sociology education Flashcards
Parsons - functions of education
functionalist - argued status in school is achieved and not ascribed as school is based on meritocracy (equal opportunities for all)
- school is a bridge between family and work + encourage universalistic standards
Durkheim - functions of education
Functionalist
Social solidarity through secondary socialisation - same norms x values (creating shared culture & agreement of the norms in society = value consensus) e.g. citizenship lessons
specialist skills needed for work- ICT –> TNR argue education not performing these functions properly.
Ev- interactionists - pupils are not passive puppets soaking up norms + values
Davis & Moore - functions of education
role allocation- school selects and allocates pupils to their future work roles, education ‘sifts and sorts’ according to ability e.g. thru exams
- inequality is important to ensure the most talented people fill the most important roles
Ev- Tumin criticises D&M for putting forward circular argument- how and why are some jobs more important?
Althusser - functions of education
Marxist
education is part of ISA (ideological state apparatus)
ISA maintains the rule of the bourgeoisie by controlling ideas, values & beliefs
1. reproduces class inequality by transmitting from gen to gen
2. justifies class inequality by teaching pupils capitalist values
contemp examples - covid, disadvantaged by digital divide & teacher assessed grades - poorer children down graded compared to richer areas.
Bowles & Gintis - functions of education
Marxist
-myth of meritocracy: Evidence suggests high income is as a result of family and social class not educational achievement. Serves to justify privileges of higher classes - persuades w/c to accept inequality and makes it less likely for them to overthrow capitalism.
capitalism needs workers with kind attitudes, behaviour, and personalities suited to their roles as exploited workers willing to be obedient. E.g. accept hard work, low pay, orders from above
correspondence principle: Schools mirror the workplace e.g.
- Alienation > students have no control over the work/content they do just like the activities in the workplace
- extrinsic satisfaction > rewards external to the work itself e.g. grades rather than enjoyment just like for the pay.
- competition > get highest marks/grades just like employee of the month, promotions etc
hidden curriculum - key term
Bowles x Gintis
things you learn in school without directly being taught it ( not part of the formal curriculum) e.g.
competition - league tables, sports days, exams
hierarchy + obedience - formal speech ( miss/sir), listening to teachers/ not interrupting , standing up for them
Bourdieu - class
cultural capital - attitudes, knowledge + values of the middle class
Douglas - class
external factors affecting educational achievement
cultural dep
parental attitudes - found that w/c children scored lower on tests & argued this was bcs w/c parents less likely to support their children’s intellectual development through reading and other intellectual activities at home
attitudes + values - w/c parents place less value on educational achievement = children were less ambitious and given less encouragement - leads to lack of motivation
Feinstein - class ~ attitudes + values
external factors affecting educational achievement
found parents’ lack of interest is more important than financial hardship or internal factors
EV- Blackstone + Moritmore: w/c are no less interested in their children’s education but may not be able to attend parents evenings etc e.g. because of work hours
Bernstein - class & - Bernstein & young
external factors affecting educational achievement
cultural dep theorist
B&Y - found m/c mothers were more likely to choose toys that encourage thinking + reasoning skills
Bernstein- language codes: restricted- w/c (simple sentences + limited vocab) & elaborated code- m/c ( complex + standard English, wider vocab)
EV- Keddie: Marxist, cultural deprivation theorists are victim blaming & blame the parents rather than the system (capitalism)
-Troyna + williams: w/c language not an issue but schools have a negative attitude towards it (e.g. negative labels)
Bereiter & Engelmann - class
external factors affecting educational achievement
supports Bernstein
Language used by w/c families are deficient and puts them at a disadvantage
Sugarman - cultural dep
- external factors affecting educational achievement
4 key values that act as a barrier to educational achievement:
- fatalism ( what will be will be mentality)
- collectivism ( value group membership more than individual achievement)
- immediate gratification ( receiving rewards straight away)
- present time orientation ( present is more important than the future)
argues these are consequences of lack of stability and promotion prospects in w/c jobs and are passed thru primary socialisation
Archer - pupil class identities:
internal factors affecting educational achievement
focused on interaction between w/c pupil identity + schools and how this produces underachievement
Nike Identities-
students looked for other ways of creating self worth and status as they knew schools looked down on them, ~ did this by constructing their own meaningful class identities e.g. thru branded items
uniform/style leads to conflict in skls because m/c view such fashion as bad taste and those who adopt these styles are labelled as rebels.
pupils investment in this identity causes marginalisation - develop this belief that skl is not for them leading to the rejection of it as it does not align w their identity.
habitus- key term
refers to the taken-for-granted ways of thinking of a particular social class e.g. tastes, expectations, leisure activities
- m/c has the power to define its habitus as superior + impose it on education system ~ as a result school puts higher value on m/c tastes + preferences etc
symbolic capital + symbolic violence - key terms
students socialised into m/c preferences at home gain ‘symbolic capital’ - as a result, school devalues w/c habitus
Bourdieu: calls withholding symbolic capital ‘symbolic violence’
clash between w/c pupils habitus + schools m/c habitus - therefore they may feel as if they don’t fit in unless they change the way they talk or present themselves ~ as a result w/c experience education as alien
institutional racism: key term
internal factors affecting educational achievement
prejudice & discrimination against ethnic minorities within systems and organisations
Troyna + williams : institutional racism
internal factors affecting educational achievement
British schools + colleges routinely discriminate against ethnic minorities & are ethnocentric e.g. Ethnocentric curriculum an example of discriminatory racial bias.
- need to look beyond teacher racism within skl + at the whole system itself
ethnocentric curriculum - key term
- type of educational curriculum that is based on the cultural values + perspectives of a specific ethnic group disregarding others. (White British culture)
- history, achievements, culture of dominant group
examples:
-teaching only European languages devalues EM heritage - arrangements for PE/ games may conflict with cultural requirements for modesty
- school calendars may reflect Christian festivals & ignore other faiths
- teaching history from a white British perspective may lead to bias
critical race theorists - ethnocentric C
David- national curriculum is ethnocentric - ‘specifically British’ + ignores non-European languages + literature
Ball - ignores history of black and Asian people
Coard- this can undermine self esteem of ethnic minority students
EV- does not explain why some ethnic groups perform well despite this
how policy is improving ethnocentric curriculum
multicultural education from 1990s to specifically target underachieving students -inclusion of different languages e.g. Arabic
- aim higher targets underachieving minority students
Sharpe - gender
womens values changed - 1970s valued family life, 1990s focused on work
Mistsos & browne
girls do better than boys in coursework
feminists raised womens expectations
Swann
teachers spend more time telling boys off than helping them with their work
Mac An Ghaill - gender identities in school
Male gaze - form of surveillance, objectifies girls & proves heterosexual masculinity
Verbal abuse- reinforces masculinity, found that Willis’s study of the ‘Macho lads’ referred to hard-working boys as ‘dickhead achievers’
-discipline - teachers told off boys for acting ‘like girls’ reinforcing masculine traits & tended to ignore verbal abuse towards girls or blame them for inciting it
EV - boys experience sexism & this is why they achieve lower grades e.g. the way teachers stereotype boys & the feminisation of education (education is dominated by female teachers giving the impression that education is a women’s interest)
- outdated schools are doing lots to eradicate sexism e.g. policies, training but UK FEMINISTA study was recent
UK FEMINISTA - 66% F&M students experienced/witnessed sexist language, just 1 in 5 teachers receive training
International women’s day study- sexism in textbooks , gender stereotypes still exist in textbooks in developing countries
Lees - gender identities in schools
double standards- sexual double standards reinforce traditional views surrounding men+women’s sexual behaviour (acts as agent of social control) e.g. slut shaming & praise for boys having multiple partners.
Connell- gender identities in school
verbal abuse- rich vocab to reinforce gender + sexual identity e.g. slags, drags
name calling maintains male power e.g. gay, queer, girl
Willis
Neo marxist
- ethnographic - participant observation + interviews (12 w/c boys ‘the lads’ who shared negative attitude to learning)
Anti school subculture- gain status and praise for behaviour against school ethos
-education was ineffective as secondary socialisation + they were not socialised into work but rather were waiting to leave education.
w/c boys went to get w/c jobs reproducing inequality
- leaving school with no qualifications and banter as a way to pass the time prepared them for their unskilled, low paid jobs as they found a way to not get bored thru out repetitive process- therefore still benefited capitalism
EV- one school + one area - small sample which made it unrepresentative to wider population
Rappor and close bonds built during observation may have caused hawthorne effect.
The New Right Vs Functionalism
-current system failing to achieve goals of meritocracy, specialist skills, socialisation.
e.g. not teaching specialist skills well - children are leaving with no qualifications = no job = dependent on the welfare state
- norms + values not taught well = the need for prisons
-state education provides ‘one size fits all’ education system - employers + consumers have no say
-want to create marketisation - offers more choice + competition
Chubb & Moe - consumer choice
-research on USA: methods- analysis of exam results, parent surveys + case studies
some groups disadvantaged, state education fails to give pupils skills needed for work, private education deliver better education as they are required to deliver for the payments
-calls for marketisation of education that would put consumers in control.
EV- + David: marketisation creates parentocracy
-Gewirtz & Ball: competition between schools only benefits m/c - they use their money + positions to get their children into better schools.
- marxists: education does not create shared culture rather shares capitalist values & the cause of low educational standards is due to social inequality.
external factors of educational underachievement - MAT DEP
- refers to poverty & lack of material necessities e.g. inadequate housing and income.
Flaherty - money problems were a significant factor in younger childrens non attendance at school, exclusion + truancy more common in poorer families. Nearly 90% of failing skls in deprived areas. - 20% of children eligible 4 free skl meals don’t take these up due to fear of stigmatisation
Ball
- participant observations - beachside comprehensive
setting + streaming
w/c - lower streams - reproduce class inequality
sewell
4 ways black boys coped w racism
1. rebels - reject school rules
2. conformists - keen to succeed + largest group
3. retreatists -reject skl + reject anti skl subculture
4. innovators - pro-education but anti skl
- not the lack of father but parenting style of black parents that negatively impact black boys e.g. lack of nurturing father leads to anti skl subcultures & street gangs = poor grades
mirza
found that racism did have negative impact on educational achievement of black girls
-strategies used to cope with negative attitudes were not successful - unable to work against SFP
fuller
studies black year 11 girls
- found girls did not accept negative stereotype + channelled their anger into succeeding
driver & ballard
asian parents have more pos attitudes towards education & have higher aspirations for the children’s future - as a result more supportive
ev: however does not present why pakistani children continue to fail
Ball
‘myth of parentocracy’ ( the idea that parents are in charge of the education system and have increased choice due to marketisation policies like league tables)
- ethnic minority parents at disadvantage, less aware of how the school system works
howard - diet + health
children from poorer homes have lower intakes of energy vitamins and minerals
this lead to weaker immune systems which led to more absences from skl due to illness and lack of concentration in class
gillborn x youdell
parental attitudes - certain groups have more pro school attitudes compared to others e.g. chinese vs pakistani
high achievers vs underachievers
