Sociology-education

• Internal factors:

  Things that happen within school to contribute to the different level of achievement of different social groups.
• External factors:

  Things that happen outside of school to contribute to the different levels of achievement of different social groups.
• Restricted code: Bernstein!

  Language using restricted vocabulary and based on the short, unfinished, grammatically simple sentences.
• Elaborated code:

  Language code characterised by a wide range of vocabulary, complex sentences and discussion of abstract concepts.
• Subcultures:

  A group within a wider group who share their own norms and values in their own sub group.
• Fatalism:

  A belief in fate and that there is nothing that can be done to change the future.
• Collectivism:

  Valuing being part of a group more than individual success
• Immediate gratification:

  Seeking pleasure now rather than working hard and making sacrifices for later gain.
• Present time orientation:

  Seeing the here and now as more important than the future.
• Cultural capital:

  The knowledge, attitudes and values shared by the middle class that allow them to succeed within the education system.
• Economic capital:

  The necessary resources (money) to be able to fully engage with the education system.
• Labelling:

  An expectation of an individual that is placed on them by teachers. For example, a troublemaker!
• Self fulfilling prophecy:

  The process whereby an individual takes on the label that has been placed on them.
• Streaming:

  A way of organising schools and pupils so that they are in classes with pupils who are of similar ability to them.
• Pupil subcultures:

  Groups of pupils that associate with each other and share norms and values.
• Cultural deprivation:

  Lacking the norms, values and attitudes that are shared by the middle class and beneficial to achieving success in the education system.
• Social solidarity:

  This is about achieving a shared sense of identity, norms and values within a society.
• Stereotypes are simplified assumptions about the characteristics of a group of people.
• The New Right advocates for consumer choice in education, allowing parents to select their children's schools, leading to more funding and more selective admissions, ultimately enhancing school success.
• Free school meals: This is a national policy that gives pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds a free lunch each day they attend school.
• According to the Correspondence principle, a Marxist idea, education reflects the workplace, promoting subjugation of the working class and perpetuating the ruling class's power.
• Meritocracy: This is a system based on individual merit, people who work hard in education (or in society as a whole) will achieve, people who do not work hard will not achieve.
• Pupil premium: This is a national policy that gives schools additional money for each pupil that is from a disadvantaged background.
• Ideological state apparatus:

  This is a Marxist concept! The education system acts to control the working class and maintain the ruling class status.
• Role allocation:

  One function of the education system is to allocate the appropriate people to the appropriate roles within society.
• Bourdieu is

  A Marxist sociologist.
• What did Bourdieu say?

  That middle class culture (cultural capital) is as valuable in educational terms as material wealth (economic capital)
• 3 types of capital:

  1. Cultural capital
  2. Educational capital
  3. Economic capital
• Children from wealthy families inherit cultural capital at school. Although state schools also teach this material, middle-class children are better equipped to relate with it and apply it to acquire qualifications.
• Alice Sullivan:

  She used a questionnaire on 465 pupils in 4 schools and assessed their cultural capital by asking about their activities. She asked things like reading, TV habits, language and knowledge of cultural figures.
• What were Alice Sullivan's findings?

  Those who read complex books and watched TV documentaries developed a greater cultural knowledge and vocabulary. Those with cultural capital were more likely to succeed in their GCSE's!
• Advantages of Marxist view:

  1. Research has shown that elite jobs like medicine were filled with individuals who were privately educated.
  2. Middle class perform better in education due to their wealth and cultural capital.
• Criticisms of Marxist view:

  1. Too deterministic since not all working class children are entirely shaped by the capitalist system and may not accept all taught content.
  2. The correspondence principal may not be applicable today since management are requiring workers to think rather than be a passive robot.
• Advantages of Functionalist view:

  1. Education today is fairer than how it was in the 19th century.
  2. Today's Education is more work focused with more vocational courses and diverse post secondary options. This is vital for technologically advanced Post industrial economies.
• Advantages of post modernist view:

  1. More personalisation
  2. Shift to online learning
  3. More choices of school and subjects
• Criticisms of post modernist view:

  The 5-16 year old education is modern, adhering to narrow national curriculum, promoting shared values and solidarity and focusing on achieving high grades on national exams.
• What are the 3 main functions of education according to Functionalists?

  • Role allocation
  • Teaches skills needed in the workplace
  • Secondary socialisation
• What were Sue Sharpe's main findings?

  Female aspirations changed from marriage and family to career and independence.
• What were the main occupations that girls had in Sue Sharpe's study?

  • Office work
  • teachers
  • nurses
  • bank clerks
  • shop assistants
• What were Dale Spender's main findings?

  • Girls got less attention than boys
  • 60% of the teacher's time were devoted to boys
  • Girls are seen to be invisible
  • Boys damage a girl's education by insulting them which leads to them keeping a low profile