Social Class in Education

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”.

Social class is a “tag” to define your status in a community. One of the main requirements you must have to be in the Upper class, is to have wealth and power. That is basically it, and obviously the absence of those characteristics could mean you are in a Middle or even in the Lower class. Sports are an activity that people do for pleasure that requires physical activity and sometimes has rules for the players to follow in order to play the game. It is most commonly played outdoors. It can improve your cardio, health, and physical condition. For example, it can prevent things like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer or even mental illnesses like depression.

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

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.

American sociologists, (Bowles et al 1976) maintain there is a close “correspondence” between the social relationships which govern school and work. This ‘correspondence principle’ link work and education with its system of hierarchies and rules which prepare people for a subservient role in the workplace, by exploiting them as servants of a capitalist system, and continuing to perpetuate class stratification. (Giddens, A. 1997) “The education system disguises this with its myth of meritocracy” (Haralambos et al p 604) Cultural deprivation theorists suggest middle class children have advantage over WC, in that at an early age they are socialised and exposed to books, music and technology known as cultural capital. According to (Bordieu et al 1977) education is biased in favour of the culture of the dominant social class and WC culture is devalued. In an attempt to test Bordieus theory (Sullivan, 2001) carried out a social survey on pupils approaching school leaving age in 1998 and found “that pupils cultural capital was strongly correlated with parents cultural capital...which in turn was closely linked to their social class” She also found significant differences in exam results between WC and MC children even when the effects of cultural capital had been taken into account which tended to support in part Bourdieus theory. (Haralambas cites Keddie, N. 1973) who argues that culture deprivation is a myth. It

Social Class is a position held by an individual composed of combinations of parental education, parental occupation status, family income and wealth. Students whose parents have higher levels of any of these traits of class, more often than not, have better opportunities. Essentially, education and opportunities stem from money. If a parent has a higher income, they’ll be able to provide more help to their children if they’re falling behind in school. Also, they have the ability to assist in paying for college and those with higher education feel the need to help their children with paying for college. The more money parents have, the better the schools, and the better the education. Another factor that plays in the role of education inequality

Jean Ayon is a professor of educational policy, an American critical thinker, and a researcher in education. She works on race and class in urban education and is a social activist. In her article “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” she uses research from elementary schools that contrast in social class to try and understand if social class is the dictating factor that decides the future careers of children. Anyon examines the role of social class in education and creates a study by observing four types of schools, working-class schools, middle-class schools, affluent professional schools, and executive elite schools. She does this in order to prove her

The book Unequal Childhoods explains a study conducted to prove the significance of social class. Annette Lareau presents the study highlighting two primary ways of parenting that ultimately affect how successful the child becomes as they transition into adulthood. These styles of parenting include Concerted Cultivation which is where parents put through kids through structured activities, and Accomplishment of Natural Growth which is emphasized through freedom and directives. While both styles of parenting have their benefits and their weaknesses, the educational system of the United States is built predominantly on Concerted Cultivation and middle class values, which in turn may negatively affect how children prepare for their transitions into adulthood. This imbalance in education can put students farther ahead and at the same time neglect children who don’t have the resources they need to keep up with the other students. There are a multitude of variables involved with helping students reach their full potential and become successful. Some of the big factors to a student’s success include the student 's socioeconomic background, how they “fit” into the educational system, how strong their relationships are with other people, and their ability to access resources. Creating an education that can accommodate students from all different backgrounds will empower students to reach their full potential.

This essay will explore the notion of social class and whether it is still relevant within today’s society. The Oxford Dictionary defines social class as ‘a division of a society based on social and economic status’ and is measurable in terms of stratification and inequality. Stratification suggests people are ranked hierarchically according to their attributes such as income, wealth, power, age, gender and status, whereas, inequality explains the difference between people in terms of their abilities and rewards

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.

Social class is defined as a system of stratification based on access to such resources as wealth, property, power and prestige (186). The social class system is typically passed down from the parent to the child. Our textbook quotes, “Although children tend to “inherit” the social class of their parents, during the course of a lifetime they can move up or down levels in the strata” (186). Therefore, this system is not affected by race, ethnicity, gender or age. However, social class may overlap depending on specific variables. Personally, my family’s social class status would be classified as the middle class. The middle class is composed of primarily “white collar” workers with a broad range of education and income; and make up about 30 percent of the U.S. population (188). Throughout this essay, I will distinguish how my social class has impacted my childhood, deviance and education.

It is undeniable that social class is associated with the well being of families. Children raised in upper class families are more likely to finish their post secondary education since tuition is not a problem. Whereas, low income families struggle to afford the necessities of life which increases the rate of school dropout and causes stress and anxiety. In fact, it may lead to aggression and drug abuse as well.

Contemporary views are that class is still the most significant social factor for accounting for differences in educational achievement. It seems that middle class children tend to do better than working class children. Most sociologists believe that in every social class there is the same range of ability, this means that class differences in educational attainment are not due to class differences in intelligence, but due to other circumstances such as the home and socialization. However some sociologists would argue that attainment in classes results from sifting, sorting and assessment of pupils in terms of teacher’s perceptions of class, ability and conduct. Throughout this essay, the view that working class underachievers in school is

In demonstrating social class differences in school choice decisions, the first perspective is that the tighter budget constraint of low income families is sufficient to explain their inability to purchase houses next to popular schools, pay for private tuition for entrance tests, or take long journeys to school. Under this account, the basic preferences of lower and middle class families for schools are different. Lower class families are not blessed with all luxuries that why they cannot allow expenses of private schools. Unfortunately disadvantaged families cannot enroll their children in preferred schools. They drive for public or religious schools which are almost no cost

Social class is defined as a division of a society based on social and economic status. Social classes can also be defined as a group of individuals classified because of their political views. However, do social classes affect health risk behaviors? In a capitalist society such as America, wealth is characterized in three classes, which are: upper, middle, and lower. Social classes and health risks behavior directly correlate in ways such as: healthcare, daily diet, and recreational activities.