3.3.3

Social Class & External Factors

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Social Class and External Factors

Social class may have effects on the educational achievement of pupils.

Cultural capital

Cultural capital

  • Cultural capital describes the skills, norms, values and knowledge that middle-class parents have and pass on to their children.
    • Cultural capital consists of values that typically indicate a higher social status.
  • This means that middle-class pupils start their education at an advantage in comparison to their working-class counterparts.
Cultural deprivation

Cultural deprivation

  • Cultural deprivation is the lack of cultural capital.
  • Some believe that cultural deprivation is usually experienced by working-class parents.
  • These parents can struggle to provide their children with the communication skills or aspirations that middle-class parents do.
Cultural deprivation cont.

Cultural deprivation cont.

  • This could be because they might not value education.
    • E.g. university does not teach anything useful.
  • They might believe in immediate gratification (experiencing fulfilment without delay).
    • E.g. university is perceived as a delay to them earning money earlier.
Material deprivation

Material deprivation

  • Material deprivation is the lack of necessary things that are needed for schools due to a lack of money.
    • E.g. stationery, uniform, school trips.
    • There are cases where parents can’t even afford to properly nourish their children.
  • These are likely to lead to underachievement.

Social Class and External Factors

Social class may have effects on the educational achievement of pupils.

Working class subcultures

Working class subcultures

  • Working class subcultures might believe education isn’t necessary due to the fact that they might not be educated themselves.
  • This can lead to reduced parental support with homework and a poor work ethic towards gaining qualifications as they don’t think they are of any value to their children.
Parental attitudes

Parental attitudes

  • Middle-class parents tend to know the right people in the right places, and they can usually afford almost anything that can lead to a good education.
Language development

Language development

  • Language development is another significant factor that might affect the chances that working-class pupils have as their parents can lack the necessary speech codes that are recognised as important in education.
Bernstein

Bernstein

  • According to Bernstein, middle-class parents use 'elaborated code' (complex sentences, rich vocabulary, correct grammar).
  • Working-class parents tend to use 'restricted code' (simple sentences, poor vocabulary, grammar mistakes).
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1

The Sociological Approach

1.1

Introduction to Sociology

1.1.1What is Sociology?1.1.2Culture & Socialisation
1.2

Sociological Approaches

1.2.1Marxism1.2.2Marxism 21.2.3Functionalism1.2.4Feminism
1.3

The Consensus vs. Conflict Debate

1.3.1The Consensus vs. Conflict Debate1.3.2End of Topic Test - The Sociological Approach
2

Families

2.1

Functions of Families

2.1.1Functionalist Views on Family2.1.2Marxist Views on Family2.1.3Feminist Views on Family
2.2

Family Forms

2.2.1What is a Family?2.2.2Nuclear Family2.2.3Families in a Global Context2.2.4The Rapoports & Family Diversity2.2.5Causes of Family Diversity2.2.6End of Topic Test - Family Forms
2.3

Conjugal Role Relationships

2.3.1Conjugal Roles
2.4

Changing Relationships Within Families

2.4.1Timeline2.4.2Domestic Abuse2.4.3Symmetrical Family
2.5

Criticisms of Families

2.5.1Functionalist Views of Families2.5.2Marxist Views of Families2.5.3Feminist Views of Families2.5.4Declining Marriage Rate2.5.5End of Topic Test - Criticisms of Families
2.6

Divorce

2.6.1Reasons For Rise in Divorce Rate2.6.2Consequences of Divorce2.6.3Functionalist Views2.6.4Marxist Views2.6.5Feminist Views2.6.6End of Topic Test - Divorce
3

Education

3.1

Roles & Functions of Education

3.1.1The Functionalist Approach3.1.2Evaluating Different Perspectives3.1.3Types of School3.1.4Alternative Education3.1.5State & Private Schools
3.2

Processes Within Schools

3.2.1Internal Processes3.2.2External Processes
3.3

Educational Achievement

3.3.1Measuring Educational Success3.3.2Social Class & Education3.3.3Social Class & External Factors3.3.4Gender & Education3.3.5Ethnicity & Education3.3.6Parental Choice3.3.7History of UK Education Policy3.3.8Recent UK Education Policy3.3.9End of Topic Test - Education
4

Crime & Deviance

4.1

The Social Construction of Crime

4.1.1Defining Crime & Deviance4.1.2Sociological Explanations of Crime4.1.3Interactionist Explanations of Crime4.1.4Alternative Explanations of Crime
4.2

Social Control

4.2.1Informal Social Control4.2.2Formal Social Control4.2.3End of Topic Test - Social Construction of Crime
4.3

Criminal & Deviant Behaviour

4.3.1Explanations of Crime4.3.2Social Class & Crime4.3.3Gender & Crime4.3.4Ethnicity & Crime4.3.5Age & Crime4.3.6Criminal Responsibility4.3.7The Prison System4.3.8Media Reporting of Crime4.3.9Functionalist Explanations of Crime
4.4

Data on Crime

4.4.1Measuring Crime4.4.2End of Topic Test - Criminal & Deviant Behaviour
5

Social Stratification

5.1

Social Stratification

5.1.1What is Social Stratification?5.1.2Functionalism5.1.3Socio-Economic Class5.1.4Socio-Economic Class 25.1.5Life Chances5.1.6The Affluent Worker5.1.7End of Topic Test - Social Stratifictaion
5.2

Poverty as a Social Issue

5.2.1Defining Poverty5.2.2Factors Affecting Poverty5.2.3Explanations of Poverty5.2.4Impact of Globalisation5.2.5End of Topic Test - Poverty as a Social Issue
5.3

Power & Authority

5.3.1Weber5.3.2Sociological Perspectives5.3.3Power Relationships5.3.4End of Topic Test - Power & Authority
6

Sociological Research Methods

6.1

Research Methods

6.1.1Research Design6.1.2The Scientific Method6.1.3Other Considerations6.1.4Primary Sources6.1.5Secondary Sources6.1.6Surveys6.1.7Sampling6.1.8Questionnaires6.1.9Interviews6.1.10Observation6.1.11Statistics6.1.12Case Studies6.1.13Longitudinal Studies6.1.14Ethnography6.1.15Experiments6.1.16Small Scale Research6.1.17End of Topic Test - Research Methods

Practice questions on Social Class & External Factors

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  1. 1
    What term describes the skills, norms, values and knowledge that middle-class parents have and pass on to their children?Multiple choice
  2. 2
    According to Bernstein, middle-class parents use complex sentences, rich vocabulary and correct grammar. This is known as:Multiple choice
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Social Class & Education

Gender & Education