90's Focuses on female empowerment and independence they are encouraged to fine jobs
There's a stronger encouragement of 'girl-friendliness' on subjects that are often male-dominated - Campaigns such as WISE inspire women to begin a journey in STEM careers - Teachers now avoid gender stereotyping, overcoming previous problems faced
Changes in employment
Now there is greater opportunities for women that lead them into the
service sector
- traditionally an area of work for the women
Under 1/2 of married women worked in 1950's and now this has risen to about 3/4 (ambition and motivation)
Change in law helped change in employment (Equal pay act 1970, Sex discrimination act 1975)
Evaluation
This idea generalises achievement when really WC girls are more likely to go into WC jobs
Facts on gender differences
Higher proportion of girls stay on at sixth form and further education
Girls are more likely to get top 1st and 2nd class degrees
57% women applied for full time uni course and 55% succeeded
Why do boys underachieve?
Boys are More Disruptive
Male peer-groups devalue school work (a-l sub)
Achieve a peer-group status through aggressive disruptive behaviour than girls
Loss of learning due to exclusions of being sent out of class
3x more likely to be excluded
Masculinity and Anti-Learning Subculture
Forde et al
Peer- Group pressure encourages boys to maintain a dominant identity developed through the rejecting school and causing lack of success
Rejection of academic work(seen as feminine)
WC boys gain 'street cred' by not working = anti-learning subculture because school = unmacho and girly
Epstein et al
WC bots risk harassment and bullying / being called 'gay' if they worked hard
Francis
- macho status is achieved through boys resisting teachers and messing about
Teaching is dominantly female - especially in primary schools and so from an early age boys lack positive role models around learning, feminising it
Declining Traditional Male Employment Opportunities and The Male Identity Crisis
Mac & Ghaill
Decline in traditional male jobs = underperformance in school
Lack of motivation as they feel they have a limited prospects 'whats the point'
Boys have lower expectations and low self esteem - collapse of breadwinner role has led for men to feel insecure about their male position
Insecurity is reflected in school 'no point in hard work'
Feeling and Behaving Differently
Boys overestimate and girls underestimate themselves
Stanworth, Licht and Dweck
Girls underestimate
Renold and Allan
2 primary schools (South Wales)
Girls torn between being attractive or being achievers
Barber
- More boys than girls think they are 'able', and fewer boys than girls think they are 'below average'
Francis
3 secondary schools - boys though it is easy to do well in exams without any effort. when they fail they blame teacher and lack of effort and not their lacking of ability
Different Leisure - Doing not Talking
Girls talk and read, Boys are active or on video games
Girls relate with each other and expand linguistic and communication by talking helping with school and non-manual service-sector jobs
Boyd think reading is girly and don't do it
Boys Don't Like Reading
Boys see reading as a feminine activity
Women are main consumers and word spreaders about books, they are more likely to read to their children (daughters more than sons) which feminises reading - giving girls positive role models
Boys loose interest in books by 8 years old
Girls tend to like fiction when boys read for information - Primary schools use fiction books for learning giving the girls an early advantage
Oakhill and Petrides
- boys interest content of what they read influencing ability to understand text - grasping motivation and developing knowledge
Girls are much better with handling and understanding subjects that they don't have personal interest in (wider variety compared o boys)
Lower Expectations
Staff aren't as harsh on boys as they are girls
Tolerate bad behaviour from boys
There is an acceptance of poorly presented work by boys
Low Ex = Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Pupil sexual and gender identities
Connell
- Schools may contribute to
Hegemonic Masculinity
(Dominance of heterosexual masculine identities subordinating gay and female identities)
Ways Hegemonic Identity is reinforced
:
2 - Double Standards
2 Groups = 2 Sets of standards
Lee's
- sexual morality:
Girls are verbally abused if they don't have a bf or if they do and dress a certain way
Boys can brag about sexual exploits
Sexual conquests give boys status but promiscuous girls are seen as negative-peer groups and are seen as 'slags'
1 - Verbal Abuse
Connell
- 'Rich vocabulary of abuse'
Boys use name calling to put girls 'in their place' and reinforce gender identities
Peachter
- Name calling shapes gender identities (lez, butch, gay)
Parker
- Boys are 'gay' if they are friends with girls and aren't sleeping with them
4 - The Male Gaze
Visual aspect
Mac and Ghaill
- Mal pupils & teachers look at girls seeing them as sexual objects and make judgements of their appearance
Form of surveillance where masculinity is reinforced
5 - Male Peer Groups
Verbal abuse = masculinity
Willis
- 'Lads' called boys gay if they wanted success
Mac and Ghaill
- WC boys were dismissive of boys who wanted to do well = 'dickhead achievers'
MC who want to do well = 'real gentlemen'
3 - Female Peer Groups
Girls gain symbolic capital (popularity) by conforming to stereotypes
Hyper-heterosexual feminine identities = glam and sexy - f they aren't this they = tramps and won't get a boy
Currie
- Girls have to balance 2 identities
1- Too competitive or glam = risk of slut shaming
2- Non-competitive girls = frigid
Shaming is a key element of girl peer groups
6 - Teacher Discipline
Boys are told of if they 'behave like girls'
Some teachers ignore abuse given to girls from boys
Males rescue female teachers if they are dealing with an aggressive student
Francis
- Creating and Reinforcing Gender Identities
1 - Gendered Verbal Behaviour
Boys dominate mixed classes (talking over girls)
Boys gain greater opportunities with teachers
Boys verbally abuse girls and are disruptive to the class
2- Gendered Physical Behaviour
Boy sit separate from girls
Girls resist school by reading magazines or doing makeup instead of working
Girls are seen as 'invisible'
Boys dominate rooms
Consciously and unconsciously exercise patriarchy
3 - Gendered Pursuits
Girls classroom talk is a construction of femininity - makeup and looking nice
Mac and Ghaill
- male gaze
Boys construct their masculinity through boasting about sex and how far they went
4 - Gendered Classroom Behaviour and Power
Research - mixed classes often have girls supporting boys (homework and tidying up)
Girls find themselves silenced by boys - confident girls who challenge boys get undermined as boys want them to know 'who's boss'
5 - Role of Teachers
Francis
- Teachers create and perpetuate gender stereotypes
Different expectations according to gender
Girl bad behaviour is punished more than boys = 'boys will be boys'
Different Subject Choices
Masculine subject choices - science and maths (Hard and High status)
Feminine subject choices - arts and english (Easy and Soft)
1 - Gender Socialisation
Pupil aspirations are rooted from PS where norms and values are linked to gender roles
Early years boys and girls encouraged to play with different toys to help learn about gender roles
Lobbans
- Research found evidence of gender stereotyping in children's books (women=domestic tasks)
Best
- Research proved a change since Lobbans - Socialisation encourages boys to develop an interest in science - generates peer-pressure of talking about certain subjects
2 - Subject Counselling
Career advisors could possibly reflect their own socialisation by channelling boys and girls into taking certain paths
this means subject choice impacts gendered occupational structure (men jobs and women jobs) - Shapes teacher and pupil ideas about career options
3 - Subject Images, Gender Identity and Peer Pressure
Colley
- Gender perceptions of different subjects influence people choices
Skelton et al.
- Male/Female - drawn to different subjects due to own ideas on what is appropriate for their gender identity
Mitsos
- Interview Research - Yr11 boys and girls in a Coventry inner-city comprehensive school - Boys unfavourably chose English as it is stereotypically 'feminine'
Peachter
-
Gendering Subject Images:
PE - masculine and therefore girls opt out of it - if girls chose PE then they had to work hard in other ways to win back their femininity and risked marginalisation
Kelly
- Science = male dominated - would grab apparatus first and ridicule girls
Gender stereotyping is found in science text books 'invisibility of girls'
Colley
- Science and ITC = masculine - machines = appealing to boys
if they didn't conform then risk of radicalisation
Changing curriculum content is altering gender identities
Music = traditionally feminine - now it is largely electronic based and the application of technology has contributed to masculinization of the subject
2001 42% boys took music GCSE
2014 48% boys took music GCSE
Compensatory Education
Positive Discrimination
EAZ and EiC
Compensatory Education
Extra educational help for disadvantaged children - helps them overcome the inequalities of the system and society
Positive Discrimination
Giving disadvantaged groups more favourable treatment than others making up for inequalities faced
Education Action Zones and Excellence in Cities
In 1990's Education Action Zones were set up in socially deprived areas (then rebranded to EiC)
Schools in these areas were given extra funding and better teachers to improve the school and educational performance and poorer kids by raising achievement levels boosting aspirations and self-esteem
Power and Whitty
- Not all the reforms worked failed to impact achievement
Kerr and West
- Evidence shows schooling can lessen the impact of deprivation on a child
Children may not be able to split form the external factors out of school
These complex causes of deprivation mean there are complex solutions and take years to improve including a range of policies to reduce poverty etc.
Bernstien
- Education cannot compensate society - schools cannot solve all problems involving society and class underachievement - this unequal education arose from an unequal society
Social Class Inequality in Education