Key Sociologists

• Durkheim

  • functionalist
  • argues that two main functions of education is secondary socialisation and teaching specialist skills
  • believes that school is a “society in miniature” that prepares pupils for membership in a wider society
  • believes that teaching common history instills a sense of belonging and social solidarity
• Parsons

  • argues that education is the bridge between family life and school life
  • children are judged by particularistic values at home, and universalistic values at school
• davis & moore

  • education “ sifts and sorts “ people into their appropriate jobs (role allocation)
  • believe that unequal rewards facilitate meritocracy
  • believe that your stratified position in society is a reflection of how hard you’ve worked
• Willis

  • studied 12 w/c ”lads” from an anti-school subculture who had fatalistic values, and mocked those who conformed to school values
  • their resistance to school values meant they went on to work manual labour jobs, which was needed by a capitalist society
• Bernstein

  • the w/c speak in the restricted code, which consisted of disjoint english and simple sentences
  • the m/c speak in the elaborated code, which consisted of complex sentences and figurative language
• Douglas

  W/c parents place less value on education, which ultimately contributed to their children’s underachievement
• Bernstein and Young

  Found that m/c mothers were more likely to invest in educational toys, books and activities for their children