Education - AO2 Flashcards
(34 cards)
1
Q
Becker: labelling theory - class
A
theory of labelling:
- the idea that teachers apply labels to their pupils based on their ability, behaviour or potential
- labels can be positive or negative and can result in self-fufiling prophecy
- Becker found teachers evaluated students based of their image of an “ideal pupil” - m/c closest to ideal pupil vs. w/c who are further away regardless of ability
2
Q
Rosenthal and Jacobsen: self-fulfilling prophecy - class
A
- self-fulfilling prophecy - found that they pupils teachers labelled as high achievers had attainment that reflected that label this was because teachers spent more time with these pupils resulting in them fulfilling their label
- similarly those who were labelled negatively also fulfilled their labels due to lower teacher attention resulting in low attainment
3
Q
Bourdieu: cultural capital - class
A
- cultural capital - this is the idea that those of m/c have essential knowledge that helps them to operate in the world
- can be useful when it comes to education as it allows m/c parents to get their children into better schools and support their children with gaining skills necessary for school which w/c parent may not be able to do
4
Q
Bowles and Gintis: correspondence principle - class
A
- this is the idea that there is a correspondence between school and the workplace - both school and work involve uniforms, punctuality, hierarchy etc. (hidden curriculum)
- they argued this is used to prepare pupils for life in a capitalist society and to prevent rebellion or revolution
5
Q
Douglas: material deprivation - class
A
- lower class families lack the necessary materials to support children in many ways e.g. overcrowded homes, no access to textbooks or technology
- could mean that w/c families care less about their children’s education
6
Q
Ball: class
A
- found that top-set students were ‘warmed up’ academically whereas lower sets were ‘cooled out’ so often left school earlier
7
Q
Bernstein: language codes - class
A
- argued there are 2 main language codes - the elaborate code = broad vocabulary, complex sentence structures etc. and the restricted code = limited vocabulary, hand-gestures etc.
- w/c - restricted code
- m/c - elaborate code
- the elaborate code is used in education by teachers, textbooks and exam papers this gives the m/c an advantage and creates language barriers for w/c
8
Q
Willis: lads study - class
A
- studied a group of working class boys that were disruptive and had a negative attitude to education ( formed an anti-school subculture)
-in this subculture it was cool to mess around and fail - people in the subculture didn’t like any positive views around the school and gained their status through praise for their bad behaviour from other members of the group
- suggested that this benefited capitalism as there isn’t meritocracy so class inequality is reproduced and there wouldn’t be a revolution as the subculture acts as a coping mechanism for the boring, unfulfilling work
9
Q
McRobbie: bedroom culture - gender
A
- highly critical of the CCCS work for ignoring the role of females in subcultures - they identified a strong ‘teeny bopper’ culture among youth teenage girls
- the culture was based around romance, fashion and the private domestic space of a girls’ bedroom - known as bedroom culture
- features included: experimenting with make up, gossiping and reading magazines
- can result in less focus on education and poor language/literacy skills
10
Q
Mitos and Brown - Gender
A
- feminist movement in education raised women’s expectations - girls do better than boys in coursework
- argued that teaching has been feminised meaning there are more female teachers so girls have more positive role models so are more likely to succeed
- boys have limited role models so have lower attainment
11
Q
Sharpe: just like a girl - gender
A
- in 1970 equal pay act and 1976 sex discrimination act
- Sharpe found that girls priorities changed from 1970 to 1996
- in 1970, girls’ priorities were marriage, love and family
- in 1996, girls’ priorities were career, education and then family
- believes the legislative changes played there part following the liberal feminist perspective
12
Q
Swann: teacher labelling - Gender
A
- found that teachers tend to see boys as unruly and disruptive and are more likely to spend time telling them off than helping them with schoolwork
- this leads to teachers having lower expectations of boys
13
Q
Mac an Ghaill (1994): Working class pupil subcultures - Gender
A
2 different forms of subcultures:
- ACADEMIC ACHIEVERS - mainly middle class and pursuing success through traditional a level subjects
- NEW ENTERPRISES - mainly working class and pursuing vocational subjects such as business studies
14
Q
Archer (2007): Girls forming subcultures with sexualised, hyperfeminine values - Gender
A
- interviewed 89 people looking at the identities of young working class girls
- found that girls that didn’t conform to traditional gender identities (passive and submissive) were at a disadvantage as they came into conflict at school
- to most girls it appeared to be that constructing and preforming a heterosexual, sexy feminine image was most important
- each girl spent considerable money and time on their apperance - this gave them a sense of power and status
- some girls felt people ( staff and classmates) treated them better once they changed identity
15
Q
Mirza (1992): female subcultures - Ethnic
A
- studied 62 black women aged 15-19 in secondary schools and found that they have had positive attitudes towards achieving success although they thought many teachers were racist
16
Q
Sewell (1997): Black boys and schooling - Ethnic
A
- black boys saw no point in qualifications because they feel that racism in wider society would stop them getting a good job regardless
- lack of legitimate opportunities to get a good education
- black boys are statistically more likely to be in poverty and live in cultural deprived areas with a high proportion of single mother households
- gang culture has led to anti-school pressure from peers
- teachers have low expectations of educational success due to their awareness that external factors will affect their learning - lack of self-belief
17
Q
Gillbourn and Youdell(1999): Teacher-pupil relationships
A
- suggested that teachers discriminate against the working class by failing to recognize their intelligence as they don’t exhibit it in the same way - this can lead to resentment due to observing this unfairness and impacts their relationship
- teachers are also seen to discipline black pupils more quickly than their white peers - black pupils are 9x more likely to be expelled than white pupils
18
Q
Fuller - Ethnic
A
- used participant observation and interviews on year 10 - year 12 pupils
- categorized the girls into 3 groups: low aspirers, middle aspirers and high aspirers
- the low aspiring students were intending to leave school at 16 and did not place much value on education. They also had low self-esteem and lacked a clear direction for life after school.
- The middle aspiring students intended to continue with vocational training at the end of their schooling but not higher education. They understand qualifications are necessary for job security but often determined their own paths based on what they saw others doing.
- The high aspirers intended to go to university after school and tended to be in top sets and more confident in their own abilities. They had a strong sense of self and were able to strategically create a path for themselves to achieve their financial goals.
- concluded two key factors explained these differences in aspirations: the amount of emotional support provided by families and the girls’ perceptions of themselves and their self-confidence in school.
19
Q
Durkheim - role of education
A
- social solidarity - stand as one big social group - this is a major function of education as it transmits norms and values and secondary socialisation
- creates value consensus (mini society) and homogeneity this allows society to survive
20
Q
Parsons - role of education
A
- arm-chair theorist
- Believed in ascribed/achieved status, meritocracy, role allocation, socialisation, universalistic standards
- macro and structuralist approach
21
Q
Davis and Moore (1945): Role Allocation - role of education
A
- education sifts and sorts individuals according to their ability (meritocracy)
- society requires this to function
- a system of unequal reward is needed to encourage people to go for more rewarding jobs and to encourage competition
22
Q
Chubb and Moe (1990): Consumer Choice - role of education
A
- state failed to create equal opportunities for pupils
- parents have no control over education due to state control
- private schools give the highest level of education
- the solution = give control to parents through a voucher system so family can buy education from school of choice
23
Q
Althusser: Ideological state apparatus - role of education
A
- maintaining rule of the middle class by controlling the working class beliefs and values
- education is one of the most important ideological state apparatus
- middle class stay at the top of the hierarchy, working class are forced to fail and stay in their position in society this prevents a revolution
24
Q
Bowles and Gintis: The correspondence principle - role of education
A
- capitalism requires a workforce that fits the ruling class ideology
- students who show creativity and independence tend to gain lower grades
- students who show obedience and discipline tend to gain higher grades
25
Gerwitz (1995): Cultural capital, marketisation and parental choice - educational policy
- parents level of cultural capital and economic capital lead to major class differences in the choice that parents have when choosing a school for their children, encouraged by marketisation policies
- middle class parents are able to use cultural capital to gain educational and economic capital as they have more knowledge around the school admissions process so are able to get their child into the best school possible
26
David - educational policy
- parentocracy - parents were seen as consumers therefore schools had to become more answerable to their needs
27
Barlett (1993) - educational policy
- Cream-skimming – ‘good’ schools can be more selective, chose their own customer and recruit high achieving mainly middle class pupils. As a result these
pupils gain an advantage.
- Silt-shifting – ‘good’ schools can avoiding taking less able pupils who are likely to get poor results and damage the schools league table position.
- For schools with poor league table positions, the opposite applies: they cannot afford to be selective and have to take less able, mainly working class pupils so their results
are poorer and they remain unattractive to middle-class parents. The overall effect of league tables is thus to produce unequal schools and reproduce social class
inequalities.
28
Ball: The myth of parentocracy - educational policy
- believed that parental choice contributes to the reproduction of social class inequalities by empowering middle class parents to be:
- financially equipped to find the best school for their child
- understand and compare schools off of league tables
- use OFSTED reports
- understand schooling better
- this makes them at an advantage compared to working class parents
- working class parents are seen to not have a choice of where they send there children for school
29
Woods (1983): Eight ways of adapting to schools
- ingratiation, compliance, opportunism, ritualism, retreatism, colonisation, intransigence, rebellion - these are ways of adapting schools for pupil subcultures
30
Lacey (1970): Hightown grammar
- explains why subcultures form: polarisation as pupils move towards extremes and differentiation (how teachers categorize pupils - sets, streams, labels etc.)
31
Keedie (1971): Unequal access to classroom knowledge
- found that teachers don't distribute knowledge evenly in the classroom
- they are more likely to give high ability students, high status knowledge whereas they will give low ability students, low status knowledge
32
Francis (2001): Employment opportunities
- interviewed girls about career aspirations and concluded that due to increased employment opportunities females have become extremely ambitious and aim for high professions
33
Jackson (2006): Lads and Ladettes in school
- interviewed 200 pupils between the ages of 13 and 14 in northen england
- found that some girls are smoking, drinking and disrupting lessons in fear of being considered unpopular and 'uncool'
- an important feature of this culture is leisure time even some middle class girls did this as being academically successful and working hard made them be considered a geek
2 reasons for this
- it makes them appear cool
- there's so much academic pressure and fear of failure that its a work around
34
Hargreaves et al (1975): labelling and deviance in classrooms
- they analysed the ways in which pupils were labelled
- their study was based on interviews with secondary school teachers and classroom observations
- they discovered 3 ways in which pupils were labelled: speculation, elaboration and stabalisation
- speculation was the idea that the teachers made guesses about the types of students they have in their classroom
- in the speculation stage, teachers were willing to amend their views however they do form a hypothesis about the student
- in elaboration the hypothesis is tested, confirmed and contradicted
- in the stabalistaion stage the teacher feels that they know the student and the general type of student they are
