Paper 1- Education: Flashcards
Talcott Parsons (Functionalist):
Research method- work of other sociologists:
* School acts as a bridge between home and wider society
* School plays a central role of seconday socialisation
* School teaches universalistic standards- same rules apply to everyone and everyone is judged the same
* He believed in meritocracy, linking to role allocation- the most important jobs are given to those that are talented.
Durkheim (Functionalist):
- Main function of education is the transmission of norms and values in order to make society united and to promote social cohesion
- Education helps to develop a sense of commitment to society, preparing them or the outside world where co-operation is vital, thus supporting the organic analogy.
Bowles and Gintis (Marxists):
Research method- interviews and secondary data
* The correspondence principal- school mirrors the workplace and prepares children for their future roles as a hadworking, docile and obedient workforce.
* This is done through the hidden curriculum- informal lessons that are not part of the curriculum, but prepare you for you’re future job (e.g. respecting authority and punctuality).
* Meritocracy is a myth- teaches proletariat that their failure is their own fault.
Paul Willis (Marxist):
Resarch method- case study; participant observation.
* Disagreed with B&G- his research showed that school is not necessarily a good agency of socialisation for capitalism.
* Found existence of anti-school subcultures developed by the lads. They did not follow rules and were disobedient.
* Willis believed that their rejection made them suitable for w/c jobs.
Ball (Marxist):
Resaecrh method- case study for 3 years (Beachside comprehensive), carried out a participant observation.
* Lower class students, more likely to be in lower bands.
* Teachers had different expectations of diifferent bands.
* Even in mixed ability classes labelling still happened.
Ball, Bowe and Gewirtz (Marxists):
Research method- interviews and secondary data in 15 schools.
* Parental choice has increased inequalities in education
* Middle classed parents were priviged choosers had knowledge contacts and money to send their kids to better schools.
* W/c parents were disconnected choosers- couldn’t access league tables due to factors such as language barriers.
* M/c parents also had cultural capital and material resources to ensure success.
Halsey, Heath and Ridge:
Research method- face to face surveys
* Survey of 800 men form all 3 classes; service, immediate and working class.
* The higher the class you are, the further you will go in education.
* Service class boy 11 times more likely to go to university than the working class.
The Sutton Trust:
Found that independent school pupils are nearly 7 times more likely to be accepted in Oxford and Cambridge than pupils in comprehensive schools.
Becker:
The labelling theory, pupils are labelled by teachers based on their appearance and coonduct. M/c pupils were seen as ideal students. Labelling can lead to different pupils being placed in different sets.
Murphy & Elwood.
Early socialisation leads to different subject choices due to the stories they read, explaining why boys prefer to pick STEM subjects and girls prefer more creative subjects.
Cecile Wright:
Teachers hold ethnic-based stereotypes. They have more positive expectations of Asian girls, whereas black carribean boys were labelled as disruptive and troublemakers.
The Butler Act:
Introduced the ‘tripartite system’, different types of schools (grammar, secondary modern & secondary techhnical) introduced to suit different pupils’ abilities based on the 11+ exam.
The Education Reform Act:
- Introduced the ‘marketisation of education’- where services like education become more business based on competition through league tables and OFSTED. Introduced by the Conservative government.
Private vs State statisctics:
% of achieving 3A star to A grades:
State- 10.5%
Private- 29.5%
Girls vs Boys:
As of 2020:
25% of girls achive a grade 7 or above, but only 18.6% of boys achieve grade 7 or above.
