A Sociology-based presentation, created by Josh Harsant, exploring some of the key arguments around educational inequality and its relationship to social class. Josh is a student of Sociology and Education at Oxford Brookes University. This presentation was delivered in a first year seminar to a group of other students.

5.  Peters (1966)- education was for the learner to have a
wider understanding of the world
 Not universally fixed
 Schooling different to education
 Different perceptions on education
 Always learned as humans
 To foresee a brighter economic future.

6. Plato and Hobbes - education maintains social order, to
have a society.
Plato - 3 levels: workers, soldiers and leaders.
Giddens (1998) - “There are few spheres of social life
left untouched by class differences”

7. Structural Functionalism
Emile Durkheim
Late 19th century „individualism‟
(increased in France)
Therefore schooling is a way of educating children to
internalize values morals and rules within society.
School‟s have role to teach children to complete roles in
specialized jobs.(1961[1925])

8. Talcott Parsons
((also Structural Functionalism)
 Children need to move from
standards set within the family to that
of the wider society.
 Suggests that schools operate on
meritocratic system
(Parsons and Bales (1956)
 However criticism on meritocratic
idea...

9. A Marxist theory...
Bowles and Gintis (1976)
Schools socialize children to become
workers for the capitalist economy.
This view challenges education as a
„great leveller‟ and suggests instead
it only divides individuals.

10.  Jay Macleod study - „Ain‟t no making it„
 Mainly white group hanging around
 Mainly black group more enthusiastic about
education
 The world bank study..shows patterns of
inequality within education

11.  Girls always taught domestic activities in school
ready to be mothers. E.g. cooking needle work
 Men wood work and physical activities.
 Until 1980‟s girls were unlikely to get grades for
university
 Since 90‟s; reverse.. Girls now outperforming
boys in general.
 „Crisis in masculinity‟?

13. Smith & Noble (1995): „Barriers of learning‟
 Working class parents have a lower income for
educational resources
Recently:
 EMA is no longer available to students as of this year.
 The recent increase in university costs will deter the
working class students from applying.

15. Bernstein (1975): Language codes
• Middle class = Elaborated code
• Working class = Restricted code
Douglas (1964):
• Working class parents place less value on education.
Children are less likely to be motivated and encouraged
in their work by parents.
• Middle class parents express pro-education values. They
spend more time reading to their children.

16. • Bourdieu (1977) – Marxist
- Middle class possess cultural capital
- Schools are middle class institutions
- Middle class can convert cultural capital into material
rewards later in life and gain economic capital.
- Schools therefore reproduce inequalities
Video: The Value of Social Capital

18. Bowles and Gintis (1976) – argued schools do socialise
but only to create right workers for society.
Cultural reproduction – schools pass on the values and
norms of the previous generation.
Self fulfilling prophecy - where people believe you are a
certain type of person/are a certain way and you then
believe it yourself.

19. Willis (1977) – observed 12 WC boys in an inner-school in
Birmingham and how cultural reproduction worked.
Findings?
 No feelings of inferiority from small group of 'lads' he
followed.
 They knew the system and used it to create own
amusement.
 Did not feel failure to hate low status jobs but looked
down on them with superiority.
Did the school shape the boys like this to prepare them for
the jobs that needed to be filled in society??

20.  Becker (1952) found this to be true.
 Ball (1981) - banding or streaming into classes for ability was often
effected by judgement of behaviour.
 Goodacre (1986) – found that WC children that did well in reading
tests were under marked by teachers.
Rosenthal and Jacobson (1986) –
the 'pygmalion effect'.

21. How important would you deem a parent‟s
involvement in education in terms of their
child‟s achievement/performance?

22.  Parental involvement has a significant impact, particularly on
achievement
 Failure is increased by lack of parental interest - father‟s
interest makes a big difference
 Parents believe that the responsibility is shared between
parents and the school.
 Parents want to be involved/more involved
Source: DfES, 2008

23.  Bowles and Gintis - 'correspondence theory'
 Illich (1971) – 'passive consumption‟
 Curriculum steers away from any conflict or ideas of
upheaval or dissent?

24. • National Curriculum – favours the middle class?
However if this was completely the case why is
there still an attainment gap?
• The hidden curriculum
(Bowles and Gintis)

28. Social class 'defines school achievement„ – Apr 2003
Social class still counts after students reach 21 – Aug 2003
It's official: class matters - A major new study shows that social background
determines pupils' success. – Feb 2006
Social class 'determines child's success„ – Sept 2008
Social class still determines success – Jan 2009
'Rich thick kids' do better at school, says Gove – Jul 2010
Social class has more effect on children than good parenting, study finds –
Dec 2010

29.  Government DO NOT measure “social class”, they use a
“eligibility of free school meals” indicator (which indicates
low income)
 Big overlap with policy and internal/external factors, e.g.
material deprivation, cultural deprivation, teacher
interaction etc.
 Also a direct link to the „child poverty‟ agenda
 This information is by no means exhaustive

30.  Pre 1944 – free elementary school education BUT fee-paying
secondary schools
 1944 Education Act - Free secondary education for all, raising of
school leaving age to 15
 1964 – egalitarian principles and meritocracy and an attempt to
overcome social class differences
 1988 Education Act – State schools given more financial power.
„National Curriculum‟ introduced.
 1997 -„Education, education, education‟ promised as means to
achieve social inclusion.

31. A focus on “closing the gap” in education achievement
A focus on “raising aspirations”
A focus on early intervention programmes
A focus on diversifying the education market
A focus on doing well, rather than „doing‟ at all

32. “Eligibility for free school meals is strongly associated with low
achievement, but significantly more so for White British pupils than for
other ethnic groups. Other indicators of disadvantage, such as...the
proportion of parents with low educational qualifications...are also
statistically associated with low achievement.”
Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2007a
A local example (Oxfordshire) -
 22% of young people who ARE eligible for FSM achieve 5+ A*-C
GCSEs inc. English and Maths
 60% of young people in Oxfordshire who are NOT eligible for FSM
achieve 5+ A*-C GCSEs inc. English and Maths
“Rich thick kids” doing better than “poor clever kids”??

33. – 16% of 11 to 15 year olds and 6% of 16 to 19 year olds
in state funded secondary schools are eligible for Free
School Meals
– Young girls who are eligible for free school meals at age
16 have an increased likelihood of pregnancy.
Source: DfE, 2011
So, pupils from less affluent backgrounds have a
higher chance of becoming a teenage parent?

34. education failing students?
Higher education: lots of reading
and essay writing; huge
expense
Further Education: clear
favouritism for A Levels;
Introduction of BTECs, GNVQs
to support „less academic‟ (not
„thicker‟) pupils.
Apprenticeships: Gvmt driven
target to increase the number of
apprenticeships

35. No.
Bowles and Gintis (1976)
argues schools socialise but only to create a workforce.
similarly...
Illich (1971)
argues there is a connection between development of
education and requirements of economy.
Are we pushing young people into fields that will
fulfil the needs of future society or are we
encouraging them to learn?

36. Schools White Paper –
“The Importance of Teaching”
Key foci:
• Teaching and leadership
• Behaviour
• Curriculum, assessment and qualifications
• The new school system
• Accountability
• School improvement
• School funding
“Addressing the disparity between rich and poor pupils is
a top priority of the Coalition Government”

37. Raising the Achievement of White Working Class Pupils (2010)
 Positive attitudes in schools
 Monitoring progress by both ethnicity and social
background – targeting support resource
 Frequent liaison with staff, especially for EFL students
 Celebrate diversity – encouraging cross-cultural learning
 Too often ethnicity and social class are ‘blurred’ –
really important to distinguish!
 Direct Government intervention - Pupil Premium

38. Baths, L. (1954) Social Class & Education. Journal of educational sociology 28 (3) pp124
Browne, K. (2007). An Introduction to Sociology. Cambridge: Polity Press. Pages 285-
296.
Connolly, P. (2006). The effects of social class and ethnicity on gender differences in
GCSE attainment: a secondary analysis of the Youth Cohort Study of England and Wales
1997–2001. British Educational Research Journal 32: 1. pp. 3-21.
Giddens, A. (2009). Sociology. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Whitty, G. (2001). Education, social class and social exclusion. Journal of Education
Policy 16: 4. pp 287-295.
Any press articles about social class and education – brings the theory to life!