education

• what is GIST?

  girls in science & technology.

  • get girls into more ‘masculine’ subjects. e.g - by hiring female teachers.
• economic role


  teaching skills for work.
• selective role


  choosing the most able people for the most important jobs.
• hidden curriculum

  [ agent of socialisation ]

  • the learning that takes place outside of the classroom as part of general school life.

  — prepares students for work in 5 ways;

  1. hierarchy
  2. competition
  3. social control
  4. gender role allocation
  5. lack of satisfaction
• hierarchy

  • schools are hierarchical institutions
  • reflect the hierarchical institutions structure of society at large.

  e.g - in a school the head teacher is at the top of the pyramid and the students on the bottom.
• competition


  • schools encourage competition between students.
  • prepares students for their place in a competitive society.

  e.g - society is also based on competition; jobs, status, material possessions.
• social control


  • students learn to accept society’s social controls while they are in the educational system.

  e.g - rules, regulations, and respect for authority — is one mechanism of social controls.
• gender role allocation 


  • there’s a link between expectation, subject choice, and gender in school and gender allocation in the wider society.

  e.g - teachers may still expect girls to be less good at science than boys.
• lack of satisfaction

  • schools claim that most of the school day is taken up with boring and meaningless activities, preparing students for boring, meaningless, and repetitive jobs.

  e.g - following the same timetable everyday leads to being bored.
• socialisation


  learning the norms and values of society.

  primary - younger

  secondary - school
• factors influencing high achievement 


  • good mental health
  • revision
  • healthy home atmosphere
  • mindset
  • social class
  • motivation -> rewards
  • resources
  • good sleep cycle
  • homework -> extra out of school learning
  • friendships
• informal learning


  taught through the hidden curriculum.

  e.g - socialisation
• formal learning 


  taught through the official curriculum.

  e.g - maths, english, science, etc.
• the tripartite system


  (11+ exam)

  • butler education act 1944 - aimed to give all students an equal chance to develop their talents and abilities in a system of free, state-run education.

  tripartite system got students tested at 11, they went to one of these schools;

  1. secondary modern
  2. secondary technical
  3. grammar
• the comprehensive system


  1965; the start of the comprehensive system

  • reorganising secondary education so that all students, regardless if academic ability, attended the same type of school.
  • the comprehensive system is based on the principle of one type if school for everyone.

  1. social reasons
  2. educational reasons
  3. geographical reasons
• types of schools

  • pre-school
  • primary (infant/junior school)
  • secondary (comprehensive school)
  • religious school
  • grammar school
  • special needs school
  • independent school
  • further and higher education
• pre-school


  • ages 3-5

  a learning space affecting early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education.
• primary school


  • ages 5-11

  a school where children learn foundational skills that prepare them for life, work, and active citizenship.
• secondary school


  • ages 11-18

  stage of formal education following primary education and precedes higher education.
• religious school


  state-funded primary & secondary schools which have a particular religion or faith-based organisation.
• grammar school


  an educational institution that selects its students based on their academic merit.
• special needs school


  a school catering children with special needs whose needs couldn’t be provided by a mainstream school.
• independent school


  a school charging fees to attend instead of being funded by the government.

  • synonym - private school
• further and higher education


  • age 18+

  any study after secondary education.
• state school


  a school funded by the government through local and national tax.
• independent schools facts


  • unqualified teachers can teach in an independent school.
  • costs an average of £20,480 per year to send a pupil to independent school.
  • independent schools do not follow the national curriculum.
• vocational education


  work-related qualifications and training for students ages 14-18 years.

  e.g - BTECC, etc.
• alternative provision


  options students have instead of mainstream, formal education.

  e.g - home education, pupil referral units, etc.
• marketisation of education 


  the idea that schools act as a business rather that an educational institution and compete against each other for pupils.

  in 1988, the conservative government brought in the ’education reform act’ to improve the standard of education through marketisation.
• ethnocentric curriculum


  (the hidden curriculum)

  • subjects that students study (e.g - history) are biased towards a white european culture.
  • some stereotypical images of some minority groups, or they may ignore ethnic minorities altogether.
• alternatives to schooling

  • deschooling - illich believed schools should be abolished and replaced with alternative forms of education - (e.g - homeschooling) - personalised and less likely to promote capitalism.
  • homeschooling - where children are educated at home rather than school.
• ways of marketisation


  • OFSTED inspections
  • league tables
  • parental choice
  • formula funding
  • national curriculum testing