Class is something that is often defined by ones income, job, and family background, the area in which they live or indeed the schools or universities they have chosen to attended. This criteria is used to label people as a certain class and is something that can be seen in education through the likes of theories such as cultural capital. In this essay I am going to compare and contrast differences between middle and working class experiences of education focusing on two main theories; Cultural capital and social reproduction. I am going to concentrate upon the primary sector in oppose to secondary or higher education due to the fact I believe that primary school is where most children develop their personalities which they carry with them in further life and it is their first academic experience; therefore it is where social class first becomes clearly noticeable. In relation to these theories I am going to research into the argument that parents have a strong influence on their child’s education from this young age.
The first difference you see between the middle and working class in education is the selection of primary schools as for some it is the first time they are going to enter into the academic world. At this point the family as a whole are entering into “unfamiliar worlds” (Jackson and Marsden, 1966, page 99) in the process of selecting and applying for schools. The middle class aim is to have their children go to a successful school with a good Ofsted report just like the working class. However it is harder for the working class to get into these schools due to a range of factors. Some of these restricting factors are their knowledge of the system and economic status or wealth; they may not have the facilities for tra...
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...ding as well as reinforcing social class through children’s parents.
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Show MoreThe working class stays working and the middle class stays being middle. Author Nick Tingle, wrote “The vexation of class”, he argues that the working class and the middle class are separated educationally based on culture and the commonplace. Tingle uses his own personal experiences and Ethos, to effectively prove his point about the difference in class based on culture ; although, Tingle also falls short by adding unnecessary information throughout the article that weakens his belief entirely.
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The working class stay working and the middle class stay being middle. Author Nick Tingle, wrote “The vexation of class”, he argues that the working class and the middle class are separated based on culture and the commonplace. Tingle uses his own personal experiences and Ethos, to effectively prove his point about the difference in class; although, Tingle also falls short by adding unnecessary information throughout the article that weakens his belief entirely.
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O’Hear, A. (1981). Education, Society and Human Nature, pp. 129-30). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Morris, Jerome., et al. Encyclopedia of Education. Ed. James W. Guthrie. 2nd Ed vol. 6. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2002. 1961-1971. Opposing viewpoints in context. Web 25 April.2014
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Perters, R.S. (1966) The philosophy of education. The study of education, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
Armitage, A. (1999) Teaching and Training in Post-Compulsory Education, 2nd Ed, King’s Lynn: OUP. P63
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...all and L. Zafrin, (2008) The Purpose of Schooling: Beliefs and Practices of Educators in British Schools, TERC Documents, Paper 6, Available at: http://digitalcommons.uconn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=terc_docs, (accessed: 20/04/14)