Education key studies Flashcards
What did Durkheim say the functions of education were?
1) social solidarity through secondary socialization creating a shared culture e.g. citizenship lessons/ teaching British values
2) specialist skills for work e.g. ICT
What are some criticisms of Durkheim?
1) social solidarity- not everyone leaves school with British values/ shared culture e.g. prison
2) is there even a shared culture?
3) specialist skills- not everyone leaves with specialist skills i.e. N.E.E.Ts
What did Parsons say the function of education were?
1) agreed that education is a ‘vocal socialization agency’ i.e. school rules
2) he argued that status in school and society is achieved not ascribed
3) school is based on a meritocracy
What are some criticisms of Parsons?
1) some students have more opportunities than others “not what you know, it’s who you know”
2) barriers exist e.g. institutional racism
What did Davis and Moore say the functions of education were?
Role allocation
1) schools select and allocate pupils to their future work roles
2) inequality is necessary to ensure the most talented people fill the most important roles
3) education acts as a proving ground for ability “sifting and sorting” according to ability
What are some criticisms of Davis and Moore?
1) interactionists = people don’t always soak up values
2) Marxists = education transmits capitalistic ideology
3) not all important roles are highly rewarded e.g., nurses
What is one way Marx’s view could apply to school?
Alienation happens in school as students don’t get to choose what they learn and how they learn it
What did Althusser say about school?
- school is part of the ideological state apparatus (ISA)
- ISA maintains capitalism by controlling peoples ideas, values and beliefs
How does Althusser say these values are transferred in school?
- reproduces class inequality by transmitting it from one generation to another (failing each working-class generation )
- Legitimates (justifies) class inequalities by teaching pupils capitalist values
What is a criticism of Althusser?
-Sociology is a class = you learn about anti-capitalism
What do Bowles and Gintis say about school?
- the main role of education is to produce obedient workers
- After studying schools in the USA they concluded pupils are rewarded for these traits.
How does B+G say schools produce obedient workers
1)Hidden curriculum- things you learn at school without being directly taught e.g. competition, respect hierarchy, and working hard
2)Correspondance principle- school mirrors the workplace e.g. alienation
3)Myth of meritocracy- serves to justify the privilege of the mc which helps persuade the wc to accept the inequality and makes it less likely that they will overthrow capitalism
What does Willis say about school and what did he research?
- he was a neo-Marxist
-mixed method approach- observations + interviews - studied 12 WC boys he called “the lads”
-boys had anti school subculture to gain status and they subvert other sociological ideas e.g. false class consciousness = not mindless puppets - he found that wc boys will end up in WC jobs
-conclusion- school prep them for wc jobs + the boys only respected physical labor not academic
What are some evaluations of Willis?
-Willis only studied 12 students= not representative
- critics argue that Willis romanticizes the lads - portrays them as wc heroes despite their sexist anti-social attitudes
- Willis is potentially outdated since factory jobs no longer exist
- Marxists focus on social class inequality but ignores other inequalities
- Economically deterministic
What is a statistic of sexist behavior in schools?
60% of fem students and 37% of male students in mixed-sex 6th form has experienced / seen the use of sexist language
What do radical feminists think about school?
Schools are patriarchal e.g. sexual harassment in schools
What are the ways other radical feminists say schools are sexist
1) double standards - lee- sexual double standards reinforce traditional views
2) verbal abuse- Connell’s “ rich vocab of abuse” reinforce gender + sexual identity
- Paetcher- name-calling helps maintain male power e.g. gay, queer, and girls labels are used to police each other’s sexual identities
What did radical feminists Mac+ Ghaill say about school
1) the male gaze - this is a form of surveillance- objectifies girls - used to grow heterosexual masculinity- could be teachers to students or student to student
2) Male peer groups- verbal abuse to reinforce masculinity- found that “macho lads” referred to hardworking boys as “Dickhead achievements”
3) discipline- found teachers told boys off for “acting like girls”- teachers tend to ignore verbal abuse towards girls and blame them for inviting it - cannot generalize all schools
What are evaluations for Radical feminists?
- it is boys who experience sexism and this is why they achieve lower grades (e.g. stereotyping boys)
- outdated as schools are doing a lot to eradicate sexism e.g. policies + training ( but the UK feminista is recent)
What do new right theorists Chubb + Moe say about school?
- Consumer choice
- focused research on the USA
-some groups were disadvantaged - state education fails to give pupils skills needed for work
-private education delivers better education as they are answerable to paying consumers - Methods- analysis of exam results, parent surveys, and case studies
conclusion = call for a market in education that would put control in the hands of the consumers
What does Douglas say about intellectual development
Douglas found w/c children scored lower on ability tests
Argues w/c parents are less likely to support child intellectual development through educational activities
What do Bernstein and Young say on intellectual development
They found similar things to Douglas
They found m/c mothers were more likely to choose toys that encouraged thinking and listening skills
What is an evaluation of Douglas and Bernstein + Young on intellectual development
Keddie would argue cultural deprivation theorists are victim blaming
They blame parents rather than the system (e.g. capitalism)
Massive generalisation (stereotypes of w/c parents)
What do Bereiter and Engelmann say about language
They claimed that language used by lower class families is deficient and so are at a disadvantage
What are Bernsteins 2 different language codes
Restricted- used by w/c, limited vocabulary, descriptive
Elaborated- used by m/c, wider vocab, complex sentences
Elaborated codes give m/c an advantage as its often used by teachers and is more effective in communicating
What is an evaluation of Bereiter + Engleman and Bernstein
Troyna + William’s argue w/c language is not an issue but schools have a negative attitude towards it
What did Douglas say about attitudes and values
He found w/c parents place less value on educational achievement, less ambitious and gave less encouragement which leads to a lack of motivation for w/c pupils
What did Feinstein say about attitudes and values
He found parents’ lack of interest is more important than financial hardship or internal factors
What are Sugarmans 4 key values
1) fatalism - what will be will be
2) collectivism - valuing group membership rather than individual gratification
3) immediate gratification- receiving rewards straight away
4) present time orientation- more focused on the present rather than the future
What did Sugarmann argue about his 4 values
He argued these are consequences of the lack of stability and promotion prospects in w/c jobs and are passed through primary socialization
What are some evaluations of Sugarmann
Blackstone + Moritmore argue that w/c parents are no less interested in their children’s education but may not be able to attend parents evenings e.g. because of work hours etc.
Stereotyping
What did Jane Elliott do and find
A field experiment with primary school children
Treating students differently based on eye colour
She found that negative labelling led to a lack of motivation and students performed worse in a card sort
What is an evaluation of Jane Elliott
Unethical to do this with children
Small scale - not generalisable
