Mock Exam #1 Flashcards
1
Q
What is cultural deprivation?
A
Lacking of basic skills, knowledge and attitudes.
2
Q
What are the names of the two language codes that Bernstein identified?
A
Restricted and elaborative.
3
Q
Give an example of the sort of question a lower ability parent might ask their child.
A
“Do you like it?” (Closed question)
4
Q
What sort of toys might middle-class parents buy their children?
A
Educational toys
5
Q
Give the names of the four working class attitudes identified by Barry Sugarman (1970)
A
Fatalism
Immediate gratification
Present time orientation
Collectivism
6
Q
Give an example of a compensatory education programme from the UK.
A
SureStart
7
Q
Give an example of how poor housing can affect achievement.
A
Lack of space for studying
Cold/illness (affects attendance)
8
Q
Roughly what fraction of pupils who receive free school meals achieve 5 A*-C grades at GCSE?
A
1/3
9
Q
To the nearest 10%, what percentage did UCAS applications drop by after fees were raised in 2012?
A
8.6%
10
Q
What is economic capital?
A
Money
11
Q
What are the three ‘capitals’?
A
Cultural capital
Economical capital
Educational capital
12
Q
Give an example of an activity that parents might do to build their children’s cultural capital?
A
Museum trips
13
Q
Name the three groups that were identified by the teachers in Rist’s study of an American kindergarten?
A
Tigers
Clowns
Cardinals
14
Q
What is the term for a prediction that comes true as a result of it being made?
A
Self-fulfilling prophecy
15
Q
What is the ‘A*-C economy’?
A
League tables. More A*-C grades = more funding
16
Q
Which students suffer the most as a response to the A*-C economy?
A
Hopeless cases
17
Q
What are the four ‘pupil responses’ to labelling?
A
Ingratiation
Rebellion
Retreatism
Ritualism
18
Q
Children from which ethnic minority are more likely to be raised by single parents?
A
Black families
19
Q
Children from which ethnic minority are more likely to have parents who value high educational achievement
A
Asian
20
Q
Give an example of compensatory education (in the UK or US)
A
SureStart
HeadStart
21
Q
Describe three types of racist teachers (Mirza)
A
Colourblind
Overt
Liberal chauvinists
22
Q
Give two adjectives to describe an ‘ideal’ pupil (Archer)
A
White
Middle-class
23
Q
What did the students observed by Fuller do in response to negative labels from teachers?
A
Pro-education
Anti-school
24
Q
What is the term for a curriculum based around the experiences of one culture or ethnicity?
A
Ethnocentric
25
In what decade was the Equal Pay Act introduced?
1970s
26
What type of media did McRobbie study in the 1970s?
Magazines
27
In what year was coursework introduced to GCSEs?
1989
28
Why do boys get more attention from teachers in lessons?
Discipline
29
What is meant by the term 'hyper-heterosexual feminine identity'?
Focus on appearance
| Stereotypically feminine
30
To the nearest 5%, what percentage of primary teachers are male?
15% (is actually 14%)
31
Give 5 reasons why there are gender differences in subject choice
```
Socialisation
Subject image
Career opportunities
Role models
Gender domains
```
32
What is the 'male gaze'?
Objectification/sexualisation of women
33
What is the term for everyone's opportunity being based on their efforts?
Meritocracy
34
What two jobs does education do according to Durkheim?
Social solidarity
| Specialist skills
35
What group says that education should be run on market principles?
The New Right/ neoliberals
36
What three letters did Althusser use to describe education?
ISA
37
How did Bowles and Gintis describe meritocracy?
A myth used to justify inequality
38
Who did Willis study?
The 'lads'.
39
When was the education reform act?
1988
40
What type of school is one that is free from LEA control?
Academies
| Free schools
41
Give three examples of a policy that has increased equality
EMA
AimHigher
National curriculum
42
How much is the average university tuition fee?
£9,000 per year
43
What organisation was set up in the early 90s to monitor education standards?
OFSTED
44
Name the three types of 'choosers' identified by Gewirtz
Privileged-skilled
Disconnected local
Semi-skilled
45
What is material deprivation?
Poverty and a lack of material necessities such as adequate housing and income.
46
List two examples of material deprivation.
Housing e.g overcrowding, harder to study, health effects
| Diet and Health e.g poor nutrition, lower energy levels, more prone to illness.
47
What is cultural capital?
The knowledge, attitudes, values, language, tastes and abilities of middle-class
48
What are internal factors?
Factors within school and the education system, such as interactions between pupils and teachers, and inequalities between schools.
49
What are external factors?
Factors outside school and the education system, such as the influence of home and family background and wider society.
50
What does it mean to 'label' someone?
To attach a meaning or definition to them.
51
What is streaming?
Separating children into different ability groups or classes called 'streams'.
52
Which pupils are more likely to be placed in lower streams?
Working class
53
Why is it hard for pupils to move to a higher stream?
They're locked into teacher's low expectations of them. Children in lower streams 'get the message' that teacher have written them off as 'no hopers'.
54
What evidence does Douglas give to show that streaming affects educational achievement?
Children placed in lower streams at age 8 had suffered a decline in their IQ score by age 11.
55
Explain what Gillborn and Youdell mean by the A*-C economy.
A system in which schools focus their time, effort and resources on these pupils they see as having the potential to get 5 grades Cs and so boost the schools league table position.
56
What is triage?
The process on battlefields or in major disasters whereby medical staff decide who is to be given scarce medical resources.
57
Which three 'types' do schools categorise pupils into?
The 'walking wounded' - Who can be ignored because they will survive.
Those who will die anyway, who will also be ignored.
Those with a chance of survival, who are given treatment in hope of saving them.
58
What is differentiation?
The process of teachers categorising pupils according to how they perceive their ability, attitude and/or behaviour.
59
Give an example of differentiation.
Streaming is a form of differentiation since it categorises pupils into separate classes.
60
What is polarisation?
The process in which pupils respond to streaming by moving towards one of the two opposite 'poles' or extremes.
61
What did Lacey discover in his study of Hightown Boys' grammar school?
Streaming polarised boys into a pro-school and anti-school subculture.
62
Define pro-school subculture.
Pupils placed in high streams (who are largely middle-class) tend to remain committed high values of the school.
They gain their status in the approved manner, through academic success.
63
What are the values of students of a pro-school subculture?
Those of the school.
64
Define anti-school subculture.
Pupils placed in low streams (who tend to be working class) suffer a loss of self-esteem: the school has undermined their self-worth by placing them in a position of inferior status.
65
What is ingratiation? (Woods)
Being the 'teacher's pet'.
66
What is ritualism? (Woods)
Going through the motions and staying out of trouble.
67
What is retreatism? (Woods)
Daydreaming and mucking about.
68
What is rebellion? (Woods)
Outright rejection of everything the school stands for.
69
What is habitus?
'Dispositions' or learned, taken-for-granted ways of thinking, being and acting that are shared by a particular social class.
70
What is multicultural education?
A policy that recognises and values minority cultures and includes them in the curriculum.
71
What is anti-racist education?
A policy that challenges the prejudice and discrimination that exists in schools and wider society.
72
Give four reasons why ethnic minority pupils are more likely to suffer material deprivation linked to housing and low income.
1. Almost half of all ethnic minority children live in low-income households, as against a quarter of white children.
2. Ethnic minorities are almost twice as likely to be unemployed compared with whites.
3. Ethnic minority households are around three times more likely to be homeless.
4. Almost half of Bangladeshi and Pakistani women earned under £7 per hour, compared with only a quarter of white British workers.
73
Define individual racism.
Results from the prejudiced views of individual teachers and others.
74
Define institutional racism.
Discrimination that is built into the way institutions, such as schools and colleges, operate.
75
What three main types of teacher racism did Mirza identify?
The colour-blind: Teachers who believe all pupils are equal but in practice allow racism to go unchallenged.
The liberal chauvinists: Teachers who believe black pupils are culturally deprived and who have low expectations of them.
The overt racists: Teachers who believe blacks are inferior and actively discriminate against them.
76
Who are 'the rebels'? (Sewell)
- Most visible + influential group
- Small minority of black pupils
- Often excluded from school
- Rejected goals + rules of school
- Conform to the stereotype of anti-authority, anti-school, 'black macho lad'.
77
Who are 'the conformists'? (Sewell)
- Largest group
- Keen to succeed, accepted school's goals and had friends from different ethnic groups
- Not part of a subculture
- Anxious to avoid being stereotyped by teachers or peers.
78
Who are 'the retreatists'? (Sewell)
- Tiny minority of isolated individuals
- Disconnected from both schools + black subcultures
- Dispised by the rebels
79
Who are 'the innovators'? (Sewell)
- Second largest group
- Pro-education, anti-school (like Fuller's girls)
- Value success
- Didn't seek approval of teachers
- Conformed only as far as schoolwork was concerned
- This distanced them from conformists + allowed them to maintain creditability with the rebels (while maintaining positive about academic achievement).
80
What is Fuller's theory?
Students can respond positively to labelling by rejecting school values while remaining pro-education. Based on a case study of black girls who “did their own thing” in school and succeeded in their exams.
81
What is Mac an Ghails theory?
The effectiveness of students’ responses of labelling depends on several factors, such as gender, ethnic background and their previous education experience. Girls who’d gone to an all-girls school responded more constructively to labelling at a college.
82
What is Gillborn and Youdell's theory?
Teachers view black pupils as being more aggressive and badly behaved. They are more likely to be excluded and therefore their achievement will suffer (only 20% of excluded pupils get 5 A*-C grades)
83
What is Mirza's theory?
Teachers are racist in three ways, and sometimes students’ strategies to avoid this are not particularly effective. Avoiding lessons, “doing your own thing” or choosing different subjects led to failure in this case.
84
What is Archer's theory?
Teachers have an image of the “ideal pupil” – naturally intelligent, middle class and white. Working class and/or black students are “demonised” and labelled as a result, whereas Asian and Eastern European students are “pathologised” as hardworking but less intelligent. Any success they achieve is downplayed as “despite themselves”!
85
What is Wright's theory?
Teachers view Asian pupils as having poor English, and so leave them out of discussion or talk to them using simple, patronising language, leading to low self-esteem and being “left behind” in lessons.
86
What is Sewell's theory?
Black male students display four responses to labelling – they rebel, conform, retreat or innovate. The problem is that teachers assume that most black males are rebels, and they get treated as such.
87
What is marketisation?
The policy of introducing market forces of supply and demand into areas run by the state such as education and the NHS.
88
What is an effect of segregation?
Segregation often limits opportunities and restricts the freedom of people who do not belong to a dominant group.
89
What is segregation?
The action or state of setting someone or something apart from others.
90
What does the term 'ethnocentric' mean?
An attitude or policy that gives priority to the culture and viewpoint of one particular ethnic group, while disregarding others.
91
What is the ethnocentric curriculum?
A curriculum that reflects the culture of one ethnic group - usually the dominant culture.
92
Examples of the ethnocentric curriculum.
Language, literature and music: Miriam David (1993) describes the National Curriculum as a 'specifically British' curriculum that largely ignores non-European languages, literature, and music.
History: Ball (1994) criticises the NC for ignoring ethnic diversity and for promoting an attitude of 'little Englandism'. E.g the history curriculum tries to recreate a 'mythical age of empire and past glories', while ignoring the history of black and Asian people.
93
What is functionalism?
Society is held together by a shared culture, into which its members are socialised. This shared culture gives everyone in it a sense of solidarity
94
What is neoliberalism?
A modified form of liberalism tending to favour free-market capitalism.
95
What is marxism?
A conflict perspective based on the ideas of Karl Marx. It sees society as divided into two opposed classes, one of which exploits the labour of the other.
96
Who are the bourgeoisie? (Marxism)
The owners of means of production like factories, raw materials, and land. They are a minority of capitalists.
97
Who are the proletariat? (Marxism)
The workers, who own nothing but their own labour, which they sell to the bourgeoisie in order to survive.
98
What is the new right?
Based on the idea that the traditional nuclear family and its values (mum, dad and kids, parents are married, dad in paid employment) are best for society.
99
What is the structural view?
We are entirely shaped by the way society is set up. We internalise society's norms and values.
100
What is another term for the structural view?
A 'macro' approach, because it takes a large scale view.
101
What is the action view?
This sees us as having free will and choice, and says that we shape society through our own actions.
102
What is the action view also known as?
A 'micro' approach, because it focuses on small scale interactions between people.
103
What is primary data?
Information collected by sociologists themselves for their own purposes.
104
What is secondary data?
Data collected by other sociologists.
105
List three methods used for gathering primary data.
Social surveys
Participant observation
Experiments
106
What are social surveys?
These involve asking people questions in a written questionnaire or an interview.
107
What happens during participant observation?
The sociologist joins in with the activities of the group they're observing.
108
What type of experiments do sociologists rarely use?
Laboratory experiments, but they sometimes use field experiments and the comparative method.
109
What is sociology?
The study of society, cultures, and the different theoretical perspectives that try to explain why there are inequalities in society and if they're acceptable.
110
What are the five theoretical perspectives?
```
Functionalism
Marxism
Feminism
The new right
Postmodernism
```
111
What is culture?
All those things that are learned and shared by a society or a group of people and transmitted from generation to generation.
112
List seven examples of culture
```
Culture includes all the things that a society regards as important e.g:
Customs
Traditions
Language
Skills
Knowledge
Beliefs
Norms and values
```
113
What social class is getting 5 or more grades A*-C at GCSE bvy the largest margin?
Middle class 'higher professional' - 83%
| Working class 'lower professional - 76%
114
What social class is getting the least amount of grades at A*-C at GCSE and by what margin?
Working class (44%) - Routine e.g sales assistant
115
What four factors might explain the class differences in education?
Wealth
Parents educational background/skills
Encouragement/support at home
Environmental factors
116
What did Feinstein discover? (Language factors)
Educated (m/c) parents used reasoning language with children e.g "What do you think?"
Language used in w/c homes is more deficient, wrong gestures, single/simple words etc.
117
What was J.W.B Douglas' theory of home factors?
```
Less value was placed on education by working class parents.
Less ambitious for children, took less interest in education, less likely to discuss progress with teachers.
```
118
Bourdieu (1984) says m/c parents have three types of 'capital' that helps their children at school. What are they?
Economic - Wealthier parents can convert their economic capital into educational capital.
Educational - Parents from m/c more likely to know how to get their kids the best education they can. Likely to be highly educated.
Cultural - Language, values, and attitudes of m/c. M/c talk in a more advanced and sophisticated language. Know how to 'play the system'.
119
What is a study in support? (Sullivan)
Sullivan (2001) conducted a survey of 465 pupils in 4 schools. Challenged cultural capital, asking if students spent their spare time reading, watching documentaries etc. Discovered that although pupils w/ greater cultural capital were more successful and m/c, it didn't make much of a difference.
120
List theoretical issues for two types of experiments.
Lab (lacks ecological validity, is reliable)
| Field (internal validity, control variables)
121
List two types of practical issues with experiments.
Money (needs funding, not quick)
| Equipment, setting (easy to sample, Hawthorne effect)
122
List two ethical issues with experiments.
Consent (protection, deception, confidentiality)
| Physical and mental effect on participants.
123
List two cultural factors in ethnic differences.
Family
| Language
124
Which ethnic groups are more likely to get 5 A*-C grades at GCSE?
White and Asian
125
Briefly describe the main features of the tripartite system.
- Tried to achieve meritocratic system education system.
- Tested pupils on the 11+ exam and measured ability
- Those who passed when to grammar school (A-levels, uni) - mostly middle class
- Those who didn't do as well went to secondary school (higher up job) or technical school (vocational course)
126
Briefly describe the main features of the comprehensive school system.
- Gave local education choice on becoming a comprehensive school. Some chose not to.
- One pathway, local school
- 11+ scrapped and lots of grammar schools
- Streaming (still divides schools
127
Which sociological perspectives favour marketisation?
The new right/neoliberalism
128
What is 'cream-skimming'?
'Good' schools can be more selective, choose their own customers and recruit high achieving, mainly m/c pupils. As a result, these pupils gain an advantage.
129
What is silt-shifting?
'Good' schools can avoid taking less able pupils who are likely to get poor results and damage the schools league table position.
130
How do league table ensure cream-skimming and silt-shifting takes place?
Schools at the top of the league table will attract parents of 'good' kids.
131
What is the impact of the funding formula on differences between schools?
'Good' schools get more money and improve their schools (appearance, teachers and equipment).
132
What criticism has been made of the Pupil Premium?
Not spent on those it is supposed to help
133
What Coalition policies may have reduced opportunities for working class pupils?
- Spending on school buildings was cut by 60%
- Many SureStart centres were closed
- Education Maintenance Allowence (EMA) was abolished
- Uni tuition fees tripled to £9,000 per year
134
What did the assimilation policy focus on?
During the 60s and 70s. Focused on the need for pupils from minority ethnic groups to assimilate into mainstream British culture as a way of raising their achievement, especially by helping those for whom English was not their first language.
135
What was the aim of the multicultural education policy?
MCE policies through the 80s and into the 90s aimed to promote the achievements of children from minority ethnic groups by valuing all cultures in the school curriculum, thereby raising minority pupils' self-esteem and achievements.
136
What are the policies of social inclusion?
- Detailed monitoring of exam results by ethnicity
- Amending the Race Relations act to place a legal duty on schools to promote racial equality.
- Help for voluntary 'Saturday schools' in the black community.
- English as an Additional Language programme.
137
What is fragmentation?
The comprehensive system is being replaced by a patchwork of diverse provision, much of it involving private providers, that leads to greater inequality in opportunities.
138
What is the definition of fragmentation?
The absence or the underdevelopment of connections between the society and the groupings of some members of that society on the lines of a common culture, nationality, race, language, occupation, religion, income level, or other common interests.
139
What is marketisation in one word?
Competition.
140
What is the Hawthorne effect?
Where the subjects of a research study know they are being studied and begin to behave differently as a result, thereby undermining the study's validity.
