3.4.4

Question 1

What is the impact of school ethos on educational achievement?

Answer 1

The school ethos influences educational achievement through various processes within schools, including streaming, setting, mixed-ability teaching, labelling, and the self-fulfilling prophecy.

Question 2

What is the hidden curriculum?

Answer 2

The hidden curriculum refers to the attitudes and values pupils learn by participating in daily school routines, such as punctuality, respect for authority, and adherence to school rules.

Question 3

What did Michael Rutter’s research in 1979 focus on?

Answer 3

Rutter’s research investigated whether good schools make a difference to the life chances of all pupils, highlighting features like high teacher expectations and shared commitment to school values.

Question 4

Define cultural reproduction.

Answer 4

Cultural reproduction refers to the process of obscuring the realities of class inequality and perpetuating the advantages of the working class in a capitalist society.

Question 5

What is mixed ability in education?

Answer 5

Mixed ability refers to a group of pupils of all ability levels being taught in the same class.

Question 6

What is setting in education?

Answer 6

Setting is the practice of dividing students into different groups based on their ability.

Question 7

What is streaming in education?

Answer 7

Streaming involves dividing students into different groups (streams or bands) based on an assessment of their performance.

Question 8

What is a subculture in the context of education?

Answer 8

A subculture is a group that develops its own set of values and norms that differ from those of the wider society.

Question 9

What is symbolic violence?

Answer 9

Symbolic violence refers to the ways in which social structures impose a sense of inferiority on working-class students, affecting their confidence.

Question 10

What is the self-fulfilling prophecy in education?

Answer 10

The self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when a pupil interprets their actions based on a label given to them, potentially leading to outcomes that confirm that label.

Question 11

How do teachers label pupils?

Answer 11

Teachers can label pupils based on ethnic, gender, and class stereotypes, which can influence the pupils’ self-perception and performance.

Question 12

What is streaming in education?

Answer 12

Streaming is when pupils are sorted into classes according to their ability, and they stay in these groups for all their subjects.

Question 13

What is setting in education?

Answer 13

Setting is when pupils are sorted into classes according to their ability, but on a subject-by-subject basis.

Question 14

What is mixed ability grouping?

Answer 14

Mixed ability grouping is when pupils are sorted into classes that are not based on ability, allowing the highest and lowest achieving pupils to be taught together.

Question 15

What is an advantage of streaming?

Answer 15

Streaming stretches the brightest pupils while allowing the less able to work at their own level and pace.

Question 16

What is a disadvantage of streaming?

Answer 16

Streaming can lead to low self-esteem for those in the lowest ability classes.

Question 17

What did Ball’s research at Beachside Comprehensive School focus on?

Answer 17

Ball’s research focused on the internal organisation of the school and the placement of first-year pupils into bands based on primary school information.

Question 18

What characterizes a band 1 child according to Ball’s research?

Answer 18

A band 1 child is described as bright, alert, enthusiastic, and capable of academic success.

Question 19

What characterizes a band 2 child according to Ball’s research?

Answer 19

A band 2 child is described as not interested in school work, difficult to control, and lacking concentration.

Question 20

What characterizes a band 3 child according to Ball’s research?

Answer 20

A band 3 child is described as low ability, maladjusted, and anti-school.

Question 21

What are pupil subcultures?

Answer 21

Pupil subcultures are groups of children who share the same values, norms, and behaviour, providing them with a sense of group identity.

Question 22

What is the functionalist perspective on education?

Answer 22

The functionalist perspective, as described by Durkheim, likens the processes within schools to a society in miniature, focusing on the secondary socialisation of society’s norms.

Question 23

What is the claim made by Davis and Moore regarding schooling?

Answer 23

Schooling prepares people for their future roles, a process known as role allocation.

Question 24

What do functionalists generally believe about the education system?

Answer 24

Functionalists view the education system as a passive machine benefiting everyone by pouring knowledge into the heads of pupils.

Question 25

What do Marxists argue is the main purpose of the schooling process?

Answer 25

The main purpose is cultural reproduction, obscuring social class inequality and exploitation of the working class in capitalism.

Question 26

What concept did Pierre Bourdieu introduce regarding working-class characteristics?

Answer 26

Bourdieu describes how working-class characteristics are systematically undermined by teachers, a form he calls 'symbolic violence'.

Question 27

What does Louis Althusser suggest about the education system?

Answer 27

Althusser suggests that the education system conditions young people to accept social inequalities through the 'hidden curriculum'.

Question 28

What recent contribution to schooling did Glenn Rikowski make?

Answer 28

Rikowski sees the marketisation of education since the 1980s as adding stress and alienation to both pupils and teachers.

Question 29

What do critics of the Marxist perspective argue?

Answer 29

Critics argue that the Marxist perspective is overly negative and ignores the opportunities education offers for upward social mobility.

Question 30

What do interactionists focus on in the context of schooling?

Answer 30

Interactionists examine processes within schools and classrooms, emphasizing the importance of meanings derived from actions.

Question 31

What did Howard Becker find in his study of Chicago teachers?

Answer 31

Becker found that teachers tended to view middle-class pupils as closest to an 'ideal-type'.

Question 32

What is the impact of labeling on students' educational achievement?

Answer 32

Labels given to students based on appearance, language, and attitudes can have devastating consequences on their academic pathways and experiences in school.

Question 33

Who conducted research on the counter culture in education?

Answer 33

Paul Willis conducted research from a Marxist perspective, focusing on conflict within the education system and the existence of a counter culture among working-class students.

Question 34

What did Paul Willis conclude about students who reject school values?

Answer 34

Willis concluded that students who reject school values are often suitable candidates for male-dominated, unskilled or semi-skilled manual work.

Question 35

What do feminists argue about the education system's treatment of girls?

Answer 35

Feminists argue that the education system perpetuates patriarchal ideology, preparing girls for lower-paid jobs and weaker economic positions in society.

Question 36

What is a criticism of the feminist perspective on education?

Answer 36

Critics argue that while workplace issues remain, improvements are being made, and schools are increasingly valuing girls as assets.

Question 37

What is the significance of Louise Archer's research on working-class girls?

Answer 37

Louise Archer's research shows that some underachieving working-class girls adopt an anti-school subculture, which contributes to their own underachievement.

Question 38

What are the key factors influencing educational achievement according to the summary?

Answer 38

Factors within schools and external factors interact to influence the educational achievement of different social groups.

Question 39

What perspectives provide insights into the processes operating within schools?

Answer 39

Functionalists, Marxists, interactionists, and feminists each provide insights into the processes that operate within schools.