Cultural Deprivation

some see working class culture as failing to provide necessary attributes for educational success

alleged cultural differences suggest working class place too much emphasis on enjoying themselves + living in the moment

Working class subculture - Sugarman

immediate gratification

seek pleasure now rather than making sacrifices to get rewards in the future

fatalist

fate, 'whatever will be, will be', there's nothing you can do to improve your prospects

collectivist

value being part of a group rather than succeeding as an individual

present time orientated

live life in the moment rather than worrying about future so don't have long term goals

working class may lack knowledge to succeed as they haven't benefitted from same informal education from parents

may lack ability to speak, read, write + think on ways which will because of upbringing

Feinstein

cultural deprivation major factor affecting achievement

crucial factor was extent to which parents encouraged + supported children

Goodman & Gregg

cultural factors that helped explain low educational achievement among poor children

quality of parent-child interactions

how often parents read books to children

attitudes to education

value parents placed on education

extent of negative behaviour by children

parental involvement in schooling

found cultural factors to be most important to low achievement

Bernstein

Restricted codes

Elaborated codes

shorthand speech

meanings not made explicit

short, simple, unfinished sentences

typical of working class who are more likely to communicate verbally in their jobs

filled in + made explicit

longer, more complex sentences

typically used in middle class jobs where there's more need to write reports + produce documents

encourages more developed + sophisticated reasoning

necessary for exam success

used by teachers

being socialised in households that moistly use restricted codes holds back working class children in education system

working class children may feel less confident than middle class children in school environment

EVALUATION

:( critics question whether such big cultural difference between classes exist in the contemporary world

:( Blackstone + Mortimore argue research hasn't adequately measured parental interest in education

:( Gillian Evans found most working class parents placed very high value on education + did encourage their children to do well

:( Gaine + George criticise Bernstein, saying he oversimplifies the difference between working class + middle class speech patterns as they found differences aren't as prominent now + others factors also affect educational attainment

Patterns of Achievement

Centre for Longitudinal Studies found by the age of 3, children from disadvantaged backgrounds are already up to a year behind those from privileged backgrounds + gap widens with age

Webber & Butler found best predictor of achievement was type of neighbourhood pupils lived in as the more middle class + affluent the area, the more successful the school tended to be

John Jerrim found that even the most talented were being left behind in education if they came from a lower class background + suggested that without class advantages, talent often isn't enough to succeed

since middle class parents tend to be better educated, they're able to their children an advantage by how they socialise them

less educated parents parenting style often consists of harsh, inconsistent discipline centred around 'doing as you're told' which prevents child from learning independence + self control

educated parents are better able to get expert advice on childrearing, more successful at building good relationships with teachers + better at guiding their children with school related activities + problems

working class families can't make use of a higher income where there's spare money to spend in ways that promote children's educational success

stems from fact working class jobs are less secure + have no career structure through which individuals can advance + get promotions

:( Keddie says cultural deprivation is a myth + a victim blaming explanation rather than acknowledging that working class are simply culturally different, not culturally deprived

:( Troyna + Williams argue teachers have a speech hierarchy, labelling middle class speech the highest, followed by working class speech then black speech

:( working class are put at a disadvantage by an education system that's dominated by middle class values