social class on achievement

material deprivation

• wc children cannot afford the materials needed to be successful at school

• might live in cold and overcrowded houses

• cooper and kitty found money makes a difference as some pupils might be able to buy textbooks

cultural deprivation

• wc children lack the norms/values/attitudes to be successful in school

• may include patients attitudes to school

  - lack of experiences such as visiting museums, going on holiday, lack of parental interest

• bourdieu: mc children have cultural capital needed to be successful

speech codes

• wc children lack the language skills needed to be successful in schools

• schools are mc institutions, can access the language more than wc students can

teacher - pupil interactions

• pupils are continuously assessed and placed in particular classed based on label given by teacher

• becker: interviewed 60 teachers and found they did judge pupils based on appearance, language and attitude

  - mc pupils more likely to be seen as ‘ideal pupil’

setting and streaming

• mc students are more likely to be placed in higher sets

• wc students are more likely to be in lower sets

• ball proved this

working class subculture

• some wc students rebel against school and form anti-school subcultures

• willis: observed 12 wc boys from a school in the midlands in an anti-school subculture

evidence of the gap

children who are low income can have free school meals, statistics show:

• 54% reach expected levels

• likely to be in care/have additional needs

• more likely to be unable to read at the start of school

• more likely to be in low sreams/sets

• only 1/3 get 5 or more gcse’s

• less likely to go onto further education