education

• functionalist 3 functions of education

  secondary socialisation -> passes on core value

  teaches skills needed in work by the economy

  sits and sorts people for appropriate jobs ( the allocation function)
• functionalist sociologists on edu function

  Durkheim says edu passes on norms and valuies to integrate individuals into society

  Parsons says school passes on universal value of achievement. says edu selects children into appropriate roles because its meritocratic
• what is meritocracy?


  social rewards allocated by talent and effort rather that cuz of position they were born into
• marxist 3 functions of education

  prepares children for the world of work by giving them skills and values

  passes on ruling class ideology that supports capitalism

  legitimises inequality
• Bowles and Ginitis: correspondence principle


  Pupils prepared for work by school system

  • accept skl hierachy -> work hierachy
  • grades motovate boring work -> workers reward pay to do boring work
  • skl + work subservience rewarded in both places
• Marxists on education passing on capitalist ideology

  Bowles and Ginitis: correspondence principle

  Althusser: edu is a capitalist tool -> legitimises inequality ->produces obedient workforce who won’t challenge authority

  Willis: doesn't make obedient workforce but antiskl subcultures

  Bourdieu: cultural capital, mc kids more likely Ik higher paid jobs
• What do Marxists say about meritocracy 


  education legitimises meritocracy BUT Marx’s say it’s a myth. wc pupils blamed for poor results but its because of their social class instead
• Comparisons between marx and func

  Look at structures (institutions) not social interactions

  marx say edu legitimuse inequality, func say edu values meritocracy and let’s pple better themselves
• Func criticisms 


  • gender, class ethnicity diffs in achievement suggest edu not meritocratic
  • doesnt prepare pple adaquately for work
  • doesnt look at how edu serves the ideologies and values of particular groups
• Marx crit 


  • Assumes pple are passive victims
  • exaggerates how much students are socialised into obedience (Willis antiskl subcultures- show resistance)
• feminists on edu


  • Hidden curriculum reinforce gender differences
  • Girls outperform boys
  • men dominate head positions at skl
• New right on edu 


  Believe edu should provide ’individual choice’ + state intervenes

  role of skl should be more business like, compete to attract customers -> Forces continuos improvement
• what is the hidden curriculum?

  schools pass on social norms and values to their students
• what are internal factors affecting achievement.

  labelling, pupil subcultures, pupil identities, self fulfilling prophecy and streaming.
• labelling theory


  becker - teachers label students based on how well they fit the 'ideal student', despite the label being fair or not
• what does labelling create?

  the 'self-fullfilling prophecy': th4 student internalises the label thats been placed on them. perform good or poorly based on negative or positive label
• what did Gillborn and Youdell find about labelling?

  • found that teachers label based on ethnic, glass and gender stereotypes.
  • black pupils were more likely to be disciplined than their white counterparts for the same behaviour
• what did Gillbourn and youdell find about streaming and working class students?

  thye found that wc pupils were labelled as unintelligent and so were placed in lower streams
• the three different ways to organise teaching in schools

  streaming, setting and mixed ability
• what is streaming?


  students sorted into classes based on ability for all subjects
• what is setting?


  students sorted based on ability, but subject by subject
• what is mixed ability?


  students not sorted by ability. high and low achievers are taught together
• advantage of setting and streaming

  students can work at their own pace
• disadvantages of setting and streaming

  • students likely to be better at some subjects than others, unfairly put in lower/higher streams -> not challenged enough or struggle
  • can lead to low self-esteem
  • Ball found teachers had high expectations for high ability classes, more encouragement + attention
  • low ability classes -> negative labels ->low self esteem -> poor performance ->increases differences in achievement
  • mixed ability classes: teachers don't give hard work/ low lvl of teaching -> high ability students are not challenged
• what are pupil subcultures?

  group who share ideas and behaivour patterns different from mainstream culture. , can be positive or negative effects on achievement
• what are the 2 types of pupil subcultures

  there are proschool and antischool subcultures (also lads, academic achievers)
• what did lacey find about how subcultures were developed?

  polarisation: pupils respond to streaming by moving to pro or anti skl subcultures

  differentiation: those placed in higher streams gain higher status
• example of class subculture (ao2)

  willis : 'laddish' boys. antiskl subculture. rejected skl

  • disrupted lessons to gain respect within subculture
  • working class boys got manual jobs after skl -> skl was useful for this career
  • coped w underachievement by having fun, it mattered more than edu
• example of ethnic subcultures


  Fullers girls.

  • found that black girls were high achievers but teachers were racist
  • didn't follow skl values, instead formed subculture where they worked alone and succeeded
• what are pupil indentities

  they way the pupil sees themsevles and how others see them
• how may pupil identities be used to study pupils

  • male pupil may identify as non academic -> may have started with a teacher label NOW its cuz of the anti skl sc he has joined with likeminded pupils who reinforce the idea
  • archer found that pupils with a 'nike' identify self exlude from skl as it doesn't fit with their way of life, unrealistic and undesirable ->suits richer people
• social class affects educational achievement

  disadvantaged pupils more likely to start skl illiterate

  unskilled backgrounds achieve lower on GCSEs ->placed in lower streams and sets

  from profess backgrounds more likely to enter higher education
• THE internal factor affecting pupil achievement


  LABELLING
• who came up with the labelling theory?


  Becker: teachers label based on who fits the ideal pupil, teacher treats them differntly -> puts a label on them students become demotivated -> "selffullfilling prophecy" ->underachieves