education

Question 1

Bernstein speech codes

Answer 1

external class differences
cultural deprivation
- differences in speech codes put working class children at a disadvantage because the elaborated code used by teachers/textbooks
- early socialisation into EC means mc pupils already at an advantage whilst wc have a restricted code of speech

Question 2

douglas - parents education

Answer 2

external class difference
cultural deprivation
- wc parents place less value on education, they are less ambitious for their children and give them less encouragement to participate in educational activities such as hw
- as a result many wc parents don’t attend parents evening

Question 3

sugarman - wc subcultures

Answer 3

external class difference
cultural deprivation
- identifies 4 key acts that are barriers to educational achievement for wc pupils:
fatalism, nothing u do can change status
collectivism, valuing being part of a group
immediate gratification, seeking pleasure now rather than making sacrifices in order to get rewards in the future
present time orientation, seeing present more important than future so have no long term goals

Question 4

poor housing - howard

Answer 4

external class difference
material deprivation
. overcrowding so no room for educational activities like hw, disturbed sleep from sharing bedroom
. families in temp accommodation may find themselves having to move freq so disturbed education
. overcrowded homes means greater risk of accidents, higher risk of illness so absence from school

Question 5

diet and health - howard

Answer 5

external class difference
material deprivation
. young people from poorer homes have lower intakes of energy vitamins and minerals
. poor nutrition affects health by weakening immune system so more absences

Question 6

money - tanner

Answer 6

external class difference
material deprivation
. having little money can limit success of child
. wc families in poverty unable to send child to good schools
. good schools may be out of catchment area, can’t afford tuition or transport

Question 7

bourdieu - cultural capital

Answer 7

external class differences
cultural capital
. mc children with CC better equipped to meet demands on the school curriculum
. parents can convert CC to economic capital ex sending child to private school

Question 8

becker - labelling

Answer 8

internal class differences
labelling
. teachers judge/label pupils according to how closely they fit to ideal pupil
. this therefore dampens motivation of students who don’t fit ideal pupil because teachers defer their time away from them and unwilling to help

Question 9

self fulfilling prophecy - rosenthal and jacobson

Answer 9

internal class differences
labelling
. when students given +ve label they react to it by creating a +ve self concept so are motivated to work hard and improve grades, also works in reverse
. r&j studied this and informed teachers of students who scored high on iq test and r quick learners, however tests were fake, teachers treated the ‘spurts’ differently, 47% of those who were ‘spurt’ made significant improvement bec teachers paid more attention to them

Question 10

setting and streaming - gillbourn and youdell

Answer 10

internal class differences
setting and streaming
. g&y found teachers labelled wc pupils as unintelligent resulting in them placed in lower streams and sets

Question 11

pupil subcultures - lacey

Answer 11

internal class differences
pupil subcultures
. found there’s two ways which pupil subcultures developed : polarisation/differentiation
. polarisation when pupils respond to streaming by moving to pro school subculture or anti school subculture
. differentiation is form of streaming, those placed in higher streams gain higher status

Question 12

hargreaves - pupil subcultures

Answer 12

internal class differences
pupil subcultures
. found wc boys in lower streams were triple failures: failed 11+ exam, placed in lower stream, and labelled ‘worthless louts’
. solution was to form a group which provided status to those who broke school rules and guaranteed educational failure

Question 13

archer et al

Answer 13

internal class differences
pupil identities
. found wc pupils invest in nike identities, leading to self exclusion from education because it does not fit their identity/way of life
. see it as unrealistic bec for richer and clever people
. undesirable bec does not suit their habitus

Question 14

linguistic skills - bereiter and engelmann

Answer 14

ethnic differences
external factor
. some pupils speak a diff lang and some pupils speak an informal version of english
. bereiter and engelmann state that the black caribbean lang is ungrammatical and disjointed which means they cannot convey abstract ideas

Question 15

family structures - moynihan

Answer 15

ethnic differences
external factors
. there are higher rates of lone parent families in black ethnicities
. found that many black families are headed by a lone mother leading to lower achievement of black boys due to not having a male role model

Question 16

attitudes and values

Answer 16

ethnic differences
external factors
. some sociologists argue that some black pupils have a fatalistic outlook on life
. they want immediate gratification and have limited motivation to achieve in the long term

Question 17

material deprivation - ethnic factor

Answer 17

ethnic difference
external factor
. many minority ethnic groups are victims of racism in wider society
. they face direct or indirect discrimination at work or in housing market
. this leads them to low paid jobs or unemployment
. this impacts upon the children’s educational opportunities

Question 18

labelling - black students
gillbourn and youdell

Answer 18

ethnic difference
internal factor
. found teachers had racialised expectations of black pupils and expected more discipline problems and saw beh. as threatening
. black pupils more likely punished for same beh. as white pupils

Question 19

labelling - black students
fuller

Answer 19

ethnic difference
internal factor
. found high achieving black girls maintained +ve self image by rejecting teachers stereotypes
. did not seek teachers approval but valued education
. they were successful in doing this

Question 20

labelling - black students
mirza

Answer 20

ethnic differences
internal factors
. found black girls strategies for dealing with teacher racism still disadvantaged them
. ex would go to specific teachers, did not ask for help

Question 21

labelling - asian students
wright

Answer 21

ethnic difference
external factor
. found asian primary school pupils were stereotyped and treated differently
. teachers used simple language bec they assumed they would speak poor english
. pupils feel frustrated when teachers pronounced their names incorrectly

Question 22

pupil subcultures - sewell

Answer 22

ethnic differences
internal factors
. found that black boys developed a range of responses to teachers racist labelling ;
. conformists, keen to succeed/accepted schools goals
. innovators; pro education but anti school, valued success but not teachers approval
. retreatists; disconnected from the school and black subcultures outside of it
. rebels; rejected the schools goals and conformed to the stereotype of the ‘black macho lad’

Question 23

the ethnocentric curriculum - troyna and williams

Answer 23

ethnic differences
internal factors
. state that the british curriculum prioritises white culture and the english language
. ex through holidays in line with the christian calendar and focus on white leaders in history

Question 24

impact of feminism - Mcrobbie

Answer 24

gender differences
girls - external factors
. studied girls magazines and found than in the 1970s they emphasised the importance of getting married
. but now they contain images of strong assertive independent woman
. feminists have campaigned for women’s rights and changes in the law ex equal rights

Question 25

changes in women employment

Answer 25

gender differences
girls - external factors
. changes in the law have improved the position of working women
. ex the equal pay act and the sex discrimination act

Question 26

changing girls ambitions - sharpe

Answer 26

gender differences
girls - external factors
. interviewed girls and found their ambitions in the 1970s were to marry and have children and saw their future in terms of a domestic role
. however in the 1990s the girls priorities changed to careers and wanting to be independent

Question 27

gcse and coursework -
mitos and brown
gorad

Answer 27

gender differences
girls - internal factors
. mitos and brown; found that girls do better than boys in coursework because they are more conscientious and better organised
. gorad ; found gender gap in achievement increased sharply when gcse was introduced in 1988

Question 28

equal opportunities act

Answer 28

gender differences
internal factors
. gist and wise programmes encourage girls into science and technology
. national curriculum; girls and boys largely study the same subjects
ex. making science compulsory

Question 29

role models

Answer 29

gender differences
girls - internal factors
. there are more female teachers which feminises the learning environment and encourages girls to see school as part of a ‘female gender domain’

Question 30

teacher attention -
swann

Answer 30

gender differences
girls - internal factors
. swann; found boys dominate class discussions where as girls better at listening and cooperating
. teachers respond more positively to girls and give them more encouragement

Question 31

teacher attention -
french and french

Answer 31

gender differences
girls - external factors
. found teachers paid boys and girls similar amounts of attention for academic reasons but boys received more attention overall bec. they were disciplined more often

Question 32

selection and league tables

Answer 32

gender differences
girls - external factors
. marketisation policies have led to increased competition between schools
. schools therefore have the drive to want to recruit more able students
. girls are generally more successful than boys so are more attractive to schools

Question 33

boys literacy

Answer 33

gender differences
boys - external factors
. parents spend less time reading to sons bec. seen as feminine activity
. boy leisure interests don’t encourage language and communication skills where as girls ‘bedroom culture’ does

Question 34

decline in manual labour

Answer 34

gender differences
boys - external factors
. globalisation has led to the decline in heavy industries ex mining
. this has led to male ‘identity crisis’ giving them little motivation to get qualifications for a job

Question 35

decline in manual labour

Answer 35

gender differences
boys - internal factors
. boys fall behind bec. education has been feminised, schools no longer nurture masculine traits
. intro. of coursework has disadvantaged boys
. lack of male primary school teachers, only 1 in 6 are male

Question 36

laddish subcultures

Answer 36

gender differences
boys - internal factors
. there’s peer pressure on boys to demonstrate their masculinity by being ‘anti-school’

Question 37

functionalism - role of education
durkheim

Answer 37

. identifies 2 main functions of education; social solidarity/specialist skills
. education system helps to create social solidarity by transmitting societies culture form one generation to the next
. schools act as a ‘society in miniature’ preparing us for life in wider soc.

Question 38

functionalism - role of education
parsons

Answer 38

. parsons argues that schools are meritocratic
. belief that all pupils have an equal chance to succeed through talent and abilities regardless of class gender ethnicity
. parsons sees the school as an agent of socialisation, acting as a bridge between the family and wider society

Question 39

functionalism - role of education
davis and moore

Answer 39

. believe schools perform the function of selecting and allocating pupils to their future work roles by assessing individuals aptitudes and abilities
. schools help to match them to the job they are best suited to

Question 40

marxism - role of education
althusser

Answer 40

. education system performs 2 functions for the ideological state ;
. reproduction; education system reproduces class inequality by failing each generation of wc pupils
. legitimation; education system tries to convince people that inequality is inevitable and failure is the fault of the individual not the capitalist system

Question 41

marxism - role of the education
bowles and gintis

Answer 41

. schools create new generation of workers to serve the capitalist system
. there is hidden curriculum in schools which is used to serve capitalist system
. meritocracy is a myth; success based on class background not ability of educational achievement

Question 42

marxism - role of education
willis (neo marxist)

Answer 42

. pupils can see through ruling class ideology and resist attempts to indoctrinate it in school
. male wc pupils formed distinct counterculture that broke school rules

Question 43

new right - role of education

Answer 43

. believe schools should be centred around competition and choice
. done mainly through marketisation by creating ‘education market’
. schools are forced to respond to needs of teachers, parents and pupils

Question 44

new right - role of education
chubb and moe

Answer 44

. state education has failed to create equal opportunity bec. does not have to respond to pupils needs
. parents and communities cannot do anything about failing schools when the schools are controlled by the state
. private schools deliver higher quality education bec. they are answerable to paying consumers , the parents