Education

Question 1

What view do Functionalists have on society and the education system as a part of it?

Answer 1

Functionalists hold a consensus view where every part of society helps to maintain society as a whole. Parsons Organic Analogy.

Question 2

What are the 4 roles of the education system according to functionalists?

Answer 2

*Social solidarity – individuals should feel like they are part of a single body within society and education transmits the culture (shared beliefs and values) necessary for creating social solidarity.
*Skills teaching – Education teaches individuals the specialist knowledge that they need to play their part in the social division of labour. Multiple unique skills are required for the production of a single item
*Meritocracy – Status in education is achieved based on equal opportunities.
*Selection and role allocation – schools asses individuals aptitudes and abilities and matches them to the job they are most suited to.

Question 3

Which sociologist talks about social solidarity and describes school as a ‘society in miniature’?

Answer 3

Durkheim - ‘society in miniature’ teaches people life lessons

Question 4

Which sociologist describes the education system as a FSA and what does it mean?

Answer 4

Parsons - school is a “focal socialising agency” which teaches the universalistic standards of wider society.

Question 5

Which sociologists talk about selection and role allocation?

Answer 5

Davis and Moore

Question 6

Describe in detail Davis and Moore’s view on role allocation.

Answer 6

Inequality is necessary to ensure that the most important roles in society are filled by the most talented people, otherwise it would be inefficient.

Question 7

What do the new right believe about the marketisation of education?

Answer 7

The new right favour the marketisation of education because they believe that the state cannot meet the needs of its members while the free-market can.

Question 8

How do the new right believe that the education system has failed?

Answer 8

Not created equal opportunities and therefore fails disadvantaged groups, it also fails to produce individuals with skills that are needed by the economy

Question 9

What do Chubb and Moe say about consumer choice?

Answer 9

Leads to competition between schools and therefore an increase in standard of education.

Question 10

How is Chubb and Moe’s view on consumer choice criticised.

Answer 10

Emphasis gets placed on an universal set of shared beliefs with focus on British, not multicultural, history and culture and Christianity. Institutional RACISM

Question 11

Which sociologist describes the education system as an ISA and what does it mean.

Answer 11

Althusser - school is an ideological state apparatus. Maintains the rule of the bourgeoisie by controlling people’s ideas, values and beliefs. These include religion, the media and the education system. Education reproduces and legitimates (Justifies) class inequality.
Instils False Class consciousness

Question 12

Which sociologists talk about the lessons that schools teach pupils that subconsciously prepare them for working and being part of the system of oppression later in life? What is it called? Examples?

Answer 12

Bowles and Gintis speak of the hidden curriculum and an example of it is waking up early for school and set start and finish times which translates to working.

Question 13

Who conducted a study on “the lads” and the “ear’oles”?

Answer 13

Willis found a counter culture where the lads believed that pursuing educational prowess was effeminate and so they identified with male manual labour. This meant they ended up in inferior skilled and lower paying jobs but capitalism still needs these jobs completed by somebody.

Question 14

Who talks about cultural capital and what does it mean.

Answer 14

Bourdieu describes cultural capital as the knowledge that helps someone navigate a culture. It helps affect the opportunities that are available

Question 15

What 3 things contribute to explaining cultural deprivation and its impacts on working class children’s success in education? (External factors)

Answer 15

Speech codes, Parents attitudes to education and Working class subcultures

Question 16

How do speech codes affect working class children’s success in education?

Answer 16

Working class families = restricted code (short, context bound words and gestures). Middle class = elaborated code (grammatically complex and longer sentences that are context free).
elaborated is used in schools and questions.

Question 17

Which sociologist wrote about the effect of speech codes?

Answer 17

Bernstein

Question 18

How do parental attitudes affect working class children’s success in education?

Answer 18

W/c parents are typically less encouraging about school and putting in the work. M/c parents are more likely to read to children and help with homework etc.
M/c parents support education with trips and resource books because they have money to do so.

Question 19

what does Douglas highlight about how parental attitudes effected children’s achievement?

Answer 19

Working class parents take less interest in school and education and therefore push their children to achieve less. They encourage focus on extracurricular activities.

Question 20

Which sociologist looked at how working class subculture affected children’s success in education?
(4 factors)

Answer 20

Sugarman

Question 21

What are the 4 key features of working class subcultures, identified by Sugarman, that bar educational achievement?

Answer 21

Fatalism, Collectivism (Valuing group more than personal success), Immediate gratification (spending not saving) and Present time orientation (Not reflecting on the past or hoping for the future)

Question 22

How does material deprivation affect levels of difference in educational achievement?

Answer 22

Overcrowding in house may mean no quiet spaces to work. Rundown housing may be unsafe for working and living.
Wealthy parents = nutritious food - helps in mental/physical development. Cost of free schooling (textbooks/trips) too much for low income parents.
Cost of uni may cause students to not go to uni at all or go to a local one reducing opportunities.

Question 23

Which sociologist spoke of three types of capital and what are they?

Answer 23

Bourdieu spoke of Cultural, Economic and Educational capital.

Question 24

What did Bourdieu describe cultural capital as?

Answer 24

The knowledge, values, attitudes, language and abilities of the middle class gained through socialisation.

Question 25

Why does Bourdieu state that economic capital influences educational achievement?

Answer 25

Surplus economic capital means parents are better equipped to help their children achieve educational capital, done through private and extra tuition.

Question 26

How have changes in the family impacted educational achievement?

Answer 26

Increases in divorce rate / rise in lone parent matriarchal families, this means that women need qualifications to take on breadwinning roles in society to provide for their family.

Question 27

What were the results of McRobbie looking at changes in ladies magazine?

Answer 27

Used to emphasise getting married and now it shows Independant women.

Question 28

How have changes in female employment affected educational achievement?

Answer 28

Equal pay act and anti-discrimination acts mean that women can get any job that they choose to, providing incentives to achieve in school.

Question 29

What keyword describes the type of society that feminists want?

Answer 29

egalitarian - equal for all on all grounds.

Question 30

Which feminist sociologist found that girls saw their future as both self-sustaining and independent?

Answer 30

Sue Sharpe

Question 31

What did Bereiter and Engelmann say about the language used in black families?

Answer 31

It is inadequate for educational success as it is ungrammatical, disjointed and cannot be used for expressing abstract ideas

Question 32

What impact does a lack of a positive male role model have on boys from typically black backgrounds?

Answer 32

leads to minority boys failing to overcome the emotional/ behavioural difficulties of adolescence leading them to fail in education.

Question 33

How does material deprivation affect the educational achievement of students from a minority ethnic background?

Answer 33

Almost half of all ethnic minority children live in poverty meaning they are unable to be supported in educational attainment.

Question 34

What did Wood et al discover about racism in wider society?

Answer 34

White people more likely to get jobs than people from ethnic backgrounds even with anti-discrimination laws. This may have a negative effect on the ethnic children’s career prospects and dream jobs.

Question 35

What do Sewell and Lupton say about Asian families?

Answer 35

they benefit from an “Asian work ethic” where high value is placed on education and adult authority in these households is similar to that in schools

Question 36

Why does labelling happen in schools and what does it commonly lead to?

Answer 36

W/c students are labelled negatively and m/c students positively because they fit the role of ‘ideal pupil’. Commonly leads to self fulfilling prophecy.

Question 37

Which sociologist studied labelling and the differing teacher responses to pupil underachievement?
(links to class)

Answer 37

Becker - Teachers normalised w/c underachievement but helped to overcome m/c underachievement.

Question 38

What did Hempel Jorgensen observe about the differences in the ‘ideal pupil’ between two schools?

Answer 38

Quiet and obedient at one school and at another it was based on grades and personality.

Question 39

What did Fullers study find?

Answer 39

Black girls in a London school channelled their anger at being labelled into pursuit of educational success. Use for evaluation / criticism of SFP

Question 40

What is the self-fulfilling prophecy?

Answer 40

It usually comes as a side effect of labelling. It is where teachers label a student and then treat them according to that label, eventually the student acts in line with that label. This can be positive or negative.

Question 41

What is streaming?

Answer 41

Splitting pupils into groups based on their ability, which they stay in across all their subjects.

Question 42

What is setting?

Answer 42

Pupils might be in different sets for different subjects.

Question 43

What is banding?

Answer 43

Refers to the process of setting or streaming where pupils of similar academic ability are taught together?

Question 44

How can streaming lead to inequality in educational achievement? Who called for its abolishment?

Answer 44

More time and teacher effort is put into those in higher streams leading to the lower streams failing to achieve. Often leads to self fulfilling prophecy.
Students may be strong in particular subjects.
Stephen Ball called for its abolishment?

Question 45

Which sociologists study detailed how a teacher had labelled the class into two groups and what were they called?

Answer 45

Ray Rist - Tigers and Clowns. clowns were underachievers, predominantly w/c.

Question 46

What did Lacey find that often results from student labelling and why does this happen?

Answer 46

When labelled and denied the means to achieve educational capital, some pupils look for alternate ways to gain status e.g. forming anti-school subcultures.

Question 47

What is educational triage and who are the sociologists associated with it?
(G+Y)

Answer 47

It is where students were categorised into three groups based on ability and was developed by Gillborn and Youdell.

Question 48

What are the three groups in educational triage and how does it relate to class?

Answer 48

• Pupils who are likely to succeed without any extra help.
• Pupils who might succeed with extra help
• ‘No hopers’ who are unlikely to succeed even if they are given help.
  relates to class as m/c students more likely to receive teacher attention leaving w/c to fail.

Question 49

How has the education system led to male underachievement across the board?
(traits)

Answer 49

They no longer nurture masculine traits of competitiveness and leadership.
( + Coursework and Lack of role models)

Question 50

What did Sewell say about men in education?

Answer 50

men in education have been abandoned in the pursuit of equality.

Question 51

How has the introduction of coursework affected female achievement? Who discovered this?
(M + B)

Answer 51

Mitsos and Browne found that girls tend to achieve better in coursework as they are better organised and more conscientious than men on average.

Question 52

How has the introduction of selection coupled with league tables affected choice of students.

Answer 52

Girls are seen as highly desirable students as they achieve better than boys so schools are more competitive in attracting them

Question 53

How have gender identities affected student achievement?

Answer 53

Boys fail in schools and females achieve. This could be due to a lack of male teachers in primary and secondary schools meaning that boys have no positive role models and examples of men achieving in education.

Question 54

Who wrote about hyper-heterosexual feminine identities and how does that relate to achievement in education?

Answer 54

Archer - Girls may form hyper-heterosexual feminine identities to gain symbolic capital instead of pursuing educational capital.

Question 55

Which sociologist explained how gendered subject images cause differences in subject choice?

Answer 55

Kelly - Science is a male dominated due to the most science teachers being men, boys monopolise equipment in practical scenarios. Computing is seen as a masculine subject due to it involving machines and it favours solo work whereas females do better in groupwork. Machines are seen as falling into the male domain.

Question 56

How have teaching and learning styles affected trends in subject choice?

Answer 56

Male students tend to focus on how things are made and work, they are good at learning independently. Female students focus on how people feel and they work better in groups.

Question 57

How has primary socialisation affected trends in subject choice?

Answer 57

From birth, men and women are treated differently in terms of how they are meant to behave, what they wear and play with and what they are encouraged to do. This is then expanded upon in schools where teachers tell them what emotions they can and cant express and pushing towards certain subjects.

Question 58

How have ethnic identities lead to differences in educational achievement?

Answer 58

Teachers identify children from ethnic minorities as underachievers so when assessed, they appear to be doing worse than white students even though they may be academically smarter.

Question 59

How has the ethnocentric curriculum contributed to differences in educational achievement?

Answer 59

Curriculum still focuses on England’s history and Christianity without embracing England as a multicultural country with diverse cultures. Disadvantageous because it doesn’t teach the history of other cultures leading to a lack of self esteem, unhappiness and lack of motivation to achieve.