Sociology Ed Mock Flashcards
Internal factors (ETHNICITY)
- Labelling
- Institutional racism
- Marketisation
- Ethnocentric curriculum
Labelling- ETHNICITY
- Teachers attach meaning to behaviours & treat students positively/ negatively, leading to self-fulfilling prophecy
- Some labelled positive e.g. Chinese, others aren’t e.g. Afro-Caribbean boys, who are perceived as threat or ‘macho’ (Sewell 1998)
- CP: Not all respond to labelling in the same way- (Fuller 1984) found African-American girls rejected labels & went on to be successful despite their label, showing significant level of resistance.
Institutional racism- ETHNICITY
- Intentional or unintentional cases of repeated discrimination that take place at an organisational level
- Can greatly influence achievement
- E.g. lack of ethnic minority teachers, subconscious decisions about giving responsibility to students of certain ethnic groups in school or disciplining some ethnic groups more than others
Marketisation- ETHNICITY
- Running school like business can actively disadvantage ethnic groups who may not be fully aware of how to play the system
- E.g. school prospectus may not be available in their language or may not understand application process
- Equally, some ethnic groups may not be able to afford to send their children to schools outside their catchment OR lack cultural capital to challenge school decision about admissions
- CP: Other ethnic groups may be more capable and to good effect
Ethnocentric curriculum- ETHNICTY
- A curriculum that reflects the view that British culture is superior to others; can be subtle or obvious
- E.g. Following a Christian calendar, festivals and celebrations w/o exploring other cultures’ practices & ignoring important contribution of other ethnic groups to British culture and life.
- Has become more of an issue w importance placed on ‘British values’ by Tory gov within Prevent strategy
Theories of education
- Functionalism: Macro Structural Consensus
- Marxism: Macro Structural Conflict
- Feminism: Macro Structural Conflict
What are the functionalist ideas of education
- argue education system benefits the individual & society
- argue system is fair; work hard + talented= success, so everyone has equal chance (meritocracy)
- provides skills required for the economy
- important part of secondary socialisation and acts as bridge between home & school
Durkheim and Parsons- Education
Durkheim:
Education is an important part of socialisation, makes sure individuals are integrated fully into society, to encourage social solidarity (sharing same values).
Parsons:
School helps people move from particularistic values of home (where you’re treated as an individual) to universalistic standards of school (where everyone is treated the same).
Particularistic values
rules and values that give priority to personal relationships
-E.g. parents treating children differently at home according to their personalities
Universalistic values
rules and values that apply equally to all members of society, regardless of who they are
-E.g. teachers mark students’ work to the same standards
Davis and Moore- Education
Preparation for economy
-Acts positively as a bridge between home and the world of work, preparing children to fit into the economy
=the children learn to move from family into world of work, where they’re alongside people they don’t know
-Sifts and sorts people into their role (role allocation). Argue system provides skills that the economy needs
E.g. economy requires greater computer skills so education system includes teaching of IT
What are the criticism of the functionalist ideas of education
- education system isn’t actually meritocratic e.g.
- the theory ignores inequalities that exist in education, e.g. the way some groups such as w/c, boys and some ethnic minorities persistently underperform
- the theory ignores the negative experiences that some groups and individuals have in education
What are the Marxist views of the role of education
- education maintains and perpetuates capitalist system by making sure there are lots of willing and docile workers and small ruling class
- system important in brainwashing children into accepting their position within class system
- encourages the correct values and attitudes to uphold capitalism, e.g. being rewarded for hard work, completion, individualism and accepting authority
Bowles and Gintis 3 key concepts
1) The myth of meritocracy
2) The correspondence principle
3) The hidden curriculum
The myth of meritocracy
The idea that the education system being fair and offering everyone the same chance of success is actually false. In reality, simply reproduces class inequalities
-w/c learn to go through school w/o achieving much while m/c learn how to be successful, reading for ruling position
The correspondence principle
The education system mirrors the world of work. B&G argue school simply prepares for future roles at work.
- For w/c , preparers them for roles in low-paid, low-status employment, while m/c encouraged to think ambitiously as owners of the means of production, w high-status, high-paid jobs.
- E.g. obey teacher/ boss, uniform, rules & sanctions
The hidden curriculum
B&G claim school has a hidden curriculum; things that are learnt but not taught directly. Includes powerful messages about what is appropriate and important
Examples:
- Being encouraged to be obedient, not challenging the system
- Accepting the authority of teachers
- Accepting the values of the school, e.g. being hardworking
Althusser (1971)- Role of education
Focuses on the way system shapes ideas of students so they think it’s fair. This means students are less likely to challenge/ change ed system, therefore capitalist society continues
Claims ed system is part of ideological state apparatus. People need to want the capitalist system to work, cannot be forced to accept unfair system, so shaping ideas is important. Education plays key role
Ideological state apparatus
Institutions that shape people ideas so that they don’t seek to challenge capitalism. Essentially, people are taught to love the system.
Bourdieu (1977)
Argued ed system advantages m/c bc they possess cultural capital [explain]. Essentially, they’ve been raised in a way that allows the greater success in school since the values of the school are closer to that of their home
-E.g. listening to classical music or going to the theatre provides knowledge which often helps students do better at school, such as in music or English classes. W/c less aware of these experiences, thus at a disadvantage
What are the criticisms of the Marxist views of education
- Too deterministic, arguing that being w/c automatically leads to educational failure when this isn’t always the case
- There are other factors affecting education such as ethnicity and gender, which can have a profound affect on outcomes
- Marxist ideas emerged at a time when there was greater value consensus, whereas today’s society is far more complex and several competing value system exist. Therefore to what extent can Marxist views be considered relevant to today’s society?
Value systems
a set of individual values which exist in a scale or a hierarchy that reveals their degree of relative importance. Individuals may all possess the same values but they may attach different priorities or degrees of importance to these values.
Value consensus
a shared set of norms and values
Globalisation
- The process by which the world is becoming more interconnected, increasing the opportunities for trade and the exchange of ideas
- Speed of this has hugely increased recently due to rapid increase in technology, as well as increased movement of people (geographical mobility)
