Recap...

• How influential is the media?

• Hall et al (1979) ‘mugging’

• Hartmann and Husband (1974)

• Van Dijk (1991) race riots

• Is the media becoming more inclusive?

Social Class Inequalities

Education

Reasons for working-class

underachievement

Material factors

Lack of ‘cultural capital’ Parents’ attitudes

to education

Parent’s level of

education

‘Problem’ schools in deprived

areasRestricted code of

language

Teacher evaluations

of pupils

Working class

subculture

Think about...

Sample of study

Methods used to collect data

Findings of study

Does this confirm what we know about educational achievement and social class?

Material explanations

• Low wages• Poverty• Diet / health• Housing

‘indicators of social deprivation’

effect how well individuals do at

school

Cultural capital

• Bourdieu (1971)The ‘right’ knowledge, language, attitudes, values,

taste and lifestyle gives greatly improved chances of success in education

Educational capital

Economic capital

Parents’ attitudes to education• Middle-class parents have been found to...

– Take more interest in children’s progression in school

– Became relatively more interested and encouraging as child grows older

– More likely to want child to stay in education post 16

Parents’ level of education• Understand school system better

• Less confident in dealing with teachers?

• Able to advise children

• Complaints procedures

• Stimulate educational development before and during schooling

• Help with school work generally

‘Problem schools’

• Affluent / deprived areas

• Many schools rely on support from parents to finance extra resources

• Parents in poorer areas less able to support schools: schools may have less to spend on pupils

• Social problems in ‘deprived areas’ i.e. high unemployment, crime, drug abuse, juvenile delinquency

Restricted code of language

• Bernstein (1971)

– ‘elaborated code’

– ‘restricted code’

Teacher evaluations of students

• Stereotyping students• Labelling• Banding / streaming / setting

SELF FULFILLING PROPHECY!!

Working class subculture

Paul Willis ‘Learning to Labour’ (1977)

Phil Brown ‘Schooling ordinary kids’ (1987)