Education, theories and policies Flashcards
Social class external
Sugarman
Smith and nobel
Bourdieu
Social class internal
Becker
Ball and whitty
Archer et al
Sugar man
Differences in attitudes and values of the working class and middle class
Wc= fatalistic, immediate gratification, collectivism Mc= controlled, deferred gratification, individualism
However in society today these divides in different attitudes and values of classes have been blurred as now the majority of people fit into both categories
Smith and nobel
Material deprivation of wc
Working class can’t afford aids such as computers and textbooks puts them at a disadvantage
Working-class may not have room in the home to study so I left distracted and can’t perform to their best ability
The government have introduced compensatory policies such as pupil premium free school meals and sixth form bursary to combat material deprivation
Bourdieu
Cultural capital
Watching documentaries, reading books, or visiting museums in your spare time gives them a head start and more confidence in school.
Middle class have the right cultural capital so are at an advantage
Working class have cultural deprivation so are left to feel uncomfortable in school.
The Government has introduced a range of aims aimed at encouraging working-class families to take part in activities that to increase their cultural capital over time the working class will also start to develop cultural capital not cultural deprivation
Becker
Labelling
Interactionist study
Teachers judge pupils according to how closely they fit an image of the ideal pupil
Working-class children are the furthest away from it and middle class are seen as closest
The middle class have a sfp and end up achieving well in school and the working class have a sfp of failing in school
Sugarman and becker link
The attitudes and values that Sugerman came up with is what is forms the label of the ideal pupil which teachers label positively in Beckers study
Ball and whitty
School selection policies
Good Schools are in demand so are very selective as to the students that they let into the school, they select the students that performed best in primary school and with parents that have prestigious jobs
Lower Chevening schools are not in demand so are not selective and are willing to take on any student so the school Can run
This creates a cycle of inequality which means that good schools become even better and bad schools struggle to improve so the middle-class are destined to do well in the good schools and the working-class are destined to fail in the bad schools
Archer et al
Habitus and symbolic capital
Habitus is a social groups every day were you thinking and acting
Having middle class habitus leads to symbolic capital, teachers go out of their way to help middle-class students with symbolic capital to do better in exams and the working-class students are left to fail
Smith and nobel and ball and whitty link
Schools are likely to select pupils from a poor family and location this means that they are left to receive a bad education from a bad school which results in a differences in educational achievement
Bourdieu and archer et al link
The middle-class cultural capital that bourdieu discusses creates a habitus which leads to symbolic capital told by archer et al
Social class intro
Social class refers to the divisions in society based on economic and social status
Many sociologists argue that the middle-class students do better than the working-class students
External factors argue outside of school and internal factors argue inside of school
Smart ass para social class
However in a marxist theory, bourdieu says how working class students are trapped in a cycle of inequality, as a result of material deprivation and cultural deprivation the children are less likely to get good qualifications so are left to work as subservient workers for the bourgeoisie
Ethnic minority intro
Chinese and Indian students do better in school and black Afro-Caribbean do the worst
External = outside school Internal = inside school
Ethnic minorities external
Bowker
Arnot
Murray
Ethnic minorities internal
Wright
Gilbourne and youdell
Report from guardian
Bowker
Linguistic skills
Lack of standard English creates a huge barrier in the UK education
Afro-Caribbeans language in the home is ungrammatical disjointed and incapable of expressing abstract ideas, creates a strain on their chances to do well in school because they don’t understand the way the teachers teach and are unable to write an exam style.
Whereas English students are able to fully understand the teachers and come right in a way that allows them to achieve well in their exams
Swan report found that the language in home has little impact on their achievements
Arnot
Media influence
Media has created a negative auntie school role model for black people is it creates a persona over and I will check tough ghetto superstar which is formed in rap lyrics and MTV which talks about drugs and crime.
Black students try to live up to this persona so are turned against school hence why their achievement is so low.
Inside there is too deterministic as by watching TV and listening to rap music will not automatically lead boys to wanting to become this so-called ultra tough ghetto superstar
Murray
Family structure and parental support
Afro-Caribbean students are lacking a male role model due to fathers leaving. Mothers tend to struggle to socialise their children properly so their children may sometimes lead towards gang cultures to seek a male role model so the students may start care less about education and more about socialising in crime therefore underachieve in school.
This argument is too deterministic living in a single parent family doesn’t automatically mean they will become a criminal
Wright
Marginalisation of Pakistani students
Teachers label them as a problem that can be ignored for having poor English so they are left out of class discussions teachers also disapprove of their customs and mispronounce names
Gilbourne and youdell
Ethnic minority group students are labelled in school which may cause them to underachieve.
Teachers have racialised expectations and label black Afro-Caribbean students as threatening and challenging And having no potential or specialism in a subject. This leads to black students having a self fulfilling prophecy meaning that they end up meeting this label and expectations that teachers have of them which means they underachieving class
Report from the guardian
Lack Of ethnic minority teachers
Ethnic minority backgrounds are significantly under represented in the school environment and are less likely to be in positions of authority in 2013 only 0.8% of headteachers were black and 1.7% of teachers were generally black.
So school is seen as a white experience limiting the chance of success for ethnic minority students
Gender intro
Most sociologists argue that girls do better than boys, girls get better results in primary school national curriculum tests and girls also get better results in every subject in GCSE.
Gender external
Sharpe
Barber
Beck n beck gernsheim
Gender internal
Francis
Mitsos n browne
Boaler
Sharpe
Girls changing ambitions and priorities
In the 1970s sue sharpe found that girl is top priority we are based around love and marriage whereas in the 90s girls main ambitions were to get a good job and to be economically independent.
This is linked to the increase in feminism in society. As the feminist movement became stronger girls in school have become more and more influence to have high aspirations for themselves.
However archer argues this is not true for all girls in her study of white working-class girls she found that many of them still strive for a hyper heterosexual feminine identity.
Barber
The way boys are socialised
Barber found that boys overestimate their own ability well generally girls underestimate theirs. This attitude often comes from socialisation in the home where fathers encourage sons to have an attitude of arrogance. Boys are taught to play around and let off steam whereas girls spend more time reading and carrying out intellectually stimulating activities.
However the government has introduced a number for policies to change the way that boys are socialised for example the father and sons reading scheme
Beck n beck gernsheim
Employment opportunities
In 20 1367% of women were paid in employment.
Girls now try harder in school than they did previously because they have the same opportunities for careers that boys have. This is due to the changes in law such as the equal pay act 1970 and the sex discrimination act 1975 there are now far more women in senior positions in the workplace they argue that women are smashing through the glass ceiling. Girls in school see older females achieving well so try to achieve well in school in order to get to this place.
However radical feminists argue that only a small Minority of females are actually able to reach the top jobs the most prestigious jobs are still dominated by men.
Bowker and wright link
Because of the language barrier students are marginalised due to teachers believe in that their English isn’t good enough for them to be able to contribute in class discussions.
Murray and report from guardian link
Lack of male role models in the family and role models in the school lead ethnic minority groups to be at a disadvantage and under represented in the school environment
Arnot and gilbourne and youdell link
Media influences the black pupils to become the label that Guildbourne and Youdell gave them
Francis
Girls tend to be labelled more positively them boys this leads to a positive self fulfilling prophecy.
Boys were labelled as unruly and disruptive and are more likely to spend time telling them off and helping them with school work teachers have lower expectations of boys and are less inclined to push them to achieve higher in exams.
If girls are labelled negatively they are more likely to be able to reject the negative labels fuller has a study Which describes how instead of accepting negative stereotypes a group of working-class black girls channelled their anger into rejecting the prophecy meaning that they did well in their exams.
Mitsos n browne
Coursework and modular exams
The introduction of GCSEs in 1988 had a significant impact on helping girls to outperform boys this is because GCSEs involve module exams and coursework which is suited to girls as they are organised and maintain a focus over the two year period.
However the boys who are on organised couldn’t keep up with meeting deadlines and regular revision so therefore were set to underachieve compare to the girls
Boaler
For opportunities in schools
Boaler points out that policies like GIST - getting girls into science had a positive impact on encouraging girls to do well in the subjects that were seen as not for them. This meant that girls achievement in school rose as they were starting to like subjects that weren’t seen as feminine.
Sharpe and francis link
The label that girls receive is as a result of the change in aspiration that Sue sharpe describes
Barber and mitsos n browne link
Girls are brought up to read and do intellectually stimulating activities so in coursework girls will thrive in research so I will do better
Beck n beck gernsheim and boaler link
The change in opportunities in employment due to sex discrimination act 1975 has led to opportunity policies in school so girls have an equal place in education as boys
Smart ass para gender
Other radical feminists argue that education is still a very patriarchal institution as most teachers in senior positions are men and girls are disadvantaged in certain subjects e.g. science. So education is what gives the differences in achievement for girls and boys as they are not given equal opportunities in the school
Education theories
Functionalism Marxism Feminism New right Post modernism
Functionalism
Macro prospective on society
Durkheim
Parsons
Davis and moore
Durkheim 1
Education creates value consensus among students this then leads to social solidarity
Value consensus is when the student share the same norms and values
Social solidarity is when society works together
Samples of this in education is when students wear the same uniform, when they sit the same exams.
Durkheim 2
School is seen as the bridge between family life and work in life. Durkheim argues that education gives specialist skills to the students so they are prepared for the skills that they need to have in work.
However the new right theorists argue that the standard of education in Britain is not good enough to give people the skills they need for work.
Parsons
Education is meritocratic- the idea that we all start equal and success is based on hard work of the individual.
Gives students the opportunity to move from their ascribed status to their achieved status this is known as social mobility.
However Bowles and gintis argue that meritocracy is a myth.
Davis and moore
Role allocation
Education system sifts and sorts individuals according to their ability
Education gives people the chance to prove that they are clever enough to take on these higher responsibility jobs and should be given higher awards for their ability.
Education allows us to see what individuals are suitable for what jobs
However jobs aren’t always allocated based on skill and talent some jobs are allocated based on nepotism meaning they are given jobs through people that they know
New right
Chub and moe
Chub and moe agree with functionalists That education should be positive. However they disagree because they think that the current state of education is not good enough.
They argue that the government is too involved in education and that they should let the schools run themselves that private businesses private schools are run like private businesses and they are always seem to be the most successful schools.
Relates to the Policies that Margaret facture introduced in 1988 called the education reform act making schools marketise like a business.
Marxism
Bowles and gintis
Bourdieu
Willis
Bowles and gintis
Education reproduces class inequality
Education plays a key role in conditioning students into the attitudes and values and routines that would make them easily exploited school and hard-working when they left school.
They argue that school life mirrors working life for the proletariat which is called the correspondence principle.
School students follow the hidden curriculum all of these lessons are taught to try and work it has to be subservient workers for the bourgeoisie
Those are there for like factories that churn out proletariat workers year after year
Bourdieu
Education reproduces class inequality
Education creates a cycle of deprivation for the proletariats
This insures that the children are trapped in a system where they must grow up and become subservient workers for bourgeoisie. This is due to them having material deprivation and cultural deprivation meaning that they are less likely to get good qualifications so are therefore set to work for the bourgeoisie to earn money.
However the government has introduced a number of compensatory policies to try and help the working-class break the cycle of deprivation
Bowles and gintis
Location legitimate’s class inequality
Education is a giant myth making machine the key myth being meritocracy.
Only the rich can succeed in education, the working-class are tricked into thinking that meritocracy does exist so see inequality as legitimate this means the proletariats blame themselves for having low paid jobs and false class consciousness.
Study by Willis of the 12 lads shows that education does not always digital it’s in quality-the 12 lads realised that meritocracy was a myth.
Willis
Neo marxism
The 12 lads
The lads were part of an anti-school subculture they chose to fail in order to disrupt the system they knew that the education system was unfair and not meritocratic so kept misbehaving and failed school.
However this study is gender blind and it only focuses on boys.
Could be argued that ultimately the working-class lads ended up in working-class jobs therefore the system did its job of creating the subservient workers
Post modernism
Usher and thompson
This theory criticises of a theory to be and outdated. Usher and Thompson argue that education give students the skills they need to be independent and creative. Education is now far more liberal and allow students to be creative and have their own input on this school lives. For example many schools have a student council which allows them to have a say.
However Marxists argue that schools today simply provide the illusion of giving students choice but in reality they are still just training students to be subservient workers.
Liberal feminism
Harper
Harper believes that education was once very patriarchal but has recently become more equal.
Example girls are now encouraged to take subjects that were traditionally more male. And teachers now support girls and I’ve helped them to outperform boys
Radical feminism
Greer believes that education is very patriarchal. Most senior positions are for men and girls are disadvantaged in certain subjects, furthermore they are encouraged to take certain subjects which reinforce the idea that they should stay at home e.g. health and social care/childcare
30 marker theories
Durkheim: School is the bridge between family life and working life. Evaluation. Bowles and gintis: education reproduces class inequality and it turns out proletariat workers
Parsons: meritocracy- social mobility. Evaluation. Bowles and gintis: inequality as legitimate- blame themselves
Davis and moore- role allocation. Give students a chance to prove themselves. Evaluation
Conclusion: radical feminism: greer - education isn’t that positive
Education policies
1944 - butler act 1965 - comprehensive act 1988 - ERA 1997 - labour 2010-2015 - coalition policies
1944 butler act
Introduction of the 11+, aim to create a more educated workforce.
Consisted of grammar schools, technical schools, secondary modern schools
Advantages:
All students were given three secondary education, the 11+ was based on meritocracy
Disadvantages: It wasn’t actually meritocratic, middle-class students who are more likely to pass. It created a huge social class divide between the middle-class and the working-class. Being categorised into schools created a self for filling prophecy, this damaged the achievement of working-class students
1965 comprehensive act
Aimed to reduce the social class divide made by the butler act. Comprehensive schools were made so that all social classes could be under one roof
Advantages: It produced the social class divide, it made education more meritocratic (all students were taught at the same standard by same teachers)
Disadvantages: In reality there was still a huge social class divide because the classes were separated by labelling and settings. Educational triage ( making decisions over who actually needs the help) is prominent in comprehensive schools
Education reform act 1988
Introduced by margret thatcher. Main feature was marketisation. Makes schools more like businesses. Schools were made to compete in order to get pupils to attend the school.
Policies brought in:
GCSEs, league tables, formula funding, open enrolment, ofsted reports
Advantages:
It’s a raise the standards of education. Created a parentocracy meaning that parents could make informed decisions about their child’s education based on information available.
Disadvantages:
Gerwitz argues that middle-class parents have more material and cultural capital so can take advantage of the choice available however parentocracy is a myth for the working-class parents.
Ball and whitty, marketisation reproduces inequality through exam league tables and formula funding.
1997 labour came to power
Marketisation:
Encouraged schools to apply for specialist status in a particular curriculum area.
Encouraged schools to become academies
Equality:
EMA payments: gave weekly allowance to students over 16 to stay in school to gain better qualifications
Education action zones: gave more money to schools in poorer areas
Aim higher: program designed to raise the aspiration of groups who were under represented in higher education, convinced students to stay in education longer to get better qualifications such as going to uni.
Advantages and disadvantages of labour
Advantages:
Increased parentocracy by giving parents the option of choosing a school that could nurture their Childs particular interests. Academies raise standards of schools. The policies reduced inequality and created more social mobility in some cases.
Disadvantages:
Some academies weren’t successful and were poorly run.
The EMA acted as a perverse incentive by encouraging students to study post 16 without any intentions of getting the qualifications. Students would use the money for uneducation related things
Labour were identified as being hypocritical as they tried to reproduce material inequality but at the same time introduced university fees which puts working-class students off
Coalition policies 2010-2015
Charged all schools to become academies
Making GCSEs and A-levels more difficult
Introduce the pupil premium programme
Introduced free schools-(which meant the local council could go to the government and asked for schools)
Encourage the privatisation of education -( private profit making businesses becoming increasingly involved in education, having businesses run in the school such as catering)
AdVantages and disadvantages of coalition policies
Advantages:
Pupil premium fund allows schools to help disadvantaged students by helping of the cost of education.
Increased parentocracy I allowing parents to design and set up schools that meet their specific needs
Disadvantages:
A Report by ofsted Found that schools are not effectively using the extra income that they are saving for people premium students
Schools have been identified as having problems
It created a social class divide between working-class students who are put off university due to fear of debt
Privatisation in education meant that the bourgeoisie is controlling education and were using it to increase the profits
Globalisation of education
PISA programmes- countries are constantly competing against each other to find out which country provides the best education for students
Increase in migration- education is now more multicultural. All schools now teach the six world religions meaning that ethnic minority students feel more comfortable in school
Entry requirements for teachers- 2012 the entry requirements for trainee teachers were raised to ensure that people enter in the profession were capable- raised to achieving above a 2:1
Advantages and disadvantages of globalisation
Advantages:
Looking at what schools doing of a country can help to improve education in the UK.
Education in the UK has become more accommodating for migrant pupils.
Disadvantages:
Comparisons with other countries has meant the government has put more pressure on schools to achieve better results this pressure is then passed on to the students which leads to a number of problems
