Education- Topic 1

Question 1

Who were able to send their children to private schools?

Answer 1

Upper and Middle class children

Question 2

How did working class children receive information?

Answer 2

Through Church Schools

Question 3

What was the Foster’s Education Act and when was it?

Answer 3

1870
school boards set up where school places were inadequate

Question 4

What was the Fisher Education Act and when was it?

Answer 4

1918
state responsible for education
Attendance compulsory to age 14

Question 5

What was the Education and Skills Act and when was it?

Answer 5

2008
sets out that from 2015 all young people (16 and 17 years-old) will be required to participate in education or training

Question 6

Why was there a drive in education?

Answer 6

Significant reform in education since 1870
Need for educated workforce
Britain competed with other industrial countries (e.g. Germany
More recent age increase- benefited society

Question 7

What did Emile Durkheim think of education/ the purpose?
(FUNCTIONALIST APPROACH)

Answer 7

• Saw major function as transmission of society’s norms and values (maintain social solidarity)
• saw schools as a society in miniature
• argued education teaches skills needed for future occupations

Question 8

Role of education (3 functions), what are they?

Answer 8

Socialisation
Skills provision
Role allocation

Question 9

What does tole of socialisation explain in education

Answer 9

• give equality of opportunity
  -DURKHEIM-> should emphasis moral responsibilities to society.
  ^^ did not want state of anomie + individualism= social disorder
• TALCOTT PARSONS-> secondary socialisation- socialises children to Meritocratic view of achievement- universalistic standard
• value of achievement
  -value of equality of opportunity

Question 10

What does the role of skills provision explain about education

Answer 10

-education teaches skills needed by modern industrial society
-specific skills required for jobs
- DURKHEIM- passes specific skills through formal curriculum but general values and skills through hidden curriculum

Question 11

what does the role of role allocation explain about education

Answer 11

• DAVIS AND MOORE- based on meritocratic system (every pupil has equal chance of success)- Linked to social stratification
• those who are hard working get best jobs in society
  -those with fewer qualifications got lesser jobs

Question 12

Criticism of functionalist approach

Answer 12

-teaches value of ‘ruling class’
-some groups underachieve- education not fair, the state sectors due to social class, ethnicity and gender not meritocratic
- subject too theoretical and less vocational- functionalist too traditional and uncritical view
- not clear modern education system transmits shared values and promotes solidarity- fragmentation of culture and diversity in society
- WILLIS- anti-school subcultures formed, which show schools not integrating + not promoting social solidarity
- DURKHEIM- assumes societies have shared culture that can be passed
some argue schools emphasise individual competition

Question 13

What is the Marxist view on role of education

Answer 13

• Reproduces class inequality and social relations of capitalist society -> fails the working class
• legitimates class inequality through myth of meritocracy

Question 14

What did Louis Althusser state for the marxist views?

Answer 14

-argues that key aims of education is ‘reproduction of labour power’
- he argues this is achieve in 2 ways
1. reproduction of skills necessary for productive labour force
2. reproduction of ruling class ideology
- disagree’s main function is transmission of shared values
- ISA= control ideas, values and beliefs
-education maintain, legitimises and reproduces the class inequalities
-Hidden Curriculum- accepts inequality uncritically,

Question 15

What was Pierre Bourdieu for marxist education?

Answer 15

• argued cultural attributes of the working classes are rejected because the educational system is defined by and for the middle class
  -so ruling class succeed by default rather than ability because ‘cultural capital’ is seen as a worthy investment and reward

Question 16

What was Bowles and Gintis view on education (marxist)

Answer 16

• the education system reproduces an obedient workforce that accepts inequality
• reward personality traits show obedience (high grades)
• dont reward creativity or independence (low grades)

Question 17

What was B&G correspondence theory?

Answer 17

• what goes in schools corresponds directly to the world of work
• hierarchies
  -lack of control
  -rewards external to work
  -competiton and division
• levelling and labeling
  -legitimising external rewards
  -teachers are like bosses, pupils like workers

Question 18

B&G- what did they think success in education was down to?

Answer 18

• those who ‘fit in’ and conform -> rise above the rest (white middle class)
  -inequality is disguied through ‘myth of mertiocracy’
  ^^ individuals blame themselves not the system
  ==schools produce workers ready for the capitalist societies

Question 19

What did Bowles and Gintis conclude?

Answer 19

• education system disguises inequalities+ makes it seem fair (myth of mertiocracy)
  -creates workers for capitalist society
  not necessarily about intellect but conformity

Question 20

Evaluations of Bowles and Gintis

Answer 20

support ->
employers increase in more say in organisation of curriculum- greater link with schools
freedom of teachers not restricted by NC
increase in vocational courses
- Reynolds -> curriculum doesnt teach skills needed by employers of passivity

Question 21

criticism of Bowles and Gintis

Answer 21

Brown -> modern businesses require and prefer creative people
(exams do not encourage this)
Willis -> research on anti-school subcultures suggest many pupils have little regard for school rules

Question 22

What is the Myth of Meritocracy (MOM) and who created it?

Answer 22

Bowles and Gintis
^ education prevents poor rebelling against unequal capitalist system by promoting MOM
- justifies priviledges of UC making it seem fair that they gained them in hard work
- persuades WC to accept inequality- less likely to overthrow capitalism

Question 23

What are the general evaluation of Marxism?

Answer 23

• useful in exposing ‘MOM’
• not comprehensive in understanding of education- no account of gender or ethnicity inequalities just class
• postmodernist suggest Marxist out of date- new type of workfoer required
• education responds to diversity and doesnt reproduce inequality

Question 24

Who are the new right?

Answer 24

-also known as neoliberal- political and economic ideology
-global perspective to guide economic policies of govs in the world
-competition of national and global markets are the key to efficiency and growth
-state owned monopolises are bad- competition in a free market is needed in society to improve quality of goods and services

Question 25

what was neoliberalism?

Answer 25

• economic doctrine- influences education policy, argue state should not provide services like education
• basic principles:
  
  • state not dictate indivduals how to dispose of own property
    -state not regulate free-market economy
• gov should encorage competiton, privatise state run businesses and delegate markets
• state owned monopolies should be privatised

Question 26

what was the neoliberalism view of education?

Answer 26

-argues value in education lies in how well it enables the country to compete in global marketplace
- they claim that this can be achieved if schools become more like a business- making parents and pupils consumers and using competition between schools to drive up standards

Question 27

what was the neoliberalism theory to the solution of education?

Answer 27

-Marketisation of Education- creating an ‘education market’
-creating competition between schools and empowering consumers bring increase in diversity of choice and efficiency- improves standards

Question 28

What was marketisation and how to be successful?

Answer 28

-information on the standards of schools must be available
-league tables- measure school performance
-educational institution to be like businesses
-teachers and students continually assessed- ofsted
-must be privatised as part of this process

Question 29

How was privatisation part of the process of the solution of Neoliberalists?

Answer 29

• to act like a business and entering the market is privatisation- private sector participation in edu- means raising standards and making schools more efficient
• takes a number of forms in education:
• obtaining income through deals with private companies
• subcontracting of service to private companies
  -testing and tutoring services

Question 30

Why did Chubb and Moe think the system has failed?

Answer 30

• not created equal opportunity + has failed the needs of disadvantaged groups
• inefficient as it fails to produce pupils with skills needed for the economy
• private schools deliver higher quality edu unlike state

Question 31

What do Chubb and Moe base their arguments on?

Answer 31

• on comparison of achievements of 60,000 pupils from low-income families in 1,015 state and private schools, together with the finding of a parent survey and case studies of ‘failing’ schools apparently being ‘turned down’
• their evidence shows pupils from low-income families consistently do about 5% better in private that state schools

Question 32

What are Chubb and Moe’s suggestions for education?

Answer 32

• based on findings, they call for introduction of market system in state education that put control in hands of consumers
• argue would allow consumers to shape schools to meet their own needs and improve quality and efficiency

Question 33

What are the 2 roles of the state for Neoliberalism?

Answer 33

• theres remain 2 important roles for the state:
  1. impose a framework on schools within which they have to compete
  2. ensure schools transmit shared culture through a single national curriculum
• education should affirm the national identity

Question 34

What was the evaluation of the New Right?

Answer 34

• GERWITZ AND BALL -> competition between schools benefits middle class who use cultural capital to gain access to desirable schools
• real cause of low education standards is social ineqaulity and inadequate funding of state schools
• MARXIST -> argue education imposes a dominant culture not shared values which devalues the cultures of WC and EM
• consumer choice may end up in provider choice, schools may pick student rather than parents choosing schools
• schools may pick the top student to stay on top of league table
• some critics believe that marketisation of education leads to a narrow view of education
• COFFIELD AND WILLIAMSON -> believe that schools have been turned in eczema factories

Question 35

What are the similarities with functionalism? (NEW)

Answer 35

1. both believe some people are naturally more talented than others
2. both favour meritocratic education with principles of comp and serving needs of the economy
3. both believe edu should socialise pupils into shared values and install a sense of national identity

Question 36

What are the differences to functionalism? (NEW)

Answer 36

• key difference is that neo current education system is not achieveing aims- reason is taht it is run by state
• by taking a ‘one size fits all’ approach and encouraging undforrmity- consumer have no say- making unrepsonse and inefficient
• failing schools dont have to answer to parents= lower standards of achievement, less qualified workfore

Question 37

What did Pierre Bourdieu think for social reproduction/ democracy view of education?

Answer 37

• saw main role as social reporduction- i.e. reproduction of social inequality- in particular reproduction of power and privileges of dominant class
• Bourdieu refers to resources that determine people position in society as capitals:
  1. economic capital
  2. social capital
  3. symbolic capital
  4. cultural capital
• greater amount of capital an individual or group has the higher their place in class system
• argued all 4 contribute to success but cultural capital is most important

Question 38

The evaluation of Pierre Bourdieu for the social reproduction

Answer 38

• PRO- views are influential- stimulated research past and present
• CONS - claim he presented overly rigid picture of society, no room for creativity or resistance
• marxist argues he neglects economy and places too much emphasis on cultural capital and not enough on economic oppression
• some argue that the description of cultural capital lacks precision and detail

Question 39

What is social democracy?

Answer 39

-political ideology- develop western democracies
- SD perspective the state should represent the interest of population as a whole- ensure equal rights for every citizen
- SDs argue inequalities can:
1. prevent equality of educational opportunity
2. reduce effectiveness of education on promoting economic growth

Question 40

Evaluation of Social Democracy

Answer 40

• to move to equality of opportunity SD say we need to change the education system or change the class system
• places too much importance on changing the education system- over the last 60yrs major changes have made little influence on improving the situation

Question 41

What are the feminist views on education?

Answer 41

• common to Marxists and Functionalists in that they believe education transmits norms and values onto pupil- for feminism its patriarchal views
• HEATON AND LAWSON -> hidden curriculum taught patriarchal values in schools, noted traditional family structure in textbooks amongst gendered roles in PE, specific subjects aimed towards genders and division of labour in schools
• all feminists agree edu system acts as agent of secondary socialisation teaching norms, values and gender scripts that are seen as normal
• girls and boys learning these prevents challenges to patriarchy and therefore social change
• feminists would point to feminism itself for making improvements of girls in edu

Question 42

What were the liberal feminists views of education?

Answer 42

• point out remaining issues of patriarchy while also celebrating progress made so far in improving girls achievement
• believe that ‘future is now female’ and that girls are outperforming boys in edu- only matter of time till replicated in society

Question 43

What are radical feminist views of education?

Answer 43

• patriarchy still works through school to reinforce traditional gender norms and to disadvanatge girls

Question 44

What are black and difference feminists views of education?

Answer 44

• not all girls have the same experience of education
  -ME girls often victims of specific stereotyping and assumptions (e.g. muslim girls)

Question 45

What is globalisation?

Answer 45

• the process of interaction and integration between people, companies and governments worldwide

Question 46

What is the globalisation view of education?

Answer 46

RIKOWSKI -> education becomes a global commodity- driving force behind this is profit
- RIKOWSKI -> the world trade organisation and the world bank are supporting global businesses as a way to increase productivity and economic growth- welcomed by govs who education is the key to success in an increasingly competitive global economy
- universities are increasingly acting as global businesses- campuses in other countries, acting as a consultants for developing school systems