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THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
SOCIALOGY OF EDUCATION
NAME NOAH M SAKALA
COMPUTER# 14078007
TASK PRESENTATION
TUTOR MRS CHIPINDI
TUTORIAL DAY TUESDAY 13hrs
QUESTION.
(9). Social economic status can be used to explain the differences in academic
performance among pupils discuss.
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In a more literal definition Social Economic Status (SES) can simply be defined as an
individual’s ranking in a hierarchical social structure, in a more academic and detailed
definition it can simply be defined as a combined measure of an individuals, group or family’s
economic and social positions in variation to others, based on their income, education and
social occupation. It is indeed without a doubt that parental social economic status is what also
determines the student’s social status, therefore it might have a direct effect on the academic
achievements of students. This presentation will discuss how Social Economic Status (SES)
can be used to explain academic performance among pupils.
In Statistical analysis of data many researchers have concluded that social economic status of
parents directly translates into the pupil’s social economic status; parent’s education level,
parental occupation level and parental income, hence have a direct impact on the pupils
academic performance.
It is indeed without a doubt that education is the best legacy parents can ever give to their
children, as development of any nation starts with the development of family’s or individuals.
It has been asserted that pupils coming from homes with high income in terms of social
economic status, are able to get proper nutrition, and health care stimulation during pre-school
years, as a result their ability to interact with and take optimal advantage of the full components
of the resources offered by the formal learning environments is enhance, this greatly increase
their academic performance in learning institutions, while in pupils who come from low income
homes the story is the complete opposite (Eze, 1996).
Research has also proven that pupils coming from homes were the income is very low usually
have health issues that can be traced to the social economic status of the homes they come
from, this greatly affects their academic performance. It has been predicted that in rural
communities where nutritional status is relatively low and health problems are prevalent,
pupil’s academic performance is greatly affected, the pupils underperform due to the mentioned
factors and lack of basic necessity’s and necessary equipment’s to fit him/ her into his proper
place in the society and to guide them towards their future careers, then the child is damaged
leading to poor academic performance (Adewale, 2002).
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It has also been observed that in low income communities’ levels of drinking in women are
very high and children that are born to women who drink alcohol during pregnancy usually
develop fetal alcohol syndrome, a condition that includes mental retardation, child premature
birth experiences and diminished brain development, All these problems lead to language
delays, attention problems, and learning disabilities which directly translate in poor academic
performance.
It has been observed that pupils coming from homes were there parents have or rather acquired
little or no education at all, find it hard to acquire education, if at all they do this, it might
impact them both positively and negatively in terms of academic performance, on negative
note such parents at times do not understand the importance of education themselves as a result
they do little or nothing at all to motivate the children this results into low esteem and
confidence which usually translates into poor academic performance, on a positive note the
parents low academic qualification may influence the children to work hard at school in the
hopes of improving their live in terms of social strata especially when lack of education by
their parents affected their livelihood negatively even parents at times may do their best to
motivate their children in order to inspire them to work hard and acquire some education which
they themselves did not saving as their examples of how lack of education at times can affect
one in a community, this may greatly increase the academic performance of the children or
pupils.
Looking at the parents who have achieved a high level or some level of education, such parents
tend to encourage creativity and exploration in their children unlike parents with low social
economic status who only encourage their children to conform to societies expectations, this
fosters self-confidence in the high SES students and an uncertainty about life in the low SES
students which either transform into high or low academic performance.
Statistical analysis by different researchers and academicians has reviewed that though pupils
from low SES neighborhoods report as many pleasant experiences as the young people in high
SES neighborhoods. However, children growing up in a low SES neighborhood are more likely
to experience distressing events than their counterparts in the higher SES neighborhoods, which
may include physical punishment in the home, domestic violence in their home building, and
serious crime in the neighborhood, Such experiences maybe demoralizing leading to higher
rates of depression, low self-esteem, and juvenile delinquency among children from the low
SES neighborhoods which is bound to translate into poor academic performance.
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However, some children or pupils who are resilient might be able to develop normally under
such difficult conditions and still have an excellent academic performance.
Another factor is that Schools in low SES neighborhoods tend to have fewer resources. Their
students, beginning school with little preparation, require an educational system with a more
skillful and focused approach. However, the teachers in the low SES schools are often less paid
and less trained than the teachers in the higher SES schools. The results are low achievement
rates for pupils due to poor academic performance. Last but not the list one of the effects of
social economic status (SES) is the self-fulfilling prophecy of failure by students from low SES
communities, which comes as a result of the commonly applied labeling theory by teachers,
were at times the pupils intellectual ability is labeled by simply from the way they are dress i.e.
is perhaps they do not dress well or are too shy, the teacher may not feel they are very bright,
and may call students less often and not regularly engage them in class discussion. As a result
such students are left feeling as if they do not belong in school and as if they do not have hope
of ever doing well, and if learned helplessness builds in the pupils' self-concept, they will look
for experiences that confirm this self-concept and which eventually translates into poor
academic performance (Woolfolk, 2007).
In conclusion this study or research as reviewed that Social Economic Status (SES) has a
paradoxical effect on the pupils academic performance, as it has proven to integrate and
segregate both pupils of high social economic status (SES) and those of low social economic
status (SES) into the formal education system and the effects on the pupils, in terms of
academic performance has proven to be both positive and negative i.e. depending on their
ranking in terms of social economic status, yes some researchers may argue and defend their
points depending on the results of their study, others may say low social economic status
impacts pupils more negatively while others may say no it is high social economic status that
impacts pupils academic performance more negatively. But in our research we have concluded
that it is a two way thing, that indeed depends on a lot of factors in all social statutes, this means
that it may also depend on the pupils themselves where do they draw motivation, what goals
have they set and what examples are they choosing to follow in short how do they perceive the
world and the education system itself in this day and age.
