Sociology - Education

• Material deprivation


  Lacking basic necessities due to poverty.
• Cultural deprivation


  Inadequate socialisation in the home.
• Material deprivation's effects on education

  90% of failing schools are in deprived areas. Dpt of Education (2012) barely 1/3 of students eligible for free school meals achieve 5 or more GCSE's at A*-C. These students are more likely to be excluded and truant.
• Effects of housing on educational achievement

  Direct - overcrowding makes it difficult for a child to study, disturbed sleep from sharing beds or rooms. Indirect - effects on health and welfare e.g. children in crowded house run a greater risk of having an accident. Cold or damp house leads to infections or illness.
• Effects of diet and health on educational achievement

  Howard (2001) kids from poorer homes have a lower intake of energy, vitamins and minerals. Wilkinson (1999) kids from poorer backgrounds are more likely to have emotional/ behavioural problems. Blanden and Machin (2007) found children from poorer backgrounds more likely to engage in fights or temper tantrums.
• University and social class

  Callender and Jackson (2005) w/c students more likely to see debt negatively.
• Bernstein (1973)


  w/c students underachieve because they are socialised into a restricted language code whereas schools favour an elaborated language code which middle class students are socialised into.
• Marketization


  process of introducing market forces of consumer choice and competition in education.
• Bernstein and Young (1967)


  better educated parents have higher incomes and spend them on promoting education to their children, via educational trips or toys.
• Douglas (1964)


  w/c parents place less value on education - less ambitious for their children and give them less encouragement.
• Bourdieu (1984)


  cultural capital refers to the knowledge, tastes, language, attitudes and values of the middle class.
• Gillborn and Youdell (2001)


  teachers label students based on stereotypical assumptions of their class worth, they also argue that labelling leads to a self fulfilling prophecy
• Self-fulfilling prophecy


  Living up to your label.
• Archer (2010)


  found pupils were creating 'Nike identities' by investing heavily in style to gain class worth.
• Educational triage


  no hopers, those with potential, those who will pass anyway (Gillborn and Youdell).
• Stephen Ball (1981)


  looked at abolishing streaming in schools & found when it was abolished anti-school subcultures were less likel to be created but teacher labelling continued.
• Black family structure


  mostly headed by a single female parent. Murray (1984) argues financial difficulty and a lack of male role model leads to the children in these families being inadequately socialised and go onto fail at school.
• Asian family structure


  Lupton (2004) argues that adult authority in Asian fams is similar to the way schools operate. Pryce adds that Asian kids are more resistant to racism so develop self-worth.
• Wood et al (2010)

  Found evidence of discrimination in employment, he sent three closely matched application forms to 1,000 job vacancies using fictitious applicant names. Only 1/16 ethnic minority offered an interview compared with 1/9 white applications.
• Ethnocentric curriculum


  Coard (2005) argues that school curriculum is enthocentric and based on white culture as Eng Lit is based of British lit, European history and foreign language studies ignore non-European history and languages and Christianity is the curriculums central religion.
• Racialised expectations


  Gillborn and Youdell found teachers underestimate black students and were quicker to see there behaviour as threatening.
• Lack of language skills and foreign qualifications


  may cause ethnic minorities not to perform well in school.
• The male gaze


  the way males look girls up and down, seeing them as sexual objects and making judgements about their appearance.
• Double standards


  boys boast about their sexual exploits yet if girls did the same they would be labelled 'slags
• Ringrose (2013)


  'frigid shaming' 'slut shaming' 'boffin identity
• Gender's different clothing


  Norman (1998) boys and girls are often dressed differently growing up, boys in dungarees and girls in dresses so boys are more likely to grow up liking practical subjects like PE but girls are not.
• Boys and literacy


  Dads and Sons Campaign, Reading Champions, Playing for success are all campaigns to get more boys into reading. Mothers often read to their children before bed so they associate reading with being effeminate.
• Single-sex schooling


  Students in these schools make less gender specific subject choices and hold less stereotypical views. Leonard (2006) found girls in these schools were more likely to pick science and maths at A Level.
• Changes in the family

  Women now take on the breadwinner role when it used to be solely men.
• Sex Discrimination Act (1975)


  giving women more rights at work.
• Equal Pay Act (1970)


  reduced the pay gap between men and women.
• National Curriculum(1988)


  gave girls and boys the opportunity to study the same subjects.
• GIST/WISE


  help get girls to have an increased interest in technology and science subjects.
• Mac and Ghail (1994)


  found the 'macho lads' in school found working hard at school was effeminate and were anti-school so they underachieved.
• Teachers and discipline


  Teachers help reinforce gender identities as male teachers have told boys off for 'behaving like girls' and male teachers often 'rescue' female colleagues from disruptive students.
• Verbal abuse


  Lees (1986) argues that boys use name-calling to put girls down if the dress or behave in a certain way.
• Working class girls and uni

  Evans (2009) found w/c girls wanted to go to university to increase their earning power in order to help their families.
• Private schools


  Fee paying and selective
• Advantages of private schools

  New Right are in favour of them; they aren't restricted by a national curriculum, get better results and they give parents a greater choice of school.
• Disadvantage of private schools

  Marxists are critical. Split society in two, comprehensive schools will never be truly comprehensive if they exist, reproduce class structure.