School Achievement and Social Backgrounds of Families

Résumé du document

Sociology of education has remained one of the main fields of sociology, since the 19th century. Subject to various controversies, many famous authors, like Durkheim or Bourdieu, have developed theories to show the function of a school within society and the link that could exist between the achievement in school achievement and the student's social background. The question of knowing whether or not there is a real democratization of the education systems in the developed world is not new. The theme of school and social equality or inequality has been a recurring topic in sociology of education for more than thirty years. The problems we address must be regarded from a comparative point of view, in time and space. Many people regard the social background of families as the key to a child's success in school. The social background is often seen as a crucial factor in school achievement. However, is it possible to give statistical backbone to the view that the key factor in how well children do is actually the social class they belong to? Is the common hypothesis that individuals from a higher socio-economic class are likelier to achieve academic success than individuals from a lower socio-economic class really true?

Extraits

[...] There is a kind of social viscosity. School achievement and social backgrounds of families: empirical data in france and the united kingdom FRANCE According to many researches, France's education system seems to be failing to reduce social inequalities, one of its major objectives. Although more young people now stay on at school, pupils from working class and middle- class families often opt for courses that widen rather than diminish their social differences. Equality of opportunity is also quite low: pupils from the higher socio-economic classes tend to attend the best schools, having the best opportunities to get a high diploma, while pupils from a lower social background are forced to enrol for the worst schools. [...]

[...] School Achievement and Social Backgrounds of Families Introduction Sociology of education has remained one of the main fields of sociology, from the 19th century to today. Subject to various controversies, many famous authors, like Durkheim or Bourdieu, have developed theories to show the function of school within society and the link that could exist between school achievement and social background. The question of knowing whether or not there is a real democratisation of education systems in the whole developed world is not new. [...]

[...] To be concrete, the words ‘brilliant', ‘subtle' and ‘intelligent' are more frequently used to describe the essays of students whose parents are themselves teachers or self-employed businesspersons. Middle-class-students are qualified with the words ‘fair' or ‘awkward'. The lower classes are the most severely qualified. The most famous criticism of Bourdieu's theories on the relationship between school achievement and social background is that of Raymond Boudon, who also studied social inequalities in school. Both agree on the fact that school is not neutral: it reproduces social inequalities, school achievement being determined by social background. [...]

[...] For Bourdieu, school has a hidden social function of reproducing social inequalities. Bourdieu's and Passeron's studies on school showed that school was ruled by a false “ideology of the school makes the students, parents and teachers believe that pupils who succeed in school are gifted. Yet, in fact, school achievement does not result from inborn qualities, but, on the contrary, from skills that have been acquired in the social background of the family pupils were born in. Thus, pupils from the upper socio-economic classes acquire a certain familiarity with cultural requirements in a school which, in fact, rewards the legitimate culture of the dominant groups, the ruling classes. [...]

[...] In of the children in year 11 in the UK with parents in higher professional occupations achieved five or more A to C grades in the GCSE exam. This is more than double the proportion of children with parents in routine occupations (32 There is indeed a real gap in GCSE attainment levels, according to parental socio-economic group. And this gap increased since the 1990s, just like in France a few years earlier. In of the children with parents in managerial or professional occupations attained five or more GCSE grades A to C in the UK. [...]