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Cultural Explanations
of Educational
Achievement
- Parents
attitudes
- Douglas
- Found that fifty years ago, the
single most important factor in
explaining educational success
and failure was the degree of
parental encouragement,
expectation, interest and
involvement in their children's
education
- Found that fifty years ago, the
single most important factor in
explaining educational success
and failure was the degree of
parental encouragement,
expectation, interest and
involvement in their children's
education
- Compared to working class parents,
middle class parents take more interest
in their child's progress (attend parents
evenings), encourage their children as
they grow older (exam options) and they
are more likely to encourage their
children into higher education
- Douglas
- Parents
levels of
education
- Middle class parents tend to
understand the school system
better than working-class
parents
- Lower-working-class parents
may feel less confident in
dealing with things such as
parents evenings and exam
options choice
- Middle-class parents are
likely to have a higher level of
education themselves
meaning they can aid their
child with homework
- Middle-class parents are able to
better withstand disagreements
with teachers (who are also
middle-class) about the way their
child is working and the way they
are being treated therefore leading
to greater achievement
- Middle class parents tend to
understand the school system
better than working-class
parents
- Subcultural
explanations
- Different social classes
have different norms,
values and subcultures
and these have an affect
on the child's
educational achievement
- Hyman
and
Sugarman
- Deferred gratification
(Middle Class) and
immediate
gratification (Working
Class)
- Deferred gratification
(Middle Class) and
immediate
gratification (Working
Class)
- Different social classes
have different norms,
values and subcultures
and these have an affect
on the child's
educational achievement
- Language
codes
- Bernstein
- Restricted code
(Working Class) and
elaborated code
(Middle Class)
- Restricted code
(Working Class) and
elaborated code
(Middle Class)
- The education system uses the
elaborated code shared by the
middle class. This means that the
working class are disadvantaged as
the pupils can not understand
what is being presented to the in
class and in textbooks and working
class parents are also
disadvantaged at events such as
parents evenings
- Bernstein
- Cultural
capital
- Bourdieu
(Marxist
perspective)
- Each social class possesses its
own cultural framework or
set of ideas that is known as
a habitus. This habitus is
picked up through
socialisation
- The dominant classes have the
power to impose its own habitus
on the education system
therefore giving them an
advantage
- Upper and Middle classes are more
successful in education because they
possess more cultural capital and
consequently feel more comfortable
in the education system and are
more familiar with what they have to
do at school
- Bourdieu
(Marxist
perspective)
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