Deprivation Of Family Life

Family Life

Children from working class backgrounds experience deprivation more than the higher classes; this can be linked to material deprivation. Lower income in a family means that there the children is less likely to have the same resources as the middle class counterparts. When a child experiences material deprivation it can have a huge impact on their educational experience. There is a lack of any resources not just books and IT but areas to study in the home and healthy foods. (Gibbons, 1989) Through not fault of there own, often, families with a lower socioeconomic status can struggle to provide educational support for their children. It is difficult for parents to create a learning environment at home with limited time and or financial

Mead stressed the importance of the early years to a Childs development and the importance of role play to gain social experience. This early development allowed the child to develop a sense a self; allowing them to be confident and self assured in later life and education. The children of the working class may not to be exposed to these vital early years’ experiences. Early start pre-school programmes develop skills in students which help them in later life; there is emphasis on learning to play. (Giddens, 1989) Bourdieu also suggests that success in later years depends on early experiences in life, children from middle classes have internalised the skills need for success early in life. Evidence from Perry pre-school programme and Carneiro and Heckman (2003) states the importance of early intervention for students from disadvantage backgrounds. The Rutland street project (1969) was the template for early start education for children in disadvantaged areas. The aims of these early start programme was to involve the importance of the early years to the working class students success after in life. The recent initiative of free pre-school has been helpful for children from varied backgrounds. (Education.ie,

The issue of socioeconomic class is fundamental to inequality in Irish schools. Students of a lower socioeconomic status often face additional challenges including a dearth of learning resources, difficult learning conditions and poor motivation that negatively affect their academic performance. According to Drudy, (2009) inadequate education and increased dropout rates affect children’s academic achievement, which results in a vicious cycle when affects the whole community. Improving school systems and early intervention programs may help to reduce these risk factors. As discussed the several early intervention programmes are in place to counteract the effect of social disadvantage and improve parental involvement while improving the students’ cognitive and language abilities. (Education.ie, 2015) Giving children and even break (2001) was established to better identify and target disadvantaged schools and provide them with additional teaching and financial resources. This policy also recognised impact of the teacher-student ratio. (Education.ie, 2015). The current action plan for addressing educational disadvantage is Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) which was launched in May 2005. This aim of this policy is to address and priorities the educational needs of children from disadvantaged backgrounds, from pre-school through to secondary school. It provides an integrated school support