4 Flashcards

Question

Explain why some ethnic groups do less well than others in education.

Answer 1

* an ethnocentric curriculum may explain why some ethnic minorities do less well than the ethnic majority in education; * social class and ethnicity often interlink – the lower an ethnic groups social class, the less well they are likely to do in education; * social factors -there is prejudice and discrimination in society which may cause the formation of anti-school subcultures in school as an act of rebellion against racism which negatively impacts upon educational achievement; * lack of ethnic minority teachers – if there is a lack of positive role models in education it may be that ethnic minorities do not see educational success as a possibility for them; * cultural differences – if home values clash with school values e.g. on uniform, religious practices/commitments, gender expectations etc, then this may hamper pupil progress; * some students’ home language or language code (e.g. restricted) may not be the same as the schools, this makes educational success more difficult (linguistic barriers); * ethnic minority students are often disproportionately found in the lower sets in school – this may be due to negative teacher labelling and could lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy which limits educational success; * some ethnic groups will have a more positive attitude towards education than others e.g. Chinese and Indian parents are seen to value education highly and so push their children to do well (Archer);

Answer 2

defining a person or group in a particular way so that certain behaviour is expected of them.

Answer 3

* some people with low scores on IQ tests go on to do well in their education and career whilst those who do well are not always successful in life – is this really an accurate measure of intelligence?; * performance in IQ tests improves with practice – parents often buy in tutors to coach their children. This leads many sociologists to question whether the IQ tests actually do measure intelligence; * how well a person does on an IQ test can be affected by things like illness and anxiety – this therefore can’t be an accurate measure of intelligence; * IQ tests measure ability at just one point in time, intelligence doesn’t work like this. Intelligence develops and changes over time so the IQ tests cannot be accurate; * IQ tests are based on a narrow range of skills – intelligence is far broader than this; * IQ tests are written from a middle class perspective which will inevitably include their cultural biases and assumptions – those not from this culture will therefore always find the test more difficult;

Answer 4

FOR * in some countries, today and in the past, the education of boys is seen to be more important than the education of girls; * the gendered curriculum – the content of education has often been different for boys and girls e.g. through the subjects offered to them; * feminists believe that schools, like the other agents of socialisation, send out the message to both boys and girls that boys are superior – they reinforce and maintain patriarchy; * feminists believe that education sends out the message to girls and boys that girls should lower their expectations and accept traditional/segregated gender roles in the future; * gendered subject choice – even in countries where boys and girls have access to the same subjects, they are pushed towards different choices e.g. girls into cookery and childcare, boys into sciences, technology etc; * teachers may have higher expectations of boys and encourage and push them into future careers whereas girls may be assumed to be heading for marriage and motherhood; * gender role models in schools – headteachers and senior staff are often male which gives pupils the impression that men are better suited to leadership roles than women; * some feminists believe that inside the classroom boys dominate the space and the teacher’s attention, leaving girls on the ‘sidelines’; * textbooks – these can be criticized by feminists for the often stereotypical representations of males and females; * even when girls do better than boys in education, feminists note that this does not translate into pay and status in the workplace; * equal opportunities legislation has changed practices in schools and ensured, through things such as the national curriculum and positive discrimination, that girls and boys have the same opportunities; * many believe the feminist views to be out-dated as girls now outperform boys at every level of education; * single sex schools can challenge feminist views as here there is only one sex – results for girls are typically better than for boys; * positive female role models around the world have raised female aspirations and girls now grasp all the opportunities that education offers them to be successful; * representations of males and females in textbooks have changed to show the more equal world that we now live in; * more women are obtaining the highest positions in education, as senior leaders and headteachers – this motivates females to do well and encourages them to believe they can be successful; * school – functionalists say that education is meritocratic therefore anyone can be successful as long as they work hard, gender is irrelevant; * social class – this factor may be more important than gender according to Marxists in determining educational success e.g. elitism, private education, capital; * ethnicity – this factor may be more important than gender in determining educational success e.g. institutional racism, labelling;

Answer 5

* certain social groups do better than others in education, e.g. those from a high social class, which infers that those who are already privileged and powerful in society achieve the best; * functionalists believe that education prepares young people for the world of work, making them passive conformers to rules and regulations – a compliant workforce leads to less industrial action and more profits thus benefiting those with power; * Marxists believe that education transmits the values of the dominant ruling class and normalises the system of capitalism, thus benefiting the bourgeoisie; * Marxists believe that education socially controls students to ensure they are passive and submit to those higher than them in the hierarchy – this can then be transferred to the workplace where by they will be good workers for the capitalist system and so benefits those with power; * money can buy a better education – private/public schools that only the rich can afford to send their children to typically get better educational results than state schools meaning that those already privileged children can access the better Universities and jobs in society – the powerful benefit; * the hidden curriculum can be used to indoctrinate children with the norms and values of the powerful groups, e.g. feminists would say patriarchal ideologies are transmitted which benefit men; * feminists believe there is a gendered curriculum in education that results in boys and girls choosing different subjects to study – this affects future career opportunities and thus benefits the powerful group – here = men; * there is said to be an ethnocentric curriculum in schools which prioritises the ethnic majority’s values and traditions over any others thus devaluing ethnic minorities, often resulting in them forming antischool subcultures and not doing well in school – this affects their ability to get high paying and influential jobs in society thus benefiting the powerful, here = the ethnic majority; * elite Universities, e.g. Cambridge and Oxford in the UK are dominated by public/private school pupils thus ensuring the cycle of power is maintained amongst the already powerful groups – they benefit;

Answer 6

* gender – teachers may believe that bad behaviour and poor study habits are normal for boys and so label boys in this negative way, thus lowering their achievements; * gender – girls are typically more quiet and less visible in the classroom and therefore can be labelled positively by teachers which will benefit their achievement; * ethnicity – teachers may assume that students from some minority ethnic groups are unable to do well or label them as ‘troublesome’ therefore negatively impacting upon their achievement; * ethnicity – teachers may believe certain ethnic groups to be ‘bright’ or ‘well behaved’ and so treat them in this way, thus positively affecting their achievements; * social class – Becker says teachers judge pupils on non-academic factors such as speech and dress when deciding their ability – this can negatively affect the working class pupils and positively affect those in the higher classes; * self-fulfilling prophecy – if students accept the teacher labels they will start to behave in the way expected of them which will affect their achievement in schools (Rosenthal and Jacobson); * halo effect – if students are constantly told they are ‘bright, intelligent’ etc. and start to internalise this then this can positively affect student outcomes and achievement; * ideal pupil stereotype – Becker says teachers have a stereotype of the ideal pupil against which all students are judged – this can then affect the student’s achievements through, for example, setting and streaming; * self-negating prophecy – students may choose to reject the teacher label given to them and this can also affect achievement;

Answer 7

* education outside the classroom/formal curriculum; * after school activities e.g. football training teaching teamwork; * what children learn in lessons that is not part of the formal curriculum i.e. importance of punctuality; * the learning of norms and values – socialisation; * the learning of gender roles and expectations – gendered socialisation; * hidden curriculum – schools pass on to students a wide range of expectations, norms and values which children are unlikely to question – that young people have a lack of power when compared to those in positions of authority, for example; * learning to accept boredom – schools train students in how to deal with boredom in order to prepare them for this in their later working life;

Answer 8

* informal sanctions such as glares, warnings and body language let children know whether their behaviour and actions are approved or disapproved of; * children learn social expectations from school and therefore can see what their society believes to be important – secondary socialisation; * imitation/role modelling – students learn shared values through seeing how others behave and how they are consequently treated; * formal sanctions such as exclusions and detentions teach children that there are negative consequences to their actions if they misbehave; * fear – students may conform in education because they are afraid of not following the rules, particularly if corporal punishment is legal; * Marxist view – those in positions of power may control the rest of the population through schools, media etc – children may therefore be taught a particular world view; * rewards – children like to receive praise and therefore may do as they’re told by teachers in order to receive stickers, positive contact with home, merit rewards etc; * feminists believe schools teach children patriarchal ideologies through stereotyping, differential subject choice and gendered expectations; * wanting to fit in – by following the rules and conforming, children do not stand out from the crowd and do not appear ‘different’ – education can help them feel that they belong and have shared interests with other members of their society; * functionalists believe schools continue the socialisation that began at home in infancy and so pass on core norms and values from one generation to the next; * formal curriculum e.g. being taught in lessons and assemblies about your society, history, culture, morals and heritage encourages togetherness; * in some countries learning national values is part of the school day e.g. in UK British Values must be taught, in other countries singing national anthems, pledging allegiance to a flag (patriotism) etc;

Answer 9

* today there are more opportunities available for women in society, girls know they no longer have to be housewives and mothers and can strive for a successful career instead; * there are many positive female role models in society for women, encouraging girls to do well for themselves; * equal opportunities legislation ensures that girls and boys get the same opportunities to be successful at school; * peer pressure in schools is often a key reason for the educational performance of students – may lead to anti-school and/or pro-school subcultures forming for boys; * positive discrimination may occur whereby schools develop schemes to encourage girls to aim higher e.g. in science and technology; * teacher labelling (positive or negative) may lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy for students e.g. naughty boys, bright girls; * research shows that girls spend longer doing their homework, concentrate better in class and are better organised, girls also seem to benefit from coursework options; * girls are thought to mature earlier than boys so are more likely to recognise the importance of taking and being successful in examinations; * girls are socialised to be passive which makes them better equipped than boys to learn in a classroom environment where conformity is highly valued; ‘Clear trends in the educational performance of girls and boys are evident, showing that girls are typically achieving better in examinations. Nowadays, girls have high aspirations to be successful in life and will work and study hard at school to achieve this. Teachers often have positive stereotypes of girls which can lead to the halo effect. Schemes to further encourage girls to do well in education are also implemented in many schools, particularly in science and technology’.

Answer 10

FOR * the hidden curriculum is not explicit and obvious thus making individual’s more susceptible to its influence as they are not aware it is happening; * the hidden curriculum is a crucial part of the informal education an individual receives and compliments and reinforces the ideologies learnt at home, normalising them further; * the hidden curriculum teaches students to conform to the rules and instructions of those higher than them in the hierarchy so leading to social conformity in later life; * the hidden curriculum teaches students an agreed set of norms and values that produces social order and stability in society thus reducing conflict and disorder (functionalism); * the hidden curriculum according to Marxists inculcates individuals with capitalist norms and values and normalises societal inequalities as these are justified as being ’fair’ and ‘meritocratic’; * the hidden curriculum encourages passivity in students and thus prevents them from questioning the ‘status quo’ - instead they conform to the dominant ideology; * feminists believe that the hidden curriculum is important as it is embedded with patriarchal values and assumptions that teach boys and girls that male and female gender roles and expectations are very different; * the hidden curriculum can influence students through the school’s management structure, its rules and regulations, its teachers, its wider support staff and its organisation, thus can influence individual’s in a lot of different ways; AGAINST * the official curriculum is more important than the hidden curriculum as this determines the subjects and course content that a student studies as well as the examinations sat; * the type of school attended is more important as this determines future educational achievement, life chances and opportunities; * teachers are more important than the hidden curriculum in an individual’s education as their negative or positive labelling can result in a self-fulfilling prophecy/the halo effect; * peer group is more important than the hidden curriculum in an individual’s education as this may effect whether the individual does well or poorly in their examinations e.g. through joining a pro or an antischool sub-culture; * the ethnocentric curriculum may be more important than the hidden curriculum as it officially values certain cultures and ethnicities over others; * the gendered curriculum may be more important than the hidden curriculum as it implies that males and females have different qualities and capabilities and can be seen to set them up on different career paths through their subject choices; * material factors may be the most important part of an individual’s education - having enough money to take part in school trips and extracurricular activities as well as to buy supporting revision guides and private tutors is likely to positively affect educational achievement; * the hidden curriculum is an important part of an individual’s education but it is no more important than other factors;

Answer 11

* boys may choose different subjects to girls e.g. PE, Design etc. as they feel they can do well in them; * boys’ leisure activities e.g. sports, video games may lead them to focus on activities not linked to school – this may negatively affect their educational achievement; * pressure to be masculine may lead some boys to join anti-school subcultures and so negatively affect their educational achievement e.g. Willis ‘the lads’; * aggressive masculine norms may mean that boys get into fights and arguments at school and so receive more sanctions, negatively affecting their educational achievement; * masculine behaviour e.g. toughness, street smartness etc. is not valued in education and so may result in teachers negatively labelling boys, thus leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy of underachievement; * wanting to look ‘cool’ may mean that boys do not study as much as girls leading to them being placed into lower sets thus negatively affecting their educational achievement; * the culture of masculinity may attract boys to gangs meaning that they drop out of school and do not succeed in their exams; * the culture of masculinity in schools may suggest male dominance and success e.g. males in positions of authority – these male role models may encourage boys to do well in school; * culture of masculinity in wider society makes boys believe they are more powerful and dominant than girls therefore they do not feel that they need to try at school as they are already dominant;

Answer 12

* marketisation of education – means there needs to be choice in place for parents and students to decide which school a child attends; * single sex schools – proven to get higher results than mixed sex schools so feminists may say this is empowering for females; * faith schools – in a secular society little religious education may be taught at schools, therefore faith schools allow for the teaching of particular religious beliefs, norms and values; * private schools – typically produce the best results in the education system so allow parents who can afford the tuition fees to send their children there (selective education; * comprehensive education – based on principles of equality (meritocracy) and allow any student to attend, so giving equal opportunities to all; * special schools – allow students with additional needs e.g. learning disabilities, to be specifically supported and catered for in their education; * primary schools – allows for a more generic curriculum to be taught to students that inculcates them with society’s norms and values; * secondary schools – allows for a more specialist and academic curriculum to be followed, building upon the foundations taught at the primary level; * technical schools – allows students to be best prepared for the world of work through vocational courses and qualifications; * Marxism – private schools maintain social inequalities through the creation of an elite education for the rich – needed to support capitalism and elitism; * choice – different types of schools mean that everyone’s needs are catered for (postmodernism) in a diverse society; * parental attitudes and beliefs – Montessori schools are thought by some to be a more natural and enjoyable way for children to learn that help students develop the social, emotional, and intellectual skills they need for long-term success in school and in life; * IQ – different types of schools exist in order to cater for different ability levels of students e.g. the tripartite system, academic vs vocational schools etc.;

Answer 13

FOR * functionalism – the education system is meritocratic; everyone has the same opportunities to be successful; * equality legislation – this ensures that all social groups are given the right to education and that they cannot be discriminated against by teachers; * option subjects – these allow students to choose their own curriculum path that best suits their own talents and interests – this is clearly fair; * national curriculum – this ensures that all students study the same core subjects so that everyone has the same basic grounding; * setting and streaming – students are put into classes that best suit their needs and abilities – this gives everyone the best chance of being educationally successful; * both vocational and academic educational qualifications are available to students – this allows them to make the best choice for themselves; * scholarships – fee paying schools offer scholarships and bursaries to ensure that money does not prevent bright students from receiving a top education; * selective role – education acts as a filtering system (functionalism) to ensure that the brightest students are stretched and challenged to achieve highly and the weaker students are offered courses and levels that better suit their needs; * comprehensive schools – anyone can attend this type of school, regardless of educational ability or social factors, so making the system fair; * parental choice – in a lot of countries, parents have free choice to decide where to apply for their child’s schooling, making the system fair; AGAINST * private education (Marxism) – fee paying private schools get better exam results on average than state schools, meaning that those students who can afford to attend are likely to do better due to factors such as higher expectations, smaller class sizes and better schools resources; * ethnocentric curriculum – if the curriculum is biased towards the majority group in society and marginalises other ethnic and cultural experiences then this cannot be fair; * gendered subject choice – feminists believe that students subject choices remain gendered and that this is often encouraged by teachers and careers advisors – this can limit certain fields of high status/high paying employment later in life; * role modelling – positions of authority in schools are said to be dominated by white males – this implies that other social groups are less likely to be successful which is not fair; * cultural capital (Bourdieu) – middle class children arrive at school with the norms and values that are inherent in an academic education, this makes school an easier and more enjoyable experience for them; * material deprivation – those students across all schools who can afford private tutoring, revision resources and study supports are likely to do better than those who cannot – this isn’t fair; * funding – schools in different areas, even within the same country, are funded at different levels per pupil meaning that some schools have more opportunities than others to offer more extra-curricular activities, smaller teacher-pupil ratios and more specialist equipment and teachers; * teacher labelling – this has been proven to disadvantage certain groups of students in schools who are stereotyped to be ‘troublemakers’ or ‘less bright’ – this is not fair;

Answer 14

* setting/streaming – if placed in a low/high set or stream students start to feel that they are ‘bright’ or ‘stupid’ and thus act in that way; * gender – girls and boys may be stereotyped by their teachers in a certain way and may live up to this e.g. boys are naughtier, girls are more passive etc.; * ethnicity – racial stereotypes may lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy dependent upon teacher behaviour and/or institutional racism in schools e.g. more black boys are excluded from school because teachers stereotype them to be disruptive in class; * teacher labelling – teachers form stereotypes of students and can start to treat them in terms of that thus causing the student to believe this view and act accordingly; * peer group – students face a lot of peer pressure in school and will typically conform to the peer group norms e.g. living up to expectations a student in an anti-school sub-culture begins to truant; * bullying/cyber-bullying – students start to believe and accept the things others are saying about them and so self-fulfil that prophecy; * school attended – students in a private school may start to believe that they are elite due to the school ethos and so a self-fulfilling prophecy occurs – conversely, a student in a state school may believe that the school is of a poor standard and so accepts their position in life;

Answer 15

* Intelligence – IQ tests measure intelligence and show that some children and more intelligent than others; * Social groups – IQ tests have shown that there are patterns of results between different social groups e.g. middle-class pupils tend to score higher than working class students; * Ethnicity – some researchers claim that IQ tests show that there are links between intelligence and ethnicity and that some ethnic groups tend to score better; * Different kinds of intelligence – IQ test findings are based on quite a limited definition of intelligence e.g. reasoning skills are measured; * Processing speed – IQ tests can measure how quickly an individual can memorise/process information; * Nerves/illness – it has been found that feeling nervous or feeling ill can influence results in IQ tests; * Life chances – IQ tests do not necessarily determine a person’s path in life, some people with low IQ test results go on to do well in education and careers, whereas some with high test results do not i.e. they cannot make accurate predictions; * Life chances – IQ tests can be used to determine future life chances i.e. those who score highly on IQ tests are likely to achieve highly in their later examination results too and thus have good life chances e.g. a predictor of ability; * Setting/selection – findings from IQ tests are often used as the basis for internal setting and streaming within schools and as the basis for selection tests for fee-paying and/or grammar schools;

Answer 16

* age of maturity – many believe that girls mature earlier than boys and so they are more likely to realise the importance of exams to their future careers than boys i.e. deferred gratification; * female role models – the attitudes and aspirations of girls have increased as there are now more successful female role models for them meaning better exam results for girls; * decline of the housewife role – as dual worker families and working women have become more normalised so girls have started to realise the value of education and their exam results have improved; * equal opportunities – legislation and policy now ensures that girls and boys are given the same opportunities e.g. the national curriculum – girls are therefore encouraged by teachers and careers advisors to aim high – hence better exam results; * positive discrimination – this may be seen particularly in STEM subjects whereby the performance of girls is closely monitored e.g. they may be given priority access to lab equipment or be invited to a girls only STEM club meaning exam results may be higher; * motivation – girls spend longer studying than do boys on average, are more conscientious and better organised – this is likely to lead to better exam performance; * feminism – this has demonstrated on a societal level that girls can achieve and be successful – these attitudes and new norms have trickled down into schools and exam performance too; * culture of masculinity – boys are under pressure from peers to demonstrate laddish behaviour as they are afraid they will suffer from a loss of status if they are seen to be too hard working – this can have a negative effect on their exam results; * traditional male jobs – these are in decline in many societies and so boys may see little point in working hard in school for their exams as there are fewer job opportunities now for them – crisis of masculinity; Some candidates developed these with reference to the likes of Sharpe, Willis, Mac an Ghaill or McRobbie

Answer 17

* Willis ‘the lads’ – these working class boys came to school to ‘have a laugh’. They enjoyed breaking the school rules and annoying the teachers; * values – they do not value education or school, in fact they hate it and therefore do not conform to the rules; * attitude to school work – they avoid completing work and will try to cheat if they are made to work, so challenging teacher authority; * attendance – their attendance is not good and they will truant lessons, refusing to conform; * prejudice – they are often openly racist, sexist and homophobic which goes against most school policies and expectations; * delinquency – they are often involved in criminal behaviour outside school and thus have little respect for authority generally; * aggression – the sub-culture is often closely linked to the culture of masculinity and so can be violent and insolent towards those in positions of authority i.e. teachers; * other pupils – the sub-culture is extremely negative to those students who do conform to authority and will often bully or be violent towards them to demonstrate this;

Answer 18

 equality of opportunity – functionalists believe that all students have the same opportunities and chances of success in the education system which enables people to move up the social ladder;  meritocracy – all students can reach the level they deserve and have worked for as it is based on merit not ascribed status – this allows people to attain highly paid and high status jobs if they work hard;  scholarships – these exist to support under-privileged students in obtaining the best education possible and allowing them to leave their roots behind as they may attend elite universities and enter elite professions whereby their social networks are strengthened further still which can result in upward social mobility;  positive discrimination – upward social mobility is supported by compensatory education initiatives within education that bridge the gap between students from different social backgrounds and/or lower entry requirements – they lift the aspirations and life chances of those typically at the bottom of the social hierarchy;  feminism – through education and qualifications females can lift their social position and access higher education, better jobs etc.;  universal standards – all students are judged in the same way based on the same criteria within education and thus background, social factors and ascribed status become irrelevant – meaning those at the bottom of the social ladder can more easily climb to the top;  self-negating prophecy – despite teacher labels and stereotypes students can refuse to accept these effectively ‘proving their teacher wrong’, and climbing the social ladder and defying expectations;

Answer 19

* labelling theory – Becker – teachers judge students on non-academic factors such as speech, dress, enthusiasm and manners – these combine to make up a teacher’s stereotype of the ‘ideal pupil’ and influences the teacher’s assessment of their ability; * self-fulfilling prophecy – teachers expectations of students are likely to bring their own self-image of ability into line with the teachers e.g. those who are told they are bright are more likely to be bright; * Rosenthal and Jacobson – a randomly chosen group of students whom teachers were told were bright but who actually were no different to the other students did make more progress than the students who were not labelled as bright; * streaming and setting – based on pupils predicted ability – those in the higher groups become confident high achievers, those at the bottom will see themselves as failures and struggle to do well; * halo effect – the expectations a teacher has of a student can positively increase student performance levels; * ethnicity – teachers may have different expectations of different ethnic groups which may affect educational achievement e.g. Archer found teachers had high expectations of Chinese students, Afro-Caribbean students more negatively labelled; * gender – boys are more likely to be seen as problems (some schools have single sex lessons) which may negatively affect their achievement;

Answer 20

 common value system  education controls people to believe the ideologies of the ruling class through the indoctrination of the working classes that will ensure they are good workers for the capitalist system;  false consciousness  the working classes are so controlled within and by education that they do not realise they are being used and exploited in preparation for the wider world;  hidden curriculum  this teaches us to be obedient, submissive, do as we are told by those in positions of authority thus preparing us for future roles as ‘wage slaves’ for the ruling class;  unquestioning  it’s not just our actions but also our thoughts that are controlled within education  we are discouraged from questioning or criticising and taught that there is one, dominant understanding of the world that is correct (and of course supports capitalism);  types of school attended  the ruling and the working class send their children to different types of schools where different values are taught. Private education teaches the bourgeoisie that they are elite and helps them enter the ‘best’ universities  working class children in state education are not so privileged;  myth of meritocracy  Marxists believe education controls us into conformity as we are taught that society is fair and we will get what we deserve therefore we don’t rebel or resist  they say this is untrue and that society is riddled with inequalities;

Answer 21

 access to education – in some countries the education of boys is valued more highly than girls meaning that boys are more likely to attend school;  Parsons – many functionalists believe that for society to function properly it requires males to take the instrumental and females the expressive role – feminists believe these gender roles are inculcated through the education system;  subject choice – when given the option of choice, boys and girls tend to choose quite different subjects – those of the boys are typically higher status and perceived often as ‘harder’ than the female subjects chosen – this can limit female career opportunities;  workplace – feminists are critical of the fact that despite girls doing better than boys in education in most countries today, when it comes to the workplace men still have more status and better pay;  role models – in education most positions of responsibility and superiority e.g. head-teacher are typically filled by men – this sends out the message that males are more important than females;  representation – textbooks and reading books have been criticised by feminists for the ways they show males and females e.g. giving females the passive and males the active role;  patriarchy – feminists believe that through the hidden curriculum patriarchal norms and values are reinforced in students;  teacher bias – i.e. favouring boys in the classroom due to patriarchy;  classrooms – research shows that classroom space, teacher time and attention is all dominated by boys – this does not give girls the same experiences or opportunities;

Answer 22

Arguments for:  functionalism – these sociologists believe that social control is one of the main functions performed by schools and thus must be effective;  social conformity – most students do as they are told, engage with the education system and eventually take examinations – systems of rewards and punishments must therefore be effective;  rewards – these are used to motivate students and to encourage them to conform e.g. stickers, prizes etc.;  sanctions – these are used to discourage unwanted behaviour, e.g. detentions, isolations etc.;  deterrence – the use of sanctions in school deters other students from not conforming as they do not want to be punished;  social expectations – society’s norms and values are at the heart of all systems of rewards and sanctions and thus reinforce what students are learning from the other agencies of socialisation;  gender roles – schools encourage males to act in a certain way and females in a different way e.g. asking girls to tidy up and boys to carry heavy boxes – feminists believe this encourages conformity to the patriarchal system;  student sub-cultures – most students are not a part of a rebellious subculture therefore are following the systems of rewards and sanctions successfully; Arguments against:  peer pressure – students may be more likely to follow their peers thanthe school rules;  anti-school sub-cultures – the existence of these sub-cultures demonstrates that not all students conform e.g. Willis ‘the lads’;  Marxism – these sociologists believe that whilst students may seem to be accepting of the rules in school they may still be politically militant, strike and protest after leaving education;  feminism – ‘girl power’, #metoo, career women and female success stories demonstrate that patriarchal control in school is not as effective as some may think;  home factors – the influence of the home is thought by many to be far more influential than school in terms of controlling students e.g. the fear of being disciplined by a parent is what makes students conform, not the school itself;  individual choice – students are individuals and thus can all make their own decisions about whether or not they will allow themselves to be influenced or controlled by school and education;  exclusion rates – concerns over the number of students – particularly minority ethnic groups, males and the working class – who are excluded from school demonstrates that the social control measures are not always effective;  body and mind – whilst schools may control what students can and can’t do they cannot control what students think and therefore can only ever have only limited success in terms of control;

Answer 23

* socialisation – norms and values are passed on from one generation to the next through the hidden curriculum and through teacher role models; * social control – a system of sanctions and rewards is used in schools in order to control children and to ensure socially approved of behaviour; * shared values – education creates social order and solidarity through the promotion of shared values e.g. national identity, religion, heritage etc.; * individual achievement – education introduces children to the concept of achieved status and the idea that they will be judged by what they achieve based on universal standards; * knowledge and skills – education is necessary in order to teach young people the skills and knowledge necessary to be productive workers of the future; * sifting and sorting – education is necessary as it selects those people most appropriate for each role in life e.g. by assessing children’s abilities school allows them to follow different paths – education produces the right people for the right jobs; * learning social control – education socialises children to accept that they must conform to the wishes of those in power; * meritocracy – education epitomises the meritocratic system and represents the idea that hard work and talents will be rewarded in society; * social mobility – education allows for social mobility to occur and can therefore break cycles of deprivation;

Answer 24

Arguments for: * smaller class sizes – this means there is more one-to-one attention and support for students which will increase their confidence, understanding and achievement; * resources – because private schools are funded through private fees, they are able to offer better resources and facilities than state schools which makes learning more pleasurable and easier; * results – results in private schools are typically better than in other types of schools and therefore this will benefit students when looking for a university place and a job; * scholarships – private school systems of bursaries and scholarships mean that disadvantaged young people can also benefit from their facilities leading to improved life chances and upward social mobility; * social capital – Bourdieu – students will meet and mix with influential individuals and families at private school giving them a large social network that can aid with work experience placements, jobs, opportunities etc.; * academic culture – private schools have high expectations and will therefore encourage students to study hard and to put their best effort into the work they produce – this will lead to higher achievement and independent study skills useful for higher education and work; * peer group – pro-school sub-cultures are likely to be the norm in private schools meaning there is less peer pressure to misbehave; * extra-curricular opportunities – students are likely to have the opportunities to participate in a wide variety of sports, debating societies, cultural visits and overseas travel – all will improve their cultural capital (Bourdieu); * meritocracy – functionalists would say that if students are bright enough to pass the selection criteria for private school then they deserve the manifold opportunities that this kind of school brings them; * university access – attending elite private schools often makes it easier to gain acceptance to the top universities worldwide e.g. Harvard, Oxford etc.; Arguments against: * boarding – many private schools require students to leave home and live at the school, this means they miss out on essential primary socialisation and family love and activities; * elitism – private schools breed a culture of elitism that puts students in competition with one another – this is not healthy; * lack of diversity – private schools are not typically very diverse in their student or teacher populations and this therefore does not prepare student’s well for the real world; * pressure – because parents are paying for their child to attend a private school, the pressure to succeed academically is huge and this has been reported to lead to real problems with mental health issues for young people; * social inequalities – private schools are not good for anybody as they maintain a system of inequality, allowing only the rich to attend – those that gain a scholarship place are not treated in the same way and may be subject to negative teacher and peer labelling; * feminism – many private schools are single-sex and a lot are male only and traditional/patriarchal in focus – this disadvantages female students so is not the best for them; * Marxism – they believe private schools reproduce the system of capitalism that is good for nobody, encouraging selfishness, elitism and greed; * teaching – teaching is often rated better in inspections in non-private schools meaning that private school students may miss out on opportunities for creative work, collaborative work, interactive teaching etc.; * grammar schools – these are said to provide the same standard of education as private schools but without the hefty price tag and within the local area; * community – private schools are unlikely to be based in the student’s local area therefore they are unable to form community bonds and networks and travel time can be extensive;

Answer 25

Arguments for: * some people argue that some people are more intelligent than others and this explains how well people do in schools; * IQ tests – these exist in various forms in education and are used to assess student intelligence and capabilities to inform school selection procedures, e.g. the 11+ exam used to decide whether a student is admitted into a high achieving grammar school; * equality of opportunity – functionalists believe education is based on a system of meritocracy that allows anyone to succeed based upon their natural ability and their efforts to succeed; * social mobility – the functionalist belief explains why those from underprivileged backgrounds and minority ethnic groups can still do well in education if they are bright and try hard, e.g. in the UK it is an ethnically diverse, inner city comprehensive school that currently sends most students on to Oxbridge universities; * universal standards – all students are judged by the same criteria and many study the same national curriculum, this gives all students the same chances of success therefore ability must explain any differences in educational achievement; * sifting and sorting – functionalists believe that education sorts students by ability, setting and streaming can be used to ensure the brightest students are pushed to achieve the best qualifications and enter professional careers whilst a more vocational route is chosen for less bright students; * comprehensive schools – allow all students from different backgrounds to get the same educational opportunities, meaning that those who are intelligent and try hard can be placed in top sets/streams and excel; Arguments against: * social class – research shows that students in the lower social classes do not achieve as well as students in the higher social classes (Marxism) and this is not to do with effort or ability but inequality; * ethnicity – minority ethnic groups typically do less well in education than other ethnic groups and this is likely to be caused by racism rather than a lack of effort or intelligence; * gender – in some countries the education of boys is prioritised over that of girls (feminism) and so boys have an unfair advantage in their education, regardless of intelligence or effort; * school factors – educational achievement may be determined by teacher labelling, the type of school attended and the institutional practices and ethos; * peer group – peer group pressure and anti-school/pro-school subcultures may be a significant influence on pupil achievement; * home factors – the value placed on education, parental aspirations and engagement with school as well as the community may all impact upon educational achievement; * material factors – how much money a family has may influence educational achievement e.g. private tuition, school attended, extra resources, internet access, quiet study space, etc.; * intersection – it is unlikely that one factor alone, e.g. ability, is responsible for educational success, most sociologists believe that different factors intersect;

Answer 26

* grammar schools – sitting an 11+ exam whilst still in primary school is thought to be unfair as a student’s educational map is decided at such a young age – this prevents the majority of students having access to what many describe as the ‘best’ educational opportunities; * 11+ examination – this is criticised by many sociologists as a form of selection as it is said to measure cultural capital rather than intelligence; * selection tests – any selective school that chooses who to admit based on a test result can be criticised as parents with the funds employ private tutors to help and guide their children to pass the test – this results in far more middle-class children passing selection tests than working class, which is not fair; * private schools – to get into private school you have to typically pass an exam but also have the money to be able to afford the school fees – this process of selection is considered unfair as it disadvantages poorer young people (private schools get very good exam results); * faith schools – selection can also be based on religion which prevents many children from attending certain schools – faith schools are often associated with high results and therefore this may be perceived as unfair; * tripartite system – this three-tier system was in place in the UK prior to 1965 – depending on a primary school test result, students were divided into three groups and sent to the most appropriate school – this prevented many students from achieving social mobility; * life chances – by not being selected for a certain type of school a young person’s life chances can be hampered and many sociologists believe this is not fair; * equal opportunities – selection tests go against the notion that all young people should have equal opportunities to be successful in education; * Marxism – they believe that the process of selection favours the higher classes (materially and culturally) and therefore allows social class inequalities to be reproduced and maintained; * labelling – the process of selection creates ‘winners and losers’ and to categorise someone as a success or a failure at such a young age is not fair and could be very damaging;

Answer 27

Arguments for:  private schools − these are dominated by children from the middle/higher social classes where a culture of elitism is cultivated (Marxism) through subjects studied e.g. Latin, extra−curricular activities e.g. polo/lacrosse and often offering boarding facilities;  social capital − networks and relationships can be very useful in schools e.g. for work experience placements, research, homework projects, references, advice etc. − middle class students are more likely to have these valuable social networks than are working class;  cultural capital − the curriculum content and the nature of learning in schools presumes that students are familiar with literature, art, culture, theatre etc. − this is much more likely for the middle class children than the working class who may not have books at home, have never been to the theatre or an art gallery etc.;  national curriculum − subjects studied by the middle class are often academic in nature and not linked to the world of work; students that do choose to study vocational subjects, more often the working class, are often looked down upon and considered less able e.g. childcare is not as valued as classics;  hidden curriculum − this is learnt through the way that the school is run and the actions of teachers − if the school hierarchy shows middle class people towards the top and working class people towards the bottom then students will pick this up themselves;  teacher expectations − labelling theory (Becker) − studies of the ‘ideal pupil’ suggest that this is embodied with middle class values, appearance, behaviours, language and therefore that teachers may treat students in different social classes differently e.g. setting;  language codes − Bernstein − he talks about schools being based upon and using elaborated speech codes associated with the middle classes which may conflict with the restricted codes used at home and with peer groups for the working class; Arguments against:  vocational education − alongside academic subjects most schools and colleges offer vocational education (e.g. plumbing, childcare, health and beauty etc.) in order to cater for everyone, this contradicts the notion that schools benefit the middle class;  skills based − schools today are encouraged to ensure children leave school with the skills necessary to enter the workplace and be successful − literacy, numeracy, communication, ICT etc. − these are not class–based benefits;  scholarships − most private schools select their students based on ability not their social class background and scholarships exist to further support less privileged/working class children to gain a private education;  positive discrimination − initiatives and policies exist to support under−privileged working class children and under−achieving social groups and this does not typically involve the middle class e.g. STEM initiatives for girls, mentoring programs for working class children etc.;  functionalism − they claim that schooling is meritocratic and offers everybody the same experiences and opportunities regardless of money or social class;  feminism − they criticise the patriarchal nature of schools that still cultivate different gendered expectations and believe these are more influential than whether schooling benefits the middle class;  different types of schools − comprehensive schools tend to reflect the social class make up of their students therefore there will be as many predominantly working class schools as there are middle class;  state schools − most students attend state run, free schools − private schools are attended by the minority − therefore they will reflect the mixed social class make up of their students; and will not benefit one social class over another;

Answer 28

* values and attitudes – students brought up in a home environment where education is not valued and is seen as unimportant are disadvantaged in school; * fatalism – students who believe they cannot achieve educational success and/or social mobility are disadvantaged in education as they do not possess belief in meritocracy and social mobility; * immediate gratification – students who are socialised to want to leave education as soon as possible for the money that the workplace can bring are disadvantaged with future life chances as they will not achieve higher level qualifications; * restricted code – speaking in this code at home rather than the elaborated code used at school will disadvantage students in education who find the middle-class world of education and assessment more difficult to navigate and be successful in; * parents – students with parents who do not have regular contact with school and who do not push and expect them to do well are disadvantaged in education as there are lowered parental expectations; * home environment – students brought up with no access to literature, high cultural events, museum and art gallery visits etc are disadvantaged in education where these features are commonly discussed and, indeed, are often part of the curriculum;

Answer 29

* role models – students look up to teachers and therefore are influenced by them – either positively (aspirational, for example), or negatively (lack of ethnic minority teachers, for example); * careers advice – teachers often act as motivators for students e.g. feminists believe one of the reasons girls are now doing so well in education is because of the advice and high expectations from their female teachers; * teacher expectations – how the teacher expects a student to perform may influence their educational achievement e.g. teachers may believe that poor study habits and behaviour are normal for boys but these would not be tolerated from girls; * teacher labelling – the poor educational performance of some ethnic minority students may be explained by negative teacher labelling e.g. assuming they are unable to do very well or labelling them as ‘troublemakers’; * ideal pupil - Becker – research shows that teachers have a stereotype of the ‘ideal pupil’ and students that do not match this may not be given the same opportunities and treatment as those that do, e.g. setting and streaming which will affect educational achievement; * Rutter’s research – teachers can affect educational achievement through their expectations of students, how they treat students, how well prepared they are for lessons and by setting an example; * halo effect – the positive stereotyping of some students as hard working and bright has been shown to cause this stereotype to be true which will then affect educational achievement; * self-fulfilling prophecy – students fall in line with the views the teacher has of them so if they believe that the teacher thinks they are unintelligent and will fail then the student starts to live up to this negative stereotype (Rosenthal) hence affecting their achievement; * Archer’s study – found that teachers believed Chinese students were bright and capable and so had high expectations of them so when they did have difficulties in understanding the teachers gave them little help which will affect their educational achievement;

Answer 30

Possible answers: * equality of opportunity – if education systems are equal then people are able to reach the level they deserve based on their ability and the effort they make to succeed, not on the basis of any pre-determined social characteristics meaning they can climb the social ladder; * meritocracy – functionalists believe the education system is fair and therefore background is irrelevant – a bright child from a working class background who works hard will be able to do as well as one from a more privileged background, in both school and work; * individual merit – people from underprivileged social groups e.g. some ethnic minorities, can be upwardly mobile if they merit this, while those from privileged backgrounds will become downwardly mobile if they do not merit success and rewards; * setting and streaming – being placed in higher sets/streams means better opportunities for those students from negatively privileged social groups e.g. facilitating university entry for ethnic minority/working class students and thus affecting social mobility; * gender – research shows girls that are in higher sets and therefore do well at school are motivated to continue aspiring high in their careers, shunning the housewife role and having fewer children so resulting in upward social mobility; * positive discrimination – schools sometimes manipulate the students placed in the higher sets to tackle social issues such as racism or sexism – this gives those students better opportunities for educational success and upward social mobility; * universal standards – in education everyone is measured and tested against the same universal criteria therefore social mobility (upwards or downwards) is possible based on how well a pupil does at school; * functionalism and role allocation – education sifts out the best students regardless of social background and prepares them for the best positions in society, resulting in much social mobility; * scholarships – many private schools offer scholarships to the brightest students who cannot afford their fees, therefore resulting in increased life chances and social mobility as private schools are often seen as a ticket to the top universities and top jobs; * job of teacher – in many societies teaching is seen as a prestigious and highly valued profession and for teachers from less privileged backgrounds this career may lead to upward social mobility; * cultural capital – Bourdieu – students who engage with and do well at school will increase their levels of cultural capital and thus have better chances for upward social mobility; * social capital – Bourdieu – students can often increase their social networks and, for those in private schools in particular, benefit from the old boys’ network, so increasing their opportunities for social mobility;

Answer 31

having long-term aims in life and being willing to postpone immediate rewards in order to achieve these.

Answer 32

 praise, stickers, badges – can all be used to encourage socially approved behaviours and values in schools;  socialisation – rewards in schools socialise students into their social expectations e.g. to use good manners will result in something positive happening/being said;  being positively labelled at school – encourages social conformity as the student desires further rewards (the halo effect);  manipulation – rewards allow schools to influence and control the thoughts and actions of children into believing the status quo/not rebelling (ideological control)  treat trips – students can be rewarded by being allowed to go on trips if they are good/achieve certain marks;  setting – if students work hard and follow the rules, they may be rewarded by moving up to a higher set or gaining better results;  assemblies – these may be used to publicly congratulate and reward students who have exceeded targets/been good citizens etc. thus producing a culture whereby rewards are seen to be desirable;

Answer 33

Arguments for:  social class – Bernstein’s restricted code – informal, everyday language with limited vocab spoken widely by the lower social classes that is discouraged in schools – this could negatively influence opportunities for working class educational achievement as this is not the language of education;  social class – Bernstein’s elaborated code – expresses complex and abstract ideas, a formal style of language used in schools by teachers and found in textbooks. This is the common language code of the higher classes and so advantages them when it comes to educational achievement as they are more familiar with these codes;  minority ethnic groups – may be taught in a language that is not their home language e.g. in international schools, which may lead to problems of understanding and communication thus explaining lower educational achievement;  bilingualism – research indicates that those students able to speak and use more than one recognised language may have an advantage in learning in schools and thus may do better;  ethnocentrism in language – some languages may be thought of by teachers as ungrammatical and incorrect e.g. patois/creole – thus teachers did not recognise when children speaking or using these languages were in fact expressing complex and abstract ideas (Labov);  immigration – students recently arrived in a country and with little understanding of the official language are likely to be disadvantaged in their opportunities to succeed at school due to an inability to access the curriculum; Arguments against:  linguistic influences on educational achievement are thought to be significant but this does not mean that they have the most influence on a pupil’s educational achievement, a range of factors are likely to intersect with one another;  cultural influences – social class – the working class have been linked with cultural deprivation that encourages immediate rather than deferred gratification, an absence of successful well educated role models and a culture of fatalism – this may explain their educational lack of success;  cultural influences – ethnicity – different ethnicities value education differently and this is likely to influence a pupil’s educational achievement e.g. Archer’s research into why Chinese students do well in education;  cultural influences – gender – socialisation into gender roles starts in the primary stage and this is likely to influence aspirations – so, for example, girls may feel that qualifications are not needed if their primary role is to be a mother;  material influences – social class – children living in poverty are less likely to succeed at school because of factors such as lack of supporting resources, having part-time jobs, lack of a quiet place to study, inadequate diet etc.;  material influences – ethnicity – some ethnic minority groups have high numbers of their members also in the working class so they are likely to suffer from material deprivation more than the majority ethnic group which may explain their lack of educational success;  material influences – gender – when a family has limited resources to spend on education, in some cultures a girl’s education may be seen as less important than that of boys;  schools and teachers – teacher labelling and the setting/streaming process may be the biggest influence on how well a pupil succeeds in education;  the peer group – peer pressure maybe the most important influence on educational achievement, especially for boys e.g. Willis ‘the lads’ (antischool subcultures;

Answer 34

 environment – it may be that the environment and home a child has been brought up in affects intelligence – thus high test results may indicate a more nurturing and academic background rather than higher intelligence per se;  narrow range of skills tested – how intelligence is defined in IQ tests is thought to be very narrow, other types of intelligence exist which the tests do not measure = reduced accuracy;  writers’ assumptions – IQ tests are written by members of the educated, higher social classes who inevitably build their own cultural assumptions and values into the questions – those from different cultures and those without cultural capital will thus find the test more challenging;  snapshot scores – IQ tests represent just one moment in time whereas intelligence develops through a person’s education or lifetime which means test results may not be accurate;  performance factors – how well a person does in an IQ test can be affected by anxiety/nerves and illness which leads to questions being asked about the validity of the results;  practice – the more someone takes IQ tests, the higher scores they tend to get – this suggests that the test does not necessarily measure intelligence, but how well practised in the style of questioning someone is;  success in later life – some people who get high IQ scores do not succeed in later life and vice versa, suggesting that there are flaws in how the tests measure human intelligence;  impact on student – receiving a low score from an IQ test may negatively impact upon a student’s self-esteem and may result in a self-fulfilling prophecy as they feel labelled as ‘unintelligent’;  material factors – if IQ tests are used as part of a selection process for schools e.g. private schools and grammar schools, then parents will pay for tutors to help their child understand and access the types of questions found on the IQ test. Maybe it therefore measures how much money a person has rather than intelligence?

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