education Flashcards
(20 cards)
Durkheim on education (functionalism)
He said that education passes on norms and values in order to integrate individuals into society.
Education helps to create social order based on cohesion and value consensus, and to strengthen social solidarity
Parsons on education (functionalism)
He describes school as a bridge between the family and adults roles of society.
Schools pass on a universal value of achievement
He says that education selects children into appropriate roles because it’s meritocratic
He agrees with Durkheim that education helps to make people agree about norms and values
David and Moore on education (functionalism)
They say that every society sorts its members into different positions.
They think that there are rules for how education does this called “principles of stratification”.
They believe that there has to be a system of unequal rewards to motivate people to train for the top positions.
Bowles and Gintis (Marxism)
They say that there is a correspondence principal between pupils experiences of school and adult work.
Pupils are taught to accept the hierarchy at school, work also has a hierarchy.
Pupils are motivated by grades to do boring work, workers are rewards with high pay to do boring jobs
They said the hidden curriculum also prepares students for work
Marxists say that education passes on capitalist ideology
Althusser on education (marxism)
He is a neo-marxist, he sees education as an “ideological state apparatus”, it is a tool of capitalism which is used to pass the belief that society is fair, even though it isn’t, it legitimises inequality. He thinks that education produces a docile and obedient workforce who will not challenge authority.
Willis (marxism)
Says that education doesn’t turn out an obedient workforce, some kids form an anti school subculture, cope with school and then adult work by mucking around.
Bourdieu on education (marxism)
He used the concept of cultural capital (language, skills, knowledge and attitudes) to explain how middle class children go on to fill the top jobs in society
Meritocracy (marxism)
Marxists say that education legitimises this inequality through meritocracy.
They claim that meritocracy is a myth, so working class students are blamed for their poor results, when in fact they’re a result of their social class
Similarities between functionalist and marxist views on education
They both agree that education plays a crucial role in shaping pupils for society
Differences between functionalist and marxist views on education
How they see inequality, marxists say education helps to reproduce and legitimise inequality, Functionalists say education passes on the value of meritocracy and lets people better themselves.
Criticisms of functionalism
There is evidence of differential achievement in terms of class, gender and ethnicity suggests education is not meritocratic
Feminists on education
They say the education system is patriarchal
Some argue that the hidden curriculum unofficially reinforces gender differences, different gendered subjects.
Men seem to dominate he top positions in schools
Labelling theory and self fulfilling prophecy in education
Labelling theory states that teachers judge a student and create a label for them, if a student is labelled a “trouble maker” they will treat the child more harsh, ideal pupils will be treated well. This labelling can lead to self fulfilling prophecy, where the student internalises the label they’ve been given and “acts up” to the label
Gillborn and Youdell- found that black pupils were more likely to be disciplined than white classmates for the same behaviour.
What is streaming ?
Students are sorted into classes according to ability, and they stay in the same sets for most of their subjects
What is setting?
Students are sorted into classes according to ability, but different sets for diff subjects
Ball (1981) on class in education
Found that the pupils in top streams tended to be from higher social classes
Douglas (1946) on material deprivation in education
Found that children in unsatisfactory living conditions (Poor housing, lack of nutritious food and overcrowding) didn’t do well in ability tests compared to kids from comfortable backgrounds
Cultural Deprivation on education
Says that working class culture and parenting aren’t aimed at educational success
Middle class parents are more likely to attend parents evenings, open days etc
Working class parents may not want to go as they are uninterested or are working inconvenient shifts.
Bernstein (1970) Differences in achievement
He found that wc pupils in the East End of London weren’t comfortable with the style of language required by school, they use restricted code.
Middle class students used elaborate code.
Bourdieu (1971,1974)
He thinks that mc students are at an advantage because they have the right kimd of “cultural capital”, the right language, skills, knowledge and attitudes.
He thinks the more cultural capital you have, the more successful you’ll be in education, he believed wc pupils domt have access to cultural capital.
MC families pass on cultural capital and expectations from parents to children, this is called cultural reproduction.
