Class Conflict Essay Example for Free

Class dispute EssayIntroductionThis essay aims to examine the extent to which retrace contravene affects study and spiritedness opportunities. The followers paragraphs seek to illustrate how factors such(prenominal) as elucidate beat and pargonntal attitudes affect pedagogics and keep opportunities among different cordial classes and the eng bestride custodyt that lies between them. In order to understand the substance of this essay it is prototypic necessary to understand all of the possible variables involved. Throughout this essay I will examine the definitions of class, conflict, education and luck. The main body of the essay seeks to highlight the reason as to why plurality are members of sure classes and the effects this has on their chances for education and biography opportunities, using the example of education in Britain. In conclusion, a brief synopsis of class conflict will be given and considerations of some of the reasons why this occurs. In answer ing the question through the use of an example from the complaisant context in which class conflict effects education and life opportunities this essay aims to highlight how the conflict between classes effect a psyches right to an education and equal life opportunities.Class, Conflict, Education, OpportunityIn order to understand the content of this essay it is first necessary to understand all of the possible variables involved. Norman Goodman defines class as a term widely used in sociology to differentiate the population on grounds of economic considerations such as inequalities in terms of wealth or income (Goodman, 1992).In support of this the Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines conflict as an incompatibility between opinions (2004). In light of these two afore custodytioned definitions Karl Marx argues that class conflict is not only inherent but inevitable in spite of appearance capitalism (Goodman, 1992).Education can be defined as the theory and practice of teachi ng (2004). To once again quote from the Concise Oxford English Dictionary an opportunity is a favourable time or set of circumstances for doing something (2004).Why do we stomach social classes?Ultimately social classes are based on economic factors. Dating back to Victorian times, lower, shopping centimeer and upper classes existed. The lower classes would hire been made up of the landless labourers. Middle classes would have included the tradesmen i.e. people with a professional skill/qualification such as a blacksmith. Finally the upper classes would have consisted of the large farmers and business owners. The upper classes would traditionally employed people from the lower classes to run their farms or businesses. Although we have moved on since Victorian times, this social divide hasnt changed lots. There still remains nowadays a prominent divide between the lower middle and upper class people. This can be seen now within the terce level education in present days. Due to the economic crisis we are currently experiencing, less and less people are able to afford the luxury of a third level education. Sadly this is hitting the lower and working classes the hardest.Due to government cutbacks grants are world chop leaving the less fortunate members of our society starved for nevertheless education. How does the conflict between different social classes effect education and life opportunities? As mentioned in the introduction class position and maternal(p) attitudes lead a vital role in the effect that class conflict has on education and life opportunities. It has been proven that class position has a huge effect on enkindleal attitudes in acquiring involved with their childrens school lives. A.Lareau outlines erectal involvement as preparing children for school (Lareau, 2000) , this includes assisting the child in learning the alphabet, speaking and reading stories to the child. This is to promote language development. Also parents should attend school event such as parent teacher meetings and comply with the requests teachers make of parents in furthering a childs education. School mastery is positively subsumeed with parental involvement (Lareau, 2000).Through research it has been proven that a lack of parental involvement is not random and that social classes have a powerful influence on parent involvement patterns (Lareau, 2000).For example, between forty and sixty per cent of working and lower-class parents fail to attend parent teacher conferences. For middle-class parents these figures are nearly halved, i.e., about twenty to thirty per cent. (Lightfoot1978, et al.). This is also proven reliable when we turn to the promotion of language development. These areas include reading to children, taking children to the library, attending school events and enrolling children in summertime school (Lareau, 2000). Middle class parents were shown to take a more active role in knowledge than the parents of middle and lower class children. Originally to enter the second-string educational system in Britain a fee had to be paid. It was privately organised and based on differentiation along lines of social class (McCulloch, 1998).The working and lower classes were only obliged to attend elementary education. Secondary education was intended altogether for the wealthier middle class. The very wealthy and sons of landowners attended the nine great schools of Eaton, HarrowMerchant Taylors and St. Pauls (Sally Power, 2003), these were originally called public schools. Within the middle class there was a differentiation in the line of secondary education. This was shown by the Taunton Commission of the 1860s. Schools were divided into 3 categories depending on their clientele. The first group was catered for the sons of professional men, men in business (whose profits put them on the same level as the great majority of professional men (McCulloch, 1998)).This grade continued to the age of 18 or more.The se cond grade was much broader in its general curriculum than the first. This continued till the age of 16 and catered for the sons of large shopkeepers, rising men of business and the larger tenant farmers (McCulloch, 1998) .The third group catered for the distinctly lower scale such as small tenant farmers, small tradesman and superior artisans. This grade continued only till the age of 14. Gradually, however, access to secondary education was widened. The 1902 Act introduced a scholarship route which enabled intelligent products of elementary education to proceed to free places in secondary education (Roberts, 1977). Then, all children, with exception of approximately five per cent whose parents desired and could afford an independent education (Roberts, 1977), were given an equal opportunity with entry to different types of secondary schools that were introduced.This depended solely on their performances in an impartial selection procedure that became known as the eleven-plus (Robe rts, 1977). At this time (1944) it was believed that society had reached equality in terms of secondary education and that each child was the producer of their own destiny depending only on their own accomplishments and hard work and not upon the socio-economic status of their parents. Now, barely it is common knowledge that the 1944 Act was not successful as government reports showed that a strong link remained between childrens educational attainments and their social class origins (Roberts, 1977).Investigation showed that, in what was meant to be an equal opportunity of education for all, working class children seemed to fall at every hurdle. Social class was shown to be related to the allocation of children in primary school streams, their achievement in the eleven-plus selection procedures, the streams towards which they gravitated within secondary schools (Roberts, 1977), their chances of remaining in education passed the statutory age and also their resulting chances of ent ering higher education. accordingly affecting their chance of employment in their future life which would enable them to support their family and hence being amore active member of the society in which they live.ConclusionTo conclude, from my research I do believe that class conflict has an effect on education and life opportunities as mentioned above parental attitudes and class position can have a devastating effect on a childs life but it can also have a positive effect. This is down to where ones family lies in the class structure. Trends show that many members of lower classes do not succeed in education as much as the members of the wealthier middle classes. This lack of success in education is often presents itself in further life.Bibliography2004. Concise Oxford English Dictionary. s.l. Oxford University Press , 2004. Goodman, Norman. 1992. Introduction to Sociology. New York Harper Perennial, 1992. Lareau, Annette. 2000. Home Advantage. Maryland Rowman Littlefield Publ ishers , 2000. Lightfoot1978, Ogbu1974, McPherson1972 and Galen1987, Van.McCulloch, Gary. 1998. Failing the public Child ? Buckingham exposed University Press, 1998. Roberts, Cook, Clark, Semeonoff,. 1977. The Fragmentary Class Structure. London Heinemann Educational Books Ltd, 1977. Sally Power, Tony Edwards, Geoff Whitty ,Valerie Wigfall. 2003. Education and the Middle Class. Buckingham Open University Press, 2003.