...In this essay, the view that social class differences in educational underachievement are the result of school processes such as labelling will be assessed. Internal and external factors will be assessed with the use of researchers such as: Bernstein, Bereiter & Engelmann, Keddie and Howard. Internal factors such as labelling have been shown to effect education achievement. To label someone is to attach a meaning or definition to them. Becker carried out a study on labelling on 60 Chicago high school teachers, and found that they judged pupils according to how closely they fit an image of the ideal pupil. The pupils work, conduct, and appearance were key factors to the teachers’ judgements. Becker found that middle class children were closer to the image of the ideal pupil whereas the working class children were furthest away and seen as badly behaved. Cicourel & Kituse’s study of educational counsellors in an American high school shows how this labelling can disadvantage working class student. They found that the way in which counsellors would assess the student’s suitability for courses. They judged students on the basis of their class and/or race. Where students would have the same grades, they work more likely to label middle class pupils as having college potential and to place them on higher level courses. Rist did a study on an American kindergarten and found that the teachers used information about the children’s home, background and appearance to place them...
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...In this essay, the view that social class differences in educational underachievement are the result of school processes such as labelling will be assessed. Internal and external factors will be assessed with the use of researchers such as: Bernstein, Bereiter & Engelmann, Keddie and Howard. Internal factors such as labelling have been shown to effect education achievement. To label someone is to attach a meaning or definition to them. Becker carried out a study on labelling on 60 Chicago high school teachers, and found that they judged pupils according to how closely they fit an image of the ideal pupil. The pupils work, conduct, and appearance were key factors to the teachers’ judgements. Becker found that middle class children were closer to the image of the ideal pupil whereas the working class children were furthest away and seen as badly behaved. Cicourel & Kituse’s study of educational counsellors in an American high school shows how this labelling can disadvantage working class student. They found that the way in which counsellors would assess the student’s suitability for courses. They judged students on the basis of their class and/or race. Where students would have the same grades, they work more likely to label middle class pupils as having college potential and to place them on higher level courses. Rist did a study on an American kindergarten and found that the teachers used information about the children’s home, background and appearance to place them in separate...
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...Social class is the key factor influencing a child’s education attainment. There are major differences between the levels of achievement of the working class and middle class. Generally the higher the social class of the parents the more successful a child will be in education. Social class inequality begins in primary school and becomes greater as you move up through the education system with the higher levels of the education system dominated by middle and upper-class students. There are many other factors that can explain differences in educational achievements for different social classes, these include material explanations which put the emphasis on social and economic conditions, cultural explanations which focus on values, attitudes and lifestyles and factors within the school itself. Material factors such as poverty, low wages, diet, health and housing can all have important direct effects on how well individuals do at school. Material deprivation such as this helps when explaining the pattern of working-class underachievement in education. Douglas (1964) found that poor housing conditions such as overcrowding and insufficient quiet can make study at home difficult meaning they cannot complete homework and may not pass exams. In working class families, low income or unemployment may mean resources such as computers and text books cannot be bought which will restrict the amount of studying the child can do. They may also not be able to attend school trips that could...
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...Assess the view that social class differences in educational achievement are the result of internal processes such as labelling. Many sociologists would agree school processes such as labelling have an effect on a child’s educational achievement. However there are many other school processes that cause underachievement. To label someone is to attach a meaning or definition to them. For example, teachers may label a student as smart, thick, hardworking or troublemaker. Studies have shown that teachers often attach such labels regardless of the pupil’s actual ability or attitude. Instead they label pupils on the basis of stereotyped assumptions about their class background. Becker carried out an important study of labelling. He carried out interviews with 60 Chicago high school teachers. His findings were that they judged pupils according to how closely they fitted an image of the ‘ideal pupil’. Pupils work, conduct and appearance were key factors influencing teacher’s judgments. Middle class children were seen as the closest to ideal by teachers however lower working class children were seen as furthest away from it because they regarded them as badly behaved. Cicourel and Kitsuse’s study of educational councilors in an American high school shows how such labelling can disadvantage working class students. Cicourel and Kitsuse found inconsistencies in the way the councilors assessed students’ suitability for courses. Although they claimed to judge students according...
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...We have established, that comparing to the more privileged learners, pupils from working class, according to numerous statistical results, underachieve in their exam scores. The selected reference group is from more successful upper and middle class learners, it’s them who the working class learner’s results are measured against. The assumption is made that there should not be a difference between the two groups and so the difference is described as underachievement”. ( s.jones and d. Myhill.):” "Underachievement" can be defined as relative to what test results a pupil could be predicted to achieve based on prior attainment, or could be thought of in terms of a comparison with another group, such as children from more prosperous homes, a different ethnic group, or a different part of the country (Underachievement in Education by White Working Class Children - Education Committee ) This assumption, based on predicting potential success via tests and measures, has been frequently criticized for being irrelevant and inaccurate. According to Coil, these old assessment measures, which put the majority of working class learners in the category of underachievers / losers, only serve one purpose: to oppress them further. “The...
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...achievement amongst the different social class groups. (12 marks) Despite brilliant improvements within the educational system and level of the nation as a whole, social class differences still continue to exist, as middle class pupils tend to achieve higher academically than working class pupils. This is due to many external factors (these are factors outside of the educational system, e.g. influences from home and the family background as well as cultural deprivation etc) but also internal factors (these are factors within schools and the educational systems, such as the relationship between teachers and pupils). In this essay I intend to explain the ways in which material deprivation can affect the educational achievement between different social classes. Material deprivation, an external factor refers to poverty and a lack of resources to succeed in education, such as; books, internet and adequate housing etc. It is the working class families who have a low income and inadequate housing that affects how a child does in their education. There are 3 features within material deprivation; 1) housing- working class families are more likely to live in poor housing with overcrowding, which means a lack of personal space that can lead to illnesses to spread within the house quicker meaning children are ill more often and taking time off school, resulting in underachievement. 2) Diet and health- compared to middle class families, the working class families tend to have a poor...
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...one sociologist in particular who would tend to agree with the generalisation that working-class underachievement in education is the result of home circumstances and family background. Douglas feels that this educational underachievement is maintained due to what he classifies as ‘poor’ parental attitudes and encouragement towards the education system and its functions. He use’s evidence of poor parental interest with regards to lack of attendance at parent teacher meetings and other functions held by the school which would be in the best interests of the children if their parents attended. He highlights the fact that parents of working-class students have poor rates of attendance at these meetings and thus it comes across as if they are less interested in their child’s educational experiences and opportunities compared to a middle-class child’s parents who do attend. However some would say that Douglas’ view is rather controversial in that he fails to recognise that many of these parents could be at work when these meetings are scheduled or perhaps they are looking after children and are unable to find or afford someone to look after them. So can we really say that working class underachievement is a result of home circumstances and family background as sociologists such as Douglas suggest? Newson and Newson would also agree with the statement that working-class underachievement in education is the result of home circumstances and family background. Through their study...
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...processes that cause underachievement. These will be discussed below. To label someone is to attach a meaning or definition to them. For example, teachers may label a student as smart, thick, hardworking or troublemaker. Studies have shown that teachers often attach such labels regardless of the pupil’s actual ability or attitude. Instead they label pupils on the basis of stereotyped assumptions about their class background. Howard Becker (1971) carried out an important interactionist study of labelling. He carried out interviews with 60 Chicago high school teachers. His findings were that they judged pupils according to how closely they fitted an image of the ‘ideal pupil’. Pupils work, conduct and appearance were key factors influencing teacher’s judgements. Middle class children were seen as the closest to ideal by teachers however lower working class children were seen as furthest away from it because they regarded them as badly behaved. Aaron Cicourel and john Kitsuse’s (1963) study of educational councillors in an American high school shows how such labelling can disadvantage working class students. Cicourel and Kitsuse found inconsistences in the way the councillors assessed students’ suitability for courses. Although they claimed to judge students according to their ability, in practice they judged students largely on the basis of their social class and/or race. Another type of social process that leads to educational underachievement is streaming. Streaming...
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...is the theory that many working-class and black children are inadequately socialised and therefore lack the 'right' culture needed for educational success e.g. their families do not instil the value of deferred gratification. Cultural deprivation is an outside school/home background factor that could affect the achievement of working class pupils as if their family do not place a high standard on education, the pupil may imitate this causing their grades to lower. The attitudes and values that working class pupils usually hold vary from that of middle class, one being fatalism. Barry Sugarman suggested that the idea of believing in fate and that ''whatever will be, will be" could lead to underachievement as working class pupils with this view think that nothing they can do will stop what is already planned for them. Middle-class values usually emphasises that you can change your position through your own efforts. Sugarman also believed in the idea of present-time orientation. This is where someone sees the present as more important than the future and therefore does not set long-term goals or plans. This view is also usually held by working class people in contrast to middle-class culture that has a future-time orientation that sees planning for the future as important as the present. Douglas suggested that immediate gratification is also a large contributing factor to the under achievement of working class pupils. It's basis is that working class people seek pleasure now rather...
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...Ethnic differences in achievement External factors and ethnic differences in achievement * Many sociologists argue that ethnic differences in achievement can be best explained by looking at external factors * Cultural deprivation sees the underachievement of some ethnic groups as the result of inadequate socialisation in the home. * The explanation has three main aspects intellectual and linguistic skills, attitudes and values, and family structure and parental support. Intellectual and linguistic skills * Cultural deprivation theorists see the lack of intellectual and linguistic skills as a major cuase of underachievement for the minor majority of people. * They argue that many children from low income black families lack intellectual stimulation and enriching experiences. * This leaves them poorly equipped for school as they have not been able to develop reasoning and problem solving skills * Concerns – children who do not speak English at home may be held back educationally Attitudes and values * Cultural deprivation theorists see lack of motivation as a major cause of failure of many black children. Most children are socialised into the mainstream culture, this provides ambition, necessary and willingness, leading them to success and achieving long term goals * They argue that some black children are socialised into a black subculture that instils a ‘live for today’ attitude that does not value education and leaves them unequipped for success...
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...Education inequalities and achievements In this essay different in educational achievements of social groups including class, gender and ethnicity as well as difference in achievement caused by out of school factors and in school factors will be discussed. Education has had a huge impact to peoples lives and there is a significant difference in the educational achievement based class, ethnicity and gender. A child`s social background has a huge impact on the success in education and their life in future. On average children from middle class families perform well in school, get better GCSE results, stay longer in full time education than children from the working class families. Majority of children from middle class families will go to university compared to the children from working class families. Statistics show that 77% of students from parents with higher professional jobs will achieve 5 or more GCSE, 66% from parents with lower professional, 40% from parents with intermediate jobs and 33% from parents with routine jobs or unemployed, reason being that most middle class parents will afford to take children to private schools or pay for private tuition (webb, r etal2008). We operationalize the concept of class in school by using the access of free school meals (FSM), which is offered to children whose parents get unemployment benefit and come from deprived areas. There is a huge difference in education attainment between pupil receiving FSM and not receiving FSM, Statistics...
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...In all social groups class plays a major role in the attainment of children in education. At all age groups in the education system it is apparent that working class children achieve lower attainment than children from a middle class background. It is suggested that the system is biased and designed for white, middle class children disregarding the needs of the working class and ethnic minority children. However most researchers believe that there is a similar ‘range of ability’ in every social class which could mean that class differences in educational achievement are not due to class differences in intelligence but more to do with other factors in society such as low expectations and low aspirations, lack of deferred gratification and economical issues all of which are more apparent in the working class. Children from working class backgrounds tend to experience economical hardship more so than any other class; this is often linked to material deprivation which these children are exposed to throughout their life. Material deprivation in social class five has been closely linked to the underachievement of working class pupils in schools since the 1960s when sociologists claimed that a child’s attainment could be linked to a lack of something which was then found to be a kind of deprivation. A lack of money and the things that money could buy combined with a lack of skills and the absence of a good attitude contributed to a child’s achievement in school. These children are...
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...Outline and assess the view that in school factors have the main influence on the educational achievement of different social classes (50 Marks) INSIDE - The Curriculum What is taught in schools disadvantages working class pupils. The knowledge taught in school is different to the cultural experiences of working class pupils. For example, History deals with the ruling class such as kings, queens and politicians, rather than the majority of ordinary people. Cultural Bias of the hidden curriculum favours middle class pupils. This may lead the underachievement and truancy of those from working class backgrounds. Ramsay argues that knowledge is used as a form of social control and that there is a hidden curriculum behind the subjects of Maths and English to keep the working class in their place. Ramsay argues that truancy is a protest against this pressure. - Teacher Labelling Interactionists study the interactions between teacher & student and student & student. Their explanations are based on a “labelling theory”. Teachers judge students not by their ability or intelligence, but by characteristics such as class. Keddie – “Classroom Knowledge” Keddie studied classroom interactions in a large, socially mixed comprehensive school in London. She had found that teachers categorised and evaluated classroom knowledge. The knowledge that teachers gave pupils was based on their assessment of the pupil’s ability to cope with the knowledge. Pupils that were categorized as “bright”...
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...Analyse the importance of poverty as an explanation of social class differences in educational achievement Introduction Sociologists have argued that social class differences in educational achievement can be explained in terms of 4 not necessarily mutually exclusive kinds of theory: IQ theory; theories emphasising social class differences in material circumstances; theories emphasising social class differences in subcultural attitudes and values; and theories emphasising the importance of within school labelling processes. Sociologists tend to be critical of IQ theory for several reasons and point out that there is good evidence to show that social class is a major determinant of educational success even independently of measured differences in IQ. I shall therefore concentrate upon the three more sociological approaches and in each case it may be argued that the factors which may disadvantage working class students in general are especially likely to disadvantage those working class students who experience poverty. However before analysing the possible effects of poverty on educational achievement some preliminary investigation of the nature and extent of poverty in the UK is first necessary and for these purposes we must first distinguish between absolute and relative poverty. Absolute poverty is said to occur when individuals lack the money necessary to ensure their basis physical survival whereas relative poverty exists where individuals have insufficient money to...
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...a society as a given time regardless of people’s preferences with respect to these items. 2) Identify three government policies that may have reduced social class differences in educational achievement. * EMA – Educational Maintenance Allowance: The scheme was created to offer an allowance to those on college to encourage them to continue with the education system. An additional benefit of this was to potentially enable those on low incomes to afford to continue with an education in reference to travel and resources. * Sure Start – Sure Start aims to work with parents to promote intellectual, social and physical development of babies and other young children. They do this by offering family support, health care and advice alongside play sessions for the children. * National Curriculum – This is aimed to reduce the social class differences because everyone is taught the same subjects which is perceived to give the same equal chances across the board. 3) Using materials from item A and elsewhere, assess the importance of cultural factors in causing social class differences in educational achievement. Pupils in education from a working class background (a pupil whose background includes a far more manual job) have a tendency to underachieve in education compared to pupils in education from a middle class background (one from a nonmanual background). Hence tend to gain lower GCSE results and don’t go on to further and higher education for example statistics...
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