Class Difference in Achievement - External Factors (Complete) PDF

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Class Differences in Achievement – External Factors Explaining Class Differences 

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Social class background has an influence on the child’s chances of success in the education system with children from middle classes on average performing better than the working class students with the gap in achievement growing as the children grow older. Children from the middle class do better at GCSE, stay longer in full time education and take a majority of university places. Many see the difference in achievement being down to middle class parents being able to afford private education which many assume to be of a higher standard e.g. class sizes are less than half that in state schools yet despite only educating 7% of Britain’s children, they account for nearly half of all students going to Oxbridge.

Sociologist and Year Sutton Trust (2011)

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What do they say on the subject? 

In a 3-year period, Eton sent 211 pupils to Oxbridge while over 1300 state schools sent no pupils to these universities.

Except, the existence of private education does not account for differences within state education and research has centred on why middle class pupils do better than working class pupils in the state sector.

Internal and External Factors  

Internal factors – are factors within schools and education system e.g. interactions between pupils and teachers and inequalities between schools. External factors – are factors outside the education system such as the influence of home and family background as well as wider society.

Cultural Deprivation   

Class differences in children’s development and achievement appear very early in life. Some sociologists argue that basic values, attitudes and skills needed for educational success are achieved through primary socialisation in the family. According to cultural deprivation theorists, many working class families fail to socialise their children adequately and so they grow up “culturally deprived”. This is

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that they lack the cultural equipment needed to do well at school and so they underachieve. The three main aspects of cultural deprivation: language, parent’s education and working class subculture.

Language 

Language is essential in the education process and the way parents communicate with their children affects their intellectual development and so their ability to benefit from schooling.

Sociologist and Year

What do they say on the subject?

Hubbs-Tait et al (2002)

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Found that where parents use language that challenges the children, cognitive performance improves.

Leon Feinstein (2008)

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Found educated parents are more likely to use this more difficult language whereas less educated parents are more likely to use language which requires children to make simple descriptive statements. Educated parents are more likely to use praise which encourages children to develop a sense of their own competence. See the differences in language as linked to social class. They claim that the language used in lower class homes is deficient and describe lower class families as communicating by gestures, single words or disjointed phrases. As a result, the children fail to develop the necessary language skills and are unable to use language to explain, describe, enquire or compare and are the unable to take advantage of the opportunities that the school offers.

 Bereiter and Engelmann (1966)

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Speech Codes Basil Bernstein (1975)

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Sees two types of speech codes:  The restricted code: the code typically used by the working class. Has limited vocabulary and is based on the use of short, often unfinished and grammatically simple sentences. It is predictable and may involve a single word or just a gesture, and is descriptive not analytic.  The elaborated code: the code typically used by the middle class. Has a wider vocabulary and is based on longer, grammatically more complex sentences. It is more varied and communicates abstract ideas. These differences give middle class children an advantage because the elaborated code is the language used by teachers, textbooks and exams. It is taken as the correct way to speak and write but is also an effective tool for reasoning and expressing thoughts clearly and effectively – essential

skills.  Early socialisation means middle class children are already fluent users of the code by the time they get to school and so feel “at home” in school, making them more likely to succeed.  However, working class children lack the code in which schooling takes place and are likely to feel excluded and be less successful. CRITICS:  Argue that Bernstein is a cultural deprivation theorist as he describes working class speech as inadequate.  However, he recognises that school and not just the home influences children’s achievement. He says they don’t fail because they’re culturally deprived but because schools don’t teach them the elaborated code.

Parents’ Education 

Cultural deprivation theorists argue parents’ attitudes to education are a main factor that affects children’s achievement.

Douglas (1964)

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Leon Feinstein (2008)

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Working class parents place less value on education and as a result were less ambitious for their children, gave them less encouragement and took less interest in their education. They visited schools less often and were less likely to discuss their child’s progress with a teacher and so they had lower levels of motivation and achievement. Argues that the parents’ own education is the most important factor affecting children’s achievement and because middle class parents tend to be better-educated they give their children the advantage of being properly socialised.

Parenting Style  

Educated parents have consistent discipline and high expectations of their children, supporting their achievement through exploration. Less educated parents’ have harsh or inconsistent discipline and “doing as they’re told” which prevents the child from gaining independence and self-control which leads to poorer motivation at school and problems interacting with teachers.

Parents’ Educational Behaviours  

Educated parents are more aware of what their child needs to progress further in their education. Educated parents are also able to get advice on childrearing and can establish better relationships with teachers. These parents also see the educational value of activities such as visits to museums and libraries.

Use of Income 

Better educated parents tend to have higher incomes but tend to spend it in ways that promote their child’ educational success.

Bernstein and Young (1967)

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Middle class mothers are more likely to buy educational toys, books and activities to encourage reasoning skills as well as stimulate intellectual development. Working class homes are more likely to lack these resources and means children from these homes start school without intellectual skills needed to progress. Educated parents are also more likely to understand nutrition and its importance in child development, and have a higher income to buy more nutritious food.

Class, Income and Parental Education Leon Feinstein (2008)

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Better paid, middle class parents tend to be better educated than lower paid, working class parents but Feinstein notes that parental education influences children’s achievement regardless of class or income. Even within a given social class, better educated parents tend to have more successful children at school. This can explain why not all children from working class families do badly or not all middle class families are equally successful.

Working Class Subculture  

Cultural deprivation theorists (CDT) argue lack of parental interest in their children’s education reflects the subcultural values of the working class. A subculture is a groups whose attitudes and values differ from those of mainstream culture. According to CDT, large sections of the working class have different goals, beliefs, attitudes and values from the rest of society which is why children fail at school.

Barry Sugarman (1970)

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Argues that working class subculture had 4 features that are a barrier to educational achievement:  Fatalism – a belief in fate and that there is nothing you can do to change your status. This contrasts middle class values which emphasise the ability to change your position through your own efforts.  Collectivism – valuing being part of a group than succeeding as an individual contrasting the middle class view that an individual shouldn’t be held back by group loyalties.  Immediate gratification – seeking pleasure now rather than making sacrifices in order to get rewards in the future contrasting middle class values which emphasise deferred gratification – making sacrifices now for greater rewards later.

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 Present-time orientation – seeing the present as more important than the future so not having long term goals. Working class children internalise these beliefs through socialisation which results in them underachieving at school. Sugarman argues these different values come from the fact that middle class jobs are secure and offer continuous individual advancement encouraging ambition, long term planning and a willingness to invest time and effort into getting qualifications. Working class jobs are less secure and have no prospects of advancing with few promotion opportunities. Argues that parents pass on values of their class to their children through primary socialisation equipping their children for success whereas working class parents do not.

Compensatory education 

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Compensatory education programmes aim to tackle the problem of cultural deprivation by providing extra resources to schools and communities in deprived areas. They intervene early in socialisation to compensate for the deprivation children experience at home. Operation Head Start in the US was introduced in poorer areas in the 1960s and was the “planned enrichment” of deprived children’s environment to develop skills and achievement motivation. It also included improving parenting skills, setting up nursery classes and home visit by educational psychologists. Sesame Street was part of Head Start and transmitted values, attitudes and skills needed for educational success.

The Myth of Cultural Deprivation? 

Cultural deprivation theory has been criticised as an explanation of class differences in achievement.

Nell Keddie (1973)

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Troyna and Williams (1986)

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Sees cultural as a victim-blaming explanation. She dismisses the idea that failure at school can be blamed on a deprived home background. She points out that working class children are not culturally deprived but have a different culture. They fail because they are put at a disadvantage by an education system that is dominated by middle class values. She says that rather than rejecting working class values, they should build on its strengths and challenge teachers’ anti working-class prejudices. The problem is not the child’s language but the school’s attitudes towards it. Teachers have a “speech hierarchy” with middle class speech as the highest, then working class speech, then black speech.

Blackstone and Mortimore (1994)

CRITICS:  Working class parents attend fewer parents’ evenings not because of lack of interest but because they work longer hours or are put off by the school’s middle class atmosphere.  They may want to help their child’s progress but lack the knowledge and education to do so.  There’s also evidence that says schools with mainly working class kids have less effective parent-school contacts so it can be hard for parents to keep in touch about their child’s progress.

Material Deprivation 

The term material deprivation refers to poverty and a lack of material necessities such as adequate housing or income. Poverty is closely linked to educational underachievement e.g.:

Department for Education (2012) Jan Flaherty (2004)

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Barely a third of children who qualify for free school meals achieve five or more A*-C grades at GCSE including English and Maths against nearly two thirds of other pupils. Money problems in the family are a significant factor in younger children’s non-attendance at school. Exclusion and truancy are more likely for children from poorer families and children excluded from school are unlikely to return to mainstream education and a third of persistent truants leave school with no qualifications. Nearly 90% of “failing” schools are located in deprived areas.

Other factors can affect children’s education in several ways:

Housing  

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Poor housing can affect pupils’ achievement directly and indirectly. Overcrowding can make it harder for a child to study as it means less room to do homework, disturbed sleep from sharing beds or bedrooms etc. They also have a greater risk of having an accident. For young children, lack of space for safe play and exploration can impair development. Families living in temporary accommodation may have to constantly move leading to changes of school and disrupted education. They also suffer more psychological distress, infections and accidents. Poor housing such as cold or damp can cause ill health. Such health problems can cause absences from school.

Diet and Health Marilyn Howard

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Young people from poorer homes have lower intakes of energy, vitamins

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Richard Wilkinson (1996)

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Blandin and Machin (2007)

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and minerals. Poor nutrition affects health by lowering energy levels or weakening the immune system which can result in more absences in school due to illness or difficulties concentrating in class. Children from poorer homes are more likely to have emotional or behavioural problems. Among ten year olds, the lower the social class, the high the rate of hyperactivity, anxiety and conduct disorders which have a negative effect on children’s education. Found children from low income families were more likely to engage in fighting or temper tantrums which are likely to disrupt their schooling.

Financial Support and The Costs of Education David Bull (1980) Emily Tanner et al (2003)

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Jan Flaherty (2004) Smith and Noble (1995) Ridge (2002)

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Lack of financial support means that children from poorer families miss out on experiences that would enhance educational achievement. Calls this “the costs of free schooling”. Found the cost of items such as transport, uniforms, books, computers, calculators, and sports, music and art equipment, places a heavy burden on poor families. Poor children then have to make do with hand me downs and cheaper, unfashionable equipment and so can be isolated, stigmatised or bullied by their peers. Fear of stigmatisation may help to explain why 20% of those entitled to free school meals don’t take up their entitlement. Poverty acts as a barrier to learning in other ways such as an inability to afford private schooling or tuition and poorer quality local schools. Lack of funds also means that children from low-income families often have to work. Children in poverty do babysitting, cleaning and paper rounds, which had a negative impact on their schoolwork.

Fear of Debt 

Going to university usually involves getting into debt trying to cover the cost of tuition fees, books and living expenses. Attitudes towards debt can deter working class students from going to university.

Callender and Jackson (2005)

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UCAS

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From a survey of nearly 2000 students, they found that working class students are debt averse and see it as something to be avoided. They also saw more costs than benefits to university. The attitude to debt was important in deciding whether to apply to university. The most averse students were over 5x less likely to apply than most debt tolerant students. The increased debt burden will deter even more working class students

(2012) A National Union of Students (2010)

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Diane Reay (2005)

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 The National Audit Office (2002)

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from applying to university. The number of applicants fell by 8.6% compared with the previous year. Working class students who go to uni are less likely to receive financial support from their families. In a survey of 3,863 students, they found 81% from the highest social class received help from home opposed to 43% from the lowest class. Fear of debt and limited financial support explain why only 30% of university students come from the working class even though they account for 50% of the population. Financial factors also restrict working-class students’ choice of uni and chances of success. Reay found working class students were more likely to apply to local unis so they could live at home and save on travel but they had less opportunities to go to the highest status unis. They were also more likely to work part time to fund their studies so it was difficult for them to gain higher class degrees. Dropout rates are higher for unis with a large proportion of poor students. Found that working class students spent twice as much time in paid work to reduce debts as middle class students.

Cultural or Material Factors?  

Material factors play a part in achievement but the fact that some children from poor families succeed suggests material deprivation. E.g. cultural, religious or political values of the family can play a part in creating and sustain the child’s motivation, even despite poverty.

Leon Feinstein (2008) Mortimore and Whitty (1977) Peter Robinson (1997)

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Educated parents make a positive contribution to a child’s achievement regardless of income level. Argue material inequalities have the greatest effect on achievement. For this reason, he argues that tackling child poverty would be the most effective way to boost achievement.

Cultural Capital Bourdieu: Three Types of Capital Pierre Bourdieu (1984)

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Argues both cultural and material factors contribute to educational achievement and are interrelated. He uses the concept of “capital” to explain why the middle class are more successful. Capital refers to wealth but in addition to economic capital he identifies two other types:  Educational capital – or qualifications. He argues that educational, economic and cultural capital are the same thing. E.g. middle class

Leach and Campos (2003)

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children with cultural capital are better able to meet the demands of the curriculum and gain qualifications. Wealthier parents can convert economic capital into educational capital and send their children to private schools.  Cultural capital – or knowledge, attitudes, values, language, tastes and abilities of the middle class. He sees middle class culture as a type of capital because it gives an advantage to those who possess it. He argues that through socialisation, middle class children are able to grasp, analyse and express abstract ideas. They are more likely to develop intellectual interests and under...