Class Inequality In Contemporary Britain

This is due to the elaborated code being used by teachers, as well as questions and textbooks being written with more complex vocabulary. As well as this, Bernstein said that the elaborated code is a more effective tool for analysing and reasoning and for expressing thoughts clearly and effectively, which are all essential in achieving highly during education. This, ultimately leads to higher achievement for middle class children cause they are comfortable with more complex language, and therefore have the necessary understanding to achieve highly. Comparatively, working class children struggle to understand the elaborated code, because they simply haven't been brought up in a household where this type of speech is used frequently. This leads to underachievement amongst the working class. Due to the use of the restricted code, these pupils may be labelled by teachers as less able and therefore streamed into lower sets, leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy. These lower sets may consist if pupils who belong to an anti-school subculture, which can disrupt the learning of fellow pupils, thus leading to a higher chance of underachievement.

The article “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” by Jean Anyon is about research conducted in five different schools of four different social classes; the Working Class, the Middle Class, the Professional Class, and the Executive Class. In the data collected, Anyon discovered the various ways that these five schools teach the children. First, the two Working Class Schools taught the children really poorly, often telling the children to follow steps to get the right answer, and always yelling at them when they’re out of line. The Middle Class School teaches the kids a little better, by making the children actually work to get the right answer. The Professional School sought to get the children to be more creative with their work. And finally, the Executive Class school will tell the children that they are fully responsible for their work, and they will not keep up with children if they miss assignments.

Social Class and Education”. It opens by discussing research conducted in the 1960’s in an effort to identify factors contributing to differences in the academic achievement of Whites and Blacks (Banks & Banks, 2013). Researchers hypothesized that the achievement gaps were mainly the result of disparities in school resources and characteristics, but found that there is a high correlation between achievement and socioeconomic status (SES) (Banks & Banks, 2013). Furthermore, attention is drawn to the class stratification which exists in our educational system and works to maintain inequality through exclusion strategies such as ability grouping and tracking (Banks & Banks, 2013). Evidence of the correlation between social class and

Almost all the family incomes are over $100,000...The incomes in this school represent less than 1 percent of the families in the United States,” (256) compared to working-class families who earn incomes “at or below $12,000” (256). Anyon presents these examples to compare the backgrounds of each school and uses this as logos to persuasively reason her claim that quality of education is offered to people who can afford it. Public schools that working-class and middle-class families can afford do not offer the same education private schools that upper-class and capitalist families can afford. Wealthy children who are privileged get an advantage early on in their education career because they are able to afford better quality teachers and lessons. This varied quality of education found in curriculums is what creates the unequal divide between educated individuals in different social classes. An audience of scholars and teachers would be persuaded by this claim because Anyon’s data transparently shows the uneven distribution of resources and opportunity found in the social class schools.

In the study Lareau conducted, it can be see that working class and poor families differ slightly in that being poor means less resources and a means of a greater struggle for the child. The similarities found explain why being lower class has it benefits in some areas then if you were middle or upper class. Now Lareau is not telling people to raise their children one way or that being rich is better because even the rich have many disadvantages their children encounter. Lareau emphasizes, “Overall, daily life for working-class and poor children is slower paced, less pressured, and less structured than for their middle- and

The idea that working-class children will most likely under-achieve due to a lack of culture, also known as cultural deprivation, refers to children lacking the norms, values, beliefs, skills and knowledge that a society would regard as important and necessary. The attributes that these children should know and learn are, in most cases, taught by their parents and are passed to the next generation through socialisation. All children are socialised differently, and the social class of the parent has a huge impact on the child and may affect their achievement in education. According to the cultural deprivation theory, some working-class

According to Bynner and Joshi (1999) class differences have persisted since the late 1950’s. It can be seen that all studies carried out by various theorist came to the same conclusion that middle class pupils tend to do a lot better than working class in terms of educational achievement. Pupils from middle class backgrounds tend to pass more exams, stay on at school for longer and are five times more likely to go to university. This gap in achievement widens with age as right from nursery school to university, processes like labelling or the self fulfilling prophecy take

Expansion of education is closely related to idealistic views of democracy. In developing and wealthy nations, education is valued because it helps the individual mind to develop capabilities. In contrast, education has also been seen as a way to promote equality. Having access to public education, in theory, has the potential to reduce poverty and promote equality. If all are entitled to the same public education, not to mention they are required by law, why do school systems seem segregate their students? Researchers have searched for the answer and have theorized that economic background, tracking, and hidden curriculum are a few things that help contribute to the imaginary lines drawn between students in society.

The educational system has been around for thousands of years, and throughout time, there have always existed equality issues. From girls not being able to attend school as far as the boys, to children being separated into different schools because of the color of their skin, equality in education is an issue that has plagued humanity for far too long. Throughout the years, there have been some important decisions made in an effort to afford equality in education. Perhaps, as we move forward in our thinking and beliefs, we may find a way to make education a right that everyone who has the desire to grow through knowledge should be afforded, regardless of circumstance.

Income inequality plays a major role in the education disparity present in communities such as West Chelsea. The economic hardship several families experience affects the way a child grows up and the certain education they receive. As seen in Class Divide, more privileged children can attend schools such as The Avenues where they are given opportunities to grow and learn, while less privileged students are

(AC1, AC2, AC4.2) The tripartite secondary school system was introduced to society following the 1944 Education Act, this act divided schooling into primary and secondary levels whilst increasing the school leaving age to 15. During the same year, however, the secondary level of schooling was further divided into 3 categories - grammar, technical and modern. Prior to this act there was no segregation of schooling in place, known as elementary schooling. Grammar schools were intended to schools based around academia, technical schools were intended to be based around science and technical schooling and modern schools were intended to be consistent with ‘general schooling’ and education. The secondary schools children attended was not down to individual choice but rather an IQ test, the 11+ test. The 11+ test was founded by Cyril Burt on the understanding that intelligence was inherited, there was proof into Burt 's theory and it was identified that girls IQ level was often higher. The test was fixed to minimise the girls scores and allow only 20% to meet the requirements for the grammar schools. However this act was not successful as modern and grammar schools were equal in society and science was taught in grammar schools as opposed to technical schools, thus very few technical schools were instituted. By 1952 predominantly people were in modern schools, followed by grammar and only 5% in technical schools so the system proposed had failed to

Though this policy attempts to achieve a support of diversity and an increase of equity among the Victorian community, its affects are hindered by an education system that favours the middle class and above. As stated by Reid (2013, p. 13), the equity espoused within policy ‘is produced by policy processes which are counterproductive to the achievement of equity.’ This means that, in order to really achieve equity for all students, the education system needs to

By using the eleven-plus examination (exam taken at around the age of 11) to test pupils' intelligence and abilities in English and arithmetic, three groups of children were identified. Firstly, there were academic pupils, who went to the secondary grammar schools. These schools provided the main route to university. Secondly, there was a group of practical pupils, who were interested in applied science or applied art. They went to the technical schools. Remaining pupils, mostly working class, went to the secondary modern schools where they received a more basic education. Thus, the secondary educational system set up as a result of the 1944 Act was a tripartite system - three types of schools, which, it was argued, were different but equal. As a result, the Act's aim of providing every child with an education was achieved, and the number of pupils in the schools began to rise rapidly. This can be clearly seen in Figure 1:

In the “Equality of Opportunity” section, Brian Barry gives a comprehensive account of what this concept means and ways our societal institutions fall short. Defining equality of opportunity as having the “same means as others to obtain something through an action within your power,” he explores its implications in the fields of education and health. Although I thought disparities in these fields were caused by material inequality – people with more wealth get higher quality goods – Barry shows that inequality has deeper roots in socioeconomic factors. Through discussion about how education and health perpetuate inequality, Barry presents ways in which the structure of society undermines equality of opportunity, which changes the way I think

British society is split into hierarchical categories with “higher” “middle” and “lower working” class. The British class structure is shaped like a pyramid cut into three