Socio-cultural studies consist of social and cultural context. According to Eagleton (2000), culture exists on a social and individual level, where you learn what society and individuals consider to be meaningful. Therefore he describes culture to be descriptive as well as evaluative.
According to Dilley (2002), contexts can be used to find connections, as well as comparisons, therefore, showing that contextual factors interlink with the formal and informal indications. So, exploring inequality as an issue in this assignment will show how social class and educational achievement can evidently have a direct correlation. Identifying the issue of work/low income show gestures of inequality within education but the formal and informal indicators show reasons to why there is a reason for the difference in educational attainment among social classes. In this assignment, I illustrate how social class (work/low income) correlates between educational attainment, achievement and ability and pupils’ attitudes to learning.
To make reference to theoretical frameworks to show the relationship between social and cultural context and education, Functionalism, Labelling Theory and Bourdieu’s Forms of Capital will aid an understanding of how of the socio-cultural context of social class corresponds with educational attainment. Social class is a “… classification system or hierarchy in society which categories people according to their economic position” (O’Byrne, 2011, 237). Your economic position determines what social class you fit in with. Arguably, these often reflect your educational achievement, attainment and ability and are described as formal indicators of education.
Functionalist Durkheim (1958 – 1917) and Giddens (2006) provide arguments to describe the role of education within society and how schools are placed to transmit the shared norms and values of society (O’Byrne, 2011). However, a conflict theorist may suggest that “People and groups in societies do not necessarily share the same values or desire the same ends” (O’Byrne, 2011, p.52). A Marxist who studies the dynamics of the capitalist economy and the causes of poverty and social inequality (Giddens, 2006) would disagree as well. As Bowles and Gintis (1976) claimed that the workers of society are exploited through the education system, to help maintain inequality in the social hierarchy.
Following on, Howard Becker’s labelling theory (1951-1963) may suggest reasons to pupil attitudes to learning. Through varied types of labelling such as negative labelling, pupil’s steering their attitudes to learning deterministically into what they were labelled as in the first place (Hargreaves, 1967). Paul Willis’s ‘Learning to Labour’ (1977) studies a group known as the ‘Lads’, and finds that they have no interest in the factors of cultural capital and their attitudes towards education denies the importance in schools to get excellent educational achievement. Pierre Bourdieu (1930 – 2002) would assert reasons for this is to do with the choices we make that come from our tastes from dominant social structures (O’Byrne, 2011). He categorises this into the forms of capital; social, cultural, economic and symbolic capital.
According to Dilley (2002), contexts can be used to find connections, as well as comparisons, therefore, showing that contextual factors interlink with the formal and informal indications. So, exploring inequality as an issue in this assignment will show how social class and educational achievement can evidently have a direct correlation. Identifying the issue of work/low income show gestures of inequality within education but the formal and informal indicators show reasons to why there is a reason for the difference in educational attainment among social classes. In this assignment, I illustrate how social class (work/low income) correlates between educational attainment, achievement and ability and pupils’ attitudes to learning.
To make reference to theoretical frameworks to show the relationship between social and cultural context and education, Functionalism, Labelling Theory and Bourdieu’s Forms of Capital will aid an understanding of how of the socio-cultural context of social class corresponds with educational attainment. Social class is a “… classification system or hierarchy in society which categories people according to their economic position” (O’Byrne, 2011, 237). Your economic position determines what social class you fit in with. Arguably, these often reflect your educational achievement, attainment and ability and are described as formal indicators of education.
Functionalist Durkheim (1958 – 1917) and Giddens (2006) provide arguments to describe the role of education within society and how schools are placed to transmit the shared norms and values of society (O’Byrne, 2011). However, a conflict theorist may suggest that “People and groups in societies do not necessarily share the same values or desire the same ends” (O’Byrne, 2011, p.52). A Marxist who studies the dynamics of the capitalist economy and the causes of poverty and social inequality (Giddens, 2006) would disagree as well. As Bowles and Gintis (1976) claimed that the workers of society are exploited through the education system, to help maintain inequality in the social hierarchy.
Following on, Howard Becker’s labelling theory (1951-1963) may suggest reasons to pupil attitudes to learning. Through varied types of labelling such as negative labelling, pupil’s steering their attitudes to learning deterministically into what they were labelled as in the first place (Hargreaves, 1967). Paul Willis’s ‘Learning to Labour’ (1977) studies a group known as the ‘Lads’, and finds that they have no interest in the factors of cultural capital and their attitudes towards education denies the importance in schools to get excellent educational achievement. Pierre Bourdieu (1930 – 2002) would assert reasons for this is to do with the choices we make that come from our tastes from dominant social structures (O’Byrne, 2011). He categorises this into the forms of capital; social, cultural, economic and symbolic capital.
![Picture](/uploads/2/6/7/1/26710109/3670887.jpg?476)
To alleviate these indicators and to explain how they support theoretical frameworks, I will focus my examples and evidence on the borough of Haringey in London. Haringey has high levels of deprivation (figure 1). I will use this as a key contextual feature to this assignment. The data found for a case study will capture explicit links between educational attainment and social class. Haringey published a profile guide on “The Local Economy, Skills and Educational Attainment” (Haringey Council, 2008). To distinguish the difference between the social classes and the educational achievement at 16 (GCSE), the data will show pupils who are eligible to Free School Meals (FSM) (Department of Education, 2013) and pupils who are not eligible.