Clear Class Differences In Educational Achievement example essay topic

ANDRAGOGY ASSIGNMENT. Title:" Children at school often fail because they are subject to a prescribed re-gime of education, determined by adults (cf. John Holt). The Adult, however, en-t ering Higher Education enters a new experience of learning wherein there is a greater reliance on self".

Discuss". Lying on your back in the dark. Imagine! Imagine an educational system that does not discriminate against class, creed, age or ability. Imagine system that operates without political interference or control. Where the transfer of knowledge is a two way process.

A place where people congregate to experience from one another. A system that teaches love and the acquisition of knowledge. Not for power and control, but to admire, appreciate and sustain the beauty of this planet. Imagine!

This essay will suggest at the reasons why some children in edu-cation fail. Why Higher Education is suited for the adult learner and the varying concepts within education. It is suggested (Maro u, 1982) that throughout history societies have sought to educate their people. Philosophers have invariably recognised the educational value of intel-lec tual exploration and concrete experimentation. The term education has had a variety of definitions. The traditional view of education is that of a formal setting, to be carried out by the educational establish-ments.

Perhaps a more accurate view of education is that of a life long process that includes both formal instruction and the broad range of other experiences, including the media, relationships, peer groups and the family to mention but a few. These less formal educational experi-ences usually occupy more time and often exert much more powerful influences than the formal approach. There are a variety of approaches to formal education. Educa-tors have debated over different approaches since education as a con-cept was " developed in Egypt and Sumer as early as the beginning of the 3d millennium BC" (Marrow 1982) Conservative educators regard the teacher as the one who knows and the student as someone who does not know but needs to. Progressive educators regard the student's in-te rests as the beginning point in their education. The subject matter should consist of activities that enable the student to draw on their own experiences.

The humanistic educator perceives the student as an equal. The student is the best judge of his or he remotions, perceptions and experiences. The humanist educator, however, requires the student to check and verify this personal knowledge against the perceptions of others and the legacy of the past. This begs the question, which is the most appropriate educational approach for people in society To establish the best approach for an educational system it is necessary to consider the successes and failures of established educa-tional systems.

The difficulty with judging success and failure is that, a persons perception of success can be another persons perception of failure. The attempt to measure and compare the achievements and failures of cultural and social diverse individuals, has caused much dispute in educational circles (Sergeant 1975). However, statistics collated meas-using the final achievement of pupils from different social back-grounds, clearly indicates the success of the middle class culture in education. See table 1.

(Jackson 1952. Cited Sergeant 1975). Table 1. People in society have been known to refer to instances of the working class boy / girl becoming socially upwardly mobile. i.e. the 'rags to riches " story. However, such instances do not demonstrate that equality of opportunity in education exists.

No more than the fact that one doctor murders his wife indicates that doctor's wives are highly vulnerable to murder. An American sociologist Herbert H. Hyman discovered three main differ-ences between the working class and the middle-class value system: Members of the working class have a lower emphasis on education. They place lower value in occupational mobility. Finally, the working class believe that there is less opportunity for personal advancement.

One other factor in young people failing in education is money. A family on a low income will find it hard to provide their children with the same educational opportunities, as a family on a higher income. (Sergeant 1975). The statistics available from formal education in Britain clearly indicate that social class origins are strongly and clearly implicated in educational success or failure (Haralambos 1992). Jones, (1983) indicates that the educational system exists to sustain the status quo within society. The ruling classes dictate the educational systems and thus oppress the other social classes:" ... stressed the class character of the state institutions: they were there to defend and reproduce the existing order...

". (Jones 1983). A far reaching work on class and education has been under-taken by Halsey, Heath and Ridge, (1980). Halsey et. al.'s work is a study of over 8,500 males born between 1913 and 1947.

They consid-ered, amongst other things, a boy from the service class compared to a boy from the working class, a shaving a forty times greater chance of attending a Public School and a three times greater chance of attending a Grammar School. Halsey et. al. defines the 'service class' as profes-signals, administrators and managers and " working class' as manual and agricultural workers. They also found, a boy from the service class, compared to his working class peer, was four times as likely to be found at school at the age of sixteen, and ten times as likely at the age of eighteen. Although this study was of males only, Halsey et. al. maintained, that there is no evidence to suggest that class differences in education differ for females. (Halsey 1980).

Studies conducted by Halsey et. al. see Table 2, also found clear class differences in educational achievement. Halsey also spoke out in New Society:" ... the usefulness of education as a means of increasing equality of opportunity is now severely in question. Schools cannot accomplish important social reforms such as the democratisation of opportunity unless social reforms accompany the educational effort". (New Society, 1978). With these clear differ-ences highlighted in table 1 and table 2, the question arises: Why do young people from the lower class stratification fail in education Table 2. There are many factors contributing to young people from the lower class failing in education.

The most commonly used criteria is that of intelligence. (Haralambos 1992). The Education Act of 1944 established thetripartite system of education. Young people were streamed into three types of school.

The eleven plus intelligence test was used to determine which young person went to either the grammar, technical or secondary modern school. Educational psychologists, such as Sir Cyril Burt, were influential in establishing this system. Sir Cyril Burt's research appeared to show that intelligence was inherited and could be measured by a test. This helped develop the tripartite system with young people streamed into the school to suit their ability. Conse-quently more middle-class children gained places at the Grammar school.

Sir Cyril Burt's research was latter discredited bythe Government, as much of it had been fabricated. This led to thetripartite system to be slowly dis-banded and replaced by the comprehensive educational system. (Haralambos 1992). The comprehensive educational system developed rapidly in Britain"; ... Britain has been won by the comprehensive idea: Comprehensive now take 80% of all state secondary pupils...

". (New Society, 1978). Researchers argue that IQ tests are biased in favour of the middle classes. This is due to the fact that the tests are constructed by and standardised on distinct members of this group. To collaborate this theory OttoKlineberg, a Canadian psychologist, has performed a number of experiments around the world. An example is that of the Yakima Indian children who live in the Washington State.

They were asked to place objects into the irrespective holes in a block of wood. All completed the task in a relatively simple manner. However, they would have failed the test as the allotted time had expired. Otto found that the Yakima culture did not put a great emphasis on speed. (Haralambos 1992). This and similar research help prove that IQ tests are a un reli-able way to measure a cultural and socially diverse society.

However, in 1987 the Government decided to introduce a new form of intelligence test which has developed over recent years, to much opposition from educators:" Children will be tested at seven, eleven, fourteen and sixteen, and ten foundation subjects will leave little time for 'clutter' - like peace studies - if legislation outlined yesterday for a national curriculum goes through". (Guardian, 1987). A.S. Neill argues that intelligence should not be tested and the young person should be allowed to develop to the level he or she wish to achieve: "Summerhill is a place in which people who have the innate ability and wish to be scholars will be scholars; while those who are only fit to sweep the street will sweep the streets. But we have not pro-duced a street-cleaner so far". (Neill, 1960).

The main body of this discussion has been the economic and social issues affecting educational achievement. These are fundamental factors which add to the prescribed regime of education. The other ingredient is that of the style of teaching. The statistics examined above all relate to the narrative approach to education.

Where, as Paulo Freire states"; Narration leads the students to memorise mechanically the narrated content. Worse still, it turns them into 'containers', into receptacles tobe filled by the teacher. The more completely he fills the receptacles, the better a teacher he is. The more meekly the receptacles permit themselves to be filled, the better the student they are".

(Freire P. 1972). This is the 'banking' concept of education, where the young person has little control and less input into their education. There are many theories and practices on 'progressive educa-tion. ' The intellectual origins of which stem back to 1762, with Jean Jacques Rousseau, being the principle critic of 18th century rational-ism.

Rousseau argued", the spontaneous impulses of children were healthy and should not be repressed by adult demands for emotional restraint, intellectual precision, and social conformity". (Grolier, 1993.) This romantic naturalism provided a justification for such educators as, F.W.A. Froebel, founder of the first kindergarten. J.F. Herbart, who studied the psychology of children and suited instruction to their needs. (Grolier, 1993). By the 1930's experimental school's like Summerhill, had developed over the world. Summerhill is a coeducational primary and secondary school, established by. S. Neil in 1921 in Lewiston, Suffolk. Students are free to study what theywish or not to study at all.

Neil (1961) wrote; Chil-dren find out for themselves what they need to know, they learn at a rapid rate and are therefore in a position to catch up fairly quickly with the others. The students are able to do as they wish as long as they do not interfere withthe freedom or safety of others. Neil measures the success of a school bythe happiness of its 'alumni'. Summerhill is governed by an assembly in which each student and teacher has one vote. With these different styles of " progressive education' there is a great reliance on self motive-tion. Thesis similar to the adult educational system.

Within the adult educational system, liberal or open pedagogy sees learning as a process and not just the acquisition of specific knowledge. For this to develop the person receiving the education is required to fulfil a number of criterion. The student must be intrinsically motivated, accept personal responsibility and possess life experiences. Entwistle, (1983) wrote older learners are likely to have 'strong personal interests in studying' which require utilisation of 'life experience' and 'idiosyncratic interest'. This statement collaborates the research undertaken by Lan-caster University, 'The Gothenburg Studies.

' (Entwistle and Ramsden, 1983). Until recently, little work had been carried out to test qualitative differences in learning among older people specifically. However, there search that has been undertaken by Lancaster University indicates that: This form of educa-tion is well suited to the older person as it enables them to re-define, re-interpret and re-evaluate themselves. The use of a closed pedagogical system would not give the freedom to the learner to define, self!

The older adult entering this system does have the means for effective learn-ing. However the educator must be sensitive to the needs ofthe adult. Each adult will have variations in learning as a result oflife-time habits and preferences or as a consequence of a particular stage oflife. (Brookfield 1983).

The whole tenor of the above indicates a view about adult education and an attitude to adult learning. Thorpe, (1993) clarifies this 'attitude' to ANDRAGOGY:" ... the various roles of adult life are inevitable and people must learn to cope with them as they arise; and the adult education agencies, if theywish to be successful, should gear their marketing and instructional activities to cater for the different needs of adults at different life-stages... ". (Thorpe, 1993). In conclusion, it may be suggested that the educational status of an individual is largely determined by the method of teaching and self perception coupled with an individuals social and economic background. Imagine!

Imagine a system that operates without political interference or control. Imagine an educational system as an utopian ideal rather that an educational system as a reality.