Education sociologists + studies

Question 1

Academisation 2000

Answer 1

Marxism - bourgeoisie can run schools
Functionalism - increased competition and choice
Feminism - schools may not offer full range of subjects

Question 2

Ball et al - parental choice

Answer 2

Encouragement of competition between schools had effects on them such as
- the publication of league tables incentivised to attract and maintain high achieving students by setting and streaming and publishing brochures etc. Skilled choosers make use of these resources to inform where their children go.

Question 3

Ball - Banding

Answer 3

Beachside comprehensive - children with non-manual fathers had greatest chance of being top band. Behaviour of lower band students deteriorated over time and teachers had lower expectations - focusing k vocational and lower level exams.

Question 4

Bernstein - speech codes

Answer 4

Attainment in school is related to speech patterns: the elaborated code is characteristic for the middle class and the restricted code for the working class.

Question 5

Bourdieu - cultural capital

Answer 5

Education is biased towards the culture of the dominant social classes and devalues the knowledge of the working class. Middle-class students have an advantage as they are socialised into dominant culture and therefore possess more cultural capital.

Question 6

Bowels and Gintis - capitalist conformity

Answer 6

Correspondence principle - the hidden curriculum and myth of meritocracy legitimises inequality and helps to produce a subservient workforce through acceptance of hierarchy, fragmentation and external rewards. Evidence - National curriculum.

Question 7

Coard - African Carribean underachievement

Answer 7

Black groups are made to feel inferior in education because of disproportionate placement in SEN schools, teacher racism and ethnocentric curriculum which leads to low self-esteem and expectations.

Question 8

Colley - gender inequalities in subject choice

Answer 8

Traditional masculinity and femininity still widespread
- Instrumental subject images like computing involves less peoples and formal teaching = masculine image
- Girls more comfortable with scientific and technical subjects in single sex schools

Question 9

Criticism of Bernstein

Answer 9

Gaine and George - the distinction between classes is oversimplified as a clear working-class doesn’t exist anymore

Question 10

Criticism of Bowels and Gintis

Answer 10

Reynolds - the curriculum doesn’t teach skills needed by employers or encourage uncritical passive behaviour
Willis - many pupils do not accept the hidden curriculum (Laddish Subcultures)

Question 11

Criticism of Bowels and Gintis

Answer 11

Reynolds - the curriculum doesn’t teach skills needed by employers or encourage uncritical passive behaviour
Willis - many pupils do not accept the hidden curriculum (Laddish Subcultures)

Question 12

Criticism of Davis and Moore

Answer 12

Weak link between qualifications and income (intelligence/ability has limited influence on achievement) because of social stratification

Question 13

Criticism of Parsons

Answer 13

Fails to consider the diversity of values in modern society and assumes meritocracy works.

Question 14

Criticism of Willis

Answer 14

Blackledge and Hunt - ignores the full range of subcultures in school that range from total conformity to total rejection.

Question 15

Davis and Moore - education and role allocation

Answer 15

Education is a means of role allocation - the most talented individuals receive good qualifications and highly rewarding jobs

Question 16

Douglas - parental interest

Answer 16

Middle-class parents discussed children progress more, expressed their desire for children to stay in school and gave greater stimulus and attention in primary socialisation years.

Question 17

Durkheim - education and solidarity

Answer 17

Education provides the link between the individual and society, teaching specific skills needed for employment and social solidarity

Question 18

Education act 1944

Answer 18

Marxism - benefitted m/c
Functionalism - meritocratic
Feminism - boys given advantage

Question 19

Education reform act 1988

Answer 19

Marxism - prepares work force
Functionalism - greater equality
Lib feminism- good measure to tackle inequality

Question 20

Evaluation of interactionism

Answer 20

Ireson et al - no evidence setting between year 7 and 11 has affect in attainment
Woods - has practical application, more detailed empirical evidence than Marxism

Question 21

Francis - girls and achievement

Answer 21

• Subject gender divisions getting worse as fewer women pursue IT and Science degrees
• Males dominate classrooms despite girls overachieving in stats
• Boys received more discipline but more attention as a result

Question 22

Francis and Skelton - Beck’s work

Answer 22

Increasing uncertainty about future = risk society and individualism. Girls are risk averse and seek security from qualifications and regard their careers as expressions or identity.

Question 23

Francis and Skelton - moral panic about boys

Answer 23

Boys education has improved, girls just improved faster. Both face problems in education, reasons for male underachievement include:
- Boys reject labels of “swots”
- Girls fit ideal pupil model
- Increases awareness of boys that they are not innately better than girls

Question 24

Fuller - rejection of labels

Answer 24

Black girls at a comprehensive resented negative teacher labelling and devoted themselves to academic success.
Criticism of deterministic labelling theory.

Question 25

Gillborn and Youdell - setting

Answer 25

W/c and black students likely to be in lower sets despite similar results, entry into foundation tiers of GCSEs makes highest grades impossible

Question 26

Gillborn et al - racialised expectations

Answer 26

Behaviour of black pupils interpreted as threatening rather than the desire to succeed, unintentional racism holds them back in systems of educational triage.

Question 27

Halsey - unfair advantages of market economy

Answer 27

Middle class children more likely to get places at grammar schools providing academic educations, reinforcing class divisions and wastes the potential of creating highly skilled working-class students

Question 28

Hargreaves - pupil subculture and identities.

Answer 28

British schools fail to transmit shared values. Children in lower streams turn against values of school and develop non conformist subcultures. Criticism of Durkheim

Question 29

Keddie - streaming

Answer 29

Advanced knowledge of withheld and knowledge coming from w/c pupils own experiences devalued in lower streams. M/c fit ideal pupil more and we’re in higher streams.

Question 30

Mac an Ghaill - male peer groups

Answer 30

Distinct male peer groups develop as a result of setting, teacher relationships and changes in economy:
- Macho lads (academic failures)
- Academic achievers (high qualifications)
- New enterprisers (vocational curriculum)

Question 31

Mirza - young, female and black

Answer 31

Black girls in a sample outperformed black boys and white students, showing an underestimation of educational achievement. Labelling didn’t undermine self-confidence.

Question 32

Modood - ethnic achievement

Answer 32

Some ethnic groups possess high levels of cultural capital and parental value of education, such as East and South Asians despite working class backgrounds because of the downward mobility they experienced when migrating and do not underachieve.

Question 33

Norman et al - early socialisation

Answer 33

Sex stereotyping begins before school - gender domains and roles reinforced by the media affect girls educational aspirations

Question 34

Parsons - universalistic standards

Answer 34

School performs 3 functions
-acts as a bridge between the acsribed statuses/particularistic standards of family and acheived statuses/universalistic standards of society
-socialises basic values of equality of opportunity and achievement
-selects people for their future roles

Question 35

Reay - higher education

Answer 35

Material and cultural factors are important in accessing elite unis. W/c students often had part-time jobs during A levels and then chose to go to uni closer to home to cut costs - both of whch were not concerns for m/c.

Question 36

Rosenthal & Jacobs - self-fulfilling prophecy

Answer 36

Teacher expectations and labelling of students inform interactions that may be responded to according to and verify the label - Altering expectations alters performance.

Question 37

Sewell - black masculinities

Answer 37

External factors like lone-parent households more important in explaining black underachievement. Lack of male role figure results in joining gangs with macho masculinities.

Question 38

Sharpe - career ambition and girls achievement

Answer 38

Sample of girls from 70s compared to 90s showed shift in priorities from marriage and domestic roles to careers

Question 39

Stanworth - classroom behaviour

Answer 39

A level classrooms disadvantage girls:
- Girls given less attention and less likely to join in on discussions (passive)
- Stereotypical teacher views of female futures

Question 40

Willis - laddish subculture

Answer 40

Formation of anti-school subcultures rejecting the belief that hard work leads to success and valuing manual labour/masculinity as a way to gain alternate status from educational failures.