Education

Question 1

Parsons: Functions of education

Answer 1

• functionalism
  1. Universalistic and particularistic standards
  2. Focal socialising agent

Question 2

Durkheim: functions

Answer 2

• functionalism
  1. Skilled workforce
  2. Specialist in skills
  3. Shared norms and values

Question 3

Davis and Moore functions

Answer 3

• functionalism
  1. Sift and sort
  2. Inequality is needed
  3. Better jobs need better rewards/pay

Question 4

Durkheim criticism

Answer 4

1. Fails to consider different cultures. Not everyone has the same norms and values.

Question 5

Davis and Moore criticisms

Answer 5

1. Failing students rebel

Question 6

New right

Answer 6

1. Government can’t meet local needs
2. Parents need more of a say
3. Government unable to provide the best education for children
4. Competition should be created between schools to encourage harder working/better teaching

Question 7

New right criticisms

Answer 7

1. Schools become exam focused leading pupils to become stressed
2. Less opportunities are available for the working class pupils
3. Schools become exclusive

Question 8

Chubb + Moe

Answer 8

1. Schools run less by government and. More by parents
2. Parents are able to shape the school
3. Schools listen more to parents, as they are now their money providers
4. More parents = more money. Better school = more parents attracted

Question 9

Althusser functions

Answer 9

• Marxism
  1. State apparatus. Ideological and repressive
  2. Reproduce and legitimise class system

Question 10

Bowles and Gintis functions

Answer 10

• Marxism
  1. Stunts and distorted personal growth
  2. Obedient workforce

Question 11

Bourdieu functions

Answer 11

• Marxism
  1. Symbolic violence
  2. Limited social mobility
  3. Cultural capital, middle class values

Question 12

Willis functions

Answer 12

• Marxism
  1. Children do not always accept the system and create or join anti-school subcultures to rebel

Question 13

Bowles and Gintis study

Answer 13

1. 237 high school students
2. Rewards for obedient behaviour
3. Reward personality traits that make submissive worker.
   4.Obedient = higher grades
4. Independence + creativity = lower grades

Question 14

Bowles and Gintis criticisms

Answer 14

1. Schools encourage pupils to raise hands and have an opinion or ask questions
2. This is the opposite of what society wants in workers

Question 15

Althusser criticisms

Answer 15

1. Middle class do better than the working class
2. Middle class teachers judge the working class pupils

Question 16

Myth of meritocracy

Answer 16

1. Meritocracy doesn’t exist
2. To many barriers in place stopping working class from achieving social mobility or meritocracy
3. Poor are dumb theory

Question 17

Cultural capital

Answer 17

1. Middle class experiences
2. Teaching middle class norms and values

Question 18

Symbolic violence

Answer 18

1. Limits social mobility
2. Harms working class

Question 19

Legitimise

Answer 19

1. Makes inequality in the education and class system look fair (its not)

Question 20

Cultural deprivation

Answer 20

1. We acquire basic values from primary socialisation
2. Working class parents fail to socialise children adequately so they become culturally deprived

Question 21

Intellectual development

Answer 21

1. Development of thinking
2. Middle class parents tend to choose education toys for their children so they start school of with an advantage.
3. Working class parents are often unable to afford educational toys so choose cheaper toys based only on entertainment.
4. This leads to working class pupils starting school off without the right skills needed to progress
5. Douglas found that working class students scored lower on intellectual tests than middle class students

Question 22

Language

Answer 22

1. Engleman and Bereaver claim working class language is deficient and children fail to develop necessary language skills
2. Working class kids incapable of abstract thinking
3. Bernstein identified two types of languages used by the working class and middle class.

Question 23

Restricted code

Answer 23

1. Used mainly by the working class
2. Descriptive and un-grammatical
3. Not analytic and short sentences
4. Context bound, this is where the speaker assumes the listener shares the same experiences as them

Question 24

Elaborated code

Answer 24

1. Used mainly by middle class
2. Analytic and grammatically correct long sentences.
3. Context free, where the speaker does not assume the listener shared the same experiences as them

Question 25

Language - continued

Answer 25

1. Elaborated code gives middle class pupils an advantage 2. Elaborated code is used by teachers, exam papers and textbooks making it harder for working class who speak the restricted cose. 3. Early socialisation of the elaborated code means middle class students become fluent in it and are more likely to succeed.

Question 26

Parents attitude and values

Answer 26

1. Douglas 2. Hyman 3. Sugerman 4. Feinstein

Question 27

Douglas: social class differences

Answer 27

1. Working class parents are less ambitious and interested in child’s education 2. As a result of this they are less likely to go to parents evening

Question 28

Hyman: social class differences

Answer 28

1. Working class create a self imposed barrier 2. This is where they naturally give up and accept their failure as they see no point in trying.

Question 29

Sugerman: social class differences

Answer 29

4 key characteristics 1. Fatalism - where working class pupils accept the fate that they will fail. 2. Collectivism - working class value being part of a group more than being independent. 3. Immediate gratification - working class seek pleasure now rather than later. 4. Present time orientation - working class focus on the present rather than the future and so have no future goals.

Question 30

Myth of cultural deprivation - Nell Keddie

Answer 30

1. Cultural deprivation is victim blaming 2. Children can not be deprived off their own culture but working class children are culturally different 3. They fail because the education system is middle class dominant.

Question 31

Myth of cultural deprivation - Troyna and Williams

Answer 31

1. The problem is not the children’s language but rather teachers attitude towards it 2. Teachers tend to label middle class language the highest and working class language as inadequate

Question 32

Myth of cultural deprivation - Blackstone and Mortimore

Answer 32

1. Working class parents do not lack interest in child’s education but rather does not have time to attend parents evening due to long working hours 2. Working class parents are put off by the middle class atmosphere given off.

Question 33

Differences in educational achievement - working class

Answer 33

1. Unskilled, lower paid jobs e.g. manual labour jobs 2. Earn enough income to get by

Question 34

Difference in educational achievement - middle class

Answer 34

1. Skilled, higher paid jobs 2. Better holidays and privileges 3. Better/higher education e.g. more likely to attend university 4. Smaller families

Question 35

Differences in educational achievement - private education

Answer 35

1. Pollard saw private education as a major way in which class privileges are transmitted from generation to generation 2. Children attending private schools do better in exams than children attending state/free schools

Question 36

Material deprivation

Answer 36

1. Lack of material necessities e.g. home + income 2. Poverty linked to underachievement 3. Only 33% of children on free school meals gain 5 A*-C GCSEs. Compared to 61% of children who are not on free school meals 4. Exclusion and truancy more likely in working class pupils or poor families 5. 90% of failing schools are located in deprived areas

Question 37

Housing - direct effects

Answer 37

1. Overcrowding leads to lack of place to play or study. Lack of sleep, harder to study due to noise. 2. Temporary housing leads to children changing schools often and disruption to education as a result

Question 38

Housing - indirect effects

Answer 38

1. Poor housing leads to greater risk of accidents occurring, cold or damp housing leads to health problems which further leads to absences from school. 2. Health and welfare. Howard states that children from poor homes have lower intake of energy and vitamins, leading to weak immune systems, this means children are more likely to catch diseases or fall ill. 3. Reasons for this could be that’s fresh fruit is more expensive than sugary foods, therefore poor parents are more likely to buy sugary snacks for children. 4. Wilkinson says that the lower the class the higher the chance of hyper-activity, anxiety or behavioural difficulties such as ADHD

Question 39

Financial support and cost of education

Answer 39

1. Although education itself is free, children from poorer families may lack equipment due to being expensive. They may also miss out on educational trips and experiences due to the cost of them being a burden on poor parents 2. Tanner et al said that the costs of uniform, books and other equipment needed is a financial burden on parents 3. Flaherty put forward the argument that poorer children are often fearful of being bullied in school due to lack of fashionable clothes or the correct equipment. He found that 20% of children entitled to free school meals do not use them.

Question 40

Financial support continued

Answer 40

1. Children from poorer families are often pressure into getting a part-time jobs. This means they have less free time to concentrate on school 2. It may also contribute to increased levels of stress 3. This helps to explain why poorer children leave school at the age of 16 rather than stay on and go to university. Fear of debt results in less poor children applying for uni

Question 41

Material deprivation evaluation

Answer 41

1. Some poor children still succeed in education meaning material deprivation can not only solely be to blame for under achievement 2. The quality of the school is important as well as the child’s family background 3. Cultural and religious factors may play a part on motivation and attitude regardless of poverty. Some culture value education more than others

Question 42

Internal factors to underachievement

Answer 42

1. Labelling 2. Streaming 3. Self fulfilling

Question 43

Labelling

Answer 43

1. When a definition is attached to a pupil 2. Becker done an internationalist study on labelling. He interviewed 60 high school teachers and found that the working class were generally given negative labels as they do not fit the ‘ideal pupil’ image. 3. Middle class are more likely to fit the ‘ideal pupil’ image and therefore are labelled positively 4. Evidence suggests that it occurs in both primary and secondary schools. Pupils tend to be blinded to it during primary years. 5. Further studies found that school counsellors judge students on the basis of social class and race 6. Rist conducted a study on primary school teachers and found that pupil backgrounds were used to place them in separate groups 7. Fast learners labelled as ‘tigers’ and tended to be middle class, these pupils placed closer to teachers desk and receive more help and attention 8. Working class generally labelled as less able and placed on tables at the back of classrooms labelled as ‘clowns’ 9. Higher study sets receive higher status language which is more abstract and theoretical. Lower sets receive lower status language which is descriptive and common sense. This reduces lower class students access to elaborated code further placing them at a disadvantage