Investigating Whether Schools Benefit Middle Class Students more than Working Class Students

Investigating Whether Schools Benefit Middle Class Students more than Working Class Students

There is a lot of evidence to suggest that schools benefit middle

class students more than working class students. In general, the

higher the person’s social class of origin - the higher their

educational qualifications. Pupils are constantly being assessed and

classified. They are defined as able or less able, placed in

particular sets or streams, entered for particular examinations and

given or denied access to certain parts of the school curriculum.

Research indicates that teachers are more likely to define middle

rather than working-class pupils as ‘able,’ ‘good students’ and ‘well

behaved’. This may well disadvantage working class, whilst benefiting

the middle class student at school. If the middle class student is

labelled as ‘bright’, others will respond to them and interpret their

actions in terms of this label. There is a tendency for a

self-fulfilling prophecy to result where the labelled, middle class

pupils will act in terms of the label and see themselves as bright.

Therefore that child will do better than a working class student who

may not have been labelled as ‘bright’ even though he/she may be just

as clever.

Schools may benefit middle class students more than working class

students due to material deprivation. For students to benefit at

school they need to be able to work hard at home as well to enable the

teacher to see how hardworking they are and give them positive

feedback. For example, setting homework to research on the Internet,

design a poster, or to write an essay. Due to the working class having

less income and therefore less money to spend on their child, the

pupil may not have the internet at home, may not have coloured pens

and paper to design a good looking poster, or may not have a computer

on which to write an essay with spell check to help them. Therefore

the pupil lacks the materials in which to help them to successfully

complete homework set. Hence the teacher then labelling that child as