EDUCATION social class

what are the 3 factors that explain low working class achievement

• external - material and cultural deprivation

• internal

material factor theorists

• howard

• reay

howard

poor diet in working class leads to more illness so more absences and more likely to be placed on child protection register

reay

• wc students more likely to apply to local universities so save costs

• more likely to work part time alongside degree

cultural factor theorists

• sugarman

• douglas

• bernstein

• bourdieu

• gewirtz

sugarman

• questionnaires

• attitude to education linked to nature of parents occupation

• deferred vs immediate gratification

• four key features that are a barrier to education achievement

deferred gratification

• middle class

• focussed on advancement in income/status

immediate gratification

• getting a job quickly to earn immediate money

four key features that are a barrier to achievement - sugarman

• fatalism

• collectivism

• immediate gratification

• present time orientation

fatalism

whatever will be, will be

collectivism

value in being a group more than succeeding as an individual

immediate gratification

seeking pleasure now

present time orientation

seeing present more important than the future

sugarman criticisms

• doesnt focus on similarites

• overgeneralised

• middle class bias

• children with parents who have a working class and middle class job

douglas

• longitudinal study

• wc parents placed less value on education so children were less ambitious 

how were greater levels of parental interest shown - douglas

• more frequent school visits

• encouraging children to stay in school

• more stimulus eg reading with child

parenting style

educated parents style emphasises consistent discipline and high expectations whereas less educated parents is harsh discipline - this prevents learning independence

bernstein

• class differences in language

• elaborated vs restricted code 

• wc children are at a disadvantage as their inferior linguistically

bernstein criticisms

• clump wc and rc into seperate groups

• over simplistic view of language

bourdieu

• culture of middle class is the culture of education

• wc students think of oxbrdige as being ‘not for them’

• wc students exclude themselves from elite universities

gerwitz

• 3 type of parents

3 types of parents - gewirtz

• privileged skilled choosers

• disconnected local choosers

• semi skilled choosers

solution to cultural deprivation

• providing extra resources to schools in deprived areas

criticism of cultural deprivation theorist

• keddie

keddie

myth of cultural deprivation , it is ‘victim blaming’ and we should focus on teachers prejudices

school factors theorists

• becker

• rosenthal and jacobson

• ball

• gillborn and youdell

• lacey

• rist

• hargreaves et al

• woods

becker

• labelling theory

• students from lower class were not ‘ideal’

labelling theory- becker

• people can change based on how others describe them

• teachers have an ‘ideal’ pupil

rosenthal and jacobson

• pygmallion in the classroom

• teachers expectations

• self fulfilling prophecy

pygmalion in the classroom

• some students made ‘spurters’ and these made progress

• shows teachers expectations can impact performance

self fulfilling prophecy

teachers prediction about the future leads to them to believe these and become them

ball

• banding

• those from middle class more likely to be in top band

• link between banding, class and performance

• self fulfilling prophecy due to labelling

• low band students got an anti school culture which made them difficult to teach

banding

• less rigid form of streaming

• behaviour deteriorating due to a stereotype of bands

gilborn and youdell

• A-C economy

• marketisation changes explain why schools are under pressure

• schools need to reach a good league table

• educational triage

A-C economy- gilborn and youdell

• schools ration time and resources to pupils that are already succeeding

educational triage - gilborn and youdell

• schools categorise students into those who will pass anyway, those with potential and hopeless cases

• this produces self fulfilling prophecy as lower class and black pupils are labelled as lacking ability