Working Class Underachievement

Working Class Underachievement

1. Material factors

   • Poverty and low wages
   • Lack of financial support
   • Cost of travel and fees post-16
   • Poor environment
     • Crime
     • Drug abuse
   • Part-time work
   • Poor diet and Ill-health
     • Leading to tiredness and missed lessons
   • Damp, overcrowded, poor-housing quality

2. Cultural factors

   • Amount of cultural capital
   • Subculture attitudes and values
   • Restricted code of language use
   • Parents attitudes and interests in education
   • Parent's level and knowledge of education, and confidence in dealing with schools

3. Inside school factors

   • Resources in the school
   • School ethos
   • The hidden curriculum
   • Whether children are 'warmed up' or 'cooled out'
   • The 'halo effect'
   • Access to classroom knowledge
   • Streaming and labelling
   • Anti-school subculture
   • The self fulfilling prophecy
   • Teachers evaluation and sterotyping
   • Attitudes, interests and expectations of teachers