social class and achievement

gcse attainment by fsm status

DfE (2023)

72% non-fsm achieved 4+ in english and maths

42% fsm

centre for longitudinal studies (2007)

age 3 - disadv children up to 1 year behind peers - gap widens with age

aspects of cultural deprivation

1. language

2. parents’ education

   1. working-class subculture

bereiter and engelmann (1966)

bernstein (1975)

• wc families - gestures, single words - disjointed phrases → harms language and abstract thinking skills

• restricted + elaborated speech codes
  elaborated code used in education - fail to teach to wc students who feel excluded

troyna and williams (1986)

teachers have speech hierarchy - need to address teacher prejudice

mc → wc → black speech

feinstein (2008)

parents’ education more important than social class (as not all wc children perform badly)

mc parents tend to have better education

• consistent discipline + high expectations

• know how to support e.g. reading to children

• establish relationship with school

blackstone and mortimore (1994)

wc parents’ lack of engagement not due to lack of interest - work longer/less regular hours or put off by mc culture of school

sugarman (1970)

wc subculture:

1. fatalism (whatever will be, will be) - can’t change status → don’t value education

2. collectivism

3. immediate gratification

4. present-time orientation

sure start

new labour - compensatory education - 3500 centres by 2010

aim to break cycle of disadvantage

limited evidence of increase in academic ability

schools statistic

aspects of material deprivation

90% failing schools located in deprived areas

1. housing

2. diet and health

3. costs of education

housing problems

overcrowding - no space for hw/revision - disturbed sleep from sharing bedrooms

temporary accom - changing schools often

howard (2001)

poor nutrition → weak immune system → illness and non-attendance

concentration difficulties due to low energy levels

bull (1980)

costs of free schooling - equipment, uniforms, transport etc.

ema

education maintenance allowance - abolished by coalition gov in 2011

hefce (2010)

callender and jackson (2005)

• 19% he students from most disadvantaged areas

• wc students more debt averse - less likely to apply to uni - see more costs than benefits

bourdieu (1984)

1. economic capital → selection by mortgage

2. educational capital

3. cultural capital - knowledge and values of mc

mc equipped to meet demands of education - wc gets the message that education is not for them

sullivan (2001)

questionnaire measuring cultural capital

complex fiction, serious documentaries, children of graduates → better vocab and cultural knowledge → higher gcse attainment

mc pupils still did better than wc pupils with the same amount of cc → combination of material and cultural factors

becker (1971)

interviewed chicago hs teachers

had image of ideal pupil - work, conduct, appearance

mc pupils fit this image best - wc labelled as badly behaved

dunne and gazeley (2008)

interviewed teachers in english state secondary schools

teachers normalise wc underachievement - less support and entered for lower tier exams

wc parents labelled as unsupportive/uninterested

gillborn and youdell (2001)

league tables → a-to-c economy - educational triage

those who will pass anyway → borderline c/d students → hopeless cases

wc and black pupils more likely to be in lower sets or entered for lower tier gcses

lacey (1970)

differentiation - teachers categorise pupils e.g. streaming

polarisation - pupils respond by moving to extremes e.g. pro-school or anti-school subculture

wc boys in anti-school subculture - alternative way to gain status but leads to self-fulfilling prophecy of failure

woods (1979)

alternative responses to differentiation

1. ingratiation (teachers’ pet)

2. ritualism (going through motions + avoiding trouble)

3. retreatism (daydreaming, messing about)

   1. rebellion (rejecting everything school stands for)

criticisms of labelling

too deterministic - some pupils reject labels e.g. fuller (1984) year 11 black girls

marxist - ignores wider power structures - blames teachers for labelling while ignoring system that reproduces class divide

symbolic capital

habitus = ways of thinking and acting based on class background

schools have mc habitus - mc students gain sc/status

wc students face symbolic violence - lifestyle seen as worthless

archer et al (2010)

wc students had to change how they talked/presented themselves

‘losing yourself’ to avoid symbolic violence

many turn to styles e.g. nike identities - heavily policed by peer groups - gain status from peers but causes conflict with school → self-exclusion from education