Poverty is the Main Cause of Social Class Differences in Educational Achievement
This essay will assess the view that poverty is the main cause of social class differences in educational achievement. There are many causes of these differences which can be linked to cultural deprivation, and will be discussed in this essay.
Material deprivation is lack of money and things which money can buy, and is the main cause of poverty. Item B suggests that that this is the main cause of social class differences in educational achievement as it says that most truants come from poor working class backgrounds and are less likely than their middle class counter parts to obtain a good formal education.
…show more content…
Douglas 1964, claimed that middle class children received more attention and encouragement from their parents which was the single most important factor affecting their attainment whereas working class pupils received little encouragement and lacked the motivation to succeed at school.
Also sugarman believed that the working class subculture was fatalistic, concerned with immediate gratification and present time orientated. This meant that they wanted to earn money straight away rather than sacrifice for the future. Middle classes were however prepeared to sacrifice for the future-they were future time orientated and concerned with deferred gratification. However a criticism of immediate gratification in this case is that the students aren’t usually sacrificing as the first year of uni is enjoyable.
In addition to this Basil Bernsteins research shows that schools can contribute to social class differences in educational achievement and his research did not support the view that poverty is the main cause. He claimed that there were two forms of speech patterns-restricted code and elaborated code. The restricted code was a kind of shorthand speech which was used by working class children and the elaborated code spelled out meanings and details. Middle class children are socialised in both forms of speech-teachers use the elaborated code
One of the major causes of underachievement is the lack of economic capital, proposed by Pierre Bourdieu (1984), that a working class family possess. As item A states, ‘sociologists claim that factors outside the school, such as parental attitudes and parental income, are the main causes of working class underachievement.’ Children who belong to a working class background may not be able to afford the necessary equipment or meet the
Social class is a large faction of people who have similar positions in an economic system. In an exemplary world, all students would have an equal shot at success, excellent schools, and educators that dedicate themselves and their time to achieving this goal. However, social class can significantly affect a student's success, highlighting the correlation between low socioeconomic statuses and academic problems. In all social groups, class plays a significant role in the attainment of children in education. Unfortunately, this has always been the case and the effects are just more evident today. Families from high social classes are more likely to obtain a greater level of education than those in low social classes. Members of upper social classes tend to be better educated and have higher incomes; therefore, they are better able to supply educational advantages to their children as well. Being in a financially disadvantaged can also affect a child’s performance during school. It is important, therefore, to examine the way in which education is distributed through social class. Between societal pressures, expectations and parental negligence, children can be negatively impacted in their pursuit for future success through their education as exemplified through “College Pressures” and “The Sanctuary of School”.
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
According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, over 16 million children (22%) in the United States live below the federal poverty level, which is $23,550 per year for a family of four. Research has shown that a family requires an income of about twice that amount just to cover basic needs and expenses. Using these statistics, 45% of children in the US live in low-income households. Most parents of low-income children are employed, but unsteady employment accompanied with low wages leave families struggling to make ends meet. The effects of poverty on children are numerous and long lasting, such as impaired learning ability as well as social, behavioral, and emotional difficulties. Childhood poverty can also contribute to poor physical and mental health. Research has shown that poverty is the greatest threat to s child’s well-being, but public policies can make a difference when they are implemented effectively.
Socioeconomic status plays a key factor in the type of education a child receives today and ultimately functions to keep individuals in the class they are born into. Those who are part of the lower class receive the bare minimum in education with the end goal being blind obedience, while the upper class is educated in a way that encourages self-regulation, individual thought, and creativity. These vast differences in education are no mistake and are put in place for overall control.
1. In my understanding, education is the greatest challenge in Mexico; improving the overall health of its education scheme and getting rid of a highly politicized panorama should be primary goals to set on the national agenda. It is well known that education sets the foundation for a flourishing society, hence the importance of educational quality in promoting economic growth.
In 2002, Lee and Burkam conducted a study using 1600 5 and 6 year olds. The results showed that math scores were “60 percent” lower than richer classes and that english scores were lower by “56 percent” (Blazer and Romanik).
So what are the causes of this social class hierarchy and what can be done to stop it? The problems appear to be evident at all levels of education including early childhood, primary and secondary education and tertiary education. Studies in education across the world show that the success rates at school are greatly determined by the student’s parents. In particular, their occupational status, money they earn and education. If the child’s parents socio-economic status is not up to high society’s standards, it may influence the child’s social interaction that may cause some children to work to their full capabilities, impaction on what they may gain from their education. An example of how to help the situation of social class would be to look at Graham Holley, the chief executive of the Training and Development Agency in the United Kingdom. Mr Holley has attempted to improve the impact that teaching can have on the quality of children’s education. According to a UK journal ‘The Independent quotes, “Mr Holley called for moves to ensure the most highly qualified teachers were persuaded to teach in the country's
A family’s class background can have a huge effect on child-rearing. The way a family raises a child can be dependent on the class background that they have. Often families with a substantial amount of money are able to provide their children with more opportunities than families with lower income. This can have a tremendous effect on how the child is raised and how much help/support a child can get from their families to become successful and educated. Families with different financial backgrounds tend to raise their children differently and have different values in regards to schooling. In Annette Lareau’s book “Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life” she discusses the impact that economical class and family upbringings can have on a child and society. Throughout this analysis I will discuss the different approaches Lareau mentions, which approach prepares children for more effective school success, and the implications of these discoveries for teachers and schools.
Brown (1997) argues that middle class families impose values onto their children regarding education from a young age; they place high importance on educational qualifications as they are aware that the job market is becoming increasingly competitive (cited Ball and Vincent, 2001). This suggests that middle-class pupils value school and try to get as much as they can out of it, thus have higher levels of attainment than working-class pupils.
Pursuing this discussion further, it could be implied that there is a connection drawn between education and social class. Usually when conferring about these two aspects, social class and underachievement becomes the focus of attention. “Working-class children experience a much greater cultural clash when they enter school than those from more privellaged homes” (Giddens and Griffiths, 2006, p.710). Gillborn and Youdell (2000) took this further suggesting how teachers believed that ability was ‘fixed’ (Darmody, Tyrrell and Song, 2011) and saw working class pupils as having less ability and as lower achievers.
This theory states that those at the bottom of the class system are deprived of important values, attitudes, experiences and skills which are essential for educational success. Their home life lacks the kind of stimulation needed for high attainment, for example, the absence of books and educational toys.
Cultural Deprivation Theory is an explanation of working-class (WC) underachievement in society. Cultural deprivation is WC families lacking the same values as the middle-class (MC) families. This reflects on the WC children, who, according to cultural deprivation theorist, are under stimulated compared to MC children. WC children are less likely to succeed, because they are less likely to be found in nursery schools, less likely to go to university and more likely to be poor readers when they start school, more likely to be in lower sets and streams in secondary school, more likely to leave school
In an ideal world, socioeconomic status would not affect the quality of education one would receive. Everyone would have the same opportunities to do well in life and rise up the social ladder. Durkheim (1893) asserted that with universally great public education, economic opportunities would be relatively equal. Even with equal education levels, there would still exist some inequality in the form of “legitimate” inequality (Durkheim 1893), but the excellent public education would level the playing field, so to speak. However, our world is not an ideal world. We live in a society where money talks and how rich a person is determines the caliber of their educational background. Research has shown that a child from a high income family will have a better life chance and that a child from a low-income family has less of a chance to move up the ranks. In my paper, I will argue that there is a correlation between socioeconomic status and quality of education in that the higher socioeconomic status a person has, the better education opportunities they will be able to obtain.
This clearly puts the working-class at a disadvantage despite their equal enthusiasm with the middle class to do the best for their children. Ball, Bowe and Gewirtz (1995) talk about 'cultural capital and educational choice ' to reflect on how being better educated themselves, middle-class parents have better knowledge and skills to negotiate and influence the education system. Many working-class parents are ambitious for their children too but do not know how to give practical help and they are usual tied up with long hours at work. However, middle class parents are likely to hold a more advantaged position than working class parents when interacting with teachers and other professionals and this may be demonstrated by their ability to: monitor their child’s progress at school, assist with home work, pay for extra tuition, they seek extra support for their child or complain about what they judge to be shortcomings in the school. Troyna (1986) and Sarup (1991) claim that there are school structures and environment that favours the white, middle-class culture especially the language and curriculum (Gewirtz, 2001. pp 365 - 378 ).