While Payne argues that there is a culture of poverty, Gorski states that, rather than a culture of poverty being existent, classism is that which permeates the classrooms and schools. Payne believes that impoverished students live by different rules and values than students of the middle and upper classes, such as how they see money, clothing, family structure, etc. Likewise, Gorski believes that impoverished students do have different values and goals than those of middle and upper clases, and he says that the rules found in schools do not often benefit those living in poverty, but benefit those living in middle and upper class. With regards to impoverished students’ values and goals, both tend to point to the idea that faculty in schools should help to reshape the values and goals of impoverished students. Payne stated that students should learn the “hidden rules” of the middle class from their educators so that they have another set of rules to use if they choose to do so.
One factor for the working-class under-achieving is that the working-class families are less likely to give their children toys that are educations, stimulating their thinking and reason skills. Another factor is that they are also less likely to read to their children also. These theorist believe that this effects the children’s intellectual development so when they begin, they are immediately at a disadvantage when compared with the middle-class children Secondly, another factor that is seen as responsible for the working-class to be under-achieving is known as “restricted speech code”. A sociologist called Bernstein has distinguished speech into two: “elaborated speech code” and “Restricted speech code”. The middle class are said to use the elaborated speech code , this tends to be a wide range of vocabulary and complex sentences.
Cultural deprivation means when children are deprived from things what they need. This can include the lack of values and support they get from their parents, which can influence on socialisation skills. It can be argued that due to lack of family structure, social cultural and soft skills pupils are less likely to underachieve. Cultural deprivation is a theory that many working-class children are inadequately socialised and therefore lack the ‘right’ culture appropriate for a successful education. Many people argue that development is vital in the younger years in the child’s life, and the ability to solve problems and apply ideas help in the long-term.
Another explanation of poverty is the poverty cycle. The poverty cycle means that poverty is passed on through generations. In the poverty cycle, children who are born into poverty have a deprived childhood - they experience material and cultural deprivation, and as a result of this they are less likely to do well at school, gain qualifications and stay in education beyond the minimum school leaving age. This means that their future opportunities are limited because their lack of qualifications means that the jobs available to them are mostly unskilled and low-paid. Consequently, they are likely to live in poverty as adults.
This is a big influence on student’s educational achievement as they do not have enough money to buy the necessary equipment for school such as revision guides. Also, if a student comes from a poor background, the house is more likely to be overcrowded. This means that they do not have a quiet place to study and do their homework which puts them at a disadvantage. Thay may not be able to afford educational trips etc. this is known as cultural deprivation.
The study found that the counsellor judged pupils largely on their social class; this therefore put them at a disadvantage as middle-class students were placed on higher level courses. The self-fulfilling prophecy is another internal factor that can be linked to social class differences in achievement. A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that comes true simply by virtue of it being made. Some sociologists argue that labelling can effect pupil’s achievement by creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. This can be seen in a study of a primary school by Rosenthal and Jacobson.
Assess sociological explanations of ethnic differences in educational achievement Some sociologists argue that some ethnic groups maybe underachieving in the education system whereas some say that these ethnic groups differ in the education system. Material factors may affect ethnic groups in the education system, material deprivation explanations see educational failure as results from factors such as substandard housing and low income. Ethnic minorities are more likely to face these problems according to Flaherty as unemployment is three times higher for African and Bangladeshi/Pakistani people than for whites, Pakistanis are nearly twice as likely to be in unskilled or semi-skilled jobs compared to whites. Ethnic minorities are more likely to be engaged in shift work. These inequalities parallel those in educational achievement e.g.
It is shown that the higher level of education the higher level of income. So with the basic stats of entry level education being less, the lack of opportunity based on income and the lack of support for minorities to receive the same educational realities as the white class it stands to reason that this a major component to the disparity in classes and race. In addition to the disparity in class and race there is a disparity to class and gender. Women are paid less than men. The majority of single parent families are supported by women.
Racism is linked to the educational achievement of minority ethnic groups, however the connections are complex. Gilborn and Mirza conclude that ‘social class and gender differences are also associated with differences in attainment but neither can account for persistent underlying ethnic inequalities: comparing like with like, African Caribbean, Pakistani and Bangladeshi pupils do not enjoy equal opportunities.’ They also argue that in promoting educational inclusion as a means of raising standards, there is a need ‘for clarity and guidance in translating the commitment to equality and inclusion into policy proposals and practice at the local and school level. A recent research report found that: • Children whose first language is other than English do not perform as well as other children across the Foundation Stage scales • Pupils for whom English was an additional language have lower attainment than pupils whose first language is English. The difference between the two groups is
There are also a few reasons as to why boys don’t tend to do so well in education. One reason is the feminisation of education. Sewell argues that as primary schools are female dominated this puts boys off education as they see learning as being feminine. Another reason could be due to their poorer literacy skills. Parents tend to spend less time reading with their sons, and the mother is usually the reader which makes boys think that reading is feminine.