Theories Criticisms Flashcards
1
Q
Functionalism
A
→FEMINISTS: school is patriarchal, disadvantaged girls.
→MARXISTS, Bourdieu: schools teach middle class culture.
→MARXISTS: meritocracy is a myth. also, critical of role allocation as there is no equality of opportunity in education.
- Vocational courses are seen as lower skilled and w/c students are channelled into them, ending in low paid, low status jobs.
2
Q
New Right
A
- Marketisation has turned schools into exam factories.
- Marketisation has led to A-C Economy.
- Parentocracy is a myth.
3
Q
Marxism
A
→FUNCTIONALISTS: values and beliefs taught in school are positive and benefit all students.
Education system is meritocratic. Equality of opportunity.
→POSTMODERNISTS: Marxists are out-dated.
→FEMINISTS: education produces patriarchal ideology.
- Althusser is too deterministic, students aren’t passive; students break rules and test boundaries.
4
Q
Feminism
A
- GIST and WISE have been introduced to encourage girls so choose traditionally masculine subjects.
- Women are slowly beginning to convert their academic success into success in the world of work.
- Girls have been out-performing boys at every stage in education which has led to underperformance of w/c boys. There are also concerns about the feminisation of education.
5
Q
Postmodernism
A
- Fail to explain why there are inequalities in educational achievement through social class, gender and ethnicity. Can not explain why w/c pupils typically get lower grades than m/c.
- Fail to offer solutions for issues within education.
6
Q
Social Democratic Approach
A
- Positive discrimination may not improve education achievement. Stigma means that many pupils don’t take it because they worry they’ll be laughed at or bullied.
- Debatable whether education can fix inequality in wider society. Policy changes help children at school but policies cannot change how parents socialise at home.
7
Q
Liberal Perspective
A
→MARXISTS: the liberal view of education tends to ignore the causes of the inequalities in society.
