SOCIOLOGY- EDUCATION

• • Functionalists argue that the education system is meritocratic.
  • They ignore the inequalities that exist generally and how these impact on the educational attainment of different groups.
• • Functionalists mention that school promotes shared values but does everyone have the same values, or is the British education system ethnocentric (the belief that your values are better than the values of other cultures)?
• Functionalists have a more positive view of education and ignores the negatives of education.
• • Marxists are criticised for focusing on the negatives of education and they state that meritocracy is a myth.
  • Marxists assume that working-class pupils have no free will and that they are doomed to fail. This isn’t the case as there are many successful examples of working-class pupils.
• • Marxists ignore other inequalities within the education system such as gender and ethnicity, instead focusing on inequality between classes.
  • Marxists claim that the only thing the education system does is produce a docile, obedient workforce to serve the needs of the bourgeoisie. This is an exaggeration.
• • Mainstream feminist thought can focus too much on patriarchy as the sole cause of inequalities in the education system.
  • Other inequalities might exist in education due to class or ethnicity.
• • Depending on the age of the pupil there are different schools available:
  • Nursery schools (ages 3 and 4).
  • Nursery classes (attached to primary schools).
  • Primary schools (ages 4-11).
  • Secondary schools (ages 11-16 or 18).
  • Sixth-form colleges (ages 16-19).
• • State-funded comprehensive school.
  • Independent/private/public school.
  • Academy.
  • Special school.
  • Specialist school.
• • The state-funded comprehensive schools are open to everyone regardless of their gender, class, ethnicity, disability, academic achievements. 
  • Their aim is to provide the same education to everyone.
• • The independent/ private schools set their own curriculum and they are selective. In other words, the pupils that are admitted need to match specific criteria.
  • Parents are paying fees and the schools are funded by investors and parents sometimes.
• • Academies are usually failed schools taken over by businesses. 
  • They work in collaboration with local authorities and the government. 
  • They can use their own timetables, curriculum, teachers’ pay.
• • Special schools are schools set up to admit pupils who have been given a statement of special educational needs (SEN) after they have been assessed. 
  • They can be funded by the local authorities and others can be independent. 
  • These schools have pupils with both learning and physical disabilities.
• • Specialist schools existed until 2010. 
  • They usually had an emphasis on specific subjects. 
  • They received extra funding for these subjects but then they got replaced by academies and free schools.
• • Faith schools are like state schools with the difference that they focus on a specific religion.
  • They might have specific criteria to be admitted and they might have different policies for their members of staff.
• • Grammar schools select their pupils based on academic ability. 
  • Before they get admitted pupils need to sit the 11 plus exam.
• • Free schools are set up by charities, teachers, and the community after parents have asked for it. 
  • They are funded by the government. 
  • Free schools have greater control over teachers’ pay, curriculum and generally the school’s finances.
• • A selective school is a school where students are admitted on the basis of selection criteria, these are usually academic ability.
• • This refers to the atmosphere of the school.
  • A school might focus on academic attainment, morals and policies dealing with bullying or racism, or any other type of discrimination.
• • This refers to the norms and values that teachers teach the pupils.
  • For example, respecting each other, being polite, queuing, having correct uniform standards.
  • It teaches pupils the importance of competition and obeying orders they may not want to do/view as irrelevant which is a trait necessary for their adult life and workplace.
• • Setting is putting pupils into groups based on their ability in particular subjects.
  • This is seen as positive as it challenges the most able and lets the least able to work at their own pace
  • However, this method can lead to labelling.
• • Streaming is putting pupils into groups based on their ability on general assessments. 
  • It’s easier to have pupils divided based on their performance, but it can lead to low self-esteem.
• • Mixed ability is when pupils are put into groups invariably of their achievement. 
  • This can push some pupils to try harder but at the same time can drag brighter pupils down as the teacher might adapt their lesson according to the least academically capable.
• • According to Becker, labelling takes place into schools.
  • In other words, teachers tend to make judgements based on pupils' appearance and behaviour. 
  • Usually, middle-class pupils tend to be perceived as successful and this is why they are put in the higher streams and sets.
• • These are groups of pupils who share the same norms and values. 
  • They tend to have the support of their peers and that gives them a sense of fulfilment. 
  • They can be separated into pro- and anti-school subcultures depending on whether they agree or disagree with the dominant norms and values.
• • The working-class parents that don’t value education tend to pass on their children the same mentality. 
  • So when the latter go to school they form anti-school subcultures, i.e. groups who go against the norms and values of the school as Willis suggested in his study ‘Learning to Labour’.
• • Ball researched schooling in a south coast comprehensive (state) school.
  • It was based on three years' fieldwork as a participant observer.
  • This is a participant observation study in the tradition of Colin Lacey’s Hightown Grammar and David Hargreaves Social Relations in a Secondary School.
• Comprehensive school=state school
• • Ball tried to evaluate the difference between pupils who were put into streams and sets and those who were taught in mixed ability classes.
• • Ball concluded that pupils were conformists; they lived up to the expectations that the pupils/school had set for them (self-fulfilling prophecy).
  • Even though in their first days they were doing quite well, as time passed by their behaviour gradually changed to fit the label they were given depending on what group they were in.
• Ball conducted his research in 1981.
• Gender socialisation

  • It takes place in the family.
  • The family is responsible for primary socialisation of the children and it might differ from family to family.
  • Gender socialisation entails learning how to behave, to communicate, to socialise with others and the norms and values of society based on certain expectations and stereotypes of the gender the person is.
• • Social class: parents of different social classes might use language differently.
  • Language spoken at home: students who don't speak English at home may be delayed in their learning compared to their classmates who are native speakers.
  • Restricted code=slang.
  • Elaborate code=proper English.
• • The job market today is very competitive and it might work as a motivational factor.
  • Gender: girls might feel more social pressure to try hard at school because there are more opportunities for them than in previous generations.
• • Some of the government's educational policies can affect pupils’ attainment.
  • For instance, the removal of coursework might have a negative impact on pupils who tend to do well on that, but benefit other pupils.
  • Another example, the government making certain subjects mandatory would benefit some students but hurt others.
• • Willis is a Marxist.
  • He highlighted the fact that there is conflict within the education system.
  • He believes that education is not necessarily a good agency of secondary socialisation.
  • He also claims that education might not always benefit capitalism which is an odd belief for a Marxist to have.
• • Willis studied a school in the Midlands close to a working-class housing estate.
  • His research methods were: participant observation, recording group discussions, informal interviews and diaries.
  • Willis wanted to see schooling through the eyes of the students.
• Counter culture

  • Willis concluded that there is counter culture.
  • Counter culture describes a group that oppose the values of the school by feeling superior to the teachers and the conformist students.
  • The students of the anti-school subculture avoided lessons and resented the school's rules to control them.
• • However, Willis concluded that this negative attitude towards the school prepared them for unskilled manual work which was quite easy to obtain in the 1970s.
  • These are jobs associated with the working-class creating a link between anti-school pupil groups in the working-class and manual unskilled work.
• • Boys prefer to take more practical subjects, e.g. maths, ICT, science.
  • Girls prefer taking subjects such as English, history, sociology, foreign languages.
• External factors that affect educational achievement include: 

  • Legal changes.
  • Feminism.
  • Socialisation.