Introduction
A number of sociological research has indicated that there is a big relationship between social-economic status and schooling. The social- economic class factors affect the academic performance in different dimensions. The greatly affected individuals are the ones with a low social economic status. The differences may come in terms of gender, ethnicity, housing type, unexplained absences and family income and geographic location. Most of the Australia students are affected by these factors in a way that their academic performance is reflected poorly. Both the social and economic factors have a unique and separate influence on the outcomes in their education. There is need for the Australian government to establish policies and programs that will aim at assisting lower class families to avoid the psychological distress among lower class students.
The students with a low social economic status are exposed to many risk factors in their school life. These include dropping out of school, repeating on a certain grade, suspension, expulsion, and placement into special education classes. The students from low SES are more prevalent to these risks compared to those with a higher SES. In Australia, many poor families are taken care o by single mothers who have low paying jobs hence balancing between parental care and responsibilities become very difficult. In a classroom setting, students with a low SES are always in worry and lacks confidence in tackling the issues that arises in class. Most of them feel depressed and discriminated against by students who come from highly placed countries. They do not highly participate in classroom activities and they appear dormant in class compared to students from rich families who are hyperactive and counter productive in discussions and debates.
The scholars that are associated with low SES will have fewer educational resources compared to the other groups. The students tend to start with a little preparation in school hence having a poor educational background. The students with a higher SES have an advantage to acquire an educational system that is more skillful and focused to deliver the best to the students. Schooling is also affected since the teachers from low SES are paid low salaries and allowances hence they are not motivated to impact knowledge to their students. This will lead to instances of low achievement and poor performance to their students. This will in future prevent the students from joining higher academic institutions therefore; they will miss undertaking degrees of a higher prestige.
The students with a low SES are linked to a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure. These students will often dress unattractive when compared their prestigious counterparts. This makes students to feel very shy in present of the other ones who are very smart. Their teachers will not find it easy to associate with them and this makes the students to have feelings of discrimination. The students’ starts feeling that they are not part of the class and this may affect their morale in being fully engaged in classroom activities. The ethnic minority groups are also looked down upon other groups as their rights are violated and breached according to the law.
Research has indicated that there is very close link between the prevailing socio-economic conditions and academic performance of a learner .Studies have indicated that children from low SES families perform dismally when compared to children from families which have high social status. Children from low SES families acquire academic skills more slowly than there counterparts from high SES households .Initial academic skills acquired by a child are correlated with the households and home environment. Low SES homes are associated with non-academic environments and poor academic parenting.
In Australia, research has shown that young people from low SES environments are more prone to distressing factors than students from high SES environments. Academic performance is directly link to psychology. Distressing factors have the overall effect of suppressing academic performance among learners. Schools in low SES neighborhoods also have few facilities and resources. This denies the schools to provide proper and quality education to young learners within its environs. Most schools located in neighborhoods characterized by low SES residents register low performance as compared to schools in high SES regions
Parenting differences in Australia also exist between the low SES households and high SES households. Parent involvement in education has great influence on academic performance of children .Parents from Low SES encourage their children to conform to the societal expectations while parents from high SES expect their children to be obedient without questioning. These differences promote self-confidence among students from high SES homes and uncertainty regarding life among the learners from low SES.
The prevailing socio-economic aspects of the society affect hoe people perceive objects and ideologies in life. The symbolic interactionist theory and Max Weber theory shares this common thought. According to the two theories general peoples’ perceptions about life and various aspects, objects and activities .For example, why would a learner take drugs, when there is enough evidence to show the adverse effects of drugs on education. The answer lies with the society. In environments where use of drugs is rampant, there is minimal condemnation attached to use of drugs. In this context, it is true to argue on basis of the two theories that the society shapes education and thus academic expectations.
In low SES environments in Australia, there is minimal importance attached to education by the society. In high SES environments, the society attaches too much importance to academic excellence and performance. This explains why students from high SES perform better than their counter parts from Low SES households. In high SES households’ students or learners have role models to look up to. This has great impact on their academic and educational ambitions. On the contrary, learners from low social economic status have few or no professional and elites to look up to .This again explain why academic expectations and ambitions among these students are low.
In the general overview, a wide and diverse range of socio-economic, cultural, and religious factors influence patterns of and responses to the students and the relevant stakeholders such as parents involved in the Strategies to prevent the various negatives issues affecting them from pursuing the various academic goals in the education life. In this essence since religious challenges pose a great diversity in the both the cultural social and the general economic nature of the students in the various institution s in the country. Hence in the general these issues need to be addressed amicably in the context that will help shape up the economy of the country both at the national level and the rural villages in the Australian country this is because when this pivotal issues are addressed in the educational level, social support and economic hardships will be met amicably and bring into the limelight over the same. Hence, education will act as a survival tactic that will help curb the above dynamics.
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