External Factors - Sociologists

Which Sociologists talked about the Hidden Cost of Education?

Smith and Noble

Hidden Cost of Education - Smith and Noble

‘barrier to learning’

• costs of transport, books, computers, uniforms, equipment and field trips - places a heavy burden on WC families

leads to the stigmatisation and isolation of students leading them to fall behind in school work

Which Sociologist talked about Home and Health?

Douglas

Home and Health - Douglas

overcrowding - lack of space for study, disturbed sleep and lack of developmental play

cold and damp housing - effect on child’s health and welfare

children in poor families have poorer diets and nutrition - lack of energy and higher absence rates

Which Sociologists talked about Fear of Debt?

Callender and Jackson

Reay

Fear of Debt - Callender and Jackson

W/C students are more debt averse - see it as negative/something to be avoided

• debt averse students were 5x less likely to apply to university than the most debt tolerant students (typically middle class)

Fear of Debt - Reay

W/C students more likely to apply to local universities - live at home & save travel costs

• local university choice restricted their opportunity of going to high status universities

more likely to work part-time whilst studying - harder to achieve higher class degrees

Which Sociologists talked about Parental Attitudes and Education?

Douglas

Bernstein and Young

Feinstein

Parental Attitudes and Education - Douglas

W/C parents showed less interest in their children’s education and placed less value on it - encouraging them to prioritise non-academic goals over education

• contrast: M/C parents demonstrated greater engagement by regularly visiting schools, encouraging their children to stay in school beyond the minimum age, motivating them accordingly

Parental Attitudes and Education - Bernstein and Young

M/C parents have more money - use it to promote their child’s educational success

• M/C mothers were more likely to buy educational toys, books and activities that encourage reasoning skills and stimulate intellectual development

children start school with the intellectual skills needed to progress

Parental Attitudes and Education - Feinstein

Parental education is the most important factor in shaping children’s achievement

• better educated parents tend to have children who are more successful at school - provide more support and take a greater interest in their children's educational development

Which Sociologist talked about Values and Attitudes?

Sugarman

Values and Attitudes - Sugarman

working-class culture

• Fatalism - fate determines your life, you can’t change your situation

• Collectivism - valuing being part of a group more than achieving success as an individual

• Immediate Gratification - pleasure right now rather than making sacrifices for future rewards

• Present-Time Orientation - present as more important than the future; little focus on long-term

Which Sociologist talked about Linguistic Deprivation?

Bernstein

Linguistic Deprivation - Bernstein

child’s thinking can be helped or hindered by the language that a child is exposed to at home

• Restricted Code - W/C, limited vocabulary, grammatically simple sentences, context-bound: hierarchal family structure (assumed authority)

• Elaborated Code - M/C, wider vocabulary, grammatically more complex sentences, context-free, hierarchy is more flexible, ‘entitled to have something to say’

Which Sociologists evaluated Usefulness of Cultural Deprivation?

Keddie

Troyna and Williams

Blackstone and Mortimore

Usefulness of Cultural Deprivation - Keddie

describes cultural deprivation as a ‘myth’ - victim-blaming explanation

• child cannot be deprived of its own culture - W/C children culture is simply culturally different

failed because they are put to a disadvantage by an education system that is dominated by middle-class values

Usefulness of Cultural Deprivation - Troyna and Williams

criticises education system

• not that W/C students have restricted codes

• teachers have a speech hierarchy - value M/C over W/C speech

Usefulness of Cultural Deprivation - Blackstone and Mortimore

reject view that W/C parents are not interested in their children’s education

• attend fewer parents’ evenings; not because of a lack of interests - work longer or less regular hours or are put off by the school’s M/C atmosphere

• want to help their children progress, but they lack the knowledge and education to do so

• schools with mainly W/C pupils have less effective systems of parent-school contacts - harder for parents to keep in touch about their children’s progress

Which Sociologist talked about Habitus?

Bourdieu

Habitus - Bourdieu

habitus of education system is M/C - privileges the taste, hobbies, language and interests of the M/C

• eliminates members of the W/C from higher education & reproduces inequalities of wealth, income, power and privileged between social class

main role of education system is social reproduction of inequality

Which Sociologists evaluate Usefulness of Bourdieu?

Sullivan

Gewirtz

Usefulness of Bourdieu (Cultural Capital) - Sullivan

evidence of Cultural Capital in achievement

• GCSE students who read complex fiction & serious TV documentaries & had Graduate Parents developed wider vocabularies & achieved higher than other students

when students of different social class backgrounds shared the same level of cultural capital, M/C pupils still did better - cultural capital alone cannot account for class differences

Usefulness of Bourdieu (Cultural Capital) - Gewirtz

identified 3 types of parents

• Privileged-Skilled Choosers

• Semi-Skilled Choosers - disconnected-local choosers

M/C parents more likely to be skilled choosers - giving their children the upper hand in education