Social Class Impact On Education

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How social class impacts education

In all the different social groups, class plays a key role in the attainment or success of children in education. In the educational system it is apparent that lower class children achieve lower attainment than those that come from a middle class background (Tzanakis, 2011: 79-86). It is believed or suggested that the educational system is biased and intended for the middle class children with no regard to the needs of the working class. Nonetheless, most researchers believe or think that the ‘range of ability’ in every social class is similar (Tzanakis, 2011: 79-86). This could mean that the educational achievement of the different classes are not due to intellectual level of the different classes, but more …show more content…

Certain parts of education are informal however the main parts are formal where the education takes place in schools, universities and colleges. Education is part of the development of socialisation and is a vital part of the social structure. Over a long period of time, several sociologists have studied youngsters’ attainment in education and established that gender, ethnicity, nor class can be accounted for as the only factor of affecting the educational attainment of learners (Siraj & Mayo: 24-36).

For the sociologist, Karl Marx, education is seen as a vital part of the superstructure of the society. It reproduces the social relations and inequalities of the creation of a capitalist society and it helps to legitimate those inequalities through the meritocracy myth (Siraj & Mayo: 24-36). Capitalism requires a motivated workforce and the education functions as the reproduction of labour/workforce power. This is provided through the concealed curriculum, which forms the next generation of labours by helping to produce an obedient workforce of passive, docile, and uncritical workers (Siraj & Mayo: …show more content…

Working-class failure occurs due to a faulty educational system and not the working-class culture (Siraj & Mayo: 24-36). The system is biased towards the dominant social class’s culture and devalues the skills and knowledge of the working-class (Siraj & Mayo: 24-36). The possession of the dominant culture is referred to as cultural capital since, through the educational system, this can be translated into power and wealth (Siraj & Mayo:

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