Education Flashcards
what is cultural capital?
Pierre Bourdieu argued it is the possession of the appropriate tastes, attitudes and values which lead to an advantage over other students thus leading to material rewards later in life
what 4 things make up cultural capital?
- economic
- social
- cultural
- symbolic
what did Marilyn Howard think was the most significant cause of underachievement?
poverty
affects where they live, how they eat, stability within their lives
who is the ‘ideal student’ and who researched this?
- middle-class white girl
- Howard Becker - researched in 67 Chicago schools to find this
what is a meritocracy?
a fair system that gives everyone an equal chance of success so that if a student is talented + works hard they will achieve good results
what is role allocation and whose theory is it?
- preparing people for their future roles/jobs
- Davis and Moore
what is marketisation and whose theory is it?
- schools were encouraged to compete against each other like private businesses rather than gov institutions
- Chubb and Moe
what is bedroom culture
Where girls are read to more leading to better literacy skills. They’re more consciousess
what are sets?
ability-based groups for ONE subject
what are streams?
ability-based groups for multiple subjects
what is labelling?
a label (can be positive or negative) is placed upon someone. Within education teachers label students.
For example the teacher may label a working-class black-Caribbean boy as stupid.
what is self-fulfilling prophecy?
label internalised and they become their label
For example working-class black-Caribbean boy➜ labelled as stupid ➜ he is given less support by the teacher➜ he tries less within his school work ➜ living up to the label.
what are limitations of self fulfilling prophecy?
- too deterministic
- wouldn’t all teachers label all students as smart if it was true
what are the strengths of self fulfilling prophecy?
- teachers would argue they have professionalism and don’t label students
what is material deprivation?
the inability to afford basic resources
what are the external factors of gender differences?
rise of feminism
changing ambitions
changing families
changing employment
explain changing ambitions (external factor for gender differences)
- sue sharpe ➜ girls priorities were love + marriage in 1970s this changed in the 1990s to careers + independence
- Feminism has made it possible for girls to have realistic ambitions (supported by laws like Equal Pay Act)
- realistic ambitions = more motivation within school = better grades
evaluate changing ambitions (external factor for gender differences)
- doesn’t explain why girls are doing better than boys as they both now have realistic ambitions so shouldn’t it be the same?
- other factors may have bigger impact (changing families, changing employment, rise of feminism)
explain changing families (external factor for gender differences)
changes of the family ➜ increased divorce rate
female headed lone parent families
increase in cohabitation declining birth rate ➜ more time to focus on career
more women staying single
explain changing employment (external factor for gender differences)
- laws + policies which have been put in place in order to improve the position of working women ➜ Equal Pay Act 1970, Sex Discrimination Act 1975
evaluate changing employment (external factor for gender differences)
- pay gap still here today
- social pressures may hinder women getting a job over a man
what are the internal factors of gender differences in education?
- equal opportunities policy
- role models
- coursework
- selection and league tables
- teacher attention
explain equal opportunities policy (gender differences in education)
- led to GIST (Girls In Science and Technology) + WISE (Women In Science and Engineering)
- national curriculum (1988) girls + boys study majority same subjects ➜ equal opportunities
- caused education to be more meritocratic (equal opportunities)
explain role models (gender differences in education)
- more female teachers+ headteachers in schools so more role models for girls to aspire to be like
explain coursework (gender differences in education)
- Mitos and Browne believed that girls do better in coursework because they’re more conscientious and organised
- gender gap increased when GCSEs were introduced (most subjects included coursework)
explain teacher attention (gender differences in education)
- French and French ➜ boys attract more attention due to misbehaviour
- Francis ➜ boys received more attention (disciplined more, picked on by teachers, had lower exectations set on them)
- Swann ➜ boys dominate class discussions girls listen + cooperate ➜ more encouragement to girls from teachers
explain selection + league tables (gender differences in education)
- marketisation policies led to competition between schools
- more incentive to recruit more able students ➜ better results ➜ better league tables
- girls are seen as better students ➜ recruited into better schools ➜ receive better education ➜ achieve more
what was the correspondence principle and who came up with it?
- norms + values learnt in school correspond to norms + values that make it easy for them to be exploited by capitalist employers
- Bowles + Gintis
what are the gender differences in vocational courses?
1% of construction apprentices = female
what are the gender differences in post-16 education?
more choice ➜ bigger gender difference
what are the gender differences in the national curriculum?
- do majority same subjects
- where possible boys + girls choose differently (boys=woodwork girls=food tech)
what are the explanation for gender differences in subject choice?
- early socialisation
- gender identity + peer pressure
- gender domains
- gendered subject image
- gendered careers
explain early socialisation (gender differences in subject choice)
family ➜ boys + girls dressed differently + given different toys
school ➜ Byrne ➜found teachers encourage boys to be tough but expect girls to be quiet + helpful
leisure ➜ Murphy and Elwood ➜ boys read info books, girls read stories
explain gender identity and peer pressure (gender differences in subject choice)
- boys + girls pressure each other into gender stereotypes
- example ➜ girls opt out of sport in fear of being labelled as ‘butch’
explain gender domains (gender differences in subject choice)
- gender domains = activities that are seen as male or female
- gender domains set up during primary socialisation
- BROWNE + ROSS ➜ found when boys+ girls were set open-ended tasks e.g. designing a boat, boys designed battleships girls designed cruise ships
explain gendered subject image (gender differences in subject choice)
- subjects seen as either male or female
- EXAMPLE ➜ science mainly taught by men + textbooks contain more male subjects + images (science=male subject)
explain gendered careers (gender differences in subject choice)
- jobs seen as either male or female
- EXAMPLE ➜ nursing = dominated by women
- EXAMPLE ➜ construction = dominated by men
what does Connel argue about gender identity + schooling?
- schools reproduce hegemonic masculinity ➜ dominance of hetero masc identity and subordination of female + gay identities
what do feminists argue about gender identity + schooling?
- experiences in school act as social control to reproduce patriarchy (4 ways this occurs)
explain verbal abuse in the context of gender identity + schooling
- name-calling girls who act in a certain way makes them conform to male expectations which therefore acts as a social control
- Mac + Ghaill ➜ anti-school working class boys use verbal abuse to reinforce their definitions of masculinity (other working class pro-school boys = ‘dickhead achievers’)
- Lees ➜ girls who are sexually able = slags (no male equivalent)
explain the role of teachers in gender identity + schooling
- Haywood + Mac + Ghaill ➜ male teachers tell boys off for behaving like girls + ignore boys’ verbal abuse of girls
explain male gaze in the context of gender identity + schooling
- form of social control where male students + teachers look girls up + down as sexual objects.
- boys who don’t do this = gay (another form of social control)