Key Findings:
This policy brief focuses on findings of the Children’s School Lives Study in relation to the impact of social background on children’s primary school experience. Key findings include:
- One quarter of children in CSL primary schools are poor. Many of these are in non-DEIS schools.
- Children’s parallel childhoods of wealth and poverty influences their aspirations, their learning, their self-esteem and their wellbeing.
- Primary schools play a key role in supporting both the welfare and wellbeing of children from poor families.
- High levels of engagement and focused learning are evident in both DEIS and non-DEIS schools.
- The academic self-concept of children from poor families declines as they progress through primary school.
- Children from poor families are most likely to be placed in lower ability groups.
- Poverty impacts the worry and anxiety levels of younger children.
- By 5th and 6th class, challenges arise in engaging children with complex social needs over the long term.
Why social inequality in primary school matters
The Children’s School Lives Study (CSL; 2018–2023) is Ireland’s first mixed methods longitudinal cohort study of primary education. Funded by the NCCA it tracked 4000 children annually over five years in 189 primary schools. In addition in-depth qualitative research was conducted with 254 children from 12 of these schools, alongside interviews with their teachers and principals. Research was also conducted annually with 28 case study families. Over the five years of the study, data was generated on all aspects of children’s primary school experience, including school and classroom cultures, equality and wellbeing.
A key focus ofthe CSL longitudinal study is to understand the factors which influence children’s learning in primary schools. This is a pivotal stage in a child’s life, laying a foundation for their long-term development. Children’s engagement with learning is shaped by the resources available to support them, which include material resources, such as access to nutritious food, suitable clothing, and stable housing. It also includes access to social and cultural resources, including family and community support networks and knowledge of the education system. Access to these resources are influenced by levels of poverty and wealth, profoundly affecting children’s self-esteem, academic performance and future aspirations. This policy brief highlights key findings from CSL Report 8a related to the impact of social background on children’s primary school lives.
Levels of poverty and wealth among children in CSL primary schools:
26% of children in the Children’s School Lives Study are classified as poor (low affluence) while 20% are classified as well-off.
FIGURE 1. Aggregate percentage of family affluence (Cohorts A & B)
Social inequality is not however confined to DEIS schools. 13% of children in DEIS schools are well-off while 18.5% in non DEIS schools are considered poor.
FIGURE 2. Aggregate percentages of family affluence and DEIS status (Cohorts A & B)
Children’s parallel childhoods in school communities
Case studies in the most marginalised communities highlighted the impact of poverty, urban degradation and of social stigma:
Girl: Yeah, there’s not much to do around here. They’ve burned down all the playgrounds. (6th class, DEIS, Co-Ed, Urban)
Teacher: … there would be a stigma attached around the area, that it’s working class. The people here are great, but people from the outside don’t know, they just see the drugs, the crime … people would be jumping to conclusions. (6th class, DEIS, All-boys, Urban)
Principal: We’ve a number of homeless children.… We find that their nutrition is a real concern for us. If they come to school with no lunch, as they often do, or if they come with a very nutritionally limited lunch. (Non-DEIS, Co-Ed, Rural)
A parallel world was identified for children who came from more well-off families, including greater participation in social and learning activities outside of school.
FIGURE 3. Children’s participation in informal learning activities by family affluence (Sometimes/Often) (Cohort B, 2019)
Girl: I have a tutor for Maths on Monday, so in school, say if I …didn’t know how to do something that they taught us…my tutor comes over to my house to help me with my Maths (6th class, Non-DEIS, Co-Ed, Urban)
Mother: And then we are coming to it from a position of privilege.… So, if our kids are willing to do anything, they will always be able to make money in society as we have it now.… I know that I am really privileged to be able to say, listen,…You can study whatever you want to study because you can always pay the bills … (6th class, Non-DEIS, Co-Ed, Urban)
Children from more well-off households are more likely to express plans to attend college or university.
FIGURE 4. “Do you plan to attend college/university after post-primary school?” by family affluence (Cohort B, 2023)
The impact of social inequality on children’s wellbeing and self-esteem
Children in DEIS schools report greater levels of worry and anxiety about their lives in 2nd class, that was reiterated in our interviews with principals and teachers:
Principal: I think there’s an awful high level of anxiety at home … sometimes children pick up on that and come into school having had, say, some, you know, some anxiety, either they experienced it, or they’ve witnessed it on behalf of parents … I think parents are put to the pin of their collar [with the cost of living] to meet additional costs across the board. And I think children are seeing that. (DEIS, Co-Ed, Rural Town)
FIGURE 5. Worry and anxiety by DEIS status (Usually/Always) (Cohort A, 2023)
The academic self-concept of children from poorer families shows a marked decline as they progress from 2nd to 6th class:
FIGURE 6. “I do well in my classwork” (Usually/Always) by family affluence (Cohort B: 2nd – 6th class)
Primary schools are key providers for both the welfare and wellbeing of children in poverty. This came to the fore during the Covid 19 pandemic.
Mother: If it wasn’t for the schools the kids would be nowhere. They would have nothing. (DEIS, All-boys, Urban)
Principal: Last year I would have had two children who became homeless and the year before, one, and really nobody knew about it, but we supported the parents by … making sure the kids had breakfast … obviously making sure all the books and all that, giving them a [travel] card to make sure they could come, offering the washing machine in the morning and that sort of thing. And, two mothers in particular, have managed to sort themselves out now. (Non-DEIS, All-girls, Urban)
The impact of social inequality on children’s learning
Children from poorer families are more often placed in lower ability reading (Figure 7) and mathematics groups (Figure 8), especially in the earlier years of primary school.
FIGURE 7. Ability grouping in reading by family affluence (Cohort A: Snr Infants – 2nd class), Percentage Lowest Ability Group)
FIGURE 8. Ability grouping in maths by family affluence (Cohort A: Snr Infants – 2nd class, Percentage Lowest Ability Group)
Systematic observations of classrooms over the period of the study confirmed focused learning environments and high levels of children’s engagement across both DEIS and non DEIS schools. However, teachers in DEIS schools, particularly in senior classes, are more likely to focus on managing behaviour through disciplinary measures. Challenges in engaging and retaining children with complex social needs over the long term were clearly evident.
FIGURE 9. Teacher’s classroom behaviour management by DEIS status (Agree/Strongly Agree) (Cohorts A & B)
Conclusions
The Children’s School Lives Study illustrates how primary schools serve as mirrors to the broader society, reflecting the structural dynamics of social inequality through changing patterns of poverty and prosperity over the study’s five years. The findings draw attention to the impact of social inequality on the educational trajectories of children evident in the gradual decline over time in academic confidence among children from the poorest families, and in their placement in lower ability groups. Teachers also drew distinctions between children from the poorest families and more well-off families in terms of long term retention and opportunity in the education system.
Such findings raise questions over the realisation of the educational rights of children from poorer families within the primary school system. Further attention is needed on how to engage children with complex social needs in the classroom and to ensure that teachers and principals, as well as their parents, are fully supported in doing so. A focus is also required on the impact of wider social and economic policies on children’s everyday lives and how these shape their ability to engage with and benefit from the primary school system.
Copies of the full report here: CSL-Report-Number-8a-Equalities.pdf (www.cslstudy.ie)
References
Crean, M; Devine, D; Moore, B; Martinez-Sainz, G; Symonds, J; Sloan, S, Farrell, E. (2023) Social class, COVID-19 and Care: Schools on the front line in Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic. British Journal of Sociology of Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2023.2174077
Devine, D; Ioannidou, O; Sloan, S; Martinez-Sainz, G; Symonds, J; Bohnert, M; Greaves, M; Moore, B; Smith, K; Crean, M; Davies, A; Jones, M; Barrow, N; Crummy, A; Gleasure, S; Samonova, E; Smith, A; Stynes, H; Donegan, A (2024) Report 8a: Equalities in Children’s School Lives: the Impact of Social Background, UCD School of Education, UCD, Dublin.
Donegan, A; Devine, D; Martinez-Sainz, G; Symonds, J; Sloan, S. (2023) Children as co-researchers in pandemic times: Power and participation in the use of digital dialogues with children during the COVID-19 lockdown. Children & Society, 37(1),235–253. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12665
Gleasure, S., Devine, D., Martinez Sainz, G., Sloan, S., Crean, M., Moore, B., Symonds, J (2024). “This is Where the Care Can Step Up”: A Typology of Nurturing Pedagogies in Primary Schools Serving Low-Income Communities During COVID-19 Closures. Early Childhood Education Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-024-01636-6
Martinez Sainz, G., Devine, D., Sloan, S., Symmonds, J., Moore, B., Barrow, N., Crean, M., Donegan, A., Greaves, M., Samonova, E., Gleasure, S. & Ioannidou, O. (2024). A rights-based exploration of children’s pedagogic voice in the classroom. Education 3-13, 0(0), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2024.2331953
Murphy, G. & Devine, D. (2023) Sensemaking in and for times of crisis and change: Irish primary school principals and the COVID-19 pandemic. School Leadership and Management. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2022.2164267
Tobin, E., Sloan, S., Symonds, J. & Devine, D. (2022) Family–school connectivity during transition to primary school. Educational Research, 64, 3, 277-294. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2022.2054451