Sociology Examples

See school used as a correspondance principle to benefit the capitalist state;

• teach the acceptance of hierarchy - to obey rules
• motivation through external rewards
• Education is fragmented into groups

See the education system to percieve the 'MYTH OF MERITOCRACY'

However as people believe this it works to capitalisms expense as it legitimises the inequalities within the system.

CRITICISMS  Neo-Marxists such as Willis despite believing the system creates inequality in order to try to benefit capitalism, study 'learning to labour' shows not all of the working class conform to their ideologies. 

Ethnographic study of a group of twelve working class 'lads' in the mid 1970's

Used mixture of interviews, P.O, observation - triangulation

• lads saw themselves as superior to staff
• not interested in gaining academic qualifications
• aimed to do little work and entertain selves with bad behaviour
• unhappy with treatment as child, felt identified more with adult world
• formed a counter culture wich was sexist and racist and based on male working class masculinity

He followed them into their first jobs and found they carried out same behaviour and had a laugh to get rid of tedium found in factory jobs

Believed they saw through the capitalist states ideology and plan so didnt bother.

Don't forget it can be criticised for being a dated study and having a small sample of only males

In an influential LONGITUDINAL STUDY  he followed 5000 children through their education and found that the working class parents showed less interest in their childs education compared to the Middle Class.

• W.C visited school less often to discuss child's progress
• less keen than M.C  to allow their child to stay onto secondary education as they are economic assets and due to fatalism

Can be said W.C are uncomfortable within school due to it being based around the ruling classes ideologies and values which are preferable to the middle class.

RESTRICTED AND ELABORATED codes

Elabprated code used by middle class is also neccesary in school for exams therefor giving the middle class an advantage, and achieve academic success

GAINE AND GEORGE criticise

• Bernstein oversimplifies the differences between their speech patterns
• many other factors apart from speech bar academic success among the working class
• class differences in speech have declined since his research in 1972 making his work partially dated.

• Middle class parents have the knowledge and the contacts to play the system and get children into succesful school

• working class parents lack the finance to pay for travel to a better school or move into a catchment area

Study of working class students in the midlands found theyw ere divided into three categories

• macho lads  academic failures in anti school subcultures, from less skille working class backgrounds
• Academic achievers  academic 'success' came from skilled working class background and tried hard
• New enterprisers positive  attitude towards school and saw the vocational curriculum as a route into career succes

monitred progress of indian, africvan carribean and white british in the first few years of secondary education.

Found inidan children made more progress than white, with A.C falling furthest behind

Due to both material and cultural factors;

- high aspirations and dedication to HW

- Low levels of truanncy and exclusion

- good resources and provision such as computers and private tuition

A.C didnt do as well due to; high levels of poverty, poor accomodation, attending schools in deprived areas

Feminist sociologist found that in A level classes their were bias towards females;

• teachers found it difficult to remeber the girls
• Didn't expect even the most able females to attain high status jobs
• Boys more likely to contribute and be stimuylated by teacherd
• girls underestimated their ability

RANDAL Criticise her research to be based only on interviews rather than direct observation. His own research failed to find the same bias against female pupils.

• Interviews in 60/70's found girls main priorities were love, marraige and becoming a mother and saw an intellectual career as unfeminine.
• Interviews in the 1990's fpound females  prioritised having a career, wiht love and marriage as less important.

FRANCIS & SKELLETON

Found middle class parents now more willing to pay for their daughters private school and are more concerned about their daughters educational succes and no longer prioritize the educataional achievemnt of their sons.

Used questionnnaires and Interviews to study masculinity and femininity in eight schools. She found;

• schools dominated by a hegomoic culture - valued toughness, power, competition
• Academic work 'umncool' and feminine
• rather mess around and impress their 'mates'
• W.C boys particularly affected by change in the labour market; behaviour allowed them to reinforce a sense of masculine pride.

Academic Achievers - idea of moving upward through hard work

Macho Lads - opposed value of school, saw education as feminine

New Enterprisers - Pro - school but keener on vocational education to achieve succes

'Real Englishmen' - small group of mainly middle class pupils from highly educted backgrounds who valued education for its own sake.

Gay Students - critical of the homophobia of the school

Conformists accepted values of school and tried to succeed through education

Innavators  wanted to suceed but dislike process of schooling. Did not seek the approval from teachers but did try to stay out of trouble

Retreavists  individuals who kept themselves to themselves and didnt join other subjcultures

Rebels strongly rejected the school and were aggresivley masculine

GRIFFIN (1985)

Found female students less likely to form large subcultures, and more likely to form small friendship groups

SCOTT DAVIES (1995)

Done a canadian study found evidence of anti school subculture where members had exageratte sexualities - emphasising and prioritising having boyfriends, marriage and childbearing before education

• FIELD EXPERIMENT carried out in a sate california primary school.
   
• False IQW tests given to teacher sof puils and infact were selected at random and found once grouped and one random group was selected to inform etachers theywere bright.
   
• All in the 'bright group' performed highest despite their original IQ