Achievement ideology is the sociological belief that anyone can reach success through schooling and hard work. Closely tied to the concept of the American Dream, this ideology is criticized for leading lower-class students to equate poor academic performance with a lack of natural talent. Consequently, it obscures systemic disadvantages and encourages individuals to readily accept their lower social class status.

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- Achievement Ideology
- Cultural Capital
- Linguistic Capital 
- Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory 

Reproduction of Inequalities in the School System

- Linguistic Capital refers to language resources people are exposed to depending on how they grew up
- Upper and middle class children are more likely to be exposed to more expressive language that is unique and perspective dependent 
- Lower class children are more likely to be exposed to more restricted language that uses local conventions
- Schools are noted to reward the explicit language culture that upper class children have 

Language Capital in Schools

Theory that there are multiple different levels to a child's development 
- Microsystem 
- Mesosystem 
- Exosystem 
- Macrosystem 
- Chronosystem 

Brofenbrenner's Ecological System Theory 

Achievement Ideology

In school systems, cultural capital—such as the linguistic and behavioral styles of middle- and upper-class families—is systematically rewarded. While affluent families socialize their children with expectations of academic and economic success, working-class families often lack these institutional advantages. Because schools value and reward the cultural capital of the dominant class, they reinforce existing social hierarchies, often socializing working-class children for low-wage labor and reproducing socioeconomic inequalities.

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