For AQA GCE Sociology Unit 2 Revision. Print out as a handout, it is a good way to revise. Application, Interpretation and Analysis tips are also included. All derived from the AS Sociology Revision Guide. Good luck!!!

1. Unit 2: Education
(1) Class differences in achievement

2. Class patterns of achievement
• W.C. pupils in general achieve less than M.C. pupils in
education
• For example, children of higher professionals are 2-3
times more likely than children of routine manual
workers to get 5+ grades at GCSE, and about 5 times
more likely to go to university
• Sociologists have put forward a range of explanations for
these differences which can be divided into:
1. External factors (or home background): that lie outside
the school
2. Internal factors: within the school and the education
system

3. Achievement and home background
Class differences in pupils’ home background may play a key role in causing
differences in achievement. Home background includes many things, but these can
be grouped into two different types of factor:
1. Cultural factors
2. Material factors

4. 1. Cultural factors
• These include class differences in norms and
values acquired through
socialisation, attitudes to education, speech
codes etc

5. 2. Material factors
• These are the physical necessities of life, such
as adequate housing, diet and income

6. Interpretation
• Be very clear about these two terms, because
questions sometimes ask you to define or give
examples of one or other of them

7. Cultural deprivation
The main cultural explanation for class differences in achievement is cultural
deprivation theory.

8. Cultural deprivation theory
• ‘Culture’: refers to all the
norms, values, beliefs, skills, and knowledge that
a society or a group regards as important
•  this culture is transmitted to the next
generation through socialisation
• Different classes socialise their children
differently and this may affect their achievement
• According to cultural deprivation theory, some
W.C. parents fail to transmit appropriate
norms, values, attitudes, knowledge, skills etc. –
that is, the ‘right’ culture – needed for
educational success

9. • Cultural deprivation theorists see 3 factors as
responsible for W.C. under-achievement:
1. A lack of intellectual stimulation,
2. The restricted speech code, and
3. W.C. subculture
cont. Cultural deprivation theory

10. 1. Intellectual stimulation
• W.C. parents are less likely to give their
children educational toys and activities that
will stimulate their thinking and reasoning
skills, and less likely to read to them
• This affects their intellectual development so
that when they begin school they are at a
disadvantage compared with M.C. children

11. 2. Speech codes
• Basil Bernstein (1975) distinguishes between
elaborated and restricted speech code
• The W.C. use the restricted code:
• This is less analytical and more descriptive, has
limited vocabulary and is formed of simple
sentences or even just gestures
• It is PARTICULARISTIC – it assumes that the listener
shares the particular meanings that the speaker
holds, so the speaker doesn’t spell them out

12. 2. Speech codes (cont.)
• The M.C. use the elaborated code: This is
more analytic, with a wide vocabulary and
complex sentences
• It is UNIVERSALISTIC – speakers spell out
their meaning explicitly and don’t just
assume the listener shares them

13. • Crucially, the elaborated code is the one used
in education, by
teachers, exams, textbooks, university
interviews etc.
• This gives the M.C. an educational advantage
2. Speech codes (cont.)

14. Analysis
• Explain the meaning of the 2 codes, and then
explain why the elaborated code is used in
education –
• E.g. ‘Textbooks use it because they don’t
know who their readers are, so they have to
spell out their meanings very explicitly in a
way that will be understood ‘universally’ –
i.e. by everyone’

15. W.C. subculture
• Cultural deprivation theorists identify 3
aspects of W.C. subculture that contribute to
under-achievement:
1. Immediate gratification
2. Fatalism
3. Low value on education

16. 1. Immediate gratification
• Wanting rewards NOW rather than being
willing to make sacrifices and working hard for
future rewards – unlike ‘deferred
gratification’ practised by the M.C.

17. • A belief that ‘whatever will be, will be’ 
W.C. children don’t believe they can improve
their positions through their own individual
efforts
2. Fatalism

18. • Hyman argues that the W.C. don’t value
education (and don’t believe they will benefit
from it), so they don’t try
• Douglas argues that W.C. parents show less
interest in their children’s education and give
them less support; e.g. they are less likely than
M.C. parents to attend parents’ evening
3. Low value on education

19. Evaluation
• Critics argue that W.C. parents don’t attend
parents’ evenings because they work long
hours, OR because they feel inferior to the
teachers – NOT because they aren’t
interested in their children’s education

20. Criticisms of cultural deprivation theory
• It ignores the importance of material factors
such as poverty
• It ignores the impact of school factors, e.g.
negative labelling by teachers
• It blames the victim for their failure
- Critics argue that the W.C. are not culturally
deprived – they simply have a different culture
from school and this puts them at a
disadvantage

21. Material deprivation
Material deprivation (or poverty) can cause W.C. under-achievement because
of factors such as:
1. Poor housing
2. Poor diet
3. Low income

22. 1. Poor housing
• Overcrowding or cold and damp rooms mean
pupils have nowhere quiet to do homework
• Similarly, being homeless or living in
temporary accommodation may mean
frequent moves and changes of school

23. 2. Poor diet
• Poor diet can lead to illness, absence from
school and lack of concentration in class due
to hunger

24. Evaluation
• NOT all poor children fail – those with
supportive parents may have high levels of
motivation
• Material deprivation theory also ignores
factors in school such as teacher labelling and
streaming, which may cause under-
achievement

25. 3. Low income
• Such problems (under-achievement of the W.C.)
are often caused by low income
• This can affect educational achievement in
several ways, e.g:
1. Lack of educational materials – books, PC with
internet access etc.
2. Lack of the right uniform or the latest fashion
items, which can lead to bullying
3. Not being able to afford university fees

26. Cultural capital theory
• This approach combines aspects of BOTH
cultural and material explanations
• Marxists such as Bourdieu (1984) argue that the
M.C. pupils are more successful than W.C. pupils
because their parents possess more capital or
assets
• The capital comes in 2 forms:
1. Economic capital: The wealth that M.C. families
own
2. Cultural capital: The
attitudes, values, skills, knowledge etc. of the
M.C

27. Analysis
• You can make the point that Bourdieu shows
how material factors (economic capital) and
cultural factors (cultural capital) are not
separate but link together to produce class
inequalities in achievement (educational
capital)

28. Educational capital
• The M.C. use their greater economic and
cultural capital to give their children an
advantage by using it to obtain educational
capital – qualifications
• This allows their children to get M.C. jobs and
more economic capital
•  thus, reproducing the advantages of the M.C.
from generation to generation

29. School factors and achievement
Factors and processes within schools and the education system also
influences class differences in achievement. Most sociologists who have
studied the role of school factors are interactionists who focus on small-
scale interactions between teachers and pupils. They identify a number of
related causes of under-achievement:
• Labelling
• The self-fulfilling prophecy
• Streaming
• Pupils subcultures

30. Application
• Don’t just list these factors, explain the way
each can produce under-achievement
• Use phrases such as ‘this leads to...
because...’

31. Labelling
• Labels: are meanings or definitions we attach
to someone or something to make sense of
them –
• E.g. M.C. pupils are labelled
‘bright’, ‘motivated’, ‘cooperative’ etc.
• Becker (1961) argues that teachers label M.C.
children as ‘ideal pupils’ and prefer to teach
them rather than W.C. children
• The key idea of labelling underlies many of the
other processes within schools that cause
under-achievement

32. The self-fulfilling prophecy
• Prophecy: is a prediction made about something or
someone (e.g. “he’s stupid – he’s bound to fail”)
• The key feature of a self-fulfilling prophecy is that it
comes true simply because it has been made (e.g. he
goes on to fail all his exams)
• Teachers can create self-fulfilling prophecies through
the labels they attach to pupils
• Studies of labelling show that ‘what teachers
believe, pupils achieve’
• That is, while teachers believe M.C. pupils to be bright
(and therefore succeed), W.C. pupils are likely to be
labelled negatively and thus fail

33. Evaluation
• Labelling theory is too deterministic: NOT ALL
pupils who are labelled as failures fulfil the
prophecy – some reject the label and succeed
• Nor do ALL teachers label W.C. pupils
negatively

34. Streaming
• Streaming: is an extreme and institutionalised form
of labelling
• It works by putting all pupils of similar ability
together into the same class or ‘stream’ for all
subjects: ‘bright’ pupils are grouped together in the
top stream, ‘thick’ ones in the bottom
• Lacey (1970) describes streaming as
‘differentiation’ – a way of separating the sheep
from the goats and then educating them
differently
• Streaming often creates a self-fulfilling prophecy

35. • Douglas found that the IQ of pupils labelled
as less able and placed in the bottom stream
actually fell over time, whereas that of pupils
put in the top stream increased
• Those placed in lower streams may be denied
access to the same curriculum – e.g. not
being put in for higher levels exams
3. Streaming (cont.)

36. Application
• In questions on differences in
achievement, you need to apply this by noting
that W.C. pupils end up in lower streams and
M.C. pupils in higher ones because of teacher
labelling
•  thus, widening the achievement gap
between the classes

37. Pupil subcultures
• A subculture: is a group whose beliefs, values
and attitudes differ to some extent from the
culture of wider society
• Pupils may form their own subcultures in
response to labelling:
1. Pro-school subcultures
2. Anti-school subcultures

38. 1. Pro-school subcultures
• Pro-school subcultures are usually formed by
pupils in higher streams
• They accept the school’s values and goals of
hard work, regular attendance, respect for
teachers etc.
• Typically they enjoy school, participate
enthusiastically in its activities and intend to
continue into education

39. 2. Anti-school subcultures
• Anti-school subcultures are often formed by
those who in lower streams
• They REJECT the school’s values and often
INVERT them (turn them upside down)
• They dislike school, flout its rules, disrespect
teachers, avoid doing schoolwork, play
truant, sabotage their uniform etc.

40. Lacey: Status and subcultures
• Lacey argues that lower-stream pupils form or
join anti-schools subcultures because school
deprives them of status by labelling them as
failures
• Therefore these pupils create their own status
hierarchy: they gain status from their peers by
rejecting the school’s values and breaking its
rules

41. Status and subcultures (cont.)
• Pupils subcultures often lead to a self-fulfilling
prophecy: members of pro-school subcultures
work hard and are successful, while those in
anti-school mess about, truant and  fail

42. Evaluation
• Focusing on internal factors may mean we
neglect the role of home background factors
such as poverty and cultural deprivation
• An adequate account of under-achievement
needs to take these into consideration too

43. Educational policies
• What goes on in schools isn’t just a product of
what teachers decide to do
• It is also greatly influenced by government
policies, and these can have an important
effect on class differences in achievement
• For example, some sociologists argue that
marketisation policies have increased the
amount of streaming in schools

44. • Likewise, policies on issues such as
grants, fees, maintenance allowances, the
school leaving age, compensatory education
etc. have an impact on home background
factors such as material or cultural
deprivation
Educational policies (cont.)

45. Interpretation
• If a question asks about factors in
schools, focus on labelling, the self-fulfilling
prophecy, streaming and pupil subcultures
• If it asks about factors in the education
system, talk about policies AS WELL (see Topic
6)