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Question 1

Education’s sociological significance

Answer 1

• Schooling as socialization (conformism, cohesion, but also
  preparing for a job)
• Schooling as reproduction (inequality in opportunities, schools
  confirm unequal starting positions of pupils rather than
  compensate for these)
• Schooling as emancipatory institute (meritocracy rewards the
  most talented and allows for intergenerational social mobility)
• Schooling as producer of values (belief in science / rationality /
  personal freedoms, critical thinking, but also religious schools)

Question 2

The conflict perspective

Answer 2

• Apart from teaching relevant skills for future jobs, schools
  also help shape the personalities of future workers
• Schools are a micro-cosmos where social hierarchies are
  reproduced
• Future blue-collar workers are taught obedience
• Future white-collar workers are thought critical thinking, autonomy
• This is part of schools’ hidden curriculum; the stuff they ‘teach’
  implicitly, like obedience, acceptance of hierarchy, manners…
• Instead of fostering emancipation, schools may contribute to
  reproduction of social hierarchies

Question 3

hidden curriculum

Answer 3

implies that characteristics of
pupils unrelated to intelligence or effort may play a
role in how they are evaluated at school

Basil Bernstein (pp 644-645): social class
background affects whether pupils use a restricted or
an elaborate speech code, which affects how
teachers judge them
* Cultural proximity to the academic culture at school
matters a lot for educational succes

Question 4

Cultural Homology:

Answer 4

social structures or class distinctions.

Question 5

Bourdieu and reproduction

Answer 5

Kids enter school with a certain habitus
* This habitus may fit with the school’s culture and
expectations (like with many middle-class kids who
were subject to concerted cultivation) or it may not (like
with Willis’ lads)
* This gives some kids a head start while putting others
at a disadvantage
* Since schools cannot make up for these initial cultural
differences, reproduction is likely to happen
School transforms social privileges into ‘personal merit’
(we might call this a social ‘money laundering operation’
Middle-class kids are better at interacting with
teachers in ways that benefit them

Question 6

Reproduction of gender divisions

Answer 6

Like lower-class boys or ethnic minority kids, girls
have long been subject to unhelpful stereotypes in school
* Lower teacher expectations tended to become self-fulfilling prophesies
* This is often a vicious circle: lower expectations -> lower confidence among
girls -> lower achievements -> confirmation of low expectations -> ….
* Gender stereotypes and sexism exist in schools
* But today, girls often outperform boys in school
* Some speak of feminization of education or growing presence of role models
* Girls are more likely to conform to middle-class normative behavior
* Large differences in subject matter – and related inequalities in labor market
position - remain
* boys = technique, natural science, ICT; girls = arts, social sciences, languages