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Role Of Education Flashcards

1
Q

Social Solidarity (Durkheim)

A

Education should bring pupils together in a sense of community, providing them with a role to play and a sense of cooperation with others.

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2
Q

Society in miniature

A

Education imitates the ways in which adults engage with one another in the wider world of work and social interaction.

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3
Q

Specialised Division of Labour

A

The division of work into a large number of specialised tasks, each carried out by one worker or a group of workers.

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4
Q

Particularistic standards (Parsons)

A

Children are judged by parents as they set their own rules and expectations of their children, but this will ultimately vary from family to family.

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5
Q

Universalistic Standards (Parsons)

A

In schools and wider society, you are expected to follow the same rules and work towards the same goals.

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6
Q

Ascribed

A

In the family, a child’s status is ascribed and they will likely be valued regardless of how successful they are.

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7
Q

Meritocracy

A

All children in school are afforded the same opportunities, and how successful they are will be determined by a combination of intelligence and work ethic.

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8
Q

Human Capital

A

The area in which their skills are richest, which will enable them to pursue careers which are most suitable for their ability.

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9
Q

Ideological State Apparatus (Althusser)

A

Institutions which transmit ruling class ideology e.g education

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10
Q

Correspondence principle

A

Schools mirror the world of work which makes students and then workers passive to hierarchy, maintains capitalism.

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11
Q

Hidden Curriculum

A

Subliminal messages which students process & internalise before eventually taking them into the workplace as adults.

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12
Q

Myth of meritocracy

A

People are wrongly led to believe that the education system is fair, so any inequalities between the classes in terms of success can be justified by attributing the blame to working class pupils themselves.

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13
Q

Counter-Culture

A

Working class boys actively reject the system through disobeying the school rules creating a counter culture.

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14
Q

New Right

A

A Conservative political perspective which incorporates neoliberal idea

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15
Q

Neoliberalism

A

The view that the state should have very limited involvement in the provision of services to wider society, and that it is down to individual providers to take responsibility for the services they provide.

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16
Q

Marketisation

A

The process whereby services that were controlled and run by the state, become subject to the free market forces of supply and demand, based on competition and consumer choice.

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17
Q

Social Cohesion

A

The bonds or ‘glue’ that bring people together and integrate them into a united society

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18
Q

Ethnocentric

A

A belief that you own ethnic group or culture is superior to others.

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19
Q

Role allocation

A

A system of allocating people to roles that best suit their abilities and skills.

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20
Q

Human Capital (Schultz)

A

The knowledge and skills possessed by a workforce that increase that workforce’s value and usefulness to employers

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21
Q

Vocational Education

A

A form of education that prepares students for work in a specific trade

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22
Q

Repressive State Apparatus (Althusser)

A

Institutions which maintain power over the working class through force or threat of force.

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23
Q

Cultural Capital

A

The knowledge, education, language, attitudes and values and networks of social contacts and lifestyle possessed by the middle class which give children an in-built advantage in the education system.

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24
Q

Habitus

A

The set of ideas or cultural framework which each social class has.

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25
Free market
An economic system based on supply and demand, with little or no government control.
26
Parentocracy
The idea that a child's education is dependent on the wealth and wishes of parents, rather than the ability and efforts of pupils.
27
Durkheim's 2 functions of education.
- Social Solidarity - Specialist skills
28
2 examples of social solidarity in schools
- British values in PSHE - British history
29
The teaching of specialist skills
Durkheim argues that education teaches individuals the specialist knowledge and skills they need to play their part in the social division of labour.
30
Marxist evaluation of Durkheim's role of education theories
Values of the ruling class are taught rather than the values of society as a whole.
31
Evaluation of Durkheim's social solidarity
Schools emphasise individual competition rather than cooperation and social solidarity.
32
New Right evaluation of specialist skills
Education system hasn't adequately taught the specialist skills as there is a skills shortage in many areas of the economy.
33
Education is the bridge between the family and society.
- Parsons - This is needed because family and society operate at different standards and status is achieved rather than ascribed in school and wider society.
34
Ascribed status
Status is fixed at birth
35
Achieved status
Status is achieved through effort and skills
36
Parsons 2 theories of education
1. Bridge between family and society 2. Value Consensus
37
Value Consensus
- Parsons - Schools socialise young people into the basic values of society. - E.g schools instill the value of achievement by encouraging high academic performance
38
Why was value consensus important for Parsons?
Support the creation of a motivated, high achieving workforce.
39
Marxists evaluation of Parsons Role of Education
Myth of meritocracy
40
David Wrong evaluation of Parsons
Functionalists wrongly assume that pupils passively accept all that they are taught and never reject a school's values.
41
Davis & Moore role of education
Role allocation
42
Role allocation
- Education is the device for selection and role allocation. - They link this process to the social class system. - Inequality is necessary to ensure that the most important roles in society is filled by the most talented people. - Education provides a "proving ground for ability" where pupils can show their talent and then they are shifts and sorted based on ability. - The most able gain the highest qualification and the highest rewarded positions.
43
Evaluation of Davis & Moore's idea of high rewarded positions
Footballers earn more than a doctor yet a doctor is more important to society.
44
Why does Schultz justify high levels of spending on education?
Develops human capital which is necessary for a successful economy and it prepares the workforce.
45
Althusser's two arguments on the functions of education as part of the ISA.
1. Reproduces class inequality 2. Justifies class inequality
46
How does education reproduce class inequality?
Althusser argues that each new generation of working-class pupils fails or underachieves in school leading to them being forced to work for the ruling class in low paid jobs.
47
How does education justifies class inequality?
- Althusser argues that by transmitting ruling class ideology through the formal and the hidden curriculum, working-class pupils are persuaded to accept inequality as inevitable. - The acceptance of inequality means they are less likely to challenge capitalism. - False class consciousness is maintained.
48
Bowles & Gintis theory and study of the role of education.
- They studied 237 New York high school pupils and developed the Correspondence Principle. - Education creates an obedient workforce that will accept inequality as inevitable. - There are parallels between schooling and the workforce. - Correspondance Principle operates through the Hidden Curriculum
49
3 examples of the parallel between schooling and the workforce
- Hierarchy - Alienation - Control of structure and routine
50
Bowles & Gintis view on meritocracy
- Myth of meritocracy - Schools don't tell pupils about the myth of meritocracy as it helps working class pupils to accept inequality.
51
Bowles & Gintis on education justifying poverty
- 'Poor and dumb' theory of failure - By blaming poverty on the individual not capitalism to maintain false class consciousness - "I'm poor because I wasn't clever enough'
52
Paul Willis Study Name
- Learning to Labour: How working class kids get working class jobs
53
What was Paul Willis interested in
- The way schools serve capitalism - The meanings people give to their situation and how this enables them to resist indoctrination
54
What research methods did Willis use?
- Qualitative - Participant observation - Unstructured interviews
55
Who did Willis study?
12 working class boys called the ‘lads”
56
What values and norms were present in Willis’ lads’ counter culture?
- Anti-school subculture - Scornful of ‘ear oles’ who were boys that conformed and followed the rules - Intimidating towards ‘ear oles’ and girls - Found schools boring and meaningless so rejected the rules and values of school - Smoked, drank, disrupted classes and truanted in order to resist the school
57
How did their counterculture prepare them for the manual labour jobs?
- The counterculture is similar - Both cultures see manual work as superior to academic work which is seen as effeminate
58
Why does the lads’ counter culture benefit capitalism?
- They don’t expect satisfaction at work and are good at finding diversions to cope with the boredom of unskilled labour as they have been used to boredom and amusing themselves at school. - Acts of rebellion mean they will not be able to gain qualifications so end up in low paid jobs
59
2 Evaluations of Willis
- Small sample - Study is out of date as it was published in 1977 and manual labour is less common because of Deindustrialisation
60
Interactionist evaluation of Marxists theories
Overly deterministic and ignores free will
61
Post modernist evaluation of Marxist theories
Our society is more diverse than the one Marxists describe and sociologists should explain all types of inequality in education not just class
62
Feminist evaluation of Marxist theories
Females are absent from Marxist studies of education especially Willis’
63
Functionalist evaluation of Marxist theories
- Schools provide opportunities for social mobility in society so meritocracy isn’t a myth
64
What is Habitus and where is it picked up?
- Bourdieu - Habitus is when each social class has its own set of ideas or cultural framework - It contains ideas about what is good or bad taste - Habitus is picked up through socialisation in the family
65
What do the New Right argue about the state education systems approach and what does this lead to?
- It is one size fits all, imposes uniformity and disregards local needs - The local consumers of the schools have no say and state education is unresponsive and ineefficent as they are not answerable to consumers - This leads to lower standards of achievement, a less qualified workforce and a less prosperous economy
66
What is the New Rights solution?
- Marketisation of education - Competition between schools will bring greater diversity, choice & efficiency to schools - Increase the schools’ ability to meet the needs of pupils, parents & employers
67
What do Chubb & Moe argue why the US state education system has failed?
- It’s not created equal opportunity & failed the needs of disadvantaged groups - Inefficient because it fails to produce pupils with skills needed for the economy - Private schools deliver high quality education because they are answerable to the consumer
68
What research did Chubb & Moe do?
- Compared achievements of 60,000 pupils from low income families in 15 states & private schools - Parent surveys - Case studies of failing schools apparently being turned around
69
What did Chubb & Moe’s evidence find?
Pupils from low income families consistently do 5% better in private than in state schools
70
From Chubb & Moe findings, what did they call for?
Introduction of market system in state education which put control in the hands of parents so they could meet their own needs improved quality and efficiency of schools
71
72
What system did Chubb and Moe suggest?
- Each family would be given voucher to spend on buying education from the school of their choice - This would force schools to become more responsive to parents wishes as the voucher would be the schools main source of income - Schools would have to compete to attract customers by improving their product like businesses
73
How do the New Right aim to integrate pupils into a single set of traditions & cultural values?
- Education should uphold national identity through teaching Britain’s positive role in world history and British literature - As Christianity is Britain main religion there should be Christian act of worship in school each day
74
What did the New Right argue about multiculturalism?
They oppose multicultural education that reflects the culture of different minority groups in Britain
75
Gerwitz and Ball’s criticism of the New Right
Competition between school benefits middle-class who can use their cultural and economic capital to gain access to more desirable schools
76
What do critics of the New Right argue that the real cause of low educational standards is?
Social inequality and inadequate funding of state schools
77
Why do critics argue that the New Rights theory of education is a contradiction?
They support more parental choice on one hand but the state imposing a compulsory national curriculum on the other
78
Marxist critique of the New Right?
Education does not impose a share to national culture but imposes the culture of a dominant minority ruling class and devalues the culture of working class and ethnic minorities

Sociology Education (5 decks)

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