Class difference in achievement External

?

Class Difference in achievement

Explaining class differences

- Social class background has powerful influence over a childs success, e.g middle class children tend to out perform working class children

- Higher class parents can afford better education/equipment 

-Internal factors- Factors within the school and education system, e,g inequalities between school and pupil/ teacher interactions.

-External factors - Outside of the education system such as influence of home and wider society.

Cultural deprivation

- Childrens development and achievement appears from an early age, e.g by the age of 3, children from disadavantaged backgrounds are already up to one year behind academically than those from privaledged backgrounds.

- Require basic skills for educational success through primary socialisation, basic ' cultural equipment'.

- children from working class families come across as 'culturally deprived'.

- Three aspects of cultural deprivation; language,parents education, working class subculture.

Language

- Way in which parents communicate with children affects their cognitive development. e.g language that challenges their children to evaluate own understanding/abilities improves the development.

- Educated parents tend to use praise and less educated use simple descriptive statements which results in lower performance. 

- Lower class families communicate using gestures, single words and disjointed phrases resulting in their children not developing necessary language skills.

Speech Codes

Restricted code; Typically used by working class. Limited vocablary and is very predictable, context bound where the speaker assumes the listener shares the same set of experiences.

-Elaborated; Typically used by the middle class. Wider vocabulary and is varied. Context free use the language to explicitly spell out the meanings to the listener. 

- Middle class children at an advantage because elaborate is used by teachers, exams and text books, effective way for anaylsising and expressing thoughts effectively. Bernstein argues that schools also fail to teach working class children how to use elaborate code. 

Parents education

- Working class parenrts place less value on education and as a result their children have less ambition as they gain less encouragement.  e.g less likely to attend parents evenings. Middle class are better educated so better at socialising their children 

  • Parenting style- Educated parents have high expectations and consistent disipline which encourages active learning. Uneducated parents have harsh or inconsistent discipline. Prevents children from independence and self control leading to poorer motivation.
  • Parents educational behaviours- Educated are more aware of what is needed for their child to reach educational progress, better at guiding childrens interactions with school and better relations with teachers. Recognise the value of educational activities.
  • Use of income- Spend their income on ways to promote their…

Comments

No comments have yet been made