class and differential achievement in education

pupils from prefessionakl backgrounds are significantly more likely to enter higher education than those from unskilled backgrounds

pupils from middle class backgrounds arfe more likely to study a levels whearas working class pupils are more likely to take vocational subjects

pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to start school being able to read

pupils from unskilled backgrounds on average acieve lower sats scores and in gcses and are more likely to be placed in lower streams and sets

some sociologists have suggested that different social-economic have different relative IQs and this accounts for discrepencies in educational attainment but this is very confrountational. its also difficult to work out wheather or not any potential IQ differences would be more important to achievement than social factors

negative labeling of students can lead to a self fulrfilling prophacy of failiure

becker - ad keddie say that teachers ted to evaluate pupils in comparison to an imaginary ideal student by looking at their social class (as well as personaliry, apperance and speech)

ball - found that the pupils in top streams tended to be from higher socal classes

as a responce to negative labeling and frustration with low status pupils may form an anti-school subculture

woods- argued that there are lots of different reactions to schools but non-cpnformist reactions were more likely to come from working class students

these expectations are usefull when looking at day to day experiences in schoools. the problem, is that they don't explain how factors outside of school can influece achievement

the theory of material deprivation say that economic poverty is a big facotr in low achievemet at school

in 1997 the joseph rowntree foundation classified one in ten children a poor, which was defined as a being i a family that couldn't afford at leasr three thigs other families took for granted

halsey- foud that the most important factor preventing working class students from staying on in school was lack of finantual support

douglas - found that children in unstatisfactory living conditions didn't do very well in ability tests comapred to kids from confortable backgrounds

unemployment or low income means less money for books, internet access and school trips.

low income families can't afford nurseries and private schools and they can't afford to support their kids through uni

poverty and unsatisfactory living standards may cause health problems and absence from school

the theory of cultural deprivation says that working class culture ad parenting arent't aimed at educational success

douglas- throught the level of aprental interest was the most important factor in effecting achievement

for example middles class parenrts are more likely to attent open evenings. though working class parents may not go to open evenings becuse they work inconvenient shifts - not becuse they are not interested

some sociologists say that working class kids don't have the knowledge and values that help achievement books museum visits, home internet access and aprental knowledge of education may help middle class pupils to succeed

some styles of parenting emphasise the importace od education more than others

sugerman- said that puoils from non-manual background and manual backgrounds have different outlooks. the pupils from manual backgrounds lived for immediate gratification. the pupils from non-manual backgrounds were ambitious and deffered their gratification - they invested time in studying and planned for the future

leon feinstein - found that social class continued to have a significant impact on educational achievement. he argued that redistributive polices should carry on throughout a students entire education, rather than being restricted to their pre-school years

hyman- said that the values of the working class are a self imposed barrier to improving their position. he said that the working class tend to place a low value on education

material and cultural deprivation theories don't explain *** factors inside school affect achievement

cultural deprivation theory generalised a lot about differences between middle class and working class life.

it ignores working class families who do place a high value on education ad tends to assume that working class families have no culture at all, or that working class culture can't be relivant to school. this is ethnocentric

the method may be unsound e.g parents attending parents evening might not be a good measure of parental interest

berstein - found that working class pupils inthe east ebd of london wern't comfortavle with the style of language required by school. they used restricted code - short forms of speech

middle class students knew how to use the same elaborated code as the teachers - a much more wordly style of speech with everything made ecplicit

in terms of language, the working class ar a disadvantage

evaluation of bernstein

there are veriations with the middle class and working class. different sections of these groups vary in how they use the elaborate code - the posh language of teachers

some sociologists have delevoped his ideas to say working class speech patterns are inferior or somehow wrong - cntroversial -

labov- thinks the elaborate speech code if just different

bourdieu - recons middle class students are at an advcantage bacuse they have the right kind of cultural capital - the right language, skills, knowledge and attitudes

he thought that the more cultural capital you have the more successful you'll be in education - and he believed that working class pupils don't have access to cultural capital

middle class families pass on cultural capital and expectations from parents to children. this is called cultural reproduction

evaluation of bourdieu

halsey et al- found that aterial factors are important. lack of money may stp kids staying on at school or getting into university

not all working class students fail, even if they don't have cultural capital