Impact of Social Class on Education

Impact of Social Class on Education Assess and explain the impact of social class inequalities on education outcomes In this essay I will explain and evaluate the impact of social class inequalities on education and its outcomes. Sociologists see society as a stratification system that is based on factors such as; hierarchy of power, privilege and wealth, which leads into social inequalities. Inequality is about who gets what, how they get it and why they get it. Social inequality is about class, gender and ethnicity, it is characterised by the presence of unequal opportunities and rewards for different social groups. There are two main views of social inequalities in education within sociology; the functionalists and the marxists. The functionalists believe that the education system is meritocratic because if you work hard, you get rewards. Emile Durkheim believes that education contributes to social solidarity which is essential for society as it binds society together. It has provided norms and values, a sense of history and a feeling of belonging in society. Durkheim also believed that education contributes to individual’s specialised skills as these are taught with education and being passed on from parents. The education system teaches individuals the skills and knowledge required to enable an individual to do the job. Talcott Parsons developed further into Durkheim’s theory and suggests that education is a secondary socialisation where schools build on the primary socialisation, which is taught by parents. That education system develops on value consensus and prepares children for their adult roles. He believed that education helps with individual achievement as it rewards high achievers wi th praise, it offers equal opportunity for individuals to a chance of success. He also believes that schools are a miniature version of society which prepares them for adult roles and assists with role allocation as it helps them discover their talents and expands them further. However functionalists were criticised as there is evidence that certain groups underachieve in schools which suggests that individuals do not have equal opportunities, their talent is was not effectively developed or the role allocation is not effective. The marxists believe that the education system operate as an ideological tool. Louis Althusser believed that schools prepare individuals for their roles in jobs, are taught to except future exploitation and are provided with education and qualification to match their job roles. He believes that the education system brainwashes and manipulates individuals. Bowles and Gintis argue against Parsons’s role allocation theory as they suggest individuals who get the highest qualifications and the top jobs do so because they work hard and do as they’re told. They found the individuals with the high grades where obedient, hardworking and conforming and are rewarded with high grades as they are the qualities required for adult work. It is said that the higher a person’s social class, the higher their educational qualification, which has been proved over the past 50 years by sociological research and government statistics. For example statistic in 2012/13 show that in London, pupils living in the area of Westminster achieve 86.6% in achieving 5+ A*-C grades, compared to pupils living in the area of Newham achieve 79.1%. Although both areas are within inner London the results show a difference due to class social factors within educational attainment. It is also said that a parent’s social class has a greater impact on how a child preforms at school, research by the University of London’s Institute of Education found that parent(s) who are in professional and managerial jobs were at least eight months ahead of pupils who parent(s) were unemployed. They took into consideration such factors as ethnicity and family size. The education system has been suggested as being biased and designed for whi te, middle class children and ignoring the needs for the working class and ethnic minority. However it is argued that there is a similar range of ability in every social class and factors within society such as low expectations, lack of deferred gratification and economical issues are the reasons for failure in working class. Working class children tend to experience economical hardship than any other class, because it has been linked to material deprivation, such as lack of money and things money could buy is the reason for working class underachievement. Sociologists believe that the children are unable to obtain needed educational items such as computer with internet, desks and books which is a disadvantage for them as well as the costs of education such as tuition fees meaning that people within the working class believe they cannot afford to attend further education. Parsons believed that middle class children from a young age receive more attention and encouragement from their parent(s), which gives them a higher attainment for when they begin school. However J Douglas believed that the working class children’s parent(s), do not understand what their children needs are to succeed in education. He believed that the interest displayed by parent(s) in the children’s attainment contributed to their education. Also the attitudes of the parent(s) to the teachers becomes apparent and this can encourage a teacher to treat one pupil different from another. Social class subcultures such as the differences between the norms and values suggests differences in attainment according to some sociologists. Barry Sugarman believed that working class subculture was fatalistic as they accepted the situation and did nothing to improve it, it was present-time orientated as there was no planning for the future. He also suggested concerns with immediate gratification as there was no sacrifices for the future, whereas the middle class saw things differently. These differences contribute to the attitude in education and will lead to lack of enthusiasm and mind-set to succeed. Other sociologists believe that cultural deprivation such as an absence of certain norms, values, attitudes and skills that are needed for educational success and this is why the working class were also underachieving. However Basil Bernstein believed there are different speech patterns between different classes. He developed the cultural deprivation theory where he suggested that speech patterns of those at the bottom class are inferior. He suggested that working class children adopt a restricted speech code and the education system adopts an elaborated speech code. He also believes that children suffer due to a language barrier, restricting the teacher to be able to teach and the children being unable to learn, which then causes underachievement. Pierre Bourdieu agrees that the working class are discriminated because they are unable to grasps the teachers meaning of grammar, tone, accent and the delivery of teaching. Bourdieu states that the higher people’s position in the class system, the greater the amount of dominant culture they have. This culture is referred as superior as they have power which forms the basis of the education system. He argues that the higher class cultures are better when compared to the working class, because of the perceived superiority where the middle class believe the working class have themselves to blame for the failure in education. Bourdieu believes that children born into the middle class have a built in advantage as their culture is closer to the school culture which gives them an advantage to succeed, such as their language is closer to the teachers which gives them more of an understanding of what’s being taught. According to Bourdieu the dominant culture are seen as cultural capital, because it is converted into material rewards such as high status jobs and high salaries. He concludes that education is cultural and social reproduction as the ed ucation system reproduces the dominant culture which reproduces class system. By doing this is creates education success and failure which justifies the positions of those at the top and bottom. However Bourdieu believes that middle class should not assume that the higher class is better as the failures are measured in exam success, which is in fault with the education system and not the culture. He argues that individuals learn by what they see in life and what they expect, he states that different social groups have different chance and experiences in life. For example studying Spanish art, middle class children can go there and see it, whereas working class have to visualise it. Diane Reay states that it is the mothers who make cultural capital work for their children as she believes that all mother are active in their children’s education, that working class mother’s work just as hard as middle class mothers. She suggested that middle class mothers had more educational qualification and knew how the system worked and used cultural capital to good effect such as helping with homework. Because of this working class mothers believed that they lacked the knowledge to be able to help with their children. Reay argued that middle class women had more material capital by employing cleaners it allowed them time to help their children, working class women didn’t have this as well as being able to afford private tuition. According to Reay it’s the mothers that help with educational attainment, their effectiveness depends on the amount of cultural capital and this depends on social class. There is evidence that suggests that working class pupils are discriminated against middle class pupils for example pupils are always being assessed, they’re labelled as able and less able, placed into sets, entered for individual examinations and denied access to parts of school curriculum. It is suggested that middle class children are classed as able which is a disadvantage for working class. Once a pupil has been labelled they tend to respond or interpret that label which is a self-fulfilling prophecy and will continue to see themselves as that label. However it’s argued that this has no effect on pupil’s achievement, they believe that class differences in attainment are due to what happens outside of school. On the other hand others say it is a combination of differences in school as well as outside. Statistic in 2012/13 show that girls achieve 86.5% in achieving 5+ A*-C grades, compared to boys who achieve 79.6% in achieving 5+ A*-C grades. Bibliography Department of Education, (2014, February 14th). Statistic – national statistics GCSE and equivalent attainment by pupil characteristics. Gov.uk. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gcse-and-equivalent-attainment-by-pupil-characteristics-2012-to-2013. Retrieved 23rd February 2014 Haralambos, M., Richardson, J., Taylor, P., Yeo, A. (2010). Sociology in focus (2nd ed.). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. History learning site. (n.d). Social class and achievement. Available: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/social_class_achievement.htm. Retrieved 23rd February 2014 History learning site. (n.d). Pierre Bourdieu. Available: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/pierre_bourdieu.htm. Retrieved 23rd February 2014 Shepard, J. (2010, December 7th). Social class has more effect on children than good parenting, study finds. The guardian. Available: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/dec/07/social-class-parenting-study. Retrieved 23rd February 2014

Criminal homicide Essay

Criminal homicide is the most severe form of homicide and is considered one of the most serious crimes in society. This kind of homicide consists of unlawful conduct and malicious intent on the part of the killer. Murder is one form of homicide and is the most serious type. The crime of murder itself may seem straight forward but the laws surrounding the crime are intricate and entail a precise set of circumstances to institute the components of the murder. Murder is defined as â€Å"the purposeful, knowing, or reckless unlawful killing of another human being.† It has two separate components: The suspect must have acted with the required specific intent to kill and the suspect’s behavior must have caused the death of another human being. Many states use different terms to define intent or mens rea. Pennsylvania uses the terms lying in wait, willful, deliberate or premeditated to institute the required specific intent (Wallace & Roberson, 2012). The second component entails a death as an outcome of the suspect’s acts or failure to act and any conduct will meet the requirements. There are also different degrees of murder including first-degree, second-degree and manslaughter. These different degrees of murder depend on the purpose behind the killing and the way the killing is committed. The specific definition of each degree depends on the state or country that the crime is committed in. First-degree murder is different from the other two types of murder because it is planned. Normally, first-degree murder is a criminal offense involving intent, homicides that are planned, or homicides that occur during the commission of another felony. The crime of first-degree murder needs the intent to kill, premeditation of that killing and deliberation of that killing. Some examples of first-degree murder are poisoning, bombing and assault with a deadly weapon. The penalty for committing first-degree murder is different depending on which state the crime is committed in but is most likely life imprisonment or even the death penalty. Defenses against first-degree murder include actual innocence, mistaken identity, justified homicide, self-defense, defense of others and insanity. Second-degree murder is a crime of passion or an unlawful killing where the intent to kill and the act of killing itself happen almost simultaneously (Schmalleger, 2012). For example, a person who commits a killing in a fit of rage or a person who is motivated to kill by receiving insults or physical abuse, are likely to be charged with second-degree  murder. But the act of killing must happen instantly after the fit of rage or insults because if time lapses between the two than it permits the chance for thought to occur which would turn into premeditation and therefore become first-degree murder. Defenses against second-degree murder include actual innocence, insanity, and self-defense. Third-degree murder or manslaughter is different from the other degrees because it refers to homicides that result from someone’s action that is unlawful or negligent. Other names for third-degree murder include negligent homicide, negligent manslaughter, or involuntary manslaughter. Manslaughter is a less serious crime than first or second degree murder because it involves carelessness and not purposeful killing. An example of manslaughter is a drunk driver who causes a fatal accident can be charged with vehicular manslaughter. Defenses against manslaughter include actual innocence, accidental killing and intoxication.

Ways to Help the Poor.

There are different ways to address poverty and one of them is charity which means simple response to immediate need and specific situations. No one can actually eliminate poverty, but we each can do our part to reduce it around us just by starting in our community, or by starting in a local food bank that provides a necessary service for persons, who for whatever reason cannot afford a meal for themselves and their loved ones. Home for the Homeless were we can provide meals, clothing, laundry service and a resource center all free of charge.Most important is help them with learning because more than one in ten children living in the increasing world never gets the chance to go to school, in that case what we can do is found scholar ships programs, and also once in school, children need to be guaranteed of a safe environment enable them to understand their potential and why it is import to learn, like classroom construction, growth and supply of equipment because basic education, giv es people greater money-making opportunities and empowers them to lead healthier and more useful lives.The other way to address poverty is social justice which means ensuring those in society that they can fulfill their basic needs. The first thing we can do and a solution for all is to ask the government to lower the taxes. If taxes are lower then there would be more help for the poor because there would be more business and employment opportunities available for them to get a descent paycheck every week to feed, and cloth their family. You might be asking, why do I have to help the poor?Well children as they grow up in poverty, it seems more likely to have poor health care later in life when compared to those children who are not poor. When compared to non-poor children, children in poverty are somewhat more likely to have lower income and are a bit more likely to engage in crime. Another reason is because you’re helping them achieve their potential, so that they can contri bute to the economy by improving their own situation and also when you help one you help God as well as if one body suffers we all suffer with it.

Factors Influenced On Byatt s Works Essay - 1767 Words

Factors influenced on Byatt’s works There are several facts in Byatt’s intellectual life which impacts her fiction and nonfiction alike. Nevertheless, the supreme one that constituted the central number of her works remains the influence of one particular Cambridge teacher and literary critic: Franklin Raymond Leavis (1895-1978) who shaped Byatt’s view on the moral importance of literature. It stands worth to talk about him, because he not only influenced directly A.S Byatt on the other hand, he formed the entire course of Angelo-American 20th century literary criticism, an understanding of which is vital to read Byatt’s fiction. In an autobiographical gesture, her fictions often send their heroines to Cambridge. Via the time Byatt went to all-female Newnham College, Cambridge, in 1957 to get her B.A., Leavis, then 62, was the ruling intellectual, position he had engaged for 30 years. Leavis, his wife Q.D. (Known as â€Å"Queenie†) and their circle , which included such critics as I, A, Richards and William Empson, applied great effect on the literary of the day. It stays hard now to imagine Leavis as a radical, since he is so often critiqued for his exclusive and special judgments. However, consider the shape of university life as it was found-and then rejected-by Leaves when he entered Cambridge immediately after World War I. Until the last decades of the 19th century, taking up the study of â€Å"literature† in the university meant studying the classics that means,