Education

Question 1

Social cohesion

Answer 1

The bonds that bring people together and intergrate them into a united society.

Question 2

Functionalist views on education

Answer 2

They see education as an important agency of socialisation. It helps keep social cohesion.

Question 3

Durkheim’s four functions of education

Answer 3

1. Passing on society’s culture and building social solidarity. It passes on core values and culture of society to new generations.
2. He argued that schools are like mini societies, this prepares young people for later life. Parsons sees schools as important places of secondary socialisation.
3. Schultz developed ‘human capital’ = which suggests that high levels of spending on education are justified as these develop people’s knowledge and skills, and this investment is an important factor in a successful economy.
4. Davis + Moore, the education system selects and sifts through for different levels of the job market, making sure that the most talented and qualified get the best jobs. By streaming people through grades etc. Meritoracy.

Question 4

Social mobility

Answer 4

Movement of people or groups through the social hierarchy (social class.)

Question 5

Hidden curriculum - Bowles + Gintis

Answer 5

The unwritten rules, values and normative patterns of behaviour which students are expected to conform to and learn while in school. Introduces children to authority.

Question 6

Social solidarity

Answer 6

Intergration of people into society through shared values, common culture and shared understandings and social ties that bring them together and build social cohesion.

Question 7

Particularistic values

Answer 7

Values that give a priority to personal relationships.

Question 8

Universalistic values

Answer 8

Rules and values that apply equally to all members of society, regardless of who they are.

Question 9

Meritocracy

Answer 9

A society where jobs and pay are allocated purely based on people’s skills, talents, qualifications etc.

Question 10

Human capital

Answer 10

The knowledge and skills possessed by a workforce that increase that workforces value and usefulness to employers.

Question 11

Division of labour

Answer 11

The division of work or occupations into large numbers or specialised tasks, each of which is carried out by one worker or groups.

Question 12

Functional prerequisites

Answer 12

Basic needs that must be met if society is to survive.

Question 13

School provides specialist skills (Emile Durkheim)

Answer 13

Education provides students with specific skills they need to be part of complex division of labour in a modern society.

Question 14

Davis + Moore : Role Allocation

Answer 14

The education system sifts and sorts students into their future roles in society. This is done by promoting meritocracy and rewarding students based upon their ability.

Question 15

Parsons - Secondary Socialisation

Answer 15

Schools is the bridge between home + society. At home student have particularstic values. Schools transform these into universal values which are present in wider society.

Question 16

Althusser - Ideological state apparatus (Marxist)

Answer 16

Education has replaced religion as the biggest ideological state apparatus and allows the ruling class to control the thoughts of the working class and accept inequality. This is done by convincing people they aren’t good enough when really the system is totally against them in the first place.

Question 17

Bourdieu - Culture Capital (Marxist)

Answer 17

The education system disadvantages the working class because their culture and habitus is not respected by the education system. Education system favours middle class system.

Question 18

Internal factors for girls doing well in education

Answer 18

More female role models - Rise of feminism has meant there are more female rolemodels in society. Female teachers, heads of department and head teachers offer girls the motivation to work harder.

Feminisation of education - It has been suggested that the education system has become feminised. Collaborative teaching methods and coursework favour girls over boys. More female teachers, schools are seen as part of the feminine domain.

Introduction of GCSE and coursework - These are said to have improved the performane of girls in educatoin as girls are more thorough in their organisation and presentation and spend more time on coursework than boys who prefer high stakes tests.

Question 19

External factors for girls improvement in education

Answer 19

Rise of feminism - Second and third wave feminism have given girls higher aspirations in society as a whole. The expectation of girls being stay at home mums are a thing of the past.

Female role models - With more women working than ever before, young girls are seeing their mothers as role models for their own careers.

Gender socialisation and literacy - Girls, through their socialisation, develop better literacy skills than boys and this puts them at an early advantage in education.

Question 20

External factors ethnic differences in education

Answer 20

Racism in wider society - African + Caribbean + Pakistani families more susceptible to racism in wider society impacting on job chances in later life. Racism leads to negative stereotypes which have an impact on the way students are treated in school.

Parental involvement - Parental involvement varies between groups.

Material deprivation - Minority ethnic groups often belong in the lower classes and are unenployed. This impacts on their ability to purchase resorces for school, place to study, travel costs etc.

Language differences.

Question 21

Criticisms of Fuctionalism perspective

Answer 21

• Evidence of differential achievement in terms of class, gender and ethinicity suggests that education is not meritocratic.
• Who you know is still more important than what you know.
• It could be argued that the education system doesnt prepare people for work.
• Doesn’t look at how education may serve the interests of a particular group in terms of ideology and values.

Question 22

Criticisms of Marxism

Answer 22

• Assumes people are passive victims. It exaggerates how much working class students are socialised into obedience.
• Most people are aware of the inequality in education and don’t think that this inequality is legitimate.

Question 23

Feminists say that the education system is patriarchal

Answer 23

• Some feminists argue that the hidden curriculum reinforces gender differences.
• There is still gender differences in subject choice in schools. Gender stereotyping may still exist.
• Girls are now outpreforming boys in school but boys demand more attention from the teachers.
• Men seem to dominate the top positions in schools and even more so in universities

Question 24

Liberal feminists

Answer 24

Equal access to education for both sexes

Question 25

Radical feminists

Answer 25

Men are a bad influence, want female - centered education

Question 26

Marxist feminists

Answer 26

Consider gender inequalities combined with inequalities of class and ethinicity.

Question 27

New right views on education

Answer 27

- Believe in the power of individual choice - They claim that the role of a school should be more like a business. (Compete for students and try and attract them.) This means they will improve their standards. - State schools are ran by the state, so they dont have to compete for their pupil, NR believe this has caused low standards.

Question 28

Labelling theory

Answer 28

People decide others characteristics and treat them as such, even if it might not be correct.

Question 29

Labelling theory in education

Answer 29

Used in pupil-teacher relationships. When a person is labelled, it changes how the teacher might treat them

Question 30

Labelling can create a... ______

Answer 30

Self-fufilling prophecy. This is when the person internalises their label. This can lead to them changing the way they act.

Question 31

3 different ways you can organise teaching at school

Answer 31

Streaming - Students are sorted into classes based on ability and they stay in these groups for their subjects Setting - Sorted into classes according to ability but in individual subjects Mixed ability - Aren't based on ability, lowest and highest students taught together

Question 32

Advantages + disadvantages of streaming/setting/mixed ability

Answer 32

- In favour of streaming + setting : people can work at their own pace in their own skill group - Streaming means students could get better at certain subjects - Setting and streaming can lead to self esteem

Question 33

Pupil subculture

Answer 33

Pro-school and Anti-school... Lads subculture

Question 34

Social class affects educational achievement

Answer 34

- Children with parents in professional careers are more likely to go into higher education - Pupils from middle-class backgrounds are more likely to study for alevels whereas working-class pupils are more likely to take vocational qualifications - Disadvantaged background children are less likely to start school being able to read - Pupils from unskilled backgrounds achieve lower scores on SATs and in GCSEs they might be in lower sets.

Question 35

Ball (1981)

Answer 35

Found that pupils in top steams tended to be from a higher social class.

Question 36

Material deprivation outside of school can affect achievement...

Answer 36

Joseph Rowntree Foundation - classed 1 out of 10 children as poor. This was defined as being in a family which couldn't afford at least three things other families took for granted. Douglas (1964) found that children in unsatisfactory living conditions (poor housing, lack of healthy food etc) didn't do very well in ability tests compared to kids from comfortable backgrounds. Unemployment or low income means less money for books, internet access. Low income families can't afford nurseries and private schools and they can't support their kids through uni.

Question 37

Cultural deprivation outside of school can affect achievement...

Answer 37

- Douglas (1964) level of parental interest can affecting achievement. EX = Middle class parents are more likely to attend open evenings and help with homeworks. - Some sociologists say that working-class kids don't have the knowledge that middle class kids do. Middle class kids get to go on cultural rich trips to the library and museums.

Question 38

Some sociologists would say that class affects attitudes to education

Answer 38

Sugarman (1970) Pupils from manual backgrounds have different outlooks compared to those who don't. Manual backgrounds lived for 'instant gratification' whereas Non-manual backgrounds were ambitious and invested time into studying

Question 39

However, Material and cultural deprivation... (EVAL)

Answer 39

Doesn't explain how factors inside school affect achievement. Cultural deprivation theory generalises a lot about differences between middle-class and working-class life. It ignores working-class families which do have an emphasis on educational achievement

Question 40

Bernstein + Bourdieu: Differences in achievement

Answer 40

Bernstein - Said that working-class pupils in the East End of london weren't comfortable with the language required by school. (restricted code) Middle class students knew how to use the same elaborated code as the teachers. SO this shows how working classs students are at a disadvantage due to language. Bourdieu - Reckons middle-class students are at an advantage because they have the right kind of 'cultural capital' Middle class families pass on cultural capital and expectations from parents to children.

Question 41

Bernstein + Bourdieu: Differences in achievement EVAL

Answer 41

Bernstein: There are variations within the middle class and working class. Some sociologists have developed his ideas to say working-classs speech patterns are inferior or somehow wrong. Bourdieu: Halsey et al (1980) found that material factors are important. Lack of money may stop kids staying on at school or getting to uni. Not all working class kids fail.

Question 42

Some ethnic groups do better than others...

Answer 42

Chinese students do better at GCSE, female and back asian groups have the highest rate of continuing to higher education

Question 43

Labelling theory (Ethnic)

Answer 43

teachers have different expectations of different ethnic minority groups. Gillborn (1990) found that teachers negatively label black students. African Caribbean students are seen to challenge authority. This leads to the self-fulfilling prophecy.

Question 44

School curriculum (Ethnic)

Answer 44

Its ethnocentric, it fits white, middle stream culture better than other ethnicities. Holidays etc.

Question 45

Institutional racism

Answer 45

Polices and attitudes unintentionally discriminate against ethnic minority groups. Wright (1992) Asian girls got less attention from teachers, African-Caribbean boys were more likely to be punished and sent out of class. These might lead low self-esteem (Coard)

Question 46

Cultural deprivation can affect achievement

Answer 46

- Language barrier for children and families - Family life differs

Question 47

Ethnicity combines with Material deprivation

Answer 47

Pakistani, bangladeshi + african caribbean groups are more likely to be lower class due to income. This might result in poor housing, periods of unemployment, poverty and material deprivation.

Question 48

Archer says that females still have problems at school

Answer 48

Black working class girls are negatively labelled as loud + aggressive High achieving Asian + chinese girls get negatively labelled as robots who are incable of idependent thoughts

Question 49

Why do boys underachieve?

Answer 49

- Identity crisis, the rise of female independence, the decline of the breadwinner role for men and the rise of male unemployment might mean boys don't see the point in education. - Reading can be seen as girly, this means boys dont develop communication skills.

Question 50

Subcultures help to explain gender and achievement

Answer 50

Willis - Lads subculture, they formed an anti-school subculture. They coped with their own underachievement by having a laugh.

Question 51

Different ways to explain gender and subject choice

Answer 51

Subject choice may still be influenced by gender socialisation. The ideas of femininity and masculinity can create different expectations and stereotypes of what they should study. Parental expectations may encourage students to follow what they see as the traditional norm choice for their gender.