education

• functionalists believe education is based on meritocracy
• meritocracy- is everyone having equal opportunity, hard work at school is rewarded with good grades and best jobs later in life
• parsons view of education- education acts as a bridge of socialization between the family and wider society
• davis and moore view of education- role allocation theory- schools sort and select the most appropriate pupils into different roles and jobs
• negatives of the functionalist view of education- unequal differences in achievements of different groups. Marxists argue education works in the interests of the rich. Feminists also question the functionality of schools
• Marxists view of education- myth of meritocracy- schools benefit middle and upper class. Hidden curriculum pays negative role in readying us for work
• bowles and gintis- correspondence theory- schools respond to the needs of capitalism and workplaces.
• Bourdieu - cultural capital. Middle class have it and working class don't.
• willis- working class resistance to middle class school values - which leads to failure
• cultural capital- knowledge, values and ideas about school that the middle class have.
• cultural capital examples- going to museums and galleries, reading books, watching films, listening to music
• criticisms of marxist view of education- meritocracy not complete myth- many working class pupils do succeed. schools do not always produce work ready individuals. not everything set up to benefit capitalism
• feminists believe the education system maintains and justifies gender inequality. Schools run in favor of men - work to reflect a patriarchal society, For example gendered subjects- teachers expectations represented- girls- food, boys - sport
• becky francis a feminists believes that education reflects a patriarchal society, boys dominate time and space in schools
• sue lees- feminist- believes that schools are a key place where patriarchy and sexual control begins. eg- sexual double standards
• criticism of feminist view of education- girls outperform boys in school and there is a view of the feminization of education- schools seen as more female spaces even though the top jobs are men
• theory of labelling-Becker, prejudging a person by attaching a meaning to them, believed labels could lead to a self fulfilling prophecy. Interactionalist theory- focused on interactions between people
• Becker said that teachers label students according to the ideal pupil. Middle class closest to the view of the ideal pupil. Hargreaves- teachers tend to label middle class pupils as clever .
• criticism of labelling- pupils often reject the labels to prove the teachers wrong. Interactionalist research tends to be small scale- so can question representativeness
• hidden curriculum- what we learn in schools but not in lessons. Includes socialization into norms and values such as obedience, heirarchy, competition, gender roles and social control
• functionalists believe the hidden curriculum is positive - as it teaches us valuable lessons we need to learn in order to get on
• Marxists believe the hidden curriculum is negative as it prepares us for capitalism
• feminists believe the hidden curriculum is negative as it pepertuates gender inequality
• criticisms of the hidden curriculum- schools not always successful in transmitting messages via the hidden curriculum. For example the Willis lads who rejected school values and developed their own value system
• banding and streaming 


  in ability groupings for all subjects, setting in ability groupings for some subjects e.g maths- associated with teacher labelling and self fulfilling prophecy
• ball states that the top and bottom bands respond to the labelling and commence a self-fulfilling prophecy
• keddie states that students in different bands are taught differently so perform accordingly in exams
• criticisms of banding and setting is that that they dont always equate to achievement and some dont always determine what exam paper they sit
• anti school and pro school subcultures 


  Anti- values against schools e.g poor behavior

  Pro- values with schools e.g model behavior
• willis and subcultures 


  saw how working class lads had their own set of values e.g having a laugh in lessons
• Hargreaves and Subcultures 


  saw how lower stream pupils turned into anti-school subcultures
• criticisms of subcultures 


  membership of subculture does not always determine achievement

  how relevant is willis and hargreaves research ?
• Internal factors leading to achievement

  • labelling and self fulfilling prophecy (becker and Hargreaves )
  • Banding and setting( Ball and Keddie)
  • School subcultures ( Willis)
  • Hidden curriculum
  • Type of school ( independent vs State)
  • Gendered subjects ( feminism)
• External factors affecting achievement

  Material factors

  • Income, occupation and poverty
  • Access to resources
  • Housing- damp and cramped
  • Diet and health

  Cultural Factors

  • Cultural capital- Bourdieu
  • Language- Bernstein
  • Parental experiences, values and aspirations- Young
• Achievement differences- social class


  Big differences between social class groups

  • M/C out perform W/C in both state and independent schools

  Internal

  • Labelling/ self fulfilling prophecy (Becker), Banding/ setting (Ball), Subcultures( willis )