differential achievement-class 2011

8/14/2019 Differential Achievement-Class 2011

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Differential achievement in

EducationSocial Class Lesson 1


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What are the explanations fordifferences in educational achievement?

We will look at differential achievement based on 3 mainfactors....................

CLASSETHNICITY

GENDERThere are different explanations for the trends in

achievement, but they do follow themes and examquestions may focus on one of the following sets of ideas.

Cultural Material Intelligence Labelling Marxism

EG: Cultural explanations are outside school factors. Acultural explanation is one that focuses on the norms andvalues of the individual or home background. Eg:subcultures/language/cultural capital/parental interestetc.

On page 62 state whether this is a factor to dowith inside the school or outside and then try tosummarise that type of factor and give examples....


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Social Class Underachievement

The higher a persons social class, the higher their educational attainment is likely tobe.

The children of parents in higher social classes are more likely to attain high grades inKey Stage tests and at GCSE; they are more likely to take and pass A levelexaminations and more likely to gain university entrance.

2004, 77% of students from higher professional backgrounds attained five or moreGCSE grades A*-C compared to only 33% from routine backgrounds.

In 1991 there was a gap of 49 percentage points between the top and bottom classesuniversity entrants and by 2001 this had grown to 64%.

Why is this the case? Brainstorm

Use your text books, pg 65+ and the text on pg 64-65 to state 3 trends/pieces of evidence concerningthe link between class and education...


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Explanations for social classunderachievement

1. IQ: intelligence/genetics.

The Explanations

2. Material: economical position

3. Cultural: Language/parental interest/norms andvalues/subcultures-peer group influence.

4. Interactionist: Labelling and teacherexpectations/subcultures.

6. Functionalist:Meritocracy and role allocation.

5. Marxist:Serves the needs of the ruling class

minority.


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Education and IQ

IQ is largely inherited

Eysenck (1971) What children take out of school is proportional towhat they bring into the schools in terms of IQ.

Hernstein and Murray (1994) estimate that between 60-80% ofintelligence is genetically based. Class differences in intelligencelargely account for class differences in educational attainment.

Read the article Intelligence and answer the questions on page68 of your booklet

How can the genetic explanation of social class

differences in educational achievement be criticised?

Complete the box on Jenson/ Eysenk and Watson on yoursocial class and educational underachievement studieschart.

Attempt the IQ test on page 67 of your booklet


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Material Explanations

Using Haralambos pages 636-637 take notes and evaluateSmith and Noble/Raey et al and Callendar and Jacksons

study on material factors.

How can material factorsaffect Educational attainment?

How might economic capital belinked to cultural capital?


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Raey et al

Private education converted economiccapital (the fees) into cultural capital.

Paying into cultural capital

Working class students are more likely tohave part time jobs and therefore morelikely to work longer hours reducing theirchances of attaining higher grades.

Over 25% of private school students hadextra tuition compared to 10% of stateschool students.


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Callendar and Jackson

Survey of 2,000 prospective HE students

Examined their attitudes to debt, classpositions and decisions for HE

Those afraid of debt were 4x less likely toapply for university

Fear was greatest among the poor and the

thought of debt stopped them applying.

How can Callendar and Jackson be evaluated?


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How significant do you thinkmaterial explanations are?


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Cultural Explanations

There are 4 key cultural explanationsfor the underachievement of certainclass groups..

Working class subcultures

Home Background/parental interest

Language and speech patternsCultural capital.

Pg 72-74


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Subcultures - Sugarman (1970)

Fatalism: they did not worry about the future or what wouldhappen to them. They accepted their situation and did notattempt to change it.

Immediate Gratification: they wanted rewards NOW e.g.Would rather leave school and earn money at 16 than stay ineducation longer to enable them to get a better job in the

long term (deferred gratification). Present Time Orientation: they lived their lives in the

present with no concern for what the future would bring. Collectivism: they were loyal to the peer group rather than

being concerned with competing against each other for

academic achievement.Criticisms-May just be a response to circumstances of working class life e.g. Realistic valuesrather than fatalistic ones-Questionnaire response may not be an accurate indicator as sociologists ignoresimilarities (where there are many) and emphasis differences

-Increase in wc students going to university in 2000-2010 = deferred gratification


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Home Background Douglas (1964) and Feinstein (2003)

How did Douglas operationalise parental interest?What are the problems with this?

How did Feinstein operationalise parental interest?

Are there any other ways you can test the impactof parental interest?

Frequency of visits to school- Working class may work more, more likely to be single parents and have

more siblings.

Teachers assessment of parents interest (subjective)

- Ask the children- Ask the parents- Multi method approach


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Language and Speech Patterns- Bernstein

Research suggests that the languagestudents use or are able to accesseffects their ability to get on ineducation and achieve.

Working class students are less able toarticulate themselves or speak in

appropriate ways.

Read page 30 from Swale and define restricted and elaborated codes,make sure you link them to their class.


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Basil Bernsteins SpeechPatterns/Language codes

With a partner, take the role of someone using the elaborated code andsomeone using the restricted code, Describe the following situation.


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Thinking

How do you think the use of the restricted languagecode would be perceived by others?

-Teachers?-Police?-Family members?-Friends?

Do you think the restricted code is different or inferior?


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Cultural Capital- Bourdieu (1977)

The working class cultural attributes arerejected because the system is defined by

and for the middle classes who in turnsucceed by default rather than graterability.

Their cultural assets are seen as worthy ofinvestment and reward and hence havegreater value as cultural capital.


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Evaluation of Bourdieu (1977)

Support

Research supports the claim that working-class pupils are not encouraged to succeed

in school.

Criticisms

How can we operationalise cultural capital? The focus is too class-based (Gender and

ethnicity tend to be ignored).


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Interactionist explanations

You have already looked at some studiesthat take an interactionist approach.Use pg 75 and identify the studies

given, evaluating each one.

BeckerKeddie

Rosenthal and JacobsonAbraham


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Marxist Theory Education does not serve the interests of everyone in

society, but those of a ruling minority For Marx education performs 3 main functions

1. Reproduces the inequalities and social relations of

production of capitalist society.2. Legitimises (justifies) these inequalities through themyth of meritocracy.

3. Characterises the infrastructure (economic base) ofcapitalist societies

This is done through The socialisation role The allocation role The vocational training role
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Bowles and Gintis (1976) Education serves to reproduce the capitalist relations of

production (the hierarchy of workers from the boss down)with the appropriate skills and attitudes. Education ensures that workers will unquestioningly adapt to

the needs of the system. Correspondence theory suggests that what goes on in school

corresponds directly to the world of work. Teachers are like bosses and pupils are like workers who work

for rewards. Those pupils that fit in and conform rise above those who

express attitudes or display behaviour which challenge thesystem. This is irrespective of ability!

Complete page 40 of booklet


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Evaluation of

Bowles and Gintis (1976)Support

The national curriculum means that the

freedom of teachers has been restrictedand education has been designed to meet theneeds of employers.

BTECs, NVQs, Diplomas and work-orientatedspecialist schools or academies shows thatemployers have more direct say inorganisation and curriculum of schools.


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Evaluation ofBowles and Gintis (1976)

Criticisms Fails to recognise that the formal curriculum doesnt correspond

to the economy.

Reynolds (1984) points out that the popularity and existence of

free thinking humanities-based subjects and applied knowledgesuggests a lack of correspondence. How can sociology be a popular subject if schools and collages are all

about developing unthinking workers?

According to employers school leavers get low level employability

skills. Modern businesses require shared creativity and teamwork.

Studies show that pupils can have little regard for the rules of theschool and little respect for the authority of the teacher. E.g.Willis (1977)


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Evaluation of Althusser (1971)

Support Recognises the influence of the economy and culture

on education. Research shows that working-class pupils are not

encouraged to succeed in school. Identifies the myth of meritocracy.

Criticisms The focus is too class-based (Gender and ethnicity

ignored). Underestimate some pupils resistance to teachers and

schools. Not supported by evidence and only suggests a

framework.


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Bourdieu (1977) The working class cultural attributes are

rejected because the system is defined byand for the middle classes who in turn

succeed by default rather than graterability.

Their cultural assets are seen as worthy of

investment and reward and hence havegreater value as cultural capital.


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Evaluation of Bourdieu (1977)

Support

Research supports the claim that working-class pupils are not encouraged to succeed

in school.

Criticisms

How can we operationalise cultural capital? The focus is too class-based (Gender and

ethnicity tend to be ignored).


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Willis (1977)

Working class lads learned to behave at schools inways quite at odds with capitalisms supposed need fora docile workforce.

However Willis supported the principle that schools

reproduce the relations of production bydemonstrating that the boys in the anti-schoolsubculture shared a similar outlook to the workers inthe factories they were likely to end up in.

Willis came from a Marxistapproach but did a smallscale study looking at classroom interactions andsubcultures- an interactionist.


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Evaluation of Willis (1977)

Support Support Bowles and Gintis (1976) correspondence

theory but argues that the correspondence is notproduced by the school but by their anti-schoolsubcultures.

Attempts to link structure and action, links the widersociety with the day to day activities of a smallnumber of people (Social systems and social action).

Criticism Based on 12 boys, small and unrepresentative sample. The lads are only one of a variety of pupil subcultures

found in schools. Could have misinterpreted some evidence


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Marxist Explanations

Read page 68+ in your textbook andanswer the questions on pages 77-78


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Gerwitz

Middle classes were much better able totake advantage of school choice as a resultof their possession of cultural capital. Privileged skilled choosers Semi-skilled choosers Disconnected choosers

It illustrates that an increase in schoolchoice will result in the increase in socialclass differences (Marketisation ofschools!)


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Evaluation of Gerwitz

National curriculum, all children taughtthe same way.

Government policies aiding poor

achieving schools (academies etc). Too simplistic categories How can we operationalise cultural

capital? The focus is too class-based (Gender

and ethnicity tend to be ignored).


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Sullivan

Supports the theory of cultural capital. Argues that the school has a limited

effect on the culture of the child andparental background is most significant.

Cultural capital is transmitted through thereading of classic books and qualitynewspapers and factual documentaries.

This enables the development of a moresophisticated vocabulary and examsuccess.

Material factors were also significant.


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Lets Play Sociology Bingo

Choose Nine Sociologists who put forwardexplanations for social class

underachievement Write their names on your bingo card I will describe an explanation for social

class underachievement and if you think it

refers to your sociologist mark it off Once you have marked off all your

sociologists call out BINGO!


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Complete the question

Outline and assess Interactionist

explanations of social class inequalitieswithin schools (50 marks)

differential achievement-class 2011

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