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Class Differences in Achievement - External Factors - Coggle Diagram
Class Differences in Achievement - External Factors
Explaining class differences
Social class background has a powerful influence on a child's chances of success in the education system.
MC perform better on average than WC
Class gap grows as age increases
Children in MC do better at GCSE, stay longer in full-time education and take the majority of places at uni
Better off parents can afford to send children to private schools = higher standard of education - average class size is half of state schools
These schools may only educate 7% of Britain's children, account for nearly half of all students entering elite unis of Oxford and Cambridge
Sutton Trust (2011), in a 3 year period, one public school alone - Eton - sent 211 pupils to Oxbridge, while over 1,300 state schools sent to pupils
Existence of private school education doesn't account for class differences in state education, research focuses on these differences
Internal factors: within schools and education system
External factors: outside of the education system
Cultural Deprivation
Nationwide study by Centre for Longitudinal Studies (2007) - by age 3, children from disadvantaged backgrounds are already up to one year behind from those more privileged homes and the gap widens with age
Some claim due to cultural deprivation. Most begin to acquire basic values, attitudes, skills needed for educational success through primary socialisation in the family. Basic 'cultural equipment' includes things like language, self-discipline and reasoning skills
Many WC families fail to socialise children adequately. Grow up 'culturally deprived' - lack cultural equipment needed to do well at school and so underachieve
Language
Language essential part of educational process and the way in which parents communicate with children affects their cognitive development and ability to benefit from schooling
Hubbs-Tait et al (2002) - where parents use language that challenges their children to evaluate their own understanding or abilities, cognitive performance improves.
Leon Feinstein (2008) - educated parents are more likely to use language in this way
Less educated parents tend to use language in ways that only require children to make simple descriptive statements = lower performance
Feinstein - educated parents more likely to use praise - encourage children to develop sense of own competence
Carl Beretier and Siegfriend Engelman (1966) - language used in lower class homes is deficient. They communicate by gestures, single words and disjointed phrases.
Children fair to develop necessary language skills, grow up incapable of abstract thinking and unable to use language to explain, describe, enquire or compare = unable to use opportunities school offers
Speech codes: Berstein (1975) identifies differences between WC and MC language that influence achievement
Restricted speech code: WC, limited vocab and based on use of short, often unfinished, grammatically simple sentences. Speech is predictable, may involve single word or just gesture. Descriptive, context-bound (speaker assumes listener shares same set of experiences)
Elaborated speech code: MC, wider vocab and based on longer, grammatically more complex sentences. Speech varied and communicates abstract ideas. Context-free - use language to spell out meanings explicitly for listeners.
Give MC advantage as used by teachers, textbooks and exams. Correct way to speak and write, effective tool for analysing and reasoning and expressing thoughts clear and effectively.
Berstein argues WC pupils fail due to not being taught elaborated speech code not because they're culturally deprived.
Parents' Education
Parents' attitudes towards education affect children's achievement
Douglas (1964) - WC parents placed less value on education = less ambitious for children, gave less encouragement and took less interest in education. Visited schools less often, less likely to discuss children's progress with teachers = children had lower levels of motivation and achievement
Feinstein (2008) - parents' own education more important factor affecting children's achievement. Since MC parents tend to be better educated, able to give children advantage by how they socialise them
Parenting style:
Educated parents emphasise discipline and high expectations - supports their achievement by encouraging active learning and exploration
Less educated parents use harsh or inconsistent discipline. Prevents child from learning independence and self-control, poorer motivation at school and problems interacting with teachers
Parents' educational behaviours:
Educated parents more aware of what's needed to assist children's educational progress. Engage in behaviours like: reading to children, teaching letters, numbers, songs, poems and nursery rhymes...
Educated are better able to get expert advice on childrearing, more successful in establishing good relationships with teachers and better at guiding children's interactions with school. Recognise educational value on activities like visits to museums etc
Use of income:
Better educated parents = higher income. Spend money in ways that promote children's educational success
Bernstein and Young (1967) - MC mothers more likely to buy educational toys, books and activities that encourage intellectual reasoning skills and stimulate intellectual development. WC homes more likely to lack resources - start school without intellectual skills needed to progress
Educated parents have better understanding of nutrition and importance in child development - higher income to buy more nutritious food.
Class, income and parental education:
Feinstein: parental education influence on children's achievement in its own right, regardless of class or income. Even with a given social class, better educated parents tend to have children who are more successful at school. May help explain why not all children of WC parents do equally bad and not all MC children do equally successful
Working-class subculture
Lack of parental interest in children's education reflects the subcultural values of WC. Large sections of WC have different goals, beliefs, attitudes and values from the rest of society and this is why children fail at school
Sugarman (1970) - WC subculture has four key features that act as a barrier to educational achievement:
Fatalism: a belief in fate - What will be, will be and there's nothing 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 - MC = deferred gratification
Present-time orientation: seeing the present as more important than the future and not having long-term goals or plans - MC = future-time orientation
WC children internalise beliefs and values of subculture through socialisation = underachieve in school
Sugarman - values stem from fact MC jobs are secure careers offering prospects for continuous individual achievement - encourage ambition, long-term planning, willingness to invest time and effort in gaining qualifications. WC jobs less secure, no career structure through individual advance - few promotion opportunities and earning peak early
Parents pass on values of their class to children through primary socialisation
Compensatory education:
These programmes aim to tackle problem of cultural deprivation by providing extra resources to schools and communities in deprived areas.Intervene early in socialisation to compensate for deprivation at home
Operation Head Start (US) - multi-billion dollar scheme of pre-school education in poorer areas introduced in 1960s. Aim was 'planned enrichment' of deprived child's environment to develop skills and instil achievement motivation. Included: improving parenting skills, setting up nursery classes and home visits by educational psychologists
Sesame Street - initially part of Head Start - provide means of transmitting values, attitudes and skills for educational success - importance of punctuality, numeracy and literacy
Britain: Educational Priority Areas, Education Action Zones and Sure Start, a nationwide programme aimed at pre-school children and their parents
Myth of cultural deprivation:
Keddie (1973) - cultural deprivation as 'myth' and sees it as victim blaming explanation. Dismisses idea that failure at school can be blamed on culturally deprived home backgrounds. Child cannot be deprived of its own culture and WC children are simply culturally different, not deprived. Fail as they are put at a disadvantage by the education system which is dominated by MC values. Rather than seeing WC culture as deficient, schools should recognise and build on its strengths and challenge teachers' anti-WC prejudices
Troyna and Williams (1986) - problem not child's language but school's attitude towards it. Teachers have a 'speech hierarchy': MC highest, WC, Black speech
Others reject WC parents are not interested in children's education. Blackstone and Mortimore (1994) - attend fewer parents' evenings as they work longer or less regular hours or put off by school's MC atmosphere. May want to help child progress but lack knowledge and education to do so. Evidence schools with mainly WC pupils have less effective systems of parent-school contacts - harder for parents to keep in touch about child's progress
Material Deprivation
Refers to poverty and a lack of material necessities such as adequate housing and income
Department for education (2012) - barely 1/3 of pupils eligible for free school meals achieve 5+ GCSEs at A*-C including English and maths, against nearly 2/3 of other pupils
Flaherty (2004) - money problems in family are a significant factor in younger children's non-attendance at school
Exclusion and truancy are more likely for children from poorer families. Children excluded from school are unlikely to return to mainstream education, while 1/3 of all persistent truants leave school with no qualifications
Nearly 90% of 'failing' schools are located in deprived areas
Housing:
Overcrowding can have a direct effect making it harder for children to study, less room for educational activities, nowhere to do homework, disturbed sleep etc
For younger children especially, development can be impaired through lack of space for safe play and exploration. Families living in temporary accommodation may be moving more frequently = constant changes of school and disturbed education
Effects on health and welfare. Crowded homes run risk of accidents. Cold or damp housing can cause ill health. Families in temporary accomm suffer more psychological distress, infections and accidents = more school absence
Diet and Health:
Howard (2001) - young people from poorer homes have lower intake of energy, vitamins and minerals. Poor nutrition affects health - weakened immune system and lower energy levels - absences from school, difficulties concentrating
Children from poorer homes are more likely to have behavioural problems. Wilkinson (1996), among 10 year-olds, the lower the social class, the higher rate of hyperactivity, anxiety and conduct disorders = negative effects on child health
Blanden and Machin (2007) - children from low income families more likely to engage in 'externalising' behaviour (fighting etc), likely to disrupt schooling
Financial support and costs of education:
Without equipment and experiences that would enhance educational achievement.
Bull (1980) 'the costs of free schooling'
Study in Oxford by Tanner et al (2003) - cost of items like transport, uniforms, books, computers etc place heavy burden on poor families
Hand-me-downs, cheaper, unfashionable - isolated, stigmatised, bullied by peers
Flaherty - fear of stigmatisation may help explain why 20% of those eligible for FSM don't take up entitlement: "I was already getting teased enough..." (in Ridge 2002)
Smith and Noble (1995) - poverty acts as barrier to learning in other ways - inability to afford private schooling or tuition, and poorer quality local schools
Previously available by Education Maintenance Allowances (EMAs) financial support to poorer students staying in education after 16 abolished in England by Coalition gov in 2011
Fear of debt:
Uni = debt to cover cost of tuition, books, living expenses. Attitudes towards debt deter WC.
Using data from nationwide questionnaire survey of nearly 2,000 prospective students. Callender and Jackson (2005) found WC students more debt averse
Found attitude to debt was important in deciding whether to apply to uni. Most debt averse students over 5x less likely to apply than most debt tolerant
Increase in tuition fees from 2012, max £9,000 per year, may mean increased debt burden - deter more. According to UCAS (2012) - number UK applicants fell by 8.6% in 2012 compared to previous year
WC less financial support from families if go to uni. A National Union of Students (2010) online survey of 3,863 uni students - 81% those with highest social class received help from home, only 43% from lowest class
Fear debt and less financial support - only 30% uni students come from WC, despite fact this group accounts for 50% of the population
Reay (2005) - WC students more likely to apply to local unis to live at home and save on costs. More likely to work part-time to fund studies = difficult to gain higher-class degree
Dropout rates higher for unis with large poorer students. - 16.6% London Met (large WC intake), 1.5% Oxford (nearly half students from private schools)
National Audit Office (2002) - WC students spent twice as much time in paid work to reduce their debts as MC
Cultural Capital
Bourdieu: three types of capital
Both cultural and material factors contribute to educational achievement and are interrelated
In addition to economic capital he identifies 2 more. 'Educational capital' or qualifications and 'cultural capital'. MC generally possess more of all three
Cultural capital:
Knowledge, attitudes, values, language, tastes, abilities of MC. Sees MC culture as type of capital because it gives advantage to those who possess it.
Like Bernstein - through socialisation, MC children acquire ability to grasp, analyse and express abstract ideas. More likely to develop intellectual interests and understanding of what the education system requires for success
Give MC advantage in school where interests and abilities highly valued and rewarded with qualifications - education system not neutral but favours and transmits the dominant MC culture
Devalues WC culture as 'rough' and inferior. Lack cultural capital leads to exam failure, Many WC pupils 'get the message' that education isn't meant for them - truant, leave early, not try
Educational and economic capital:
Argues all three can be converted into one another.
MC with cultural capital are better equipped to meet demands of school curriculum and gain qualifications
Wealthier parents can convert economic capital into educational capital by sending to private schools and paying for extra tuition
Leech and Campos (2003) - study of Coventry - MC parents more likely to be able to afford house in area of catchment of schools placed high on exam league tables - 'selection by mortgage' - drives up cost of houses near successful schools and excludes WC families
Test Bourdieu's ideas:
Sullivan (2001) - questionnaires conduct survey of 465 pupils in four schools. To assess cultural capital, asked about range of activities (reading, TV viewing, visits). Tested vocab and knowledge of cultural figures
Those who read complex fiction and watched serious TV documentaries developed wider vocab and greater cultural knowledge = greater cultural capital. Greatest cultural capital - children of graduates - more likely to be successful at GCSE
Found cultural capital only accounted for part of the class difference in achievement. Pupils of different classes has the same level of cultural capital, MC pupils still did better.
Concluded greater resources and aspirations of MC families explain remainder of class gap in achivement