topic 1- social class differnces in achivment- external factors

According to Tanner, how can cost of education affect educational achivment

Children from poorer families do without equipment and miss out on experiences that would enhance their educational achivment

WC students may not have financial access to things such as transport, books, computers, calculators and sports equipment.

What are the 3 external factors of social class differences in achievement

Cultural deprivation

Material deprivation

cultural capital

What are the 3 main aspects to cultural deprivation

Language

Parents education

Working class

What is cultural deprivation

When students lack the cultural equipment to do well in school.

This basic “cultural equipment’ includes things such as language, self discipline, and reasoning skills.

What is a statistic on cultural deprivation and WC students

But the age of 3, WC children are up to 1 year behind middle class children and this gets bigger with age

What can ‘cultural equipment’ include?

Language, self discipline, reasoning skills

How far behind can WC children be by age 3

Up to one year

What do CD theorists argue about WC parents

They fail to socialise their children correctly

Why is language important in education

The way parents communicate with their children affects their cognitive development

How can parents language help children’s cognitive performance

When parents use language that challenges children to evaluate their own understanding, for example asking ‘what do you think’ cognitive performance improves

What kind of language were more educated MC parents more likely to use

Language that challenges children to evaluate their understanding

What kind of language are less educated WC parents more likely to use

Simpler language, for example ‘what animal is this’ this limits performance

What did Bernstein identify in 1975

A differences between the language used by the MC and the WC.

He identified 2 speech codes

Who typically uses the restricted code

The WC

What is the restricted code like

It has limited vocabulary and uses short, often unfinished grammatically simple sentences

Who typically uses the elaborated code

The MC

What is the elaborated code like

It has wider vocab and uses longer grammatically more complex sentences

Why does the elaborated code give MC children an advantage at school

Because teachers, notebooks and exams use the elaborated code. It is seen as the correct way to speak and write

Why does the restricted code put WC children at a disadvantage at school

They may not understand textbooks, teachers or specialised language

How can language differences affect school achivment

Some children may fail to develop the necessary language skills

They may grow up unable to think abstractly or use language to explain, describe, enquire or compare

What may children be unable to do if they lack those language skills

Take advantage of the opportunities school has to offer

What is the overall effect of the language difference

Achivment

What is the A03 evaluation of Bernstein

Unlike most cultural deprivation theorists, Bernstein does not blame the home for not properly socialising children.

Instead he says it should be the schools responsibility to teach students the elaborated code.

A study by Douglas (1964) on parents education found that WC parents placed less value on education. What does this mean as a result.

-they were less ambitious for their children

-gave them less encouragement t

-took less interest

Visited schools less

We’re less likely to discuss child’s progress with teachers

Which 2 sociologists study parents education as a factor of cultural deprivation

Douglas (1964)

Feinstein (2008)