Flashcards
Social Class and Educ Attainment
Cards in this deck (16)
- 1Which social classes may do worse at school?- Working classes [esp. working class boys]
- Ethnic minorities such as Bangladeshi, Pakistani's etc are usually working class so also do worse - 2What do Functionalists believe about the under attainment of the working classes?The working classes fail due to the meritocratic system of schools insinuating that they must not be the best pupils
- 3Marxists and the under attainment of the working classes?The education system exists to legitimise ruling class power and so education is biased against the working class and exists only to oppress poorer pupils
- 4Interactionists and the under attainment of working classes?Believe that schools are middle class institutions and that teachers label working class pupils as failures. The pupils then live up to their labels by failing [a self fulfilling prophecy]
- 5Smith and Noble [1995] [Material Depriv]Poorer parents cannot afford additional resources such as books, a computer and space for their children to work.
- More likely to live in poorly built housing meaning children are more likely to be absent from school due to ill health - 6Feinstein [2003] [Material Depriv]Suggested a link between poor nutrition, particularly during pregnancy and educational attainment.
- 7Deprivation and Education [2009]Suggested family stress was a significant contributor to school failure
- 8Bernstein [Cultural depriv]The problem of educational underachievement is language. Working class children have lower language skills [restricted code] whilst middle class speak in elaborated code. Working class children do not think as well due to this.
- 9Douglas [Cultural Depriv]Working class parents do not value education as much as middle class parents might i.e they are less likely to read to their children. Their children do not feel motivated to do well due to a lack of encouragement.
- 10Sugarman [1970] [Class subcultures]Described the working class subculture as:
- Fatalistic - they accepted a situation rather than worked to improve it
- Present-time orientated - Lived for the moment rather than planned for the future
- Immediate gratification - took pleasures now rather than making sacrifices for the future - 11Bernstein [1971] [Linguistic Depriv]The inadequacies and limitations in someone's use of language might limit their educational success.
- Working class speak in restricted code and the middle class speak in elaborated code - 12Bourdieu [1977] [Cultural capital]Children born into the middle classes have a built-in advantage. Their culture is closer to the culture of schools so they are more likely to succeed. Their language is closer to that of teachers so they are more likely to understand.
- 13Sullivan [2001]Conducted a survey to measure the cultural capital of 465 year 11 pupils in 4 schools. There was a strong link between cultural capital and parents and children. Supporting Bourdieu's claim that capital is learnt at home.
- 14Criticisms of the Cultural Depriv theory- There is evidence that if class differences in culture exist, then they are slight and of little significance
- So called culturally-deprived behaviour may be due to a lack of money rather than the lack of norms and values needed for high attainment
- An example being working class students may leave school earlier because of low income rather than lack of motovation and encouragement - 15Criticisms of Bernstein and the linguistic depriv theorySome researchers have questioned his view as he provides little hard evidence to support his ideas
- 16Class subcultures criticisms- Sugarman's research was based on questionnaires given to 540 boys in London. Responses may not reflect everyone, not representative or generalisable.
- The main difference between the m/c and w/c is their financial situation and not their culture
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- a level Sociology Flashcards on Social Class and Educ Attainment, created by Ella Davies on 11/04/2023.
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