Education Key Quotes Flashcards
What did Bourdieu say was the function of schools?
Marxist viewpoint Schools exist to advantage the children of the middle classes so they go on to take the best and most interesting jobs
What did McNeil say was the function of education?
Marxist viewpoint Schools exist to control behaviour. Children are taught to obey authority and respect rules He says that this includes knowledge such as how to get on with teachers and other pupils, how to cope with boredom and how to conform. This hidden control is known as the Hidden Curriculum.
What idea does Saunders argue exists?
The functionalist idea of MERITOCRACY
What does the functionalist Parsons argue about education?
Parsons suggests schools are an agency of secondary socialisation. They train children to accept the norms and values of wider society. They act to select which children will be trained for the top jobs in society. They teach children that the system is fair and equal to all.
What codes does Bernstein talk about?
Restricted codes - shorthand speech, not well suited to expressing complex ideas Elaborated codes - sentences tend to be longer and more complex. Bernstein argues this type of speech code encourages more developed and sophisticated reasoning
Outline the New Right perspective of Murray on educational achievement
He associates the children of never-married parents with underachievement and other forms of deviance. When mothers bring up children alone, often working as well, such children may receive inadequate parental stimulation and supervision, unless there is a support network of relatives or friends. Single parent families are more common amongst African-Carribeans
What charecteristics of working class culture did Sugarman give as barriers to educational achievment?
Fatalism - A belief in fate: you can’t change your status
Collectivism - Valuing being part of a group more than succeeding as an individual
Immediate gratification - Seeking pleasure now rather than making sacrifices in order to get in the future.
Present-time orientation - Seeing the present as more important than the future and so not having long-term goals or plans
What does Bordieu say about Cultural Capital?
He says the term cultural capital refers to knowledge, attitudes, values, language and taste and abilities of the middles class.
He sees middle class culture as a type of capital because wealth gives an advantage to those who have it. Middle class are more likely to develop intellectual interests and understanding of what the education system needs in order to achieve qualifications.
Pierre believes that the education system favours dominant middle class culture, therefore perceiving working class children’s culture as inferior.
Describe Willis’s idea of an ‘anti-school culture’
The boys he researched rejected the schooling system and its values, and focused on leaving as early as they could; although they attended school they rejected the norms and values. They spent most of their time trying to disrupt or avoid lessons or just generally messing.
Consciously developed an anti-school sub culture. By being in a subculture the bottom-stream pupils can raise their self-esteem by gaining status in front of their peers.
Willis argued that the lads he observed were deliberately failing themselves in recognition of the inevitable manual working future that awaited them.
What did Noon do to highlight societal racism?
He sent two identical applications for one job – one signed ‘Patel’ and the other signed ‘Evans’. Companies were more encouraging to the apparently white candidate.
What does Mason argue about ethinc group and educational achievment?
Says education is not ‘racist’ but is ethnocentric i.e. showing an ignorance and disregard for other cultures – it focuses on the music, art, history, language and achievements of white Europeans.
What does Mac an Ghaill argue about boys and educational achievment?
suggests that working-class boys are experiencing a ‘crisis of masculinity’
What does Wilkinson say about educational achievment and gender?
refers to the ‘genderquake’ whereby young females are increasingly striving for a fulfilling career
