Education Sociologists & Concepts

?
What are the 3 functions that help society?
Education plays a part in secondary socialisation (passes on core values), role allocation, and teaches the skills needed in work and by the economy.
1 of 65
Durkheim - Functionalist
Education passes on norms and values in order to integrate individuals into society. Helps to create social order based on value consensus & strengthens social solidarity.
2 of 65
Parsons - Functionalist
School = bridge between the family and adult roles of society. Schools pass on a universal value of achievement.
3 of 65
Davis and Moore - Functionalists
"principle stratification" - rules of how education sorts its members into different positions. Believe that there has to be a system of unequal rewards to motivate people to train for top positions.
4 of 65
How does education legitimise inequality through ideology?
Prepares children for the world of work, gives them skills and values employers need. Passes on ruling class ideology that supports capitalism. Legitimises inequality.
5 of 65
Bowles and Gintis - Marxists
Correspondence theory, taught to accept the hierarchy at school. Pupils prepared for work by the school system. Also, hidden curriculum, social norms and values.
6 of 65
Althusser - Marxists
Ideological state apparatus, tool of capitalism. Legitimises inequality. Produces a docile and obedient workforce.
7 of 65
Willis (Criticism of Althusser) - Marxist
Education doesn't turn out an obedient work force. AS subcultures. Cope with school and then adult work by mucking about. 'Lads'.
8 of 65
Bourdieu - Marxist
Cultural Capital. Language, skills, knowledge & attitudes. More cultural capital = more successful in education.
9 of 65
A Marxist criticism of Functionalism?
Education legitimises inequality through meritocracy. Meritocracy = myth. WC students blamed for their poor results, bla
10 of 65
Criticisms of Functionalism AND Marxism?
Both ignore social interaction.
11 of 65
Criticisms of Functionalism?
Doesn't explain conflict, doesn't look at how education may serve the interests of particular groups in terms of ideology and values.
12 of 65
Criticisms of Marxism?
Assumes people are passive victims. Most people are aware of the inequality in education and don't think that it is legitimate.
13 of 65
Feminist view of Education?
Patriarchal. Girls now outperform boys in school but boys still demand more attention. Men dominate the top positions in schools.
14 of 65
New Right view of Education?
Believe in the power of individual choice. Role of a school should be more like the role of a business. Schools being run by the state has caused poor standards. Education market.
15 of 65
Becker and Keddie
Teachers evaluate students in comparison to an imaginary ideal student. If a student is labelled negatively they're disciplined more harshly than their classmates.
16 of 65
Rosenthal and Jacobson
Self-fulfilling prophecy. Student internalises the given label as part of their identity. Live up to it, its all their teachers expect. Form subcultures.
17 of 65
Advantages of Setting and Streaming?
Students work at their own pace.
18 of 65
Disadvantages of Setting and Streaming?
Students likely to be stronger in some subjects than in others. Can lead to low self esteem.
19 of 65
Ball (Setting and Streaming)
Found that teachers had high expectations for the highest ability classes. Those in lower classes suffered from negative labelling and performed poorly.
20 of 65
Lacey
Subcultures are a result of streaming. Studied a grammar school, bottom stream pupils formed AS subcultures because they were labelled as failures.
21 of 65
Fuller
Looked at a group of black girls in year 11. High ability but found that their teachers were racist so they formed a subculture, worked alone and succeeded.
22 of 65
Willis
Studied the 'Lads'. Deliberately disrupted lessons as a way of gaining respect from others within the subculture. WC boys, likely to have manual jobs. Believed school was of no use to them in the future.
23 of 65
How does social class affect educational achievement?
Pupils from professional backgrounds were more likely to enter HE. Pupils from unskilled backgrounds on average achieve lower scores on SATs.
24 of 65
Woods - response to labelling & subcultures.
Argued that there are lots of different reactions to school, but non-conformist reactions were more likely to come from WC students.
25 of 65
Criticisms of SF prophecy and subcultures?
Don't explain how factors outside of school can influence achievement.
26 of 65
Halsey
The most important factor preventing the WC students staying on at school was a lack of financial support.
27 of 65
Douglas - MD
Children in unsatisfactory living conditions didn't do well in ability tests compared to kids from comfortable backgrounds.
28 of 65
What does unemployment or low income mean?
Less money for books. Cant afford nurseries and private schools, cant afford to support their kids through uni.
29 of 65
Problems with poverty and unsatisfactory living conditions?
Causes health problems and absence from school. WC students already behind because of RC and cultural deprivation, even lower achievement.
30 of 65
Douglas - CD
The level of parental interest was the most important factor in affecting achievement. BUT WC parents may have inconvenient shifts.
31 of 65
Other comments on Cultural Deprivation?
WC kids don't have the knowledge and values that help achievement. Books, museum visits and parental knowledge of education may help MC students succeed.
32 of 65
Sugarman
Manual background - immediate gratification. Non-manual background - deferred gratification, invest time in studying.
33 of 65
Feinstein
Social class has a significant impact on educational achievement. Believes Sure Start should carry on throughout a student's entire education.
34 of 65
Hyman
Values of the WC are a self imposed barrier to improving their position. Place a low value on education.
35 of 65
Criticisms of Cultural Deprivation?
Generalises. Ignores WC families that place a high value on education. Assumes WC families have no culture at all. ETHNOCENTRIC.
36 of 65
Bernstein
Restricted and elaborated code. Schools & teachers use EC, WC students at a disadvantage, don't understand it.
37 of 65
Who are the highest achievers in Education?
Chinese, Indian, female Black and male Asians.
38 of 65
Who are the lowest achievers in Education?
Black pupils. Roma, white and Bangladeshi least likely to continue into HE.
39 of 65
Swann Report
If you took into account social and economic factors there were no significant differences in IQ between different ethnic groups.
40 of 65
Labelling theory (Ethnicity)
Gillborn - teachers sometimes negatively label black students. AC students seen as a challenge to the school authority. SF prophecy of failure.
41 of 65
Curriculum (Ethnicity)
Its ethnocentric. Assemblies, school holidays and even history lessons might not fit with the culture and history of particular groups.
42 of 65
Institutional Racism
Policies and attitudes unintentionally discriminate against ethnic minority groups.
43 of 65
Wright (Institutional Racism)
Even though members of staff said they were committed to equal opportunities, Asian girls got less attention from teachers and felt their cultural traditions were disapproved of.
44 of 65
Mirza (Ethnicity)
Black girls had positive self-esteem and high aspirations. Low self-esteem didn't affect achievement, being unwilling to ask for help did.
45 of 65
How can Cultural Deprivation affect achievement?
Language = barrier for children from immigrant families. BUT the Swann Report found that language didn't affect progress for later generations.
46 of 65
Driver and Ballard
Asian children whose first language wasn't English were as good as their classmates at it by 16.
47 of 65
How can family life influence achievement? D&B.
Driver & Ballard - Close-knit extended families and high parental expectations increase levels of achievement in Asian communities.
48 of 65
Archer and Francis (Ethnicity)
Chinese parents saw education as hugely important and achievement was a desire.
49 of 65
The Swann Report
Found that socio-economic status was a factor in the lower levels of Achievement of AC pupils.
50 of 65
4 facts about gender and differential achievement in education
Girls get better results in primary school National Curriculum tests. Girls get better results in nearly every subject at GCSE. Girls more likely to pass A-Levels. More women go to Uni than men.
51 of 65
Mitsos and Browne (Gender)
Teaching has been feminised. Women are more likely to be classroom teachers, particularly in primary schools. Gives girls positive role models.
52 of 65
Swann and Graddol (Gender)
High female achievement is a result of quality of interaction they have with their teachers.
53 of 65
Jackson (Gender)
Schools label boys negatively. Boys associated with poor behaviour. Low achievement lowers the school's league table position. SF prophecy.
54 of 65
Archer (Gender)
The current underachievement by boys in education masks the continuing problems that girls still face. Claims that high-achieving Asian & Chinese girls get negatively labelled by teachers as robots who are incapable of independent thought.
55 of 65
What outside school factors explain why girls do better?
Some girls are socialised into ways that are well-suited to classroom environments.
56 of 65
2 policies that contribute to why girls do better?
Equal Pay Act and Sex Discrimination Act have helped to create more equal opportunities in society. Has changed the values of society.
57 of 65
Sue Sharpe (Gender)
Found that girls' priorities have changed, now want careers and qualifications. Want to be financially independent.
58 of 65
How has the family affected females?
Change in its structure has changed female aspirations. Women marry later in life so they can pursue a career first. Has been a move towards more equal roles within households. Women are more able to seek work outside of the home.
59 of 65
Why do boys underachieve?
Identity crisis, rise of female independence. Decline of the breadwinner and rise in male unemployment means that men don't see the point of education. Also AS subcultures.
60 of 65
Why else do boys underachieve? (Expectations)
Interpretivists say that teachers have lower expectations of boys. Teacher expectations may lead to a SF prophecy. Negative labelling may explain why they're more disruptive.
61 of 65
How do subcultures help explain gender and achievement?
Willis - Lads rejected school and formed an AS subculture. Coped with their own underachievement by having a subculture where education didnt matter.
62 of 65
Mac an Ghail (Gender)
There are lots of different types. Boys join a macho lad subculture because of a crisis of masculinity.
63 of 65
Fuller (Gender)
Studied a group of AC girls in London who formed a subculture that worked hard to prove negative labelling wrong.
64 of 65
Different ways to explain gender and subject choice?
Subject choice may still be influenced by gender socialisation. Ideas of masculinity and femininity can create different expectations and stereotypes of what pupils should study.
65 of 65

Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Education passes on norms and values in order to integrate individuals into society. Helps to create social order based on value consensus & strengthens social solidarity.

Back

Durkheim - Functionalist

Card 3

Front

School = bridge between the family and adult roles of society. Schools pass on a universal value of achievement.

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

"principle stratification" - rules of how education sorts its members into different positions. Believe that there has to be a system of unequal rewards to motivate people to train for top positions.

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

Prepares children for the world of work, gives them skills and values employers need. Passes on ruling class ideology that supports capitalism. Legitimises inequality.

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
View more cards

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Sociology resources:

See all Sociology resources »See all Education resources »