external factors (page 17-25)
Cultural deprivation
Centre for Longitudinal Studies (2007) = found that by the age of 3, children from disadvantaged backgrounds are already 1 year behind those more privileged
Cultural equipment = the basic values, attitude and skills that are needed for educational success →through primary socialisation in the family
Includes language, self-discipline & reasoning skills
w/c families fail to socialise their children adequately - these children grow up culturally deprived
Language
Hubbs-Tait et al (2002) = found that where parents use language that challenges their children to evaluate their own understanding or abilities
Leon Feinstein (2008) = found that education parents are more likely to use language in this way
Less educated parents tend to use language in ways that only require children to make simple descriptive statements
Educated parents are more likely to use praise → encouraged children to develop a sense of their own competence
Bereiter and Engelmann (1966) = claim that language that use in w/c is deficient
They describe w/c families as communicating by gestures, single words or disjointed phrases
Their children fail to develop the necessary language skills - grow incapable of abstract thinking & unable to use language to explain, describe, enquire or compare
They will be unable to take advantage of opportunities school offers
Speech codes
Basil Bernstein = identifies differences between w/c & m/c language that influence achievement - 2 types of speech codes =
The restricted code = the speech code used by the w/c
Has limited vocab & based on the use of short, often unfinished, grammatically simple sentences
Often context-bound - assumes that the listener shares the same values
The elaborate code = typically used by the m/c
Has wider vocab & based on longer, grammatically more complex sentences
More varied & communicates abstract ideas
Context free - doesn’t assume that the listeners share the same experiences
Differences in speech codes gives m/c an advantage
The elaborated code is the language used by teachers, textbooks & exams
Taken to be the correct way to speak
Socialisation = m/c children already use elaborated code by the time they start school
They feel at home whilst at school & are more likely to succeed
CRITICS =
Bernstein is a cultural deprivation theorist because he describes w/c speech as inadequate
HOWEVER unlike most cultural deprivation theorists, Bernstein recognises that school influences children’s achievement
Argues that w/c children fail because they are not taught the elaborate code by the school
Parents education
Douglas = found that w/c parents placed less value on education
Less ambitious for their children, gave them less encouragement & took interest in their education
Visited schools less often & less likely to discuss their children’s progress w/ teachers - their children had lower levels of motivation & achievement
Leon Feinstein = argues that parent’s education is the most important factors affecting children’s achievement & m/c parents tend to be better educated
They are able to give their children an advantage by how they socialise them
OCCURS IN A NUMBER OF WAYS =
Parenting style
Educated parents’ parenting styles emphasises consistent discipline & high expectations of their children - supports achievement by encouraging active learning & exploration
Less educated parents’ parenting style is marked by harsh/ inconsistent discipline that encourages ‘doing as your told’
Prevents the child learning independence & self control, leading to poorer motivation at school & problems interacting with teachers
Parents educational behaviours
Educated parents are more aware of what is needed to assist their children in their educational progression
Able to give better advice (help w/ homework etc), more successful in establishing good relationships w/ teachers & better at guiding their children
Recognise the educational value of activities such as visits to museums & libraries
Use of income
Better educated parents = more likely to have more money & spend it on ways that will promote their child’s success
Bernstein & Young = found that m/c mothers are more likely to buy educational toys, books & activities that encourage reasoning skills & stimulate intellectual development
Also have a better understanding of nutrition & its importance in child development & a higher income w/ which to buy nutritious food
Class, income & parental education
Feinstein = notes that parental education has an influence on children’s achievement in its own right,regardless of class/ income
Better educated parents tend to have children who are more successful at school - may help to explain why not all children of w/c parents do equally badly & why not all m/c children are successful
Working class subcultures
Subculture = a group of people whose attitudes & values differ from those of mainstream culture
w/c have different attitudes than the rest of society
Sugarman = identifies 4 key features that acts as a barrier to educational achievement =
Fatalism = a belief in fate, there is nothing you can do to change your status
Collectivism = valuing being part of a group more that succeeding as an individual
Immediate gratification = seeking pleasure now rather than making sacrifices in order to get rewards in the future
Present time orientation = seeing the present as more important than the future so not having long-term goals or plans
w/c children internalise these beliefs & values of their subculture through the socialisation process → leads to underachievement
Argues that these stem from the fact that m/c jobs are secure careers offering prospects for continuing individual advancements
Encourages ambition, long term planning & a willingness to invest time & effort in gaining qualifications
w/c jobs are less secure & have no career structure through which individuals can advance
Parents pass on their values through primary socialisation
Compensatory education
CE aims to tackle the problem of cultural deprivation by providing extra resources to schools & communities in deprived areas
They intervene early in the socialisation process to compensate children for the deprivation they experience at home
Operation head start - in the USA
A multi-billion dollar scheme of pre-school education in poorer areas
Introduced in 1960s
Aim was ‘planned enrichment’ of the deprived child’s environment to develop skills & instil achievement motivation
Included improving parenting skills, setting up nursery classes & home visits
TV programme Sesame Street was part of HS = providing means of transmitting values, attitudes & skills needed for educational success - such as the importance of punctuality, numeracy & literacy
Britain = educational priority areas, education action zones & sure start
The myth of cultural deprivation?
Nell keddie = describes cultural deprivation as a ‘myth’ & sees it as a victim blaming explanation
Dismisses the idea that failure at school can be blamed on a culturally deprived home background
Points out that a child cannot be deprived of its own culture & argues that w/c children are simply culturally different
They fail because they are put at a disadvantage by an education system that is dominated by m/c values
Argues that rather than seeing w/c culture as deficient, schools should recognise & build on its strengths & should challenge teachers’ anti w/c prejudices
Barry Troyna & Jenny Williams = argue that the problem is not the child’s language but the school’s attitude towards it
Teachers have a speech hierarchy = label m/c speech highest, followed by w/c speech
Blackstone & Mortimore = w/c parents attended fewer parents’ evenings, not because of a lack of interest, but because they work longer & less regular hours
May want to help their child progress but they lack the knowledge
w/c pupils have less effective systems parent-school contacts → makes it harder for parents to keep in touch about their children’s progress
Material deprivation
Material deprivation = refers to poverty & a lack of material necessities such as adequate housing & income
Poverty is closely linked to educational underachievement =
Department for education (2012) = barley ⅓ of pupils eligible for FSM (a widely used measure of child poverty) achieve 5 or more GCSEs at A*-C
Jan Flaherty = money problems in the family are a significant factor in younger children’s non-attendance at school
Exclusion & truancy are more likely for children from poorer families - ⅓ of all persistent traits leave school w/ no qualifications
Nearly 90% of ‘failing schools are located in deprived areas
Housing
Overcrowding = makes it harder for a child to study
Less room for educational activities, nowhere to do homework, disturbed sleep from sharing beds/ bedrooms etc
Young children especially, development can be impaired through lack of space for safe play & exploration
Families living in temp accommodation may find themselves having to move frequently, resulting in constant changes of school & disrupted education
Children in overcrowded houses are more likely to be ill - due to small spaces & cross contamination
Diet and health
Marilyn Howard = notes that young people from poorer homes have lower intakes of energy, vitamins and minerals
Poor nutrition affects health - e.g by weakening the immune system & lowering children’s energy levels
May result in more absences from school, due to illness & difficulties concentrating in class
Richard Wilkinson = children from poorer homes are also more likely to have emotional or behavioural problems
Among 10 year olds, the lower the social class, the higher the rate of hyperactivity, anxiety & conduct disorders = all of which are likely to have a negative effect on child’s education
Jo Blanden & Stephen Machin = found that children from low income families were more likely to engage in ‘externalising’ behaviour, which are likely to disrupt their schooling
Financial support and the costs of education
David bull = ‘the costs of free schooling’
Lack of financial support means that children from poor families have to do w/o equipment & miss out on experiences that would enhance their educational achievement
Emily Tanner et al = found that the cost of items such as transport, uniforms, books, computers, calculators & sports, music and art equipment placed a heavy burden on families
As a result, poor children may have to make do w/ hand-me-downs & cheaper but unfashionable equipment - may result in isolation, stigmatism or bullying
Flaherty = fear of stigmatisation may also help to explain why 20% of those eligible for FSM don’t take up their entitlement
Smith & Noble = adds that poverty acts as a barrier to learning in other ways - such as inability to afford private schooling/tuition & poorer quality local schools
Ridge = lack of funds also mean that children of low income families often needed to work
Found that children in poverty take on jobs such as babysitting, cleaning & paper rounds → often had a negative impact on their schoolwork
Financial support used to be offered to poorer students staying in education post 16
Available through Education Maintenance Allowance
Abolished in England by the Coalition government in 2011
Fear of debt
University = usually involves debt to cover tuition fees, books & living expenses
May deter w/c students from going to university
Callender & Jackson = used data from a nationwide questionnaire of 2000 prospective students
Found that w/c students are more debt averse - they saw debt negatively & as something to be avoided
Saw more costs than benefits of going to uni
Found that attitudes towards debt was important in deciding whether to apply for uni - most debt averse students were over 5x less likely to apply
Increase in tuition fees from 2012 (£9000 per year) may mean increased debt → deter more w/c students from applying to uni - number of applicants fell by 8.6%
w/c students who go to uni are likely to receive less financial aid from their family - 81% of the highest social class students received help from home, only 43% from lower social class
Helps to explain why only 30% of uni students are from w/c background
Diane Reay = financial factors restrict w/c students’ uni choice
w/c students were more likely to apply to local uni so they could live at home & save money
More likely to work part-time to fund their studies
Dropout rates are higher for uni w/ large proportion of poor students
16.6% at London Metropolitan - large w/c uni
1.5% at Oxford
National audit office (2002) = found that w/c students spent 2x as much time in paid work to reduce their debt than m/c
Cultural or material factors?
Some sociologists are one has more of an impact on a child’s success in education
Feinstein = educated parents make a positive contribution to a child’s achievement, regardless of income
Mortimore & Whitty = argue that material inequalities have the greatest impact on achievement
Robison = argues that tackling child poverty would be the most effective way to boost achievement
Cultural capital
Bourdieu : 3 types of capital
Argues both cultural & material factors contribute to educational achievements & are not separate but interlinked
3 types of capital = m/c usually poses all 3
Cultural capital
Educational capital
Economic capital
Cultural capital
Cultural capital = the knowledge, attitudes, values, language, taste & abilities of the m/c
Argues through their socialisation, m/c children acquire the ability to grasp, analyse & express abstract ideas
More likely to develop intellectual interests & an understanding of what the educational system requires for success
Gives m/c students an advantage in school, where these abilities & interests are highly valued & rewarded w/ qualifications - education system is not neutral but favours & transmits the dominant m/c culture
w/c lack of culture leads to exam failure, which can lead to them responding by truanting, early leaving or just not trying
Educational & economic capital
Argues that educational, economic & cultural capital can be converted into one another
E.g wealthier parents can convert their economic capital into educational capital by sending their children to private schools & paying for extra tuition
Leech & Campos = study of coventry
Shows m/c parents are more likely to be able to afford a house in the catchment area of a school that is highly placed in the exam league table
Known as ‘selection by mortgage’ because it drives up the cost of houses near to successful schools & excludes w/c families
A test of Bourdieu’s ideas
Alice Sullivan = used questionnaires to conduct a survey of 456 pupils in 4 schools to assess their cultural capital
She asked them about a range of activities e.g reading & TV viewing habits & they visited art galleries, museums & theatres
Also tested their vocabulary & knowledge of cultural figures
Found that those who read complex fiction & watched serious TV documentaries developed a wider vocab & greater cultural knowledge, indicating greater cultural capital
HOWEVER = successful pupils w/ greater cultural capital were more likely to be m/c - only accounted for part of the class differences in achievement
CONCLUDES the greater resources & aspirations of m/c families explain the remainder of the class gender gap in achievement