Sociology- education and class differences in achievement

Class differences in the pupils home background may play a role in causing differences in achievement between classes

Home background can be categorised into many aspects, however they can all be grouped into either cultural factors or material factors.

cultural factors include class differences in norms and values acquired through socialisation, attitudes to education and speech codes, where as material factors refer to the physical necessities of life such as adequate housing, diet and income.

this theory is the main explanation for cultural differences in achievement.

• different classes socialise their children differently and this may affect their achievment
• according to cultural deprivation theory, some working class parents fail to transmit the appropriate norms, values, attitudes and beleifs that is considered the 'right' culture needed for educational success

cultural deprivation theorists see three main factors as being responsible for under achievement in the working class- LANGUAGE, PARENTS EDUCATION and WORKING CLASS SUBCULTURE

• Basil Bernstein distinguishes between elaborated and restricted code in terms of how language can affect educational achievement. He claims the working class to have a restricted code, meaning that their speech is less analytic and more descriptive, has a limited vocabulary range and is formed of simple sentences or merely gestures. It is paticularistic, meaning that the speaker assumes the listener shares the particular meanings that the speaker holds, so the speaker does not need to spell it out for them.
• He further claims the middle class to be using the elaborated code, meaning that their language is more analytic witha wide vocabulary range and use of complex sentences. It is universalistic, reffering to the idea that it involves not assuming that everyone will understand the meaning of what they are attempting to explain, therefore they spell out their meanings explicitly in order for others to understand.

An important point to understand is that educational resaurces use the elaborated code, such as text books and exams, therefore leaving working class students to find education difficult to comprahend.

The working class subculture is the last factor cultural deprivation theorists claim responsible for under achievement in the working class. The working class subculture can be split into three aspects, all of which contribute to a so called culture of the working class that sociologists beleive lead to under achievement.

• Immediate gratification- wanting rewards now rather than being willing to make temporary sacrifices and working harder for future rewards, unlike deffered gratification practiced by the middle class
• Fatalism- a belief that whatever will be, will be. Working class children dont believe they can improve their position through their own individual efforts.
• Low value on education- Hyman argues that the wokring class dont value edcation and dont believe they will benefit from it. Therefore they do not try. Douglas argues wc parents show less interest in their chldfens education and give them less support, such as not attending parents evenings.

Despite drawing attention to the role of the childs background, the cultural deprivationt heory has been widely criticised as an explanation of class differences in achievement.

Nelll Keddie- cultural deprivation is a 'myth' and sees it as a civtim blaming explanation. She dismisses the idea that failure at school can be blamed on a culturally deprived home background. She highlights that a child cannot be deprived of its own culture and argues that wc children are simply culturally different, not culturally deprived. They fil merely because they are put at a disadvantage by an education system that is dominated by middle class values.

Likewise, Troyna and Williams argue the problem is the attitude the school has to the language of wc children rather than the language itself. Teahcers have a 'speech hierarchy' and label the wc at the lower end, with middle class speech being at the top and black speech at the bottom.

Lastly, other critics reject the view that wc parents do not care about their childrens education. According to Blackstone and Mortimore, they attend fewer parents evenings due to long working hours or intimidation of the middle class atmosphere rather than a lack of interest. They may want to help their child progress but lack the knowlege to do so.

Material deprivation or poverty can cause working class under achievement because of factors such as poor housing or poor diet. Poor housing can lead to overcrowding or cold and damp rooms meaning pupils have nowhere to study in peace. Similarly, living in temporary accomidation could lead to constant moving around and changes of school which could cause lack of focus and feeling settled. Poor diet can lead to illness, absences from school and lack of concentration in class due to hunger. Lowincome also plays a role in under achievement, which is supported by Flaherty who suggests money problems in the family are a significant factor in younger childrens non- attendance at school.

Financial costs of education is of such that wc families cannot afford for their children to go on school trips, as well as having less oppertunities in educational recaurces such as computers and private tuition. This may lead to children being bullied for lacking the right uniform or latest fashion items.

Jackson and Callender found that wc students are more debt averse. They see more costs that gains in going to university, for example having less financial support from their family, as well as tuition fees, and allow this to influence their decision.

This approach is a combination of both material and cultural deprivation. It comes from the marxist perspective of Bourdieu who agued that the middle class pupils are more successful that the working class because their parents own more capital or assets. This capital comes in two forms- Economic capital and cultural capital. Economic capital is the wealth that middle class families own and cultural capital refers to the attidutes, values, skills and knowledge of the middle class.

The middle class have a greater cultural and economic capital and use this to obtain educational capital for their children in the form of qualifications. This allows their children to get middle class jobs and have more economic capital, therefore reproducing the advantages of the middle class from generation to generation.

Internal factors in education include the school system itself, as it influences class differences in achievement. Most sociologists who have studied the role of school factors are interactionists who have focused on small scale interactions between the students and teachers. They identify a few factors that potentially cause a lack of achievement for the working class, such as labelling, the self fulfilling prophecy, streaming and pupil subculture. (In essay, explain how each affect achievment instead of listing)

Labelling is the term used to descrige the sterotypical meanings or defenitions we attach to someone or something to make sense of them. For example middle class students are labelled as 'bright' and 'motivated' cpmpared to working class pupils who are identified as the opposite. Becker argues that teachers label middle class children as the 'ideal pupils' and prefer teaching them over working class children. Sociologists Dunne and Gazeley argue that 'schools persistantly produce working class underachievement' due to these labels, and found that teachers had normalised the underacheivement of working class pupils and seemed unconcerned by it compared to the underachievement of a middle class pupil. This shows how lablels have lead to stereotyping how children will achieve in school, and how middle class pupils naturally have an advantage due to these stereotypes.

The concept of a self fulfilling prophecy is that it has come true merely because it has been made, for example a teacher claiming that a student will fail their exam, and then that student failing the exam due to losing belief in their ability due to this assumption that was made of them.

Teachers can create these prophecies through labels, for example making an assumption that working class students in their class will fail due to lack of motivation. These working class students may then give up hope due to realising that their teacher has given up on them, leading to the prophecy being fulfilled due to an assumption according to their label. Studies of labelling show that 'what teacheres believe, pupils achieve', implying how much of an impact a label and assumption can have on students achievements.

However some would argue that the labelling and self fulfilling prophecy theories are too deterministic, as not all pupils who are labelled as failures actually end up failing, instead some use the label as a drive of motivation to prove the teacher wrong and achieve highly instead. In addition, not all teachers have a labelling system instilled into their teaching mentalilty, showing that this theory generalises more than it should and stereotypes all teachers to be the same.

Streaming is an extrem form of labelling and works by putting all pupils of similar ability together into the same class or stream for all subjects. Lacey describes streaming as differentiation, meaning it is a way of seperating the sheep from the goats and then educating them differently. Streaming often leads to self fulfilling prophecies as a stream can become a label for being either less or more intelligent.

Douglas found that the IQ of pupils labelled as less able and placed at the bottom stream actually fell over time, where as that of pupils put in the top stream increased. Those placed in lower streams may be denied access to the same curriculum, for example being entered for foundation level exams rather than the higher papers, automatically denying them a chance of getting a place at a top university even if they study hard, as the highest grade one can achieve in a foundation paper is equivelant to scraping a pass.

By having this system in place, schools are simply incrasing the gap between classes, making it easier for labelling to occur and making differences between classes extremely obvious.

A subculture is a group whose beliefs, values and attitudes differ to some extent from the culture of wider society. In response to labelling, students may form their own subculture.

For example, pro school subcultures are usually formed by pupils in higher streams. They accept the schools values and goals of hard work as well as respecting teachers and regular attendance. They typically enjoy school and participate enthousiastically in its activities and intend to continue education.

However there is also an anti subculture, which is often formed by those in lower streams. They reject the schools values and often invert them. They dislike school, flout its rules and disrespect teachers and the schools policy.

Lacey argues that lower stream pupils form or join anti school subcultures because school deprives them of status by labelling them as failures. Therefore these pupils create their own status heirarchy. They gain status from their peers by rejecting the schools values and breaking its rules.

Pupil subcultures often lead to a self fulfilling prophecy depending on the one you choose.

An evaluation point for this factor is that if we cocus on internal factors we may end up neglecting the role of home background factors such as poverty and cultural deprivation. An adequate and balanced explanation for under achievement of the working class needs to take both internal and external factors into account.

Symbolic capital and symbolic violence- school commits symbolic violence by devaluing working class pupils habitus, judging their clothing, accent and interests which denies them symbolic capital; recognition and status

Habitus- this is a social class's habitual way of thinking, being and acting eg, lifestyles and expectations about what is normal for 'people like us'. The middle class has the power to define its habitus as superior and impose it on the education system so the school can hold on to middle class values.

Nike identities- Symbolic violence leads pupils to create alternative class identities and gain symbolic capital from peers through consuming branded goods. However this leads to conflict with the schools middle class habitus.

Losing yourself- succeeding at school means being inauthentic, changing how you presented yourself to fit in. 'Nike' identities are authentic but they cause conflict with school.

Ingram- found fitting in was a problem for working class grammer school boys. They experienced a tension between their neighbourhood's habitus and that of their middle class school. They faced being judged worthless at school for wearing street clothes or worthless in their community for not doing so.

Self exclusion from success- Evans found that even successful working class girls faced hidden barriers. They felt their identity would not fit in with the habitus of elite universities. The girls had strong attachment to their families and intended to remain at home to study.

The self exclusion from elite or distant universities limits the working class students' options and achievements.

What goes on in shools isnt just a product of what teachers decide, it is also down to government policies, and these can have an important effect on class differences in achievement. For example, some sociologists argue that marketisation policies have increased the amount of streaming in schools.

Similarly, policies on issues such as grants, fees, maintenance allowances, the school leaving age, compensatory education etc have an impact on home background factors such as material or cultural deprivation.