Education Flashcards
Func - Social solidarity
creates sense of community and transmit value consensus
EVA - post mod - do we need value consensus
Marx - only taught ruling class values
Func - Specialist skills
Certain skills are needed for skilled jobs needed for good economy
EVA - what you are taught in school has little relation to what jobs they do
Func - Social bridge
From Particularistic values of home to universalastic values rules depend on the person to the rules are the same for everyone
Ascribed to achieved status
EVA - HIgher classes can inherit wealth/buisnesses, elite jobs influenced by ascribed status
Func - Role allocation
Sifting people into the right jobs so we have capable people and little wasted potential, meritocracy means the best jobs and salaries depends on skill
EVA - Meritocracy is a myth best jobs taken by rich white men
Marx - Ideological state apparatus
Althusser says that the state uses tools to control people, the isa controls peoples ideas and beliefs through socialisation techniques
thinks that education creates an obidient workforce and teach false class consiousness
EVA - Too deterministic and that not all w/c are not entirely molded by capatalism, many left wing marxist are university educated
Marx - Culture Capital
main role of education is to justify class inequality, each social class has its own culture and the ruling class impose its culture on the education system this helps middle and upper class as they have easier access to the culture so they have a built in advantage this reproduces class inequality, legitimises class inequality and reinforces myth of meritocracy
EVA - Too deterministic doesnt explain how or why many w/c students do well
Marx - Hidden curiculum
The role of the education is to produce an obedient work force so the schools have a hidden curiculum lessons that arent directly taught e.g accepting authority
Researched 237 NYC high schools and found that schools reward behaviour that make a obidient workforce
Correspondence principle - situations at school correspnd to situations at work
EVA - Subjects like sociology teach traits like critical thinking a trait capatalists would want
Marx - The Lads
Critisied Bowles and gintis by arguing that schools arent producing an obidient workforce, Researched the “lads” a group of boys that formed an anti school subculture, they saw school as irelavant, school was getting in the way until they could do real “mans work”
similarity between antischool subculture and lower w/c men where status was earned through drinking smoking and objectifying women the lads rejected the school but still ended up with what capatalist want them as
EVA - romantacised the lads despite anti-social and sexist actions, research was unrepresentative only being 12 boys in school in the uk
Indirect perspective
Feminist perspective - gender differences in subject choices and gender stereotypes still exist
men dominate the top positions in schools and reinforce patriarchy
Postmod perspective - believe society is in a new era there is no one right way of thinking and that perspective on education are now irrelevant as the education system has changed so much recently
New Right
Chubb and Moe - argue that state education is failing as it isnt meritocratic conducted research on 1000 schools in the us and found that students from poorer backrounds do 5% better in pricate schools because they have to answer to consumers, they argue that the introduction of marketisation is necessary to increase efficiency
Internal - Class
Teacher stereotypes
Teacher stereotypes - Harvey and Slatin = 96 pri teachers chose white middle class as most successful student, Halo effect, Waterhouse = teacher stereotypes will become fixed and behaviour is based on the stereotype, Becker = teacher compares students to ideal stereotype then labelling theory change behaviour to fit label = self fuffiling stereotpye, rosenthal and jacobson = field experiment labelled random kids as spurturs
EVA = doesnt explain where the stereotpes come from, labelling theory too deterministic with people self negating prophecy
Internal - Class
Setting and streaming
Setting and Streaming - setting is individual subjects streaming is all subjects, the set/stream you can be put into affects education achievement, w/c more likely to be put in lower sets/streams and those lower sets/streams are more likely to recieve negative labels and stereotypes and then form anti-school subcultures
Ball found that in lower sets they were encouraged to take vocational cources and higher sets academic subjects
Keddie = unequal classroom knowledge , lower sets werent taught as much and worse knowledge compared to higher sets
EVA = competitive nature of schools means teachers are underpressure to make sure all students achieve target grades so they are likely to do everything they can to help students
Internal - Class
Educational triage
Gillborn & Youdell founf educational triage
1) Those who get good grades without extra support
2) Those who are borderline and will get good grades with support
3) Those who wont get good grades even with support
Middle set get the most help as they will make the most difference to league tables
EVA - New Labour introduced Value-added to league tables to prevent this
Internal - Class
Pupil subcultures
Pupil Subcultures - Lacey says through differentiation (making students different and seperate more and less abled students)
then polarisation (Students become one extreme or the other) it creates a subculture, Woods says there are 5 ways
Ingratiation - teachers pet
Opportunism - trying to impress peers and teachers
Ritualism - Staying out of trouble
Retreatism - Daydreaming and mucking about
Rebellion - Rejection of school values
students may vary between times and teachers
EVA - Supported by ball who found that when setting/streaming is removed polarisation and therefore anti-school subcultures declined
Internal - Class
Covert selection
Covert Selection - Schools have to accept anyone unless its a popular and good school then they can cream skim to pick the middle class and most likely to succeced pupils, Bartlett also says that they silt shift the worst student off by using 3 methods 1) using complicated language to discourage poorly literaterate parents 2) having expensive school uniform 3) not marketing schools in w/c areas EVA - Pupil premium introduced to avoid covert selection
External - Class
Material factors
Material factors
Housing - W/c students more likely to live in bad housing leading to sickness then falling behind, disruption of sleep if with a sibling
Diet and Health - W/c kids have worse diet in turn poorer health and difficulty concentrating, kids from poorer home more likely to have emotional and behavioural problems
Catchment area - w/c families cant afford to move to move near better schools and then selection by mortgage
Hidden cost of education - 2013 parents spent £1614 per year per child on basic school expenses poorer families cant afford this
EVA - many w/c kids achieve well in education, pupil premium, Sure start and Ema to help with material deprivation
External - Class
Parent attitude
Parents Attitude - M/c parents more likely to take interested in the work, encourage children to stay in education, and be educated themselves so able to deal with what their child needs and deal with teachers, Washbrook nad waldfogel found that w/c were already a year behind priviledged kids before even starting primary school
EVA - the way we measure parental interest may not be accurate, parents could be interested but dont have the time to contact school so we wouldnt know
External - Class
subcultural attitudes
Subcultural Attitudes - W/c and M/c have own subculture and attitudes and values - Sugarman argued that w/c often unable to get promoted so there subculture was based on present time orientation and immediate gratification, wheras the m/c were able to progress so had a subculture based off future orientation
EVA - overlooks the role schools can play to shape a students identity
External - Class
language
Language - Bernstein argued that lang is important to education, he states that m/c kids are more likely to have their lang skills developed at home and therefore have and advantage, The restricted code and elaborate code
EVA - Bernstein lumps all of w/c together and all of m/c together, Labov found that many w/c people were better comunicators than m/c who got boged down in unecessary detail and lang
External - Class
cultural and social capital
Cultural and Social Capital - Robson supports bourdieu and found that reading for pleasure going to muesums/zoos/art galleries/ theatres and doing artistic and musical activities improved educational achievement. Knowing the right people and having connections to get advice and help from, Archer argues that m/c have an easier time transitioning from home to school but w/c will have a culture clash
EVA - Schools should change their culture and recognise w/c culture more
Internal - Gender
equal oppourtunities
Equal oppourtunities - GIST (get girls in science) WISE (women in science and engineering) Boaler argues that equal oppourtunities are the key reason for the changes in girls achievment as they have made school more meritocractic
EVA - still significant gender stereotypes shown through gendered subject choice
Int - Gender
teacher labellin
Teacher labelling and stereotypes - Girls are stereotyped positively due to this they are more likely to recieve help and encouragement swann argues that girls are better at listening and cooperating this may lead to the positive stereotypes leading to self fuffiling prophecy EVA - many sociologist consider class to be a more significant factor on determining teacher stereotypes
Int - Gender
positive role models
Positive role models - significant increase in female teachers 67% females in headteacher role, women in high positions may act as role models and show that women can achieve high status’ and recognise educational importance
EVA - 63% of high school teachers were still male so majority of female students see men in the role instead of women
Int - Gender
student selection and league tables
student Selection and league tables - Girls are seen to be more succssful in gcses so girls are more sought after for better league tables, boys are 4x more likely to be excluded and are less attractive to schools, Jackson argues that girls are more likely to be recruited by good schools and therefore more likely to achieve making a cycle
EVA - majority of teachers time is taken up with boys even if theres a majority of girls in the class
Ext - Gender
imapact of fem
Impact of feminism - feminism has changed the trad role of women and how they are viewed, Mcrobbie compared girls magazines from 70s to 90s and found that it changed from all about being a housewife to being an independant women, educational aspirations have increased and people are more focused on career, equal pay and sex discrimination act mean that indepenace is easier to achieve and are more motivated in education to achieve indpendance EVA - media imagery can be critisised for repr women as objects for men as well as pay gaps still existing
Ext - Gender
Changing nature of the family
Closely linked to feminism - Divorces marriages, cohabitation, child bearing and single parents have become less strict and less or more common respectably. Single parents are common and Child bearing isnt expected
This means girls’ are less focussed on housework and more on degrees and academic jobs
EVA - The increase in lone parent families could also mean there is a significant amount of single mothers who cant get academic jobs and therefore arent strong role models for girls
Ext - Gender
Maturity and Feminine identity
By 16 its estimated that girls are 2 yrs more mature than males and therefore more likely to approach school and exams with seriousness and work harder
14 yr old girl can work 3-4 times longer than 14yr old boy. Girls are generally more organised and put more effort into homework. Francis suggests that this is a result of the feminine identity which involves cooperating with teachers and peers, creating a pro-school-subculture that reinforces good habits
EVA - Archer argues that many w/c girls underachieve due to developing a working class feminine identity in which they gain status through apperance, relationships or being a “ladette”all of which had a negative effect on school work. therefore it depends on their class
Ext - Gender
Leisure Time
How you spend leisure time affects school
boys - spend time ‘doing’ (sports games and watching media)
girls - spend time talking or reading - helps develop lingustic and communication skills that are helpful in school and life
Oakhill and petrides found that girls are much better at understanding a text they had little interest in wheras boys struggle to undertstand what they read if they arent interested in it thus girls do better in school
EVAl - Barber - boys tend to overestimated their academic ability and girls tend to overestimate. Meaning that boys didnt revise for exams and girls do. So it may not be how they spend their time but their low self confidence that pushes them to work harder
Int - Boy worse
feminisation of education
Sewell - argued that schools have become feminised - reward feminime traits whereas more masc traits arent developed
argues this disadvantages boys in education and believes that there should be more emphasis on outdoor adventure in education to balance it .
“we have challenged the 1950s patriarchy and rightly said this is not a man’s world but we have thrown the boy out with the bath water”
EVAL - feminists critises sewell by arguing he considers traditional masc and fem traits as natural however they are societal constructions
Int - Boy Worse
Laddish Subcultures
Many sociologists argue that they growth of laddish subcultures have contributed to boys doing less well in edu
Epstein - boys are more likely to be bullied for appearing to be a ‘swot’. Found that intelligence and non manual labour work was considered feminine so boys mess around in lessons in order to avoid being called ‘sissy’ or ‘gay’
Francis argued that laddish subcultures are growing because girls have moved into trad male areas therefore boys respond by becoming increasingly laddish in their effort to construct themselves as non feminine
EVAL - boys exam results have increased over time frame that laddish subcultures have developed would suggest its not a significant factor in education
Ext - Boy Worse
Decline of trad male jobs
Since 1980s trad male jobs such as mining or iron/steel works have disappeared in the UK partly due to Globalisation allowing these kinds of jobs to be moved overseas
Mitosos and Brown - argue this has led to a crisis of masculinity where boys no longer know how they can define their masculine identity as there are ‘no proper jobs’ left. This lowers their motication and self-esteem in education resulting in them doing worse than girls
EVAL - The jobs have disappearead did not require any quals in the first place so it is unlikely that this affected boy’s motivation in education
Ext - Boys Worse
Lack of role models
The changes in family that may have benefitted girls educational achievement might well be limiting boys’ educational achievement as the increase in divorces and female led single-parent households mean that more and more boys lack a positive male role model
EVAL - Whilst there are more boys growing up without a biological father there are other male role models
Feminist perspective on education
Concerned with focus on boys underachievement because they now ignore girls and there problems in school - Low self confidence and less teacher time
Ringrose - critics of feminism have created a moral panic about boys overachievement which firstly ignore problems faced by disadvanteaged W/C or minority ethnic group. Secondly it ignore all the other problems girls face at school
Archer - working class girls underachieve. He argues that they develop a feminine identity in order to be accepted by peers taht involves a hyper-heterosexual identity where time and effort is put into looking ‘glamourous’ and ‘sexy’. This prevented them from being negatevly labelled as ‘tramps’ for wearing the ‘wrong’ clothes. This conflicted with school values and therefore they were labelled as bad students who were going to fail
Mac an Ghail - male gaze contributes to hegemonic masculinity. This devalues femininity
Gendered subject
Gender role socialisation
Norman - from a young age girls and boys are dressed differently given different toys and encouraged to take part in different activities these experiences teach children what are expected of males and females in society
schools continue this socialisation, Murphy and Elwood - argue that these differences in socialisation lead to different tastes in reading. Girls read stories about people whereas boys read hobby books and info texts. It is this difference in reading that Murphy and Elwood believe leads to different subject choices
Gendered subject - Gender Domains and subject images
Gender domains are activities that are seen as either male or female, These gender domains are strongly influenced by early experiences and what they seen parents and adults do. Children are more confident taking on task that are in their gender domain which might explain why they choose subjects that are seen as male or female.
Murphy found that boys and girls pay attention to different details when attempting the same tasks - Girls tended to focus on feelings whereas boys tended to focus on how things work and made = Explain sciences and humanities split
Certain subjects have gendered subject image. Kelly = Identifies 3 main reasons why science is seen as a boy subject - Male teachers, examples in textbooks more likely to be a boys interest, boys monopolise science labs and equipment in lessons.
Gendered Subject Choice
Peer Pressure
Subject influenced by peer pressure - boys tend to opt out of arts classes in fear of being ridiculed e.g. drama, singing Dewar - found that boys would call girls ‘butch’ or ‘lesbian’ if they showed too much interest in sports. In this way peers will police subject choice ensuring traditional gender domain
Gendered Subject Choice
Gendered Careers
Employment is heavily gendered - certain careers labels male or female e.g. nursing =female
This categorisation can affect what students consider to be possible and acceptable careers
This concept is supported by the fact that vocational courses are more gendered than academic courses. As vocational courses are more closely connected to specific careers - they have a clear gender split
Gendered Subject Choice
Careers Advice
Teachers and Careers advisers reflect their own socialisation and stereotypes when they give advice therefore influencing subject choice
Students may have had a less traditional gender socialisation at an early age but encouraged into traditional roles by adults
