The Effect of Social Class on Educational Choices - Essay Example

The Effect of Social Class on Educational Choices In the UK, social class continues to play a major role in education and notably it is the strongest predictor of educational achievement. This issue has been recognised as a policy concern by all the three political parties in the UK. In addition, policy-makers have been constantly working to close the gap in educational achievement by raising the aspirations of working class individuals and by creating a diverse market (Berry & Francis, 2010). This essay will critically examine the different ways by which the educational choices made are affected by social class. As a first step in this direction the neoliberal thought process regarding the issue and the idea of marketization in particular will be considered. Secondly, the essay will also look at the different ways by which the working class is affected by their educational choices. In this regard, my area of focus will be to observe how the working class parents view the different choices presented to them and also on the presence of any barriers that are likely to stop them from making the right choices for their child’s education. The third part of this essay will also see how the various choices affect the middle class. In section four this essay will investigate the implications of choice and its effect on social class as a whole. In the final section, the main argument of how choice is affected by social class will be presented along with supporting evidence. The 1988 Education Reform Act on the educational policy aimed to create a system of open enrolment and local management. Through this act schools had to admit and enroll children whose parents had applied to the school. This resulted in schools operating as a quasi-market (Rikowski, 2007). Howver, the birth of Neoliberism, from the liberal movements of the 1960s, had a profound effect on educational institutions including schools, colleges and universities. The conservative government that Thatcher and John Major were leading introduced the idea of choice and more specifically the ‘parental choice’. Schools which have a clear market competition system provide solid evidence for this ground. Neo-liberal thinkers believe in product testing as they consider it to be very crucial and argue that it is the only way by which people can confirm whether the product would work or not. Thatcher and her team compared the way supermarkets convinced their customers to buy their product to the case in schools. Through this system additional choices were given to parents and by which schools would actually compete with each other for enrolling the maximum possible students. Consequently, in England there are different types of rigid testing systems by which a child is tested at various stages during their tenure in school. Following these continuous assessments, league tables are created in order to determine the performance of every school (Dave, 2012). The above example was taken in order to provide a sound understanding of neoliberalism as without it we would certainly not be able to see how the different choices we make with respect to education would affect the social class. The previous labour government was focused on improving the standards of schools that were failing due to diversification of the market. Some of these initiatives included academic programs and also the steps taken by the coalition government to allow greater independency for schools without interference from local authorities, and the establishment of free schools (Adnett & Davies, 2010). However, research studies clearly indicate that the working class have benefited very little from these choices. This has been attributed to several factors as explained below. Students from the working class are at a disadvantage because in most cases they lack the social and cultural capital which plays a key role in the choice process. From his research studies Lupton (2009), states that parental occupations, qualification and income play an important role when choosing an educational institute. Since the working class do not essentially satisfy some of the above criteria that would have otherwise helped them to make the right choice for their children’s education, it implies that the government will have to tackle the situation and find a solution for this issue. In lieu of this the government initiated a group called the ‘choice advisors’ who would initially help these parents to make the right decision for their children’s education. Such initiatives evidently show that the working class individuals are unable to make the right parental choice in education for their wards. In addition, the idea behind the introduction of academies and free schools was to help the working class students who were failing in school to raise their stands. But sadly this has not being the case as research studies have revealed that academies and free schools have increased social segregation. These studies have shown that the academies are unable to provide the right education for ‘difficult children’ due to their inherent inability to handle them. These students mostly belong to the working class. In addition, Wilson (2010) further adds that though the working class families are concerned with the quality of education provided by the school prior to admission, they often end up choosing a school present within their locality. Thus the working class parents are presented with very few choices, and hence parents are forced to send their wards to schools without due consideration to its reputation and academic success. Similar research conducted on the above issue also points out that disadvantageous individuals such as the working class are left with very few options and in some cases with no choice when deciding on their children’s education. The study also states that when it comes to educational choices, middle class individuals have more advantages due to their power and ability to exercise their choice in a way that working class individuals cannot (Levin & Bellefield, 2006). Hence, these examples clearly prove that the working class is left with minimum choices with regard to the education of their children. Furthermore, the ability to choose the best education for their children has inevitably favoured the middle class compared to the working class. According to Perry, the economic and cultural standing of the middle class people have worked in their favour. Perry further adds that the middle class possess the required capital by which they could even relocate to catchment areas where there is more number of good performing schools. Moreover, the attitude of people when it comes to choosing a school is very different among the working class as compared to the middle class. For example middle class parents lay more emphasis on individual growth, success and career. However, in the case of working class, parents are more concerned about other factors such as the proximity of the school to their homes, the importance of having good friends and whether their chid is happy in school. Another reason for working class families to choose local schools is to avoid additional spending on transportation. Another point suggested is that the working class families also take into account the family organisation when making a choice for their children’s education (Ball, 2003). It is also evident from a questionnaire survey, which included students from the city that about 60% of parents, mostly from the working class, considered the happiness of their child as a major factor before deciding on the school. This clearly supports some of the previous findings included in this paper. Ball also notes that the working class were more likely to prioritise family issues than their children’s education. On the contrary middle class parents give more priority in selecting the right school for their children (Ball, 2003). The reason for inclusion of such attitude difference among these social classes is because they would enable better understanding about the various factors that influence their decision making process. In his article Wood provided an interesting example about how social class affected the parental choices. Wood noted that teaching students who belong to the middle class was much easier and involved lesser time and money compared to those children from the working class and disadvantaged families. These children require more attention and hence more time and money investment. This is also one of the reasons as to why schools choose students from the middle class in order to boost their results (Wood, 1998). In addition, studies have also shown how the choice system has favoured the middle class as they tend to have greater access to the right information pertaining to schools and the education offered (Allen, 2014). As can be observed in the previous findings the type of choice made by a parent with regard to their child’s education is highly dependent on both social class and their educational attainment. Willms, in his article, had also agreed that middle class parents with a higher level of educational attainment were more likely to exercise their choice compared to their working class counterparts. The author also reported that parents from higher social class were more likely to value the information given to them during PTA meetings with teachers and principals. He further added that middle class parents had more alternatives in case they were unhappy with the present school. And in most cases they preferred private schools unlike the disadvantaged and working class parents who would generally avoid them due to financial constraints (Willms, 1997). The above information forms the basis for the next discussion of about how the choices made have caused segregation and created a division of classes within the society. The points discussed above are relevant to the present discussion as it is only when we understand how society and in particular the education system is segregated, we can conclude why and how parents exercise their choice while choosing the right school. These would ultimately lead us to understand how their social class affects the choice they make for their children’s education. Willms, in his article, had clearly stated some of the damages caused by these parental choices which will be considered in the below discussion about social segregation. Willms in his article had stated that parental choices created a social class division in school by bringing together students from similar social background. The author also argued that research showed that parental choice was one of the key factors that have contributed to social segregation in Scotland. He further added that schools chosen by the disadvantaged children lost pupils to highly performing schools in spite of effective teaching (Willms, 1997). These studies prove that the disadvantaged and working class pupils were isolated and segregated in particular schools. Consequently, this pattern of parental choice can lead to the closure of certain schools which may also some well-performing schools (Bernard, 2007). In conclusion, a few things may be recollected to summarise how parental choice of education for their children is affected by social class. The first discussion was about neoliberalism and its idea of freedom of choice which eventually led to the current parental choice in the educational system. This can be viewed as a means of creating a market in the education system so that schools can compete with one another, but this is not considered to be a good approach. As enormous research suggests this pattern of parental choice, which was initially introduced to help disadvantaged parents and their children produce better academic results, have inevitably created further obstacles and problems for these parents. Secondly, although the variety of choices within the educational system has benefited people belonging to a particular social class; more specifically the middle class, owing to their social and cultural capital, it has also on the other hand evidently proven that such choices have put the working class in a more disadvantageous position. This is evident when some parents choose to put their children in private schools and schools around the catchment areas. In most cases, these options are open to the middle class and not to the working class and other disadvantaged children mainly due to their lack of social capital. As stated in the earlier discussions, family resource is a key element in the choice making process and that is why working class and disadvantaged parents have been left with limited choices. Therefore, economic status and the level of education are perhaps some ways which influence the choices made by a particular class of people. Thirdly, it is evident that the system of choice has not worked for the working class and disadvantaged parents. The inclusion of choice advisors, employed by the government to assist working class and disadvantaged parents, clearly proves that the idea of parental choice is not working for all classes of people. Finally, marketization of education and specifically the availability of choices to a particular section of the population as established by many research studies has only created more problems and division within society rather than creating a healthy educational system in which everyone, irrespective of their social background, are benefitted. References Allen,R. (2014). School performance and parental choice of school. Department for Education. 2 (1), 59-65. Adnett, N & Davies, P. (2003). Schooling reforms in England: from quasi-markets to co-opetition?. Journal of Education Policy. 10 (4), 393-406. Ball S & Gewirtz,S. (1995). A sociological exploration of parental choice of schoolin social class contexts. The Sociological review. 43 (1), 52-78. Ball,S (2003). Class Strategies and the Educational Market: the middle classes and social advantage. London: Routledgefalmer. 38-45. Ball,S (2003). The more things change Educational research,social class and 'interlocking' inequalities. London: Pear Tree Press Ltd. 14-18. Bernard,D. (2007). School Choice and Ethnic Segregation. British Journal of Sociology of Education. 12 (3), 182-197. Dave,H. (2012). Eduation, Neoliberism and class struggle. Journal of Sociology in Education. 6 (2), 49-54. Levin, H & Bellefield, C. (2006). The Marketplace in Education. Globalization and Social Change. 5 (2), 79-83. Willms, D. (1997). Parental Choice and Education Policy. Journal of Education Policy. 4 (12), 48-54. Use Links http://www.thersa.org/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/367003/RSA-Social-Justice-paper.pdf http://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/publications/pdfs/School%20ChoiceFINAL.pdf http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/0268093032000106848 Best link so far http://socialistresistance.org/4212/education-neoliberalism-and-class-strugglehttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/275938/RR310_-_School_performance_and_parental_choice_of_school.pdf http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=k1c8_NgFpG4C&pg=PA159&lpg=PA159&dq=social+class+and+choice+in+education&source=bl&ots=N2nK9-avmy&sig=xzu_XJ4ijJvMFtkWA0PPTjFXq1U&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ni1lVJjuCYqN7AarpYCoDg&ved=0CFgQ6AEwBzgK#v=onepage&q=social%20class%20and%20choice%20in%20education&f=true Read More