JordanClaireLindsay

EducationChangeandSocietyStudyPeriod52015

Whydoesequalaccesstoeducationnotleadtoequaloutcomesacrossallsocialgroups?Whatrole
doteachersplayinreproducingclassbasededucationalinequality?

AllchildrenwithinAustraliaarelegallyrequiredtoattendschool.Itistheirenrollmentintothe
educationsystem,whetheritbepublicorprivate,thattheyareabletoaccessanequaleducation,
howeverinrealitythisisnotalwaysthecase.Therearevariousfactorsthatmayinfluenceachilds
abilitytoreacheducationalachievementsatthesamelevelasthatofachildofthesameagefroma
differentbackgroundorattendingadifferentschool,someofthesefactorsmayincludeschool
funding,teacherqualityandthelargedisparitiesinstudentssocialbackgrounds.Thenotionof
equalityineducationhasbeenexploredbymanysociologistsoverthepastdecadeandvarious
definitionsandformulashavebeencreatedtoensurethatallstudentsareprovidedopportunitiesthat
aimtoassisttheminreachingtheirfulleducationalpotential(AustraliaIS&InstituteAC2011,pp.
3).Althoughvariousmeasuresareputinplacetoensurethatallstudentshaveequalaccessto
educationtherearestilllargenumbersofstudentswhoareleftunabletoreachtheseeducational
outcomes.
TheCouncilofAustralianGovernmentsdefineseducationaldisadvantageasoccurringwhenthe
beliefsofeducationarenotevenlydistributedwithinthepopulationandwheretheexpected
outcomesfromeducationdifferforparticulargroupsorindividuals(AustraliaIS&InstituteAC
2011,pp.4).Discrepanciesindefiningeducationalequalityarisewhenexploringvariousviewson
theissue.Whilesomegovernmentofficialsmayarguethatallstudentshaveequalaccessto
educationaloutcomesbecauseallstudentshaveaccesstoschooling,therearemanysociologists
whoarguethattheunquestionablefactorsworkingagainstmanystudentsstillneedtobeaddressed
andrectifiedinordertoreacheducationalequality.Studentsoflowsocioeconomicstatusare
reportedtomorelikelydisplaylowerlevelsofunderstandinginliteracy,numeracyand
comprehensionandarealsolikelytoexhibitlowerretentionratesandthereforedisplayhigherdrop
outrates(Considine2002,pp.92).LowSESstudentshavealsoconsistentlybeenfoundtoexhibit
problematicbehavioursatschoolandaremorelikelytohavedifficultyachievingtheresultsof
higherSESstudents(Considine2002,pp.92).Althoughthelifetrajectoriesofstudents,bothfrom
lowSESbackgroundsandhighSESbackgroundsareimpossibletopredict,therearearguablymany
influencesworkinginthefavourofthosebornintoahighSESfamily.

JordanClaireLindsay
EducationChangeandSocietyStudyPeriod52015

ChildrenbornintohighSESfamiliesarefoundtoundertakemoreenrichingandeducational
experiencesbeforeenteringtheschoolenvironmentandareexposedtogreaternumbersofwords
andcomplexsentenceswhichinfluencetheirreadingandcomprehensionabilitiesandhelptoboost
theiroverallreadinessforschool(Mascarenhas2011).Incomparison,lowSESparentsarefoundto
worklongerhoursandarethereforespendinglesstimewiththeirchildrenandunabletoprovide
themwithasmanystimulatinglearningexperiences,theirlongworkinghoursoftenalsoresultin
lesssupervisionanddisciplineofthechild(Considine2002,pp.92).Itisimportanttonotethat
studiesdemonstratethatdespitedifferencesinincomeandsituation,parentsfromallsocial
backgroundswantthebestfortheirchildren(Thompson2002,pp.4).
ItistheschoolsthatfamiliesoflowSESbackgroundsandfamiliesofhighSESbackgroundsare
financiallyabletoselectaseducationalprovidersfortheirchildrenthatalsohavealargeinfluence
ontheoutcomesthesechildrenachieve.TheAustralianEducationUnion(AEU)inareportreleased
in2011foundanincreaseinconcentrationofstudentsfromhighSESbackgroundsintoprivate
institutionsandstudentswithlowSESbackgroundsintothepublicsector(AustraliaIS&Institute
AC2011,pp.6).ItisthisconcentrationoflowSESchildrenintothepublicsectorandhighSES
childrenintotheprivatesectorthatonlyincreasesthedividebetweenthetwo.Ithasbeenfoundthat
studentsfromlowerSESbackgroundsareconcentratedintoparticularschoolsatahigherratethan
everbeforeandarethereforemorelikelytobeplacedinschoolsandclassroomswithsimilarlow
SESstudentswithlowerachievementandhigherbehavioralproblems,studentsarefoundtoreach
fewereducationaloutcomeswhenplacedinenvironmentslikethis(Mascarenhas2011).
Thelimitedfundingforpublicschoolsandtheincreaseinprivateschoolenrollmentshasledto
poorerresultsandahigherinequalitybetweenlowSESstudentsandhighSESstudents(Australia
IS&InstituteAC2011,pp.6).Thelargedisparitiesbetweenthetwohaveincreasedinrecentyears
onlyaccentuatingtheresultsbetweenboththepublicandprivatesectorsandinturnwideningthe
gapofopportunitiesfortheirstudents(Mascarenhas2011).TheAEUreportalarminglysuggests
thatthegapineducationaloutcomesbetweensocialgroupscanbeuptothreeyearsofschooling
(AustraliaIS&InstituteAC2011,pp.6).The2014report,IntergenerationalMobility:New
EvidencefromtheLongitudinalSurveysofAustralianYouth,publishedbytheNationalCentrefor
VocationalEducationResearch(NCVER)exploresthelimitedchangesanddevelopmentsinlow

JordanClaireLindsay
EducationChangeandSocietyStudyPeriod52015

SESstudentseducationalachievementssincethe1970s(NCVER2014).Theauthorsofthereport
arguethatdevelopmentsineducationandthemoneyandresourcesdirectedtolowSESschoolsand
familiesoverthistimeperiodshouldhavereducedtheinequalitiesthatwearefacingtoday
(NCVER2014).
The2008MelbourneDeclarationonEducationalGoalsforYoungAustraliansencouragesthe
governmenttopursuenotonlyequalityineducationbutalsoequaloutcomesforallstudentsand
holdsthemresponsiblefordeliveringhighqualityschoolingthatpromotessocialinclusionand
eradicatesnegativeoutcomesasaresultofdisadvantage(AustraliaIS&InstituteAC2011,pp.4).
Theroleoftheteacherhascomeunderscrutinyinrecentyearsandteachersareoftenblamedfor
thedisparitiesinresultsbetweensocialgroups.Teachersarefoundtobethebiggestinschoolfactor
influencingastudentsprogressionincourseworkandtheyarefoundtoberesponsibleforupto
30%ofdifferencesinstudentsachievements(AustraliaIS&InstituteAC2011,pp.15).LowSES
studentsarefoundtoholdaspirationsmuchlikehighSESstudentsbutmayhavelimited
understandingsofwaystorealiseandreachtheirgoals,itisclearthattheroleoftheteacherextends
beyondteachingcorecontenttoalsoassistinstudentsemotionaldevelopment(Bok2010,pp.163)
IthasbeenreportedthatschoolswithhighnumbersoflowSESstudentsstruggletoretainand
attractqualityexperiencedteachingstaffandbecauseofthisaremorelikelytohirebeginningand
inexperiencedteachers(Shafi2012).Learningenvironmentsinpublicschoolsaremuchlesslikely
tobeequippedwithfundingforqualityresourcesandfacilities,thereforeheighteningthe
inequalitiesinlearningbetweensocialgroupsandhighlightingtheimportanceofqualityteaching.
Itisalarmingtohearthatmostexperiencedteachersareworkinginschoolspopulatedwithmiddle
tohighSESstudentswhenitcouldbearguedthatlowSESstudentsaremostinneedoftheir
expertise(Mascarenhas2011).
Teachershavealsobeenknowntoemphasisethedisadvantagethatstudentsareexperiencing
throughsupportingclassstereotypes.Santorodescribesthatpreserviceteachersoftenhave
simplisticunderstandingsofstudentsculturesandbackgroundsandarethereforefoundtobe
enteringtheworkforcewithinsufficientskillsandunderstandingsinhowbesttoteachstudentsof
differingbackgroundstotheirown(Santoro2008,pp.1).Manyteachers,whethertheybepre
serviceorexperiencedoftenmakejudgmentsaboutastudentsabilitiesbasedontheirage,their
genderortheirsocialbackground.AteachermayexpectanAsianstudenttoperformatamore

JordanClaireLindsay
EducationChangeandSocietyStudyPeriod52015

advancedlevelinMathematicsthantheirnonAsianpeersorexpectamalestudenttoexcelin
TechnologyandPhysicalEducationovertheirfemalepeers,theseassumptionsarebasedupon
societiesexpectationsofdifferentsocialgroupsandnegativelyimpactthewaythesestudentslearn
(Thompson2002,pp.9).IfstudentsfromlowSESbackgroundsaretaughtwiththeteacher
assumptionthattheycannotachievethesameresultsasahigherSESstudentorateacherprovides
morecare,nurturingandsupporttosomestudentsoverothersthenthesestudentsarenotbeing
providedwithequalopportunitiestoeducationaloutcomes.Tasksthatateachermaysetfor
homeworkmayrequireinternetuse,oraccesstoagardenorsomethingunachievabletoalowSES
student,thisstudentisthereforedisadvantagedathomeandunabletosucceedinthetask.The
importanceofteacherknowledgeoftheirstudentsiscrucialinordertobestplanactivitiesto
strengthenstudentunderstandingandinturnleadtoeducationalsuccess.
Sociologistsarguethatinordertobestovercometheimpactofdisadvantageoneducationmore
needstobedonetoresourceschoolsinwaysthatwillbestmeettheneedsofeachindividualstudent
(AustraliaIS&InstituteAC2011,pp.7).Schoolsareareflectionofsocietyandhaveahuge
responsibilitytoaddressandminimisesocialdisadvantage,theabilitytoovercomethis
disadvantageismoreeffectivewhenschoolshaveaclearfocusonachievement,arewellresourced
andhavethecapacitytohirequalityteachers(AustraliaIS&InstituteAC2011,pp.3&12).
Studentsacrossthecountryandacrosstheworldshouldhaveanequalaccesstoeducationandan
equalchancetosucceed;theiracademicachievementsshouldnotbebaseduponthefamilytheyare
borninto.ItisclearthatmanystudentsfromlowSESbackgroundsarecurrentlydisadvantaged
withintheschoolsystemandarenotbeingnurturedandprovidedwithresourcesandteachers
necessarytoequallyachieve.Schoolsshouldbeencouragedtoprovidehighqualityschoolingto
theirstudentswhileaimingtoreducethenegativeimpactsofsocialbackgroundontheirabilityto
achieveacademically.
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JordanClaireLindsay
EducationChangeandSocietyStudyPeriod52015

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JordanClaireLindsay
EducationChangeandSocietyStudyPeriod52015

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JordanClaireLindsay
EducationChangeandSocietyStudyPeriod52015