Paper 1: Education

• what do functionalists believe about education?

  focuses on the positive functions of education
• schools serve to teach 4 functions which are:

  • social cohesion
  • skills for employment
  • core values
  • meritocracy
• how is social cohesion taught through?

  the formal and hidden curriculum. education teaches us how we should behave and the values and culture of society
• how does social cohesion bring children together?


  by building social cohesion and social solidarity. people feel they are part of something even bigger
• the book where durkheim writes his views on education?


  Moral education (1925)
• durkheim's belief on education


  education transmits the norms and values of society. necessary that children are united for society to function properly
• what does durkheim mean when he says school is a 'society in miniature'?


  children learn to cooperate with those who are neither their family or their friends so they learn self-discipline
• how does school provide skills for employment?


  education has an economic role in teaching the knowledge and skills that future workers will need in a competitive global economy
• what did parsons (1961) believe about education?


  schools are responsible for the secondary socialisation of children by teaching them the norms and values of society. He believed that the school acts as a bridge between the family and society
• what did parsons believe about meritocracy?


  Schools are meritocratic so the harder a student works, the more they will succeed.
• what did parsons believe about universalistic standards?

  Individuals are judged on universalistic standards that apply for everyone in the same way. The education system prepares children to enter the wider society by treating everyone in terms of ustandards
• What does meritocracy cause?

  The most able person is allocated to the most important job based on their qualifications and talents.

  The is seen as meritocratic by functionalists as this shows that society provides equal chances for everyone to succeed depending on their merits. This can result in social mobility
• What did Parsons believe about value consensus?


  Schools promote value consensus, values that are shared broadly by everyone. He believed that schools were important in selecting the right individuals for the right place once they become adults
• Criticisms of Parsons


  Marxists argue that the education system transmits values that benefit the bourgeoisie. Some feminists argue that wealth and status are more important than individual merit.
• Criticisms of Durkheim


  Marxists argue that the education system transmits ideas that benefit the ruling class rather than society as a whole. Some feminists argue that schools transmit patriarchal culture.
• other criticisms of functionalists

  ignore the inequalities that exist in the education system and how they impact the educational attainment of different groups. eg, class, ethnicity and gender
• what did Bowles and Gintis (1976) believe about education?


  The main role of the education system is to reproduce a workforce with the necessary qualities to meet the needs of the capitalist economy
• What did Bowles and Gintis believe about meritocracy?

  they saw it as a myth and a students social class background is the most important influence on their educational achievements
• Method Bowles and Gintis used

  Secondary data and interviews who studied 237 New York high school students
• criticisms marxists face

  Marxists ignore inequalities within the education system such as gender and ethnicity. Marxists claim that the only thing the education system does is produce a workforce to serve the needs of the bourgeoisie
• what do feminists believe about education?


  society is viewed as patriarchal and schools reinforce gender inequality
• what do feminists believe about home-schooling and de-schooling?

  Feminists believe in empowering individuals to make choices about education, including homeschooling, and support deschooling to challenge traditional education systems.

  they may see this as more positive (Illich 1925)
• Gender stereotyping

  traditional educational content often reinforces gender roles and stereotypes
• curriculum bias

  the curriculum favoured male achievements ignoring the accomplishments of females
• how is education a good thing for feminism?

  increased educational opportunities for women have played a part in challenging gender inequalities leading to changes in employment
• what is the correspondence principle?

  refers to the idea that the education system corresponds to the needs of the economy and society
• what do functionalists believe about the correspondence principle?

  functionalists argue that the education system serves important societal functions such as secondary socialisation and the transmission of culture
• how does the education system corresponds to the needs of society according to functionalists?

  they provide students with the knowledge and skills they need to function in their roles in society
• how does the education system corresponds to the needs of the economy according to functionalists?

  by providing the workforce with necessary skills and knowledge
• marxist perspective on correspondence principle

  • conflict perspective
  • argues that the education system produces inequality by providing some students with the opportunities for success while denying those opportunities to others
  • education system corresponds to the needs of the economy by providing a docile workforce but doesn't serve the interest of all social classes
• what is the feminist perspective on the correspondence principle?

  education system reinforces patriarchal gender norms and reproduces gender inequality by providing girls and boys with different expectations

  corresponds to the needs by providing a gender segregated workforce
• how is education achievement affected by social class?

  • children from lower-income families are more likely to have lower educational achievement than those from higher-income families
  • material deprivation
  • students get less support from parents who are less educated
  • students are likely to achieve higher grades
• how is labelling an internal factor of social class that affects achievement?

  • labelling is when teachers categorise students based on their ability, behaviour and social class
  • once a student is labelled, it can influence teacher expectations which can become self-fulfilling prophecies
• what is setting?

  students are divided into groups based on ability in particular subjects
• what is streaming?

  students are placed in general ability groups and remain with the same group for all subjects
• external factors for social class

  • material deprivation
  • cultural deprivation: working class families might lack the cultural capital (values,attitudes,skills) that align with the education system
  • parental attitudes
  • working class subcultures
  • class capital
• what did bernstein believe?


  • middle class parents use elaborated-code (complex sentences and rich vocabulary)
  • working class students use restricted-code (simple sentences and poor vocabulary)
• how is gender another factor that affects educational achievement?

  • boys have lower educational achievements than girls
  • boys receive less support and encouragement from their teachers
  • girls have outperformed boys at GCSE
  • boys perform better than girls in STEM based subjects
• how is the feminisation of education affect achievement in school?

  • increase in female teachers
  • schools have become feminised with teaching styles and and classroom behaviours favouring female students
• external factors for gender that affect achievement

  • changes to law
  • changes in employment
  • impact of feminism
  • gender socialisation