Sociology Education

Question 1

At school, girls assert their gender dominance…

Answer 1

… by showing their heterosexuality: wearing make up, sexy or fashionable clothes, having a boyfriend and being loud.

Question 2

Symbolic status means…

Answer 2

getting a sense of worth and status

Question 3

Working class boys, as far as school and work are concerned,…

Answer 3

genuinely do not take education seriously

Question 4

Boys use verbal abuse…

Answer 4

to show male dominance. This includes calling boys who work or like “ more feminine” subjects “gay” and girls “slags” if sexually available or alluring or “drags” if not.

Question 5

Cultural deprivation theorists claim that low achievement in ethnic groups is due to…

Answer 5

…outside factors like inadequate socialisation at home (one parent families and lack of male role model/ lack of interest for education/ difficulty to help with work…) and poor linguistic skills.

Question 6

But some sociologists such as Mirza argue that…

Answer 6

… some ethnic groups such as Indians do not underachieve, going against the cultural deprivation theory.

Question 7

The main inside factors for ethnic minorities’ underachievement are…

Answer 7

… labelling, institutional racism ( low expectation from teachers, being put in lower streams…) as well as racism from teachers, lack of black teachers as role models,, a hidden curriculum which does not take on board ethnic culture ( ethnocentric).

Question 8

Anti-school subcultures in ethnic minorities are formed as a response to…

Answer 8

.unfair treatment by the education system ( Mac an Ghaill)..

Question 9

But some students, especially girls from ethnic backgrounds,..

Answer 9

… reject their labels and work hard therefore achieve.

Question 10

Feminists have highlighted three types of gender inequalities in education, which are…

Answer 10

… gendered language, gendered stereotypes and gendered roles.

Question 11

Despite the introduction of the National Curriculum which has evened out inequalities between girls and boys, there are still some inequalities due to, for example,…

Answer 11

…gender bias in text books, some subjects still seen as boys’ subjects or girls’subjects, sexual harassment of females ( students and teachers) and boys getting more attention from teachers in class .

Question 12

The reasons put forward to explain girls’ achievement are

Answer 12

… more career opportunities, better role models with mums working and a change in social acceptance on the role of women ( rise of feminism), with girls being more conscientious and now also more assertive and ambitious. See Sharpe/ Wilkinson and gender quake.

Question 13

But some girls, especially working class girls, underachieve because…

Answer 13

… they feel schools hold a grudge against them. They resist what goes on in schools and develop an anti-school subculture like Willis’“lads”. Some are happy to leave school at 16 with no qualifications to take on low paid jobs.

Question 14

There are four main reasons for boys’ underachieving, which are…

Answer 14

… a lack of role models ( women being often the ones teaching or helping with HWK), peer pressure, social class ( belonging to working class), low expectations from teachers in terms of boys’ behaviour and achievement.

Question 15

Interactionists think that, for teachers, a student is ideally…

Answer 15

…hard working, conscientious and disciplined. They have in their mind an image of the “ideal student” ( See Becker)

Question 16

Rosenthal and Jacobson found out that…

Answer 16

..teachers label students. When teachers were told students are clever and able, the students performed better. Hence labelling leading to self fulfilling prophecy.

Question 17

Lacey, and Hargeaves, also found out that students put in lower streams…

Answer 17

…perform less well and, as a consequence of being labelled as failures- “worthless louts”( Hargreaves)-, form anti-school subcultures. ( See also Willis’ “lads”)

Question 18

For Functionalsists, education exists to…

Answer 18

…help society reach social consensus-value consensus-
by teaching prized norms and values, like striving to do well and promoting equality of opportunity to all pupils.This helps benefit society as its workers are highly motivated and achievement orientated.

Question 19

Parsons - Functionalist- believes that school is an important source of secondary socialisation as…

Answer 19

… it bridges the gap between home and society, between childhood and adulthood.
Students are given equal opportunity but then are placed in streams according to ability, The best ones get the best roles and rewards, and the less successful accept this as they have been given equal opportunity. This is what is called meritocracy.

Question 20

Davis and Moore / Blau and Duncan believe education helps making a society meritocratic as…

Answer 20

… it helps the best ones get appropriate jobs and it also helps get people to accept that some jobs are more important than others and so deserve more rewards .

Question 21

Marxists argue that the education system plays a key role in…

Answer 21

… disseminating the ideology of the ruling class.

Education acts as a force of oppression for the children of the working class.

Question 22

For Marxists, Education reproduces inequality by ..

Answer 22

… justifying privilege and attributing poverty to personal failure.Alienation in school prepares students for alienation in the work place. ( see Bowles and Gintis- Correspondence theory)

Question 23

Althusser - Marxist- thinks that schools …

Answer 23

… form part of the ideological state apparatus brainwashing people with ruling class ideology, so that they accept capitalism and their role as workers.

Question 24

Material deprivation is about…

Answer 24

…poverty and lack of necessary materials to study efficiently. Poverty is linked with underachievement for some theorists ( in the shape of poor housing, poor diet and health, fear of debts and general cost of education which can’t be met by poor families). This leads to students not having the means to do well ( can’t afford the books, trips, don’t have a quiet spare room to work etc…)

Question 25

Bourdieu argues that both cultural AND material factors influence achievement. The concept of “capital” explains…

Answer 25

…why the middle class do better. Bourdieu’s “ capital” is divided into “cultural” ( knowledge/ values/ attitudes), and “economic” and “educational” categories ( middle class have means to afford books/ tuition/ private schools…). All 3 are interlinked and explain high performance of middle class.

Question 26

The reasons advanced by sociologists to explain subject choices are…

Answer 26

… 1- gender role socialisation ( how we learn the behaviour of males and females in society, which shapes gender identity) Schools reinforce these ideas, which leads to developing different tastes in reading and in subjects. 2- Gendered subject images ( some subjects seen as boys or girls’ subjects, to do with male dominance for example) 3- influence of gender identity and peer pressure 4- gendered vocational courses and jobs , linked with social class ( working class girls drawn to vocational “girl” jobs like child care…)