sociology education Flashcards
(38 cards)
Parsons - functions of education
functionalist - argued status in school is achieved and not ascribed as school is based on meritocracy (equal opportunities for all)
- school is a bridge between family and work + encourage universalistic standards
Durkheim - functions of education
Functionalist
Social solidarity through secondary socialisation - same norms x values (creating shared culture & agreement of the norms in society = value consensus) e.g. citizenship lessons
specialist skills needed for work- ICT –> TNR argue education not performing these functions properly.
Ev- interactionists - pupils are not passive puppets soaking up norms + values
Davis & Moore - functions of education
role allocation- school selects and allocates pupils to their future work roles, education ‘sifts and sorts’ according to ability e.g. thru exams
- inequality is important to ensure the most talented people fill the most important roles
Ev- Tumin criticises D&M for putting forward circular argument- how and why are some jobs more important?
Althusser - functions of education
neo Marxist
education is part of ISA (ideological state apparatus)
ISA maintains the rule of the bourgeoisie by controlling ideas, values & beliefs
1. reproduces class inequality by transmitting from gen to gen
2. justifies class inequality by teaching pupils capitalist values
contemp examples - covid, disadvantaged by digital divide & teacher assessed grades - poorer children down graded compared to richer areas.
Bowles & Gintis - functions of education
Marxist
-myth of meritocracy: Evidence suggests high income is as a result of family and social class not educational achievement. Serves to justify privileges of higher classes - persuades w/c to accept inequality and makes it less likely for them to overthrow capitalism.
capitalism needs workers with kind attitudes, behaviour, and personalities suited to their roles as exploited workers willing to be obedient. E.g. accept hard work, low pay, orders from above
correspondence principle: Schools mirror the workplace e.g.
- Alienation > students have no control over the work/content they do just like the activities in the workplace
- extrinsic satisfaction > rewards external to the work itself e.g. grades rather than enjoyment just like for the pay.
- competition > get highest marks/grades just like employee of the month, promotions etc
hidden curriculum - key term
Bowles x Gintis
things you learn in school without directly being taught it ( not part of the formal curriculum) e.g.
competition - league tables, sports days, exams
hierarchy + obedience - formal speech ( miss/sir), listening to teachers/ not interrupting , standing up for them
Bourdieu - class
cultural capital - attitudes, knowledge + values of the middle class
Douglas - class
external factors affecting educational achievement
cultural dep
parental attitudes - found that w/c children scored lower on tests & argued this was bcs w/c parents less likely to support their children’s intellectual development through reading and other intellectual activities at home
attitudes + values - w/c parents place less value on educational achievement = children were less ambitious and given less encouragement - leads to lack of motivation
Feinstein - class ~ attitudes + values
external factors affecting educational achievement
found parents’ lack of interest is more important than financial hardship or internal factors
EV- Blackstone + Moritmore: w/c are no less interested in their children’s education but may not be able to attend parents evenings etc e.g. because of work hours
Bernstein - class & - Bernstein & young
external factors affecting educational achievement
cultural dep theorist
B&Y - found m/c mothers were more likely to choose toys that encourage thinking + reasoning skills
Bernstein- language codes: restricted- w/c (simple sentences + limited vocab) & elaborated code- m/c ( complex + standard English, wider vocab)
EV- Keddie: Marxist, cultural deprivation theorists are victim blaming & blame the parents rather than the system (capitalism)
-Troyna + williams: w/c language not an issue but schools have a negative attitude towards it (e.g. negative labels)
Bereiter & Engelmann - class
external factors affecting educational achievement
supports Bernstein
Language used by w/c families are deficient and puts them at a disadvantage
Sugarman - cultural dep
- external factors affecting educational achievement
4 key values that act as a barrier to educational achievement:
- fatalism ( what will be will be mentality)
- collectivism ( value group membership more than individual achievement)
- immediate gratification ( receiving rewards straight away)
- present time orientation ( present is more important than the future)
argues these are consequences of lack of stability and promotion prospects in w/c jobs and are passed thru primary socialisation
Archer - pupil class identities:
internal factors affecting educational achievement
focused on interaction between w/c pupil identity + schools and how this produces underachievement
Nike Identities-
students looked for other ways of creating self worth and status as they knew schools looked down on them, ~ did this by constructing their own meaningful class identities e.g. thru branded items
uniform/style leads to conflict in skls because m/c view such fashion as bad taste and those who adopt these styles are labelled as rebels.
pupils investment in this identity causes marginalisation - develop this belief that skl is not for them leading to the rejection of it as it does not align w their identity.
habitus- key term
refers to the taken-for-granted ways of thinking of a particular social class e.g. tastes, expectations, leisure activities
- m/c has the power to define its habitus as superior + impose it on education system ~ as a result school puts higher value on m/c tastes + preferences etc
symbolic capital + symbolic violence - key terms
students socialised into m/c preferences at home gain ‘symbolic capital’ - as a result, school devalues w/c habitus
Bourdieu: calls withholding symbolic capital ‘symbolic violence’
clash between w/c pupils habitus + schools m/c habitus - therefore they may feel as if they don’t fit in unless they change the way they talk or present themselves ~ as a result w/c experience education as alien
institutional racism: key term
internal factors affecting educational achievement
prejudice & discrimination against ethnic minorities within systems and organisations
Troyna + williams : institutional racism
internal factors affecting educational achievement
British schools + colleges routinely discriminate against ethnic minorities & are ethnocentric e.g. Ethnocentric curriculum an example of discriminatory racial bias.
- need to look beyond teacher racism within skl + at the whole system itself
ethnocentric curriculum - key term
- type of educational curriculum that is based on the cultural values + perspectives of a specific ethnic group disregarding others. (White British culture)
- history, achievements, culture of dominant group
examples:
-teaching only European languages devalues EM heritage - arrangements for PE/ games may conflict with cultural requirements for modesty
- school calendars may reflect Christian festivals & ignore other faiths
- teaching history from a white British perspective may lead to bias
critical race theorists - ethnocentric C
David- national curriculum is ethnocentric - ‘specifically British’ + ignores non-European languages + literature
Ball - ignores history of black and Asian people
Coard- this can undermine self esteem of ethnic minority students
EV- does not explain why some ethnic groups perform well despite this
how policy is improving ethnocentric curriculum
multicultural education from 1990s to specifically target underachieving students -inclusion of different languages e.g. Arabic
- aim higher targets underachieving minority students
Sharpe - gender
womens values changed - 1970s valued family life, 1990s focused on work
Mistsos & browne
girls do better than boys in coursework
feminists raised womens expectations
Swann
teachers spend more time telling boys off than helping them with their work
Mac An Ghaill - gender identities in school
Male gaze - form of surveillance, objectifies girls & proves heterosexual masculinity
Verbal abuse- reinforces masculinity, found that Willis’s study of the ‘Macho lads’ referred to hard-working boys as ‘dickhead achievers’
-discipline - teachers told off boys for acting ‘like girls’ reinforcing masculine traits & tended to ignore verbal abuse towards girls or blame them for inciting it
EV - boys experience sexism & this is why they achieve lower grades e.g. the way teachers stereotype boys & the feminisation of education (education is dominated by female teachers giving the impression that education is a women’s interest)
- outdated schools are doing lots to eradicate sexism e.g. policies, training but UK FEMINISTA study was recent
UK FEMINISTA - 66% F&M students experienced/witnessed sexist language, just 1 in 5 teachers receive training
International women’s day study- sexism in textbooks , gender stereotypes still exist in textbooks in developing countries
