Education Theorists Flashcards

Question

What do Coffield and Williamson (2012) argue schools have become?

Answer 1

Schools have been turned into ‘exam factories’. Exams have become a measure of success for students, teachers and schools. Teachers ‘teach to to test’ and students are ‘mark hungry and obsessed by exams’.

Answer 2

The 1944 Education Act was strongly influenced by social democratic policies. It aimed to provide equality of opportunity for all young people. Each type of school, grammar, technical and secondary modern schools, was to have ‘parity of esteem’, or equal status, with similar funding, buildings and equipment.

Answer 3

There would be one type of school, the comprehensive school, for students of all backgrounds and abilities. Supporters of comprehensive education believed that it would reduce social class differences in educational attainment. Despite an improvement in the educational qualifications of all school leavers, class differences remained largely unchanged.

Answer 4

The national curriculum, causing testing and assessments.

Answer 5

Semi-skilled choosers have strong inclination but limited capacity to engage with the market. They are just as concerned to get the best education for their children but they do not have the same level of skill as their privileged counterparts. They tend to lack the ‘experience or inside knowledge of the school system and the social contacts and cultural skills to pursue their inclination to choose “effectively”’.

Answer 6

The encouragement of parental choice, the publication of exam results in league tables, open enrolment, formula funding and other policies (Education Reform Act 1988) designed to make education more market-orientated, has all served to make education less egalitarian. Those whose children are already advantaged in the system seem to be gaining even more benefits.

Answer 7

Tony Blair announces that his priorities were, ‘Education, Education, Education’.

Answer 8

To raise the motivation and attainment levels of underachieving students in ‘deprived’, low income, inner-city areas. An Ofsted report on Education Action Zones praised some initiatives, such as homework and breakfast clubs. The report found some improvements at Key Stage 1 but no change at Key Stage 3 or GCSE

Answer 9

Targets the under-fives and their families living in the most deprived areas of England. It aims to improve their heath, education and employment prospects. Sure Start is based on the idea that early intervention will have long term positive results. In general, however, the benefits of Sure Start appeared ‘modest’. Although, there were some positive effects, there were many ‘non-effects, especially with regard to children’s development’.

Answer 10

‘We have to secure Britain’s further in a world driven by globalisation. We have to change and modernise, to equip everyone for this changing world’.

Answer 11

This was an additional payment to schools based on the number of free school meal students enrolled. According to Nick Clegg, it aims to ‘equip every school to support students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds to help us build a more socially mobile Britain’.

Answer 12

This strategy aimed to make Britain a ‘fairer and more open society’. It recognises that ‘the income and social class of parents continue to have a huge bearing on a child’s chances’. The strategy establishes a set of ‘key indicators’ to measure social mobility and the effect of class differences. For example, ‘attainment at 16 by free school meal eligibility’ is used to measure the effect of income inequality on GCSE attainment. However, this does not measure the effect of the class system as a whole, which is the main factor accounting for differential educational attainment.

Answer 13

IQ is largely inherited. They variously estimate that between 60 and 80 per cent of intelligence is genetically based. And they argue that class differences in intelligence largely account for class differences in attainment. There is better evidence for the influence of genes on educational attainment than there is for the influence of environmental factors.

Answer 14

School are strongly influenced by the ‘A-C economy’. This involved getting as many students as possible to achieve five or more grade C’s or above in their GCSE’s, because league tables of school attainment are largely based on these figures.

Answer 15

Many students felt that ‘clever’ middle-class children were punished less, and got away with more; while a number of African Caribbean students felt that teachers expected less of them than their white peers, the unwitting discrimination against black and working class children had a number of consequences. They were less likely than white and middle-class children to be entered for higher level GCSE exams, having not change of achieved g the highest grades, as well as being places in lower sets than other children of the same work standard.

Answer 16

He argued that the value system of the lower classes creates a ‘self-imposed barrier to an improved position’. Member of the working class place a lower value on education, they place lower value on achieving high occupational status, they believe there is less opportunity for personal advancements.

Answer 17

The middle and working-class subcultures contain different attitudes and orientations, which may account for class differences in educational attainment. In particular, he claims that the working-class subculture emphasises fatalism, immediate gratification, present time orientation and collectivism. This places them at a disadvantage in the education system.

Answer 18

The working-class subculture may simply be a response in terms of mainstream culture to the circumstances of working-class life. Thus, members of the working class may be realistic rather than fatalistic; they might defer gratification if they had the resources to defer, and they might be future orientated if the opportunities for successful future planning were available. From this point of view, members of the working class share the same norms and values as any other members of society. Their behaviour is not directed by a distinctive subculture, it is simply their situation that prevents them from expressions society’s norms and values.

Answer 19

The degree of parents interest in their children’s education. In general, middle-class patents expressed greater interest, as indicated by more frequent visits to the school to discuss their children’s progress, they were more likely to want their children to stay at school beyond the minimum leaving age. Parental interest and encouragement became increasingly important as a spur to high attainment as the child grew older.

Answer 20

The main factor of influencing educational attainment was the degree of parental interest and support. Class differences in parental support account for class differences in educational attainment. Parental support was measured by teachers’ assessments of how much interest parents showed in their children’s education. He suggests that the positive effects of parental interest operates through ‘motivation, discipline and support.’

Answer 21

Working class parents may have less time to attend school because of the demands of their jobs. Manual jobs tend to involve longer and less regular hours than non-manual jobs. Douglas and Feinstein may nor actually measure parental interest, but teachers perceptions of their interest. It is possible that teachers view middle-class parents are more interested because of the way they interact with teachers when they do attend school.

Answer 22

She found that most parents placed high value on education and encouraged their children to do well. In her words, ‘the majority of working-class parents want, more than anything, for their children to do well at school because they know only too well that it will lead to a better livelihood in the future.’ It is not the value placed on education that accounts for class differences in attainment but instead, class differences in socialisation.

Answer 23

Middle class mothers, particularly those who are more highly educated, incorporate formal-learning type skills. Such skills include counting, shape and colour recognition and speaking and writing. As a result, by the age of 2, the children of well-educated mothers are likely to do particularly well in preschool formal learning tasks.

Answer 24

Class differences in speech patterns are related to educational attainment. He argued both restricted codes, operating in terms of particularistic meaning, and elaborated code, which tend to have universalistic meanings. Formal education is conducted in terms of an elaborated code. Bernstein stated, ‘the school is necessarily concerned with the transmission and development of universalistic orders and meanings’. This places working class children at a disadvantage because they tend to be limited to their restricted code. Reducing the chances of working class students to successfully acquire some of the skills demanded by the educational system.

Answer 25

Bernstein’s view of social class is vague, at times he talks about the working class in general as having a restricted code. Rosen accuses Bernstein of creating the myth that the supposed middle-class elaborated code is superior.

Answer 26

He uses simplified distinctions between the working class and middle class. It is far too simplistic to assume that the working class have one, dominant speech pattern.

Answer 27

A massive programme of preschool education, beginning in Harlem and extended to low income areas across America. Aimed to provide planned enrichment, a stimulating environment in which to instil achievement motivation and lay the foundation for effective learning in the school system.

Answer 28

Operation Head Start was designed to ‘repair the child rather than the school’.

Answer 29

Based on a cultural deprivation model, the working class are seen as lacking the necessary culture to succeed in education. The working class have to change to fit in with education rather than education changing to place more value on working class culture.

Answer 30

The major role of the education system is cultural reproduction. This does not involve the transmission of the culture of society, as Durkheim suggested, but instead the culture of the 'dominant classes'.

Answer 31

The possession of the dominant culture, because, via the education system, it can be translated into wealth and power. Cultural capital is evenly distributed throughout the class structure, and this largely accounts for class differences in educational attainment. Students with upper-class backgrounds have a built-in advantage because they have been socialised into the dominant culture.

Answer 32

Their style departs from the dominant culture, their work is penalise and devalued. They are unable to grasp the range of meanings that are embedded in the 'grammar, accent, tone, delivery' of teachers. Since teachers use 'bourgeois parlance' as opposed to 'common parlance' working class students have an in-built barrier to learning in schools.

Answer 33

The social function of elimination. This involves the elimination of members of the working class from higher levels of education. It is accomplished in two ways, examination failure and self-elimination. In practice, education is essentially concerned with ' the reproduction of the established order', this is achieved ensuring the failure of the working class.

Answer 34

Did not find that working class parents were any less interested in their children's education than their middle class counterparts. However, the lacked cultural capital and material advantages which enabled many middle-class parents to influence which secondary school their child attended.

Answer 35

Policies of choice and competition in the educational marketplace give the middle classes an advantage. Their greater cultural capital provides the knowledge and skills to make the most of the opportunities available. They also have social and economic capital, referring to networks and money. Ball argued the middle classes have enough capital to ensure a high probability of success of their children.

Answer 36

'Fear of debt and higher education participation', survey. Students who were afraid of debt were four times less likely to go on to higher education than those with a 'more relaxed attitude'. The fear of debt was greatest among those from the poorest backgrounds.

Answer 37

Students from the poorest homes were more likely to be working and working the longest hours. As a result, the often missed lectures, handed in work late and produced poor-quality assignments. The more hours they worked, the lower their end-of-year marks and their final result.

Answer 38

As early as the eighth day of school the children were permanently seated at three separate tables. In reality, it was not ability that determined where they had sat, but the degree to which they conformed to the teachers own middle class standards, in other words, students were labelled based upon social class.

Answer 39

In an elementary school in California, they claimed that teachers expectations can significantly affect their students performance. They suggested that teachers manners, facial expressions, posture, degree of friendliness conveyed this impression, which produced self fulfilling prophecy.

Answer 40

Rogers claims that the evidence suggests the self fulfilling prophecy is real, it can occur. However, it does not happear to be an inevitable result of labelling.

Answer 41

Black girls in London resented the negative stereotypes associated with being both female and Black. They felt that people expected them to fail, but, far from living up to these expectations, they tried to prove them wrong. This suggests that negative labels can have a variety of effects.

Answer 42

A system of banding was introduced. Ball found that factors outside an academic criteria were influential in determining the bands in which children were placed. in particular, for students of similar measured ability, those whose fathers were non-manual workers had the greatest chance of being placed in the top band.

Answer 43

Set placement was based on teachers assessment of students ability. Working class and Black students were more likely to be placed in foundation tier sets even when they had been doing the same work and attaining the same grade as middle-class, white students. This placement was was based on teachers beliefs that students were less likely to have the ability to attain higher grades at GCSE.

Answer 44

The number of men and women in higher education has grown rapidly over the past 40 years. The rate of growth has been much greater for women. IN 1970 women made up 33 percent of students. By 2010 they made up 56 percent.

Answer 45

Before children start school, conditioning and sex stereotyping have already begun. From the types of play that girls and boys are encouraged to engage in and the types of toys they are given, different sets of aptitudes and attitudes may be developed.

Answer 46

In the early 1970s found that girls had a set of priorities that were unlikely to encourage them to attach great importance to education. She found that their concerns were, 'love, marriage, husbands, children, jobs and careers'. Sharpe argued that, if girls tended to see their future largely in terms of marriage rather than work, then they might have litle incentive to try achive high educational standards

Answer 47

Found evidence of gender bias in some educational reading schemes. From a study of 179 stories in six reading schemes, Lobban found that only 35 stories had heroines, compared to 71 that had heroes. Girls and women were almost exclusively portrayed in traditional domestic roles and it was nearly always men and boys who took the lead in non-domestic tasks.

Answer 48

Girls lacked confidence in their ability to carry out intellectual tasks successfully. Despite the superior performance of young girls compared to boys in primary schools, it was the girls who generally expected to encounter most difficulty when learning new things. Boys are able to shrug off failures by attributing them to a lack of effort on their part, or unfair assessments by teachers. Girls constantly underestimate their ability, fail to attach significance to their success and lose confidence when they fail. This is because girls blame failure in their own intellectual inadequacies.

Answer 49

Some teachers took a ‘more robust disciplinarian approach with boys than with girls’. Francis does not just assume that these differences would only create problems for girls. She acknowledges that sometimes boys could feel picked on and this might discourage them at school. Nevertheless, she still feels that girls were getting less attention and were less likely than boys to be challenged to improve their performance.

Answer 50

The focus has been in the so-called ‘underachievement’ of boys. This ‘reveals the marginalisation of girls, how their school performance is seen as peripheral to than of boys, how they do not count’.

Answer 51

Working class schoolgirls in the early 1970s showed that their main priorities were ‘love, marriage, husbands and children’. When she repeated the study in the 1990s, she found significant changes. Now the girls main priorities were ‘job, career and being able to support themselves’. They were more confident, assertive and ambitious. They saw education as the main route to a good job and financial independence. Although, many of the girls in the 1990s expected to work in ‘women’s jobs’ such as primary school teaching, nursing, beautician work and clerical work.

Answer 52

The women’s movement has provided both incentives and direction for young women in education. In their view, the women’s movement and feminism have achieved considerable success in improving the rights and raising the expectations and self esteem of women.

Answer 53

The Labour government produced ‘a coordinated plan of action to tackle the underachievement of boys’. Eight years later, Labour chancellor Gordon Brown was warning of the prospect of a ‘wasted generation of boys’.

Answer 54

Laddish behaviour is based on the idea that it is ‘uncool’ to work and that appearing ‘cool’ is necessary to be popular. This aspect of laddishness was accepted by the vast majority of boys and girls, whatever their social class background. Boys laddish behaviour was constructed within a framework of hegemonic masculinity. The solution is to appear to reject schoolwork, but work secretly at home. This favour middle class boys who have the resources at home to do their homework quickly and effectively. They are better able to ‘balance the demands of being popular and academically successful’.

Answer 55

92.7% of Chinese students achieved A*-C GCSE grades, as opposed to 31.4% of Gypsy/Roma and 35% of traveller of Irish heritage.

Answer 56

From figured from DfE, in every ethnic group, except for Travellers of Irish heritage, girls were more likely than boys to attain five or more GCSE grades A*-C in 2011/12. The gender gap is widest for Black Caribbeans, 82.6% for girls 72.2% for boys, and narrowest for Chinese, 95% for girls, 90.6% for boys.

Answer 57

Chinese and Indians have the largest proportion of middle-class members and the highest attainment. Their attainment may result from having the largest amount of cultural capital. But what about Bangladeshis and Pakistanis who are doing much better than their class profile would predict?

Answer 58

Many members of minority ethnic groups may have more cultural capital than would be expected from their present class position. This is because their jobs in the UK are depressed on migration, when they experienced downwards mobility compared to their previous occupational status. Thus, cultural capital derives from earlier occupations.

Answer 59

Parents from all social classes placed very high value on education, as did their children. Working-class parents with little formal education were passionately committed to providing their children with the opportunities they had lacked. Parents invested considerable time, energy and money in their children. They monitored their children's progress, hired home tutors and arranged supplementary education. Education was a 'family project.

Answer 60

Using data from The Longitudinal Study of Young People, found that White British working-class students and Black Caribbean working-class boys were the lowest performing groups. If you have been in a White working class family for three generations with high unemployment, you don't necessarily believe that education is going to change that. Whereas, for working-class, Caribbean boys, their low attainment is due to in-school factors such as teacher expectations.

Answer 61

There were expectations of bad behaviour, along with disapproval, punishment and teacher insensitivity to the experience of racism. For example, in one class, a Black Caribbean student called Marcus was frequently criticised for shouting out answers to the questions, whereas white students engaging in the same behaviour were not. Black Caribbean boys received a disproportionate amount of teachers negative attention, compared to White whose behaviour was the same, they were more likely to be sent out of class, sent to the headteacher or have privileges withdrawn.

Answer 62

There is a 'myth of underachievement for Black women. The girls in her sample did better in exams than Black boys and White students, and Mirza believes in general the educational achievements of Black women are underestimated.

Answer 63

Although there was evidence of racism from some teachers, she denies this had the effect of determining their self esteem of the Black girls. Some of the girls felt that some teachers put them down and did not give them a chance to prove themselves. However, 'although the girls were resentful of these attitudes, there was little evidence that they were psychologically undermined by this different treatment'.

Answer 64

They tried to be 'colour blind',recognising no differences between ethnic groups. Although the behaviour of this group was less damaging than that of the overt racists, it did have its problems. A number of the teachers opposed the setting up of multi-racial working party because they believed there was no problem of racism to address. They sometimes failed to push Black students hard enough for them to achieve success and gave Black girls reports that were more glowing than their achievements justified, preventing them from identifying their own weakness.

Answer 65

In the education system, the emphasis is on helping students who have a chance of getting five or more GCSE grades at a grade C or above. Those who are seen as having no chance of success in these terms are the lowest priority. This does no inevitably disadvantage ethnic minorities, but in practice it does lead to Black students being held back.

Answer 66

In 2001, lone parents headed 57% of Black Caribbean families with dependent children, compared to 25% of white families (social trends, 2006). As a result many boys lack the male role model and the discipline provided by a father figure. This makes them more vulnerable to peer pressure. Some young men and drawn into gangs that emphasise 'macho form of masculinity'. In schools black masculinity can lead to opposition of authority of teachers, a rejection of academic achievement and a definition of hard work as effeminate.

Answer 67

They saw education as the route to success and conformed to the norms and values of the school. They saw this approach as incompatible with the aggressive masculinity of Black street culture.

Answer 68

This group also saw education as important but they rejected the schooling process and the demands they saw it making on their identity and behaviour. Although anti-school, they attempted to keep out of trouble. They kept their distance from the conformists and teachers.

Answer 69

Students in the category were loners and kept themselves to themselves.

Answer 70

Rejected both the norms and values of the school and the importance of education. Many saw education as worthless since racism would disqualify their worth in leading to high status and well-paid jobs. They were confrontational and challenging, adopting a macho masculinity and demanding respect. The rebels bought Black street culture into the school.

Answer 71

Teachers were influenced by broader discourses of 'race', 'crime and the inner city'. Some teachers thought that the black male students were in danger of growing up to be criminals and they saw them as a threat to school discipline.

Answer 72

Much of the curriculum is not relevant to the lower working class children and consequently they disengage with school.

Education Theorists Flashcards

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