Sociology Revision

Specification can you do all of this?

Class differences in achievement Pg. 27-35 Using your revision clock… Summarise what you know about class differences in achievement Remember to include internal and external factors External = cultural deprivation, language, education, speech codes, working-class subculture & evaluation Maternal deprivation = housing, diet and health, cost of education & evaluation Internal = labelling, SFP, streaming, pupil subcultures, pupils’ evaluation

Research for class differences – internal factors…

Research you can consider… Labelling Jorgensen (2009) observed different schools and found the following: Labelling Working-class Aspen school, where discipline was a problem the ideal pupil was defined as quiet, passive and obedient defined in terms of behaviour not ability Middle-class Rowan primary school had few discipline problems were defined in terms of personality and academic ability.

Research you can consider… Labelling Ray Rist (1970) American kindergarten. Teacher used information about children's home background and appearance to place them in separate groups, seating each group at a different table. Tigers – middle class and neat appearance, showed them the greatest encouragement Cardinals and clowns (working-class) given lower level books, fewer chances to show their abilities

Research you can consider… SFP Jacobson (1968) supports the effects of SFP Told the school they had a new test designed to identify the pupils who would ‘spurt’ ahead (this was untrue) – but he teachers believed this was the case Researchers picked 20% of the pupils at random and told the school that the test had identified these children as ‘spurters’ (not true) A year later 47% of the spurters had made significant progress The teachers beliefs about the pupils had influenced the test results Teachers interacted differently with the spurters leading to more encouragement and therefore more progress.

Research you can consider… streaming Gillborn & Youdell (2001) Shows how teachers use stereotypical notions of ‘ability’ to stream pupils They found teachers are less likely to see working-class (and black) pupils as having ability More likely to be placed in lower streams and entered for lower tier GCSEs

Research you can consider… Streaming Ball (1981) shows what can happen when streaming is abolished.. When the school abolished banding, the basis for pupils to polarise (move towards pro/anti-school) the influence of the anti-school subculture declined. BUT… labelling will still occur even when streaming is abolished.

Research for class differences – External factors…

Cultural deprivation research Statistics Centre for longitudinal studies (2007) found by the age of 3 children from disadvantaged backgrounds are already up to one year behind those from more advantaged backgrounds and this gap widens with age Good intro?

Cultural deprivation research Language Engelmann (1966) language in lower-class homes is deficient Communicate using gestures, single words or disjointed phrases

Cultural deprivation research Language Bernstein (1975) Restricted/elaborated code This leads to middle-class children being at an advantage and leaves working-class children at a disadvantage

Cultural deprivation research Parents education Douglas (1964) – parents placed less value on education. Therefore are less ambitious for their children, less encouragement, less interest in education.

Cultural deprivation research Use of income Better educated parents may have better incomes They then use this to spend on educational resources Bernstein & Young (1967) middle-class mothers are more likely to buy educational toys, books and activities that promote intellectual and educational development

Working-class subculture research Sugarman (1970) – four key features of a working class subculture. Fatalism – “what will be will be” Collectivism – valuing being part of a group than succeeding as an individual Immediate gratification – seeking pleasure now than getting rewards in the future Present-time orientation – seeing the present as more important than the future and not having goals.

The myth of cultural dep? Keddie (1973) – evidence against Keddie sees it as a “myth” as it blames the individual Argues that working-class are culturally different, not culturally deprived. They fail because the education system is dominated by middle-class values.

Material dep evidence Stats: DFE (2012) barely a third of pupils on FSM achieved 5 or more GCSES A*-C including English and maths Exclusion and truancy are more likely for children from poorer families 90% of failing schools are located in deprived areas.

Material dep evidence Diet & Health Howard (2001) more likely to have behavioural/anxiety problems

Material dep evidence financial support and costs of education Bull (1980) ‘costs of schooling’ Transport, books, uniforms, sports, music, trips ect… WC may have to make do with hand me downs or cheaper but unfashionable equipment – may be bullied/stigma at school.

Material dep evidence financial support and costs of education University costs money – this may put WC off and also ‘fear of debt’ National union of students (2010) 81% of those from higher social class received help from home Only 43% from those of lower class received help

Evidence Cultural Capital Bourdieu (1984) Three types of capital Cultural capital – knowledge, attitudes, values, language, tastes and abilities e.g wealth We get these through socialisation – middle-class can grasp abstract ideas giving WC children an advantage in school.

Ethnic differences in achievement research…

Ethnicity… family structure and parental support Moynihan (1965) Black families headed by a lone mother, children are deprived of adequate care because she has to struggle financially without a male breadwinner Boys therefore lack an adequate role model and leads to a cycle of cultural deprivation

20 mark question Planning a 20 mark question

Ethnic differences in achievement 37-49 Using your revision clock… External factors: cultural deprivation, attitudes and values, family structure, sewell: fathers, gangs and cultures, Asian families, white working-class variables – evaluation. Material deprivation and class. Racism in wider society Internal factors: Labelling, black pupils and discipline, black pupils and streaming, Asian pupils, pupil identities, Chinese pupils, pupil responses and subcultures – Evaluation - Institutional racism – ethnocentric curriculum, assessment, access to opportunities, evaluation

20 mark question Planning a 20 mark question 04 Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess sociological explanations for ethnic differences in educational achievement. (20 marks) Plan your answer using Intro PEEEL Conclusion

Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess sociological explanations for ethnic differences in educational achievement. (20 marks) Applying material from Item A and your knowledge, evaluate the claim that ‘ethnic differences in educational achievement are primarily the result of school factors’