role of education in society Flashcards
functionalist and new right perspectives
- functionalism (consensus perspective), they think every social institution is beneficial for society
- education is a vital institution which help to ensure and maintain social stability through value consensus, social harmony and social cohesion
functionalist perspective: basic functions
- formal curriculum (formal subjects taught in classroom, e.g - history, english, geography, R.E- have written and defined outcomes)
- hidden curriculum (learning that is unwritten and occurs informally, social and cultural messages that are passed on while in school)
- functional prerequisite (basic needs for society to survive by passing on core values and culture)
bridge between family and society (parsons)
- durkheim said ‘schools are society in miniature’
- parsons sees schools as important places of secondary socialisation
- home (primary socialisation)
- school (secondary socialisation)
- society (secondary socialisation with universalistic values and achieved status based on meritocracy)
human capital - trained and qualified labour force
- investing highly in education is justified as people’s knowledge and skills are being developed, which is important for a successful economy
- functionalists see this development of ‘human capital’ as necessary to provide a properly trained and flexible labour force
- education system - preparation for division of labour
role allocation in a meritocratic society (davis and moore)
- education system means selecting people for different level roles in job market
- schools have the role of testing pupils in ability groups, pushing most able who will go on to get high exam results
- in a meritocratic society, access to jobs and wealth depend on educational qualifications and skills
- same opportunities provided for all, free compulsory society (equality of opportunity)
new right perspective
- new right is political rather than sociological but position on social policy reflects functionalist perspective
- new right argues educational policy should not be concerned with promoting equality but training the future workforce for positions
- most able should be guided in most difficult positions and vice versa
- believe education should socialise young people in collective values and citizenship, building social cohesion and social solidarity
marketisation of education
- new right theorists (chubb and moe) believe education system should be privatised
- they say choice and competition ensures higher quality education leading to more skilled and qualified workforce
marxist views
- marxism is a conflict perspective
- see education as a form of social control, through schooling, young people are encouraged to conform and accept their social position
- marxists argue that education system reproduces existing social class inequalities, passing them on from one generation to the next (class reproduction)
- meritocratic system makes out those who fail in education so because of their lack of ability/ effort
louis althusser - class reproduction
- criticised the education system of capitalist societies for its class reproduction:
- of an efficient and obedient labour force
- of necessary skills for a capitalist economy
- of ruling class ideology
- of workers who accept this dominant capitalist ideology and their position in society
- argued that in order to stop working class rebellion they need to assume ruling class ideology is the only way it can be
false class consciousness
acceptance of your social position through failure to recognise what is/is not in your best interests - e.g working class accepting ruling class dominance
the education system
- passes on ruling class ideology and justifies the capitalist system
- develops right attitudes and behaviours to ensure future workers accept and submit to exploitation, whilst future managers are ready to rule
pierre bourdieu - reproduction of class inequalities
- was brown to a working class family in a small village in southern france called denguin
- his dad was a small farmer turned postal worker with little education but wanted best education for his son
- he gained admittance to a prestigious uni, where he studied philosophy under a famous marxist thinker, louis althusser
- became v significant in social research and theory
pierre bourdieu - main concepts
HABITUS
FIELD
CAPITAL
HABITUS
- your ‘norm’, what’s natural to you
- your understanding of life that’s deeply ingrained in you
- your habits and skills
- bourdieu said each social class has different ‘habitus’ and education is based on middle class norms and values
FIELD
- life is a game with different fields
- each field has its own set of rules
- social fields are; education, law, religion, workplaces, art, music, sport
- social actors (people) occupy different positions in the game of life
- how well you navigate fields depends on your knowledge and competency of the game
CAPITAL
- cultural capital
- social capital
- economic capital
cultural capital
- your social resources
- what you’re surrounded by
- the higher your social class, the higher your cultural capital
social capital
- family connections
- your social network
- who you know
- parents can help you get to places in life
- position is more important than your actual knowledge
economic capital
- financial resources
- having lots of money brings more opportunities
- wealth = power
factors that are valued in society
- clean home
- being polite and having manners
- good education
- ambition and hard work
- clean clothing
- good speech
- being well informed and having intelligent discussions
- being clever with your money
- obedience to rules and laws
bourdieu
- argued that the possession/ lack of possession of different types of capital shapes opportunity in society
- upper, middle, working class cultures are different and the education system favours the culture of upper and middle classes, giving them an advantage
- working class skills, knowledge and way of speaking are devalued by education system giving them less chance of success
illich and friere - schooling, repression and hegemonic control
- illich argues schools are repressive institutions
- they promote conformity, passive acceptance of inequalities and interest of the powerful
- don’t encourage critical, independent thought
- illich suggests schools reward those who accept the school regime with qualifications and access to higher education
- those who don’t conform or who question authority of teachers and value of school, find barriers put in their way which prevent them from getting qualifications
- friere sees schools as repressive institutions as well
- says learners are conditioned to accept oppressive relations of domination and subordination
bowles and gintis - schooling and the long shadow of work
- argue (like althusser) that schools are reproducing a submissive, disciplined workforce therefore the world of work influences the organisation of education
- meaning the world of work casts a long shadow over education - the hidden curriculum corresponds with features of the workplace (correspondence theory)
- also critise education for legitimising inequality, saying education system helps to maintain and explain class structure in society, helps people to accept their position within class structure
- reject the functionalist view that inequality arises from fair and meritocratic system
- argue social class background, ethnicity and gender are the main factors, influencing success/ failure
school processes and their influence on outcomes: interactionist views
- interactionism is a micro approach
- interactionists favour small scale, detailed research of what actually happens in schools and the effect on individuals
- they seek to find out how interactions with others impact individual’s experiences of education and their achievement
- main concern is to understand underachievement of some pupils - finding out why some don’t achieve their potential
key factors of school processes and their influence on outcomes: interactionist views
- school ethos and hidden curriculum
- teacher stereotyping: pupil identities, labelling and the self fulfilling prophecy
- school organisation: banding, streaming and setting
- student responses: pro school and anti school subcultures
school ethos and hidden curriculum
ethos= the distinctive character, spirit and attitudes of a people, culture and era
- valuing and encouraging potential of all pupils
- emphasis on equal opportunities and an intolerance of any racist, sexist behaviours
- role of parents as helpers in schools
- communication with parents
- emphasis on academic success
- cultural trips
- emphasis is on social, moral and spiritual developments of pupils
- the ethos is reflected in the hidden curriculum
- manners, punctuality, uniform
teacher stereotyping
stereotyping= having a standardised image or conception of a type of person
labelling= the process of defining people in a certain way according to preconceived ideas
- student labels: stupid, dumb, naughty, slow, lazy, good, clever, thick
the halo effect ———— self fulfilling prophecy
a good impression is formed of a student and the teacher acts on this impression, encouraging that student in their work. this treatment helps the student to do well in school, they have positive interactions with the teacher and want to do well
self fulfilling prophecy ——— the halo effect
teacher adopts negative impression of a student and only notices negative behaviours, picking on them and creating poor relationships. teacher doesn’t help the student and student does not progress, creating a self fulfilling prophecy
the ideal pupil
(becker - 1971) discovered that teachers evaluate students in terms of their ‘ideal pupil’ - the one who fits in their perception of the type of student they want to teach
(hempel- jorgenzen) identifying the ideal pupil means looking for:
- hard work
- concentrating
- listening to teachers and others
- performing well academically
- good behaviour
- conforming to rules
- wanting to achieve well
rosenthal and jacobsen’s research
the ‘pygmalion effect’
teacher thinks student is smart ——
teacher focuses on student ——
student learns more ——-
student gets better grades ——
school organisation
- the tripartite system: from 1944-1960’s, all 10/11 year olds in britain had to sit the 11+ exam to determine whether they go to a grammar school/ secondary modern school
- separation of the more able, academic pupils and those less suited for academia
banding
some comprehensive schools try to ensure they have a range of abilities in each year group
streaming
a year group being separated into ability bands so they are in classes with similar ability pupils across most subjects
setting
pupils being separated into ability groups for particular subjects, someone may be top set for maths but bottom for english
tripartite system
- rather than creating meritocracy it reproduces class inequality
- it also reproduced gender inequality
- the tripartite system also legitimated inequality through the idea that ability is inborn (innate)
delayed gratification
putting work in now for reward later
a rising tide lifts all ships (renzulli)
- main focus of his speech park has been to apply the pedagogy (study of children and how they learn) of gifted education to all students
pedagogy
study of children and how they learn
the educational triage system
pupils:
- those who will pass anyway
- borderline c/d grade
- hopeless cases
differentiation
through identifying different abilities and treating them differently by bonding, streaming and setting
polarisation
pupils are divided by opposing groups, opposing ‘poles’,
top stream= success
bottom stream= failure
pro school subculture
‘ear- oles’
those who conform to academic aims, ethos and rules of schools. they work hard to get good grades, more likely to aspire to higher education
anti school subculture
‘aving a laff’
those who rebel against schools, developing anti school attitudes and behaviours opposing school aims. are labelled as failures
subculture of resistance
- some sociologists argue that by forming a subculture of resistance against the school, these students gain status amongst their peers by acting tough
- acting tough and rebelling against school aims, leads to increased likelihood of school failure
- others attracted to this group and also want to gain peer group status
- becomes a vicious cycle as it’s
hard to change and break away without losing face - mac and ghaills research identified black caribbean working class boys as being amongst most likely form of anti school subcultures