Education: External Factors

• nationwide study by Centre for Longitudal Studies found children from disadvantaged backgrounds already up to one year behind those with privileged backgrounds, gap widens with age
• the lack of basic values, attitudes and skills (cultural equipment) that we gain through primary socialisation
• many working class parents fail to socialise their child properly, therefore they are culturally deprived

• Hubbs-Tail et al - educated parents more likely to use language that challenges children to evaluate own understanding or abilities (what do you think?) cognitive  performance improves.
• less educated parents tend to use language that only reuires simple descriptive statements (whats that animal called?) results in lower performance

• Feinstein found educated parents more likely to use praise, encouraging sense of own competence

• Carl Bereiter and Siegfried Engelmann say lower class home language deficient, as communication is gestures, single words, disjointed phrases.
• as a result, fail to develop necessary language skills, grow up incapable of abstract thinking and unable to use language to explain, describe, enquire or compare

Basil Bernstein identified elaborated and restricted speech codes.

• restricted -  limited vocab, short, unfinished, gramatically simple, predictable, gestures, context bound
• elaborated - wider vocab, longer, gramatically complex, speech varied, communicates abstract ideas, context free (doesn't assume listener shares same set of experiences) therefore has to spell out meaning explicitly

elaborated code puts WC at disadvantage as it is used by teachers, textbooks and exams. due to socialisation MC already fluent and feel 'at home' and more likely to succeed, WC more likely to feel excluded and less successful

viewed as the 'correct' way to speak and it more of an effective tool in analysing, reasoning and expressing

Bernstein recognises that school, not just home, influences achievement. Argues that WC fail not because of cultural deprivation but because school fail to teach them elaborated code

• Douglas found WC parents placed less value on education, were less ambitious for children and gave less interest. Visited schools less, and less likely to discuss progress.
• Leo Feinstein found similar, parents ed is most important factor, educated MC able to give children advantage on how they socialise them

• parenting style: educated emphasises consistent discipline and high expectations, supports achievement by encouraging active learning and exploration
• less educated parenting style is harsh or inconsistent discipline emphasises 'doing as you're told', prevents child from learning independence and self control, leading to poor motivation at school and problem interacting with teachers

• parents educational behaviours: educated parents more aware of what is needed to assist progress - reading to child, help homework, teaching them, painting and drawing. better at teacher relationships, recognise value of activites such as museum and libraries

• use of income: better educated tend to have higher income, spend it in a way that promotes childs educational success
• Bernstein and Young: middle class mothers more likely to buy educational toys and books that encourage reasoning and intellectual development, WC homes more likely to lack these resources, therefore start school without skills
• educated parents have better understanding of nutrition and its importance, and can buy nutritious food

• class, income and parental education: Feinstein notes parental education has an influence on achievement in its own right, rehardless of class or income. Therefore, within a given social class, better educated parents tend to have more successful children

• lack of parental interest reflects subcultural values of working class
• large sections of working class have different goals, beliefs, attitudes, values

• Barry Sugarman says 4 key features act as a barrier:
• Fatalism: belief in fate, 'whatever will be will be', nothing you can do to change your status, contrasts with MC which emphasise you can change position through own efforts
• Collectivism: valuing being part of a group more than succeeding as an individual, contrasts with MC that individual should not be held back by group loyalties
• Immediate Gratification: seeking pleasure now rather than making sacrifices for future rewards, MC values emphasise deferred gratification, making sacrifices now for rewards later
• Present-time Orientation: seeing present as more important than future so no long term goals or plans, MC see planning for future as important

• WC internalise subculture through socialisation, results in underachievement
• Sugarman says it stems from fact MC jobs are secure careers with prospects, encouraging ambition, long term planning and a willingness to invest time and effort.
• WC jobs less secure, no career structure through which you can advance, few promotion opportunities

• aim to tackle problem of cultural deprivation by providing extra resources in deprived areas
• intervene early in socialisation process to compensate for deprivation experienced at home

• Operation Head Start: planned enrichment of the deprived childs environment to develop skills and instil achievement motivation
• included improving parenting skills, nursery classes, and home visits from educational professionals
• Sesame Street part of Head Start, means of transmitting values, attitudes and skills needed for educational success

• Nell Keddie says its a myth and 'victim blaming'. Child cannot be deprived of own culture and is therefore just culturally different. Fail because they are put at a disadvantage by education system dominated by middle class values
• Rather than seeing WC culture as deficient, schools should recognise and build on strengths and challenge reachers anti-working class prejudices

• Barry Troyna/Jenny Williams problem is not childs language but schools attitude towards it, with teachers having a speech hierarchy

• Tessa Blackstone/Jo Mortimore WC attend less parents evening due to longer or less regular hours, or put off by schools MC atmosphere. Lack knowledge and education to help progress.

• refers to poverty and a lack of material necessities such as adequate housing and income

• Overcrowding: less room for educational activities, nowhere to do homework, disturbed sleep from sharing bedrooms, illness passed on, lack of space for safe play and exploration in younger children, greater risk of accidents

• Temporary Accommodation: move frequently, changes in school, disrupted education. More likely to suffer more psychological distress, infections and accidents

• Cold or damp housing: not being able to pay for energy bills or high quality housing, ill health

• Marilyn Howard: young people from poorer homes have lower intake of energy, vitamins and minerals, affects health by lowering immune system and lowering energy levels
• results in absences due to illness and difficulty concentrating

• Richard Wilkinson: among 10yr olds, lower the social class, higher the rate of hyperactivity, anxiety and conduct disorders

• Jo Blanden/Stephen Machin: low income children more likely to engage in 'externalising' behaviour, fighting and temper tantrums, disrupt their schooling

• David Bull: 'cost of free schooling' lack of financial support means poor children do without equipment and experiences that would enhance educational achievement 

• Emily Tanner et al: cost of items such as transport, uniforms, books, calculators etc. places a heavy burden on poor families, may have to make do with hand me downs, unfashionable and cheap equipment, may result in isolation and bullying.

• Flaherty: fear of stigmatisation may helo to explain why 20% of those eligible for FSM don't take them, may get teased

• Teresa Smith/Michael Noble: poverty acts as a barrier in other ways, inability to afford private schooling or tuition

• Ridge: children in poverty take on part time jobs, had a negative impact on school work

• attitudes towards debt may deter WC students from going to university.
• Claire Callender/Jon Jackson: WC students more debt adverse, something to be avoided, saw more cost than benefit in going to uni
• most debt adverse students were over 5x less likely to apply than most debt tolerant

• as tuition fees rise, wc applicants will fall
• wc less likely to get financial support from family

• Diane Reay: wc students more likely to apply local, to live at home and save on costs, but this limited the high status universities
• more likely to work part time on top of studies, hard for them to gain higher class degrees

• capital refers to wealth, middle class tend to have more of all 3

• cultural capital refers to knowledge, attitudes, values, language, tastes and abilities
• gives an advantage to those who possess it
• argues that through socialisation, MC children acquire ability to grasp, analyse, express abstract ideas
• more likely to develop intellectual interests and an understanding of what is required for success

• as they're valued in schools, middle class get advantages
• education system not neutral

• working class children find that school devalues their culture as 'rough' and inferior, lack of cultural capital leads to exam failure, respond by truanting, early leaving or not trying

• educational, economic and cultural capital can be converted into each other
• children with cultural capital can convert to educational capital from qualifications
• parents can convert economic capital into educational capital for children through private schools and tuition

• Dennis Leech/Erick Campos: MC parents more likely to be able to afford a house in catchment of high achieving schools
• 'selection by mortgage', drives up cost of houses near successful schools and excludes WC families

• Alice Sullivan: assess capital in schools by asking about activities and where they visit, and tested vocab and knowledge
• found those who read complex fiction and watched serious documentaries developed wider vocab and greater cultural knowledge (greater cultural capital)
• pupils with greater cultural capital were children of graduates
• although, where pupils of different classes had same level of cultural capital, middle class still did better, which she put down to greater resources and aspirations