Sociologists Flashcards
Louis Althusser, Marxist 1971
The ideological state apparatus The repressive state apparatus 2 functions of education: Reproduces class inequality Legitimates class inequality
Bowles and Gintis, Marxist, 1976
Role of education system- to reproduce an obedient workforce that will accept inequality as inevitable.
Study of New York high school- rewards obedient and disciplined, low grades to independent and creative
Correspondence principle
Operates through hidden curriculum
Myth of meritocracy (class,ethnicity,gender) blames on the individual
Paul Willis, Marxist, 1977
Learning to labour
12 working class boys from Midlands, the lads
Anti school sub-culture
Participant observation and unstructured interviews
Saw ‘ear,’oles’ as effeminate
Explains why working class jobs are inferior in terms of skill, pay and conditions-capitalism needs someone to perform this
Don’t expect satisfaction from work
Rebellion will guarantee they end up in unskilled jobs
Irony is by resisting the school’s ideology they are destined for the unskilled work capitalism needs.
criticisms of B&G
Postmodernist-Today’s post fordist economy requires schools to produce a different kind of labour force. Education now reproduces diversity, not inequality
Marxists argue- B&G deterministic. Pupils have no free will and passively accept indoctrination. Fails to explain anti school
Willis criticisms
Romanticises boys with anti social behaviour and sexist attitudes.
12 boys in one school
Basil Bernstein 1975
The restricted code- limited vocabulary, grammatically simple, context bound and descriptive not analytical
Elaborated code- wider vocabulary, grammatically complex, abstract ideas, context free, clear and easy to understand.
Mc have an advantage at school. Elaborated used by teachers, textbooks and exams. ‘Correct’ way.
Early socialisation means mc are fluent in it and feel at home in school= more likely to succeed
Wc feel excluded. Fail not bc they are culturally deprived but because schools fail to teach them how to use it.
Bourdieu 1984
Cultural capital- mc culture as a capital bc like wealth, it gives an advantage to those who possess it. More likely to develop intellectual interests and an understanding of what the education system requires for success.
Education system is not neutral, but favours and transmits dominant mc culture. Wc culture devalued=fails exams.
Wc pupils get the message school is not meant for the, and respond by truanting, early leaving and not trying.
Educational and economic capital- mc convert economic capital to educational by sending them to private schools and extra tuition and Selection by postcode
Chubb and Moe 1990 New Right
Make case for opening up to market forces of supply and demand.
Disadvantaged groups- state education has failed to create equal opportunity.
Fails to produce skills needed by economy
Private schools are high achievers bc they are answerable to paying consumers- parents.
Pupils from low income backgrounds do better by 5% in private schools.
Call for market system with vouchers.
JWB Douglas 1964
Working class parents are less likely to support their children's intellectual development through reading with them or other educational activities in the home. Wc placed less value on educational achievement, less ambitious, less encouragement, less interest in their education. Visited schools less often. As a recut the children had lower levels of achievement.
Mary Fuller 1984
Studied group of black girls in London. High achievers in low stream.
Did the work, channeled anger into schoolwork, didn’t look for approval from teachers, didn’t limit groups of friends, gave appearance of not working.
Highlights pupils may still succeed even when they refuse to conform.
Negative labelling does not always lead to failure. Rejected labels. No self fulfilling prophecy, self refuting prophecy.
Marilyn Howard 2001
Young people from poorer homed have lower intakes of energy, vitamins and minerals. Poor nutrition affects immune system which leads to more absences from school due to illness, and difficulty concentrating in class = poorer exam results
Mac an Ghaill
Boys dominate the science laboratories
Colin Lacey 1970
Differentiation- streaming, categories of ability.
Polarisation- responding to streaming by moving towards one of the two opposite extremes.
Heidi Safia Mirza 1992
Girls in study failed to achieve their ambitions because their coping strategies restricted their opportunities and resulted in under achievement.
Three types of teacher racism:
The colour blind: believes all pupils are equal but allow racism to go unchallenged.
The liberal chauvinists: believes black students are culturally deprived and less able.
The overt racists: blacks are inferior, discriminate them.
Girls avoided these teachers by doing the lesson without taking part and being selective with options.
Although they had high self esteem, these strategies put them at a disadvantage by restricting their opportunities and they failed.
Davis and Moore 1945 functionalist
Role allocation
Say that every society sorts its members into different positions. They think that there are rules for how education does this- called “principles of stratification”. They believe that there has to be a system of unequal rewards (more money or status) to motivate people to train for the top positions.
