Investigating Which Social Class Achieves More in the Education System
Research has shown that children from working class backgrounds do
not, on average, do as well in school as those from middle class
backgrounds. They are also less likely to go on to further and higher
education. Firstly, I am going to gather secondary information in
order to see what research has already been gathered on this
particular topic, and then I will gather my own information to see if
what I have researched is correct.
I have decided to break down my question as follows:
* I am going to look mainly at working class pupils but include some
information on middle class pupils as well.
* I am going to identify which social class does better.
* Look at some of the reasons behind this.
To find my secondary information I am going to look in textbooks,
newspapers, on the internet and maybe try and find some Government
Statistics. I will have to make sure that the information that I
collect is as up to date as possible. To do this I will look for
information that has been updated/written in the last two or three
years. (2002 - 2005)
For my primary research I have decided to use questionnaires and
interviews. I have chosen questionnaires because they will be quick
and easy for me to do. Interviews are suitable as they are also quick,
so won't take up too much of my time. I have not chosen to do any
observations, as they would take up too much of my time and I could
spend that time doing something else. To make my questionnaires
representative I will need to ask equal amounts of both males and
females. I have chosen to pick 12 males and 12 females, all from Year
11. This is because I know most people in Year 11 so can get the
questionnaires to them easier.
For my secondary information I have collected data from various
9. When you are finished, turn in your scan sheet, as well as your exam. Answers will be posted on the web
Diversity is part of the American lifestyle. America is a country built on capitalistic principles, where a countries’ economy is controlled by a small number of people. People who tend to have power in the society tend to separate themselves from the rest. Looking back at different time period of American history diversity has shaped up the lives we live as Americans, whether it is because of gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, socioeconomic background, and capabilities/ disabilities, there is always diversity in society. Although, diversity is increasingly being viewed positively, and as much as people are proud of their differences. There will always be a way for human beings to diversify themselves into groups in which share similar interests.
There are many opportunities in America that can improve one’s wealth and power, thus leading to the mass amount of immigrants coming to American. Most immigrants that come to American usually are categorized as the lower class immigrants, but they take any opportunities to improve their economic status. In an article by Howard P. Chudacoff, it states “immigrants generally chose upward paths that led from manual labor into small proprietorships” (Chudacoff 1982: 104). This explains the reason why immigrants choose to come and stay in America. They start out small as laborers then over time they will work to own a small business. Even though immigrants gets to grow to move from the lower class to the middle class, the natives will be always
"What has happened in America is that achievement is so important that everyone wants everyone else to know what they have done. . . And in case you don't know, they want to tell you with a lethal combination of houses, cars and diamonds. (Fabrikant 2005))" Inequality in the United States is changing, and for the worse. People who are not wealthy are now competing to have the "status" of wealthy, which causes the wealthy to literally get wealthier while the middle class and upper middle class are going increasingly in debt trying to keep up with the wealthy.
Social class is a subjective concept in social sciences and political theory where individuals are grouped into different classes. This set a hierarchy inside the society structure where the upper and lower class exist and contribute to the society. Understanding social classes and their effects on the people, as well as cultures and social behavior and lead sociologist closer to the development of an ideal society.
Success. Society tends to correlate “success” with the obtainment of a higher education. But what leads to a higher education? What many are reluctant to admit is that the American dream has fallen. Class division has become nearly impossible to repair. From educations such as Stanford, Harvard, and UCLA to vocational, adult programs, and community, pertaining to one education solely relies on one’s social class. Social class surreptitiously defines your “success”, the hidden curriculum of what your socioeconomic education teaches you to stay with in that social class.
What is social class you ask? Social class is a system created to categorize people by education, wealth and heredity. What are the different class systems you ask? There are several class classifications and they’re Upper Class–Elite, Upper Middle Class, Lower Middle Class, Working Class and poor. In the united states and being a victim of “ social class categorizing” is an issue that must be addressed and people must be made aware, because it seems as if it’s not going anywhere anytime soon so the least we can do is try and make it fair as possible. Being defined unknowingly by a class system is one thing, but having no say so or fair opportunity at being placed in the best “class system” as those more fortunate than others needs to change because it’s not like we all came out of our mothers womb starting the race of life at the same starting and advantage point, and since we as Americans pride our-self on being the land of the free and equal opportunities I feel compelled to inform you of the unfairness of the issue and state ways to make it fair. In an article read while doing research this is how the author defined Social class “Classism is similar in many ways to racism, sexism, heterosexism and other forms of oppression. Classism appears individually through attitudes and behaviors, institutionally through policies and practices, and culturally through norms and values. Like other forms of oppression and prejudice, it is the tendency to make sweeping generalizations or stereotypes about people, such as “Poor people are lazy.”(Class Action) This essay will assess the determination of social classes in the United States and will seek to provide examples to demonstrate the inequalities and provide ways to improve them.
you get to middle school you learn more in depth about everything you learned in
Social class in our world today. I don’t believe you can look at this worldwide. Instead, it needs to be broken up by country. America and Africa, for instance, are two very different lands. In Africa you are surrounded by poverty while America is rich in opportunity. I believe with a desire to learn, wiliness to work hard, and with determination you have the opportunity to not be poor in America. I am also looking at people that are mentally and physically healthy, but instead they were born into a poor family, or from a loss of job they are financially poor, or maybe their parents just the have not attitude.
It is perpetuated by the way wealth, power, and prestige are distributed and passed on from one generation to the next
course, I don’t. But I try to keep myself active as much as possible and put in several hours a
“Social class” often puts us in a community of people who share related experiences of prosperity and power. Education influences issues of wealth and power in a complex manner, in which our position in a chain of social class often outlines our opportunities for schooling, its importance, and potential for getting us to our goals for personal and professional success. For example, if you are born into wealth (from your parents) you are more suitable to attend college without any setbacks. Thus, you are more open to greater opportunities in the area of landing a position due to your advanced education. However, People who are born into poverty often have a sense of not having much knowledge on specific areas that require you think outside the
Social class has a major influence over the success and experience of young people in education; evidence suggests social class affects educational achievement, treatment by teachers and whether a young person is accepted into higher education. “34.6 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) achieved five or more A*-C grades at GCSE or equivalent including English and mathematics GCSEs, compared to 62.0 per cent of all other pupils” (Attew, 2012). Pupils eligible for FSM are those whose families earn less than £16,000 a year (Shepherd, J. Sedghi, A. and Evans, L. 2012). Thus working-class young people are less likely to obtain good GCSE grades than middle-class and upper-class young people.
The Relationship Between Social Class and Educational Achievement Many sociologists have tried to explore the link between social class and educational achievement, measuring the effects of one element upon the other. In order to maintain a definite correlation between the two, there are a number of views, explanations, social statistics and perspectives which must be taken into account. The initial idea would be to define the key terms which are associated with how "social class" affects "educational achievement." "Social class" is the identity of people, according to the work they do and the community in which they live in. "Educational achievement" is the tendency for some groups to do better or worse in terms of educational success.
and have to do during the day, it has a big impact on my life at home