1. purpose of education & perspectives (e)

Question 1

what are some types of schools?

Answer 1

-state school
-private school
-academy
-grammer school
-SEC school
-church schools
-alternative provision
-pupil referal unit

Question 2

what are the levels of education?

Answer 2

-early years and foundation stage=nursery 0-4 years, reception 4-5 years
-primary school= year 1 to 3 5-8 years, keystage 2 8-11 years
-secondary school= year7-9 11-14 years, year 10-11 14-16 years
-further education= sixth form, college, t-levels, apprenticeship
-higher education= bachelors degree, masters degree, doctorate

Question 3

what are some factors affecting the choice of school?

Answer 3

-parental experiences= positive/negative experience
-personal beliefs= religious may be sent to church schools
-economic factors= can/cant afford private school
-geographic factors= private schools mostly in south
-availability= limited places to send child
-personal needs= SEN schools, military families may go to private schools to avoid interuption

Question 4

what would society be like without education?

Answer 4

-lots of poverty
-increased crime rates
-disease
-unhygienic
-homelessness
-no health service
-food shortage
-no technology
-no learning ability

Question 5

what are the functions of education?

Answer 5

-teaches language
-keep death rate low
-educating damages of crime
-prevents illness
-how to socialise
-different cultures
-sense of purpose

Question 6

what is every child matters of 2004?

Answer 6

-dfe released ecm which is gov initiative that applied to well-being of children & young ppl to age of 19
-5 key principles to policy which gov believed children should have support with:
*be healthy
*stay safe
*enjoy and achieve
*positive contribution
*economic well-being

Question 7

what is the hidden curriculum?

Answer 7

-unwritten rules, values & normative patterns of behaviour that children are expected to conform to and learn while in school
-normally contrasted to the ‘formal’ curriculum which consists of specific subjects and lessons promoted by gov and exam boards

Question 8

what did Emile Durkheim say about the role and function of education?

Answer 8

2 main functions
-promotes social solidarity- binds people together by teaching students norms and values of society
-prepares students for work- education equips individuals with the specialist skills needed to participate in work in modern society

Question 9

what does Talcott Parsons say about the role and functions of education?

Answer 9

-sees school as ‘focal socialising agency’ in modern society, acting as bridge between family & wider society
-school teaches everyone universalistic standards
-in school and wider society, a persons status is achieved not ascribed
-meritocracy= individual achievement: achieve your status through their won efforts. equal opportunity: everyone has opportunity to reach their full potential

Question 10

what did Davis and Moore say about the role and function of education?

Answer 10

-schools perform function of selecting and allocating pupils to their future work roles
1. some ppl naturally more talented
2. for society to function, most talented ppl need most complex jobs
3.higher rewards offered for more complex jobs
4. compete for jobs equally. most talented get best qualifications

Question 11

what did Theodore Schultz say about the role and function of education?

Answer 11

-function of education is to teach specialist skills
-production of singe item involves cooperation of many specialists. cooperation promotes social solidarity.
-education teaches individual specialist knowledge to play their part in social division of labour
-education system ensures most talented & qualified ppl end up in jobs that match their skills

Question 12

what are some evaluation points for the role and function of education views?

Answer 12

-wolf review of vocational education 2011 claims high quality apprenticeships are rare, up to a third of 16-19 yr olds are on courses that dont lead to higher education
-equal opportunity in education doesnt exist
-functionalists see education as process that instills shared values of society, marxists argue education in capitalist transmits ideology of minority

Question 13

what are some similarities between New Right & Functionalism?

Answer 13

-both believe some ppl naturally more talented than others (davis & moore)
-both believe education should be meritocratic + based on competition (parson)
-both believe education prepares students for work (durkheim)
-both believe education socialises ppl to share values (durkheim)

Question 14

what is the New Right perspective on role and function of education?

Answer 14

-don’t believe current system is achieving its goals due to it being run by state
-takes a ‘one size fits all’ approach, imposing uniformity local consumers who use school have no say
-unresponsive and inefficient
-schools that get poorer results aren’t answerable to consumers

Question 15

what did Chubb and Moe say about role & function of education?

Answer 15

-argue state education failed in US because:
*not created equal opportunities & failed needs of disadvantaged groups
*failed to produce pupils with skills needed by economy
*private schools deliver higher quality education, answerable to paying consumers
*education system run by state, so same for everyone
*propose system where family would be given voucher to spend on buying education for school

Question 16

what are some evaluations of the voucher for school?

Answer 16

-some schools would go out of business very fast
-schools may be selective of who they let in based on the amount of voucher
-state paying for vouchers

Question 17

what is the role of the state?

Answer 17

-state imposes framework on schools within which they have to compete. state gives parents info to make more informed choices between schools
*schools transmit shared culture, impose single national curriculum, socialise pupils into single cultural heritage
*New Right believe education should affirm national identity. oppose multicultural education that reflects cultures of different minority groups in Britain

Question 18

what are some evaluations points of new right perspective?

Answer 18

-Gerwitz (1995) and Ball (1994) argue competition between schools benefits m/c
-critics argue real cause of low educational standards is not state control but social inequality
-contradiction between New Rights support for parental choice on the one hand and state for imposing compulsory national curriculum on all its schools on the other
-marxists argue that education doesn’t impose a shared national culture

Question 19

what is the marxist perspective on education?

Answer 19

-marxists see society and education as based on class division and capitalist exploitation
-creates potential for class conflict
*workers may demand higher wages
*workers may demand higher working conditions
*workers may demand abolition of capitalism
-marx believed proletariat would overthrow capitalist system

Question 20

what did louis althusser say about education?

Answer 20

-the repressive state apparatus: state uses force to stop rebellion
- the ideological state apparatus: ‘brainwashing’ parts of society that help you believe in capitalist ideas such as meritocracy
-more effective the ISA is, the less the RSA is needed

Question 21

how is education and ideological state apparatus?

Answer 21

reproduction of social inequality:
-education engineers w/c failure in order to create an unqualified factory workforce
-private education prepares children of elite for positions of power
-hidden curriculum shapes to assist m/c achievement.
legitimisation of social inequality:
-m/c has access to more cultural and economic capital which puts them at an advantage
-education encourage students to blindly accept capitalist values

Question 22

what did Bowles and Gintis say about schooling in capitalist America?

Answer 22

-believe the purpose of school is to reproduce an obedient workforce that will accept inequality as inevitable
-concluded schools reward kind of personality traits that make for a submissive, compliant worker
-believe this occurs through hidden curriculum

Question 23

how does the education system maintain capitalism?

Answer 23

-correspondence principle- school mirrors world of work in order to prepare students
-myth of meritocracy- belief that if you work hard you will achieve educational, social and economic success

Question 24

what is the correspondence principle?

Answer 24

-Bowles and Gintis argue that are close parallels between schooling and work in capitalist society; both have hierarchies- ppl at top making decision and ppl at bottom obeying
-parallels are examples of correspondence principle
-operates through hidden curriculum
-Phil Cohen argues that young ppl’s aspirations are lowered through school so they’ll accept low paid work
-hierarchy among teachers reflects hierarchy in workplace

Question 25

what is the myth of meritocracy?

Answer 25

-Bowles and Gintis believe education helps prevent poor rebelling against capitalist system- by producing ideologies that explain why inequality is fair
-Bowles and Gintis argue meritocracy doesn’t exist
-evidence shows that main factor determining whether or now someone has high income is their family + class background
-justifies privileges of higher classes, making it seem they gained them through succeeding in open and fair competition at school
-helps to persuade the working class to accept inequality

Question 26

what did Paul Willis say about marxist perspective on education?

Answer 26

-criticises Bowles and Gintis, believes w/c atudents don’t passively accept system , know they’re set up to fail
-argues students see through myth of meritocracy, form counter-school subcultures where they go against school rules
-end result is same as Bowles and Gintis theory, boys still fail and become servants to capitalism

Question 27

what did Pierre Bourdieu say about marxist perspectives on education?

Answer 27

-habitus- tastes, attributes of individual
-field- cultural framework of specific context
-cultural capital- value persons cultural knowledge has within field
-m/c habitus given symbolic capital
-w/c disadv. subject to symbolic violence

Question 28

what are some criticisms of Pierre Bourdieu?

Answer 28

-functionalists suggest education is meritocratic
-socialised into value consensus (skills are needed to achieve)
-student acquire cultural capital throughout their education

Question 29

what is the hawthorne effect?

Answer 29

-ppl behave differently when they know theyre being watched
-ethical weakness=willis saw boys be racist + homophobic & didnt stop it
-sample size was only 12 meaning it isnt representative

Question 30

what is fordism?

Answer 30

-low-skilled work on mass production assembly lines. known as fordism bc ford motor company was 1st to introduce it
-marxists such as bowles & gintis see education system preparing ppl to accept this work

Question 31

what do postmodernists say about post-fordism?

Answer 31

-argue marxist view is outdated
-claim society entered postmodern phase, class divisions dont exist
-society now more diverse, economy based on ‘flexible specialisation’
-education changing to cope with change from fordism to post-fordism
-p.f calls for different kind of education system, encourages self-motivation