External Factors - Class Differences In Achievement
Introductory Middle-class (MC) - non manual occupations e.g. doctors/ teachers/ managers and white
Notes collar office workers
Working-class (WC) - manual occupations
- skilled workers e.g. plumbers
- semi skilled workers e.g. lorry drivers
- unskilled/routine workers e.g. cleaners
Explaining Social class backgrounds - influence success
Class Middle class families perform better than working class - ↑age ↑gap
Differences Middle class - better GCSEs, longer full time education, more in university
Private schools (7% educated) - believe better education - take up places for best
universities
Internal and Internal Factors - factors within school and education system e.g. interactions between
External Factors pupils and teachers/inequalities between schools
External Factors - Factors outside education e.g. influence of home/ family background/
wider society
Cultural Cultural deprivation - theory where a person has inferior norms, values, skills and
Deprivation knowledge (primary socialisation). People of the working class experience cultural
deprivation which disadvantages them - gap between classes increases.
- Disadvantaged families - one year behind those that are more privileged by 3yrs old
‘Cultural Equipment’ - language/self-discipline/reasoning skills etc…
Cultural Hubbs-Tait et al - parents use language that challenges children to evaluate
Deprivation: understanding e.g. ‘what do you think?’ ‘are you ready for the next step?’ - improves
Language cognitive performance - Feinstein: educated parents do this more - also found that they
praise more - improves competence
Uneducated parents use simple language that requires minimal response - lower
performance
Bereiter and Engelmann - language in lower class homes - deficient - use gestures/single
words/broken phrases - children don’t learn the necessary language skills - less
achievement
Speech Codes Bernstein - 2 types of speech codes
- Restricted Code - used by working class - limited vocab, short simple sentences
(lack proper grammar) - descriptive not analytical - speaker assumes listener
shares experience
- Elaborated Code - Middle class - wider vocab, complex sentences, varied speech,
speaker does not assume listen shares experiences - more explicit in
communication - clearer
EC - used by teachers/textbooks/exams etc. more accessible for MC
Critics - Bernstein is a cultural deprivation theorists - WC speech is inadequate - he
argues that they are not culturally deprived - school fils to teach the code
Cultural Parent attitude affects child achievement
Deprivation: Douglas - WC parents place less value on education - less ambitious, less
Parents’ encouragement, visited school less, discuss with teachers less - children less
Education motivated/successful
Feinstein - agrees - parents’ own education - most important - parents are advantaged -
can socialise their children better
Parenting Style Educated parents - consistent discipline and higher expectations - more encouragement in
learning
, Less Educated - harsh and inconsistent ‘do as your told’ stops children learning
independence/self-control - problems interacting with teachers / motivation in school
Parent’ Educated P - know what is expected - do more at home e.g. read with child, teach
Educational alphabet, help with homework etc…
Behaviours More advice, better relationships with teachers, better at guiding child - more likely to send
child on trips e.g. museum/library
Use of Income Educated P - spend more on children’s education
Bernstein and Young - MC mothers buy more toys - educational/ require brain -
intellectual development - WC can’t do the same
MC have more money - healthier diets - better in school
Class, Income Better paid MC - better educated vice versa
and Parental Feinstein better educated P have kids who are more successful at school - not all WC
Education children do bad and not all MC children do good
Cultural Subculture - a group whose attitudes and values differ from those of the mainstream
Deprivation: culture
Working Class Sections of WC have different goals, beliefs, attitudes and values - kids fail at school
subculture Sugarman - 4 barriers of WC subcultures that stop educational achievement
- Fatalism: belief in fate - go with the flow - different to MC - they believe in
meritocracy - you can do better
- Collectivism - valuing groups than individual self - MC differ - you should do what
is best for you - ignore attachments
- Immediate Gratification - fun now instead of sacrificing to achieve goal in the
future - MC differ - hard life now great life later
- Present-time Orientation - lack long term goals - present more important - MC
look to the future
He thinks that differences in values come from types of jobs - MC jobs - more secure -
encourages ambition, long term planning, time and effort, individualism - opposite for WC
Theorist argue parents pass on values of class to their children
Compensatory Compensatory education programmes - tackle cultural deprivation - providing extra
Education resources to deprived areas - help in early socialisation
E.g. Operation Head Start - American program - pre-school education in poor areas - give
planned enrichment - develop skills - parenting classes/ home visits by psychologists - own
t.v programme
The Myth of - Keddie - victim blaming explanation - children cannot be deprived of their own
Cultural culture - WC children are only culturally different not deprived
Deprivation? They fail because they are put at a disadvantage by an education system dominated by
middle-class values
Schools should help build on the strengths - challenge teachers - anti working class
prejudice
- Troyna and Williams - problem not child's language - it is schools attitude -
teachers have ‘speech hierarchy’
- Critics say some WC parents do care about their kids education
- Blackstone and Mortimore say parents want to be involved - problem - they work
long/irregular hours - segregated by MC
Material Refers to poverty and lack of material necessities e.g. adequate housing and income - How
Deprivation poverty links to education
- Barely ⅓ of people who have free school meals achieve 5/more GCSEs at C+
- Exclusion and truancy more likely for poorer families ⅓ leave school with no
qualifications
, - 90% of failing school located in deprived areas
Housing Overcrowding in families - harder to study - hard to sleep/homework etc…
Children - can’t develop/explore - overcrowding
Temporary accommodation - moving schools - disruptive education
Condition of house - heating/clean/damp etc… - health problems - absent from school
DIet and Health Howard - young people from poor homes have lower intake of energy/ vitamins/ minerals -
lead to bad health - harder to concentrate/absent because kids are ill
Poorer homes - more emotional and behavioural problems - Wilkinson - lower the social
class the higher the anxiety/ hyperactivity and conduct disorders - all affect education
Blanden and Machin - low income families - more likely to fight/tantrums - disrupts
schooling
Financial Lack of finance - miss school trips/ equipment/ food
Support and Tanner et al - study found costs like transport/ equipment etc… place burdens on poor -
Cost of children are more likely to use hand-me-downs/ cheaper/ unfashionable equipment -
Education isolated/bullied/ stigmatised - children lose self esteem - could be reason for 20% of people
not taking free school meals
Smith & Noble - stops poor from getting into private schools/tuition
Financial support (EMAs) for people 16+ has been removed by coalition government -
2011
Fear of debt University - debt - stops WC from going to university/restricts options -
Callender & Jackson - survey found - more costs than benefits - attitudes to debt helped
decide which uni to apply - WC were 5x less likely to apply than MC
Uni fees - £9000 a year at least - fall in applicants
WC kids in uni receive less financial support from families
The National Union of Students - survey (2010) - 81% MC received financial help
compared to 43% WC
Restricted options - live at home (save travel costs) - less likely to go to high status uni
Uni drop out rates are higher amongst poor
Cultural or Some poor people do succeed - material deprivation is only part of explanation
Material Factors? Other factors could include - cultural/ religious/ political etc… values
Feinstein - educated parents are good for kids even with bad income
Robinson - tackling child poverty is most effective way to boost achievement
Cultural Capital
Bourdieu: Three Argues both cultural and material factors contribute to educational achievement - uses
Types of Capital ‘capital’ to explain why MC are more successful
3 types of capital - educational/cultural/economic
Cultural Capital Refers to knowledge, attitudes, values, language, tastes and abilities of MC - gives
advantage to those who have it - happens through socialisation - kids acquire ability to
analyse/express abstract ideas - more educational interest
Education values the list above so favours MC
WC kids feel segregated - education not for them - act out instead/quit
Educational and Converted into each other
Economic MC kids with cultural capital - better at school - parents pay for education (private
Capital schools/tutors) - converting economic capital to educational capital
MC families more likely to buy houses near schools - school on catchment system takes
their kids in - WC can not enter - house prices too high to live their - Leech and Campos’
study of Coventry
Introductory Middle-class (MC) - non manual occupations e.g. doctors/ teachers/ managers and white
Notes collar office workers
Working-class (WC) - manual occupations
- skilled workers e.g. plumbers
- semi skilled workers e.g. lorry drivers
- unskilled/routine workers e.g. cleaners
Explaining Social class backgrounds - influence success
Class Middle class families perform better than working class - ↑age ↑gap
Differences Middle class - better GCSEs, longer full time education, more in university
Private schools (7% educated) - believe better education - take up places for best
universities
Internal and Internal Factors - factors within school and education system e.g. interactions between
External Factors pupils and teachers/inequalities between schools
External Factors - Factors outside education e.g. influence of home/ family background/
wider society
Cultural Cultural deprivation - theory where a person has inferior norms, values, skills and
Deprivation knowledge (primary socialisation). People of the working class experience cultural
deprivation which disadvantages them - gap between classes increases.
- Disadvantaged families - one year behind those that are more privileged by 3yrs old
‘Cultural Equipment’ - language/self-discipline/reasoning skills etc…
Cultural Hubbs-Tait et al - parents use language that challenges children to evaluate
Deprivation: understanding e.g. ‘what do you think?’ ‘are you ready for the next step?’ - improves
Language cognitive performance - Feinstein: educated parents do this more - also found that they
praise more - improves competence
Uneducated parents use simple language that requires minimal response - lower
performance
Bereiter and Engelmann - language in lower class homes - deficient - use gestures/single
words/broken phrases - children don’t learn the necessary language skills - less
achievement
Speech Codes Bernstein - 2 types of speech codes
- Restricted Code - used by working class - limited vocab, short simple sentences
(lack proper grammar) - descriptive not analytical - speaker assumes listener
shares experience
- Elaborated Code - Middle class - wider vocab, complex sentences, varied speech,
speaker does not assume listen shares experiences - more explicit in
communication - clearer
EC - used by teachers/textbooks/exams etc. more accessible for MC
Critics - Bernstein is a cultural deprivation theorists - WC speech is inadequate - he
argues that they are not culturally deprived - school fils to teach the code
Cultural Parent attitude affects child achievement
Deprivation: Douglas - WC parents place less value on education - less ambitious, less
Parents’ encouragement, visited school less, discuss with teachers less - children less
Education motivated/successful
Feinstein - agrees - parents’ own education - most important - parents are advantaged -
can socialise their children better
Parenting Style Educated parents - consistent discipline and higher expectations - more encouragement in
learning
, Less Educated - harsh and inconsistent ‘do as your told’ stops children learning
independence/self-control - problems interacting with teachers / motivation in school
Parent’ Educated P - know what is expected - do more at home e.g. read with child, teach
Educational alphabet, help with homework etc…
Behaviours More advice, better relationships with teachers, better at guiding child - more likely to send
child on trips e.g. museum/library
Use of Income Educated P - spend more on children’s education
Bernstein and Young - MC mothers buy more toys - educational/ require brain -
intellectual development - WC can’t do the same
MC have more money - healthier diets - better in school
Class, Income Better paid MC - better educated vice versa
and Parental Feinstein better educated P have kids who are more successful at school - not all WC
Education children do bad and not all MC children do good
Cultural Subculture - a group whose attitudes and values differ from those of the mainstream
Deprivation: culture
Working Class Sections of WC have different goals, beliefs, attitudes and values - kids fail at school
subculture Sugarman - 4 barriers of WC subcultures that stop educational achievement
- Fatalism: belief in fate - go with the flow - different to MC - they believe in
meritocracy - you can do better
- Collectivism - valuing groups than individual self - MC differ - you should do what
is best for you - ignore attachments
- Immediate Gratification - fun now instead of sacrificing to achieve goal in the
future - MC differ - hard life now great life later
- Present-time Orientation - lack long term goals - present more important - MC
look to the future
He thinks that differences in values come from types of jobs - MC jobs - more secure -
encourages ambition, long term planning, time and effort, individualism - opposite for WC
Theorist argue parents pass on values of class to their children
Compensatory Compensatory education programmes - tackle cultural deprivation - providing extra
Education resources to deprived areas - help in early socialisation
E.g. Operation Head Start - American program - pre-school education in poor areas - give
planned enrichment - develop skills - parenting classes/ home visits by psychologists - own
t.v programme
The Myth of - Keddie - victim blaming explanation - children cannot be deprived of their own
Cultural culture - WC children are only culturally different not deprived
Deprivation? They fail because they are put at a disadvantage by an education system dominated by
middle-class values
Schools should help build on the strengths - challenge teachers - anti working class
prejudice
- Troyna and Williams - problem not child's language - it is schools attitude -
teachers have ‘speech hierarchy’
- Critics say some WC parents do care about their kids education
- Blackstone and Mortimore say parents want to be involved - problem - they work
long/irregular hours - segregated by MC
Material Refers to poverty and lack of material necessities e.g. adequate housing and income - How
Deprivation poverty links to education
- Barely ⅓ of people who have free school meals achieve 5/more GCSEs at C+
- Exclusion and truancy more likely for poorer families ⅓ leave school with no
qualifications
, - 90% of failing school located in deprived areas
Housing Overcrowding in families - harder to study - hard to sleep/homework etc…
Children - can’t develop/explore - overcrowding
Temporary accommodation - moving schools - disruptive education
Condition of house - heating/clean/damp etc… - health problems - absent from school
DIet and Health Howard - young people from poor homes have lower intake of energy/ vitamins/ minerals -
lead to bad health - harder to concentrate/absent because kids are ill
Poorer homes - more emotional and behavioural problems - Wilkinson - lower the social
class the higher the anxiety/ hyperactivity and conduct disorders - all affect education
Blanden and Machin - low income families - more likely to fight/tantrums - disrupts
schooling
Financial Lack of finance - miss school trips/ equipment/ food
Support and Tanner et al - study found costs like transport/ equipment etc… place burdens on poor -
Cost of children are more likely to use hand-me-downs/ cheaper/ unfashionable equipment -
Education isolated/bullied/ stigmatised - children lose self esteem - could be reason for 20% of people
not taking free school meals
Smith & Noble - stops poor from getting into private schools/tuition
Financial support (EMAs) for people 16+ has been removed by coalition government -
2011
Fear of debt University - debt - stops WC from going to university/restricts options -
Callender & Jackson - survey found - more costs than benefits - attitudes to debt helped
decide which uni to apply - WC were 5x less likely to apply than MC
Uni fees - £9000 a year at least - fall in applicants
WC kids in uni receive less financial support from families
The National Union of Students - survey (2010) - 81% MC received financial help
compared to 43% WC
Restricted options - live at home (save travel costs) - less likely to go to high status uni
Uni drop out rates are higher amongst poor
Cultural or Some poor people do succeed - material deprivation is only part of explanation
Material Factors? Other factors could include - cultural/ religious/ political etc… values
Feinstein - educated parents are good for kids even with bad income
Robinson - tackling child poverty is most effective way to boost achievement
Cultural Capital
Bourdieu: Three Argues both cultural and material factors contribute to educational achievement - uses
Types of Capital ‘capital’ to explain why MC are more successful
3 types of capital - educational/cultural/economic
Cultural Capital Refers to knowledge, attitudes, values, language, tastes and abilities of MC - gives
advantage to those who have it - happens through socialisation - kids acquire ability to
analyse/express abstract ideas - more educational interest
Education values the list above so favours MC
WC kids feel segregated - education not for them - act out instead/quit
Educational and Converted into each other
Economic MC kids with cultural capital - better at school - parents pay for education (private
Capital schools/tutors) - converting economic capital to educational capital
MC families more likely to buy houses near schools - school on catchment system takes
their kids in - WC can not enter - house prices too high to live their - Leech and Campos’
study of Coventry
