Explaining Social Class Differences in Achievement

1. Explaining Social Class Differences in Achievement Internal Factors (In School) External Factors (Outside School)

2. Explaining Differences in Ethnicity and Achievement Internal Factors (In School) External Factors (Outside School)

3. Quick Questions • State one criticism of cultural deprivation theory. • Name three sociologists who have studied labelling amongst EM pupils. • List three ways in which pupils may respond to negative labels. • What is meant by an ethnocentric curriculum. • Suggest two reasons why marketisation might result in increased ethnic segregation.

4. Ethnic Differences in Achievement • Explain what is meant by the term ethnic group. (2 marks) • Suggest three ways in which the education system may encourage separation between children of different ethnic backgrounds. (6 marks) • Outline the ways in which factors in children’s home background may lead to different levels of achievement. (10 marks) • Assess the importance of school factors such as racism and pupils responses to racism in creating ethnic differences in educational achievement. (20 marks)

5. Explain what is meant by the term ethnic group. (2 marks) People who share common history, customs, identity, language and religion. People who share a common culture.

6. Suggest three ways in which the education system may encourage separation between children of different ethnic backgrounds. (6 marks) • Labelling and teacher racism • The ethnocentric curriculum • Institutional racism 4. Marketisation – cream skimming and silt shifting. Some minority groups fail to get into better schools. 5. The application process – some parents may not understand. The information is not available in minority languages. Parents unaware of how waiting list or appeals process works.

7. Outline the ways in which factors in children’s home background may lead to different levels of achievement. (10 marks) • Intellectual and Linguistic skills. • Attitudes and values. • Family structure and support • Material deprivation. • Racism in wider society.

8. Starter Discussion Is the education system biased in favour of boys or girls? Discuss – evidence – vote!

9. Genderandachievement

11. Starter – Guess the % of male and female students – A levels 2007.

13. Gender and Attainment

14. Gender and underachievement

15. Gender Gap in Achievement: The Facts • On starting school, 56% of girls can write (and spell) their own name correctly – only 42% of boys could do this. • At Key Stages 1-3, girls do consistently better, especially in English. • At GCSE, girls do about 10 percentage points better than boys. • At A-Level, girls are more likely to pass and gain higher grades.

16. Getting started: 3 things to think about • Why do girls achieve better than boys? • Why do boys and girls tend to opt to study different subjects? What are the typically male/female subjects? • How does schooling help to reinforce gender identities?

17. Activity? Why do girls do better than boys? Use post-its to come up with as many reasons as you can think of. Arrange them into Internal / External Factors. Arrange them in order of preference.

18. Gender & Education

19. External Factors

20. Impact of feminism • Since 1960s – Feminism has challenged the traditional stereotypes. • Improvement in women’s rights and opportunities. • Raised women’s expectations. Evidence: McRobbie’s (1994) comparison of girls’ magazines in the 1970s and 1990s.

21. McRobbie (1994) conducted a comparison of girls’ magazines from the 1970’s and the 1990’s In the 70’s, magazines like ‘Jackie’ were concerned with getting and keeping a man and ‘not being left on the shelf’. McRobbie argues that more recent magazines encourage assertiveness and independence

22. Changes in the family • Increase in divorce – decline in marriage. • Increase in cohabitation. • Smaller Families. • More SPF. Encourages girls to become financially independent by gaining qualifications.

23. Changes in womens employment • Equal Pay Act / Sex Discrimination Act. • More women in paid work. • Growth of service sector – decline of manufacturing. • Breaking through the glass ceiling. Encourages girls to see future in terms of paid work rather than as housewives. Successful role models – career women.

24. Girl’s changing ambitions Evidence: Sue Sharpe (1994) – Just Like a Girl – compared interviews from 1970s to girls in 1990s. Girls had high aspirations and see their future as independent women.

25. Task: Feminism … • PERCy paragraph • We can easily critique this idea about the impact of feminism. • Write a paragraph that explains (and critiques) the view that girls achievement has been positively affected by the impact of feminism.

26. Exam Question: • Outline how girls’ higher achievement in education can be explained by external or outside factors. (10 marks)

27. Internal Factors

28. Equal Opportunity Policies Removing barriers for girls education • Belief that boys and girls are equally capable and entitled to the same opportunities. • Non-sexist careers advice. • Female role models (WISE). • 1988 – Science compulsory for boys and girls. • School has become meritocratic – girls work harder which explains their higher achievement.

29. Positive Role Models • Increase in % of female teachers. • Increase in female senior teachers. • Others also point to the media and suggest that in both fiction (TV and film) and reality, there are more positive representations of women. • More positive images of women, and focusing on their issues and promoting could explain why girls are performing better than ever.

30. Task: In pairs • Create a list of positive and negative female role models for girls. • Think about figures that feature in the media regularly.

32. GCSE and Coursework Class Survey Who was more successful in coursework boys or girls. Hands up. Spent lots of time on it. Careful presentation. Met deadlines. Brought the right stuff in to complete it. Gorard (2005) Girls’ achievement rose sharply in 1988-89 after the introduction of coursework. Mitsos & Browne (1998) Girls more successful in coursework – take more time – take more care with presentation – better at meeting deadlines – bring the right equipment – more mature so can concentrate for longer. These characteristics are products of socialisation.

33. Teacher attention: Who gets more attention in class? Why? Spender (1983) Boys get more attention than girls. French (1993) Only because of their behaviour – academic attention was similar. Swann and Graddol (1994) boys more boisterous and attracted teacher attention – teachers interacted more positively with girls.

34. Teacher attention. • Swann (1998) Boys dominate whole class discussion – whereas girls prefer pair and group work. Girls’ speech involves turn-taking / boys is hostile interruptions. • Teachers may label girls as cooperative and boys as disruptive – may lead to SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY.

35. Challenging Stereotypes in the curriculum • Removal of gender stereotypes and sexist materials from books and learning materials.

36. Selection and League Tables (Marketisation) Jackson (1998) High achieving girls are attractive to schools – low achieving boys are not. Girls attend better schools – more likely to do well – self-fulfilling prophecy. Slee (1998) Boys are liability students – more likely to have SEN – barriers to schools league table performance.

37. Activity: • What has Park High done to encourage boys and girls to take up non-traditional subjects. What would a liberal feminist and a radical feminist make of the facts of girls’ increased achievement. Role play this conversation. Pg.129

38. Two views of girls’ achievement Liberal Feminism March of progress Education is meritocratic Equal opportunity to achieve Radical Feminism Patriarchal education system. Sexual harrasment of girls in school. Education limits subject choices and career options. Men dominate leadership. Women’s contribution to academia is under represented. History is a woman-free zone.

39. Identity, class and girls’ achievement Archer (2010) Not all girls are successful. Working class girls’ feminine identities and values conflicts with values of school. Choose gaining symbolic capital from peers or gaining educational capital by rejecting their working class identities.

40. Task: Essay carousel Outline some of the internal` factors that have contributed to the academic success of girls (10 marks)

41. Why have boys underachieved?

42. Boys and Literacy • Gender gap is mainly the result of boys poorer literacy and language skills Why?

43. Boys and Literacy Class Survey Where you read to as a child? How many books other than school books have you read in the past year? List your top three leisure pursuits. What gender patterns are there? • Parents spend less time reading with their sons • Mothers normally do the reading- feminises? • Boys hobbies, e.g. Sports, do little to help develop their language and communication skills

44. A question for the boys... How do you think schools could approach helping boys to improve their literacy skills?

45. Decline of traditional men’s jobs • Due to globalisation (1980’s) there has been a decline in heavy industries, such as iron and steel, engineering etc • Mitsos and Browne- decline in male employment opportunities has led to ‘identity crises’ • Results in belief that they will not get a ‘proper job’= low self esteem and less motivation to get grades

46. BUT... • Decline is mainly in manual working class jobs, which didn’t need qualifications. • Unlikely that disappearance of such jobs would impact on boys motivation to obtain qualifications. • Is this really what boys aim for?

47. Feminisation List down examples of how you think school is feminised • Men only 16% of Primary Teachers. • 39% of 8 -11 year olds have no lessons with a male teacher. • Majority of primary school boys said a male teacher helped them behave better.

48. Feminisation of Education • Schools do not nurture masculine traits, such as competitiveness and leadership • Instead celebrate qualities such as attentiveness in class, methodical working • Sewell thinks coursework should be replaced with exams and emphasis in outdoor education within the curriculum

49. Lack of male role models • Lack of strong positive role models both at home and in school= boys underachievement • 90% single parent families headed by women! • Only 14% of male teachers in primary schools

50. Research • Yougov (2007) 39% of 8-11 had no male teachers at all. • Majority said presence of male teacher made them behave better, 42% worked harder. • BUT: Francis (2006) found that 2/3 of 7-8 year olds believed gender didn’t matter.