sociology - education

• Ball, Bowe & Gewirtz


  (1994)- Parental Choice & Competition
• Halsey, Heath & Ridge


  (1980)- Social Class Inequality
• Ball


  (1981)- Banding & Teacher expectations
• Willis


  (1977)- Learning to Labour
• Emile Durkheim's view on the major function of education

  • Learning society's norms and values
  • Providing the link between the individual and society
  • School provides a context in which children learn to cooperate with those who are neither their kin nor their friends
  • Rules should be strictly enforced in order for children to learn self-discipline and to see that misbehaviour damages society as a whole
• Bowles & Gintis' view on the major role of education

  • Reproduction of labour power
  • Close relationship between the rules which govern the work place and the education system e.g. the creation of a hardworking, docile, obedient
  • Reject the view that capitalist societies are meritocratic
  • Believe that class background is the most important factor influencing levels of attainment
• Ball, Bowe & Gewirtz study


  • Study of fifteen schools in neighbouring LEAs with different population profiles (e.g. class and ethnicity)
  • Evaluates the impact of parental choice and the publication of league tables, e.g. the pressure to reintroduce streaming and setting and the tendency for some schools to focus on the more able
• Halsey, Heath & Ridge study


  • Found evidence of clear class inequalities in education
  • An individual from the service class, as compared to one from the working class, had four times as great a chance of being at school at 16
  • The chance of an individual from the service class attending university was eleven times greater than one from the working class
• Ball study


  • Participant observation study
  • Describes a school in the process of change and raises questions about the selection and socialisation experienced by two cohorts moving through the school, one banded by ability and the other taught in mixed ability classes
• Willis study

  • Believes that education is not a particularly successful agency of socialisation
  • Education can have unintended consequences that may not be beneficial to capitalism
  • Described the existence of a counter culture, which was opposed to the values of the school
  • Concluded their rejection of the school made them suitable candidates for male dominated, unskilled or semi-skilled manual work
• The role of education in society

  • The economic role-teaching skills for work
  • The selective role- Choosing the most able people for the most important jobs
  • Social Control- teaching acceptance of rules and authority
  • The political role- teaching people to be effective citizens and creating social cohesion
• Functionalist view on the role of education

  • Teaches skills and knowledge necessary for work
  • Preparation for real world
  • The system is a sieve
  • Meritocratic system, everyone has equal opportunities to succeed, those who work hard and achieve are rewarded with higher pay levels/status
  • Society must be regulated by rules
  • Schools are an agency of social control
  • Acceptance of the political system and will exercise their rights wisely (voting)
• Marxist view on the role of education

  • This is reinforcing the class system
  • Education does not provide equal opportunities
  • Designed to benefit the powerful
  • This is why working-class children underperform
  • Social control reflects social control in the wider society which benefits those in power
  • Only certain political opinions and ideas are tolerated, radical ideas are rejected
• Forms of social control in schools

  • Formal: Discipline, punishment, school rules
  • Informal: Peer-group pressure, learning to live and work with others
• The hidden curriculum in schools

  • Hierarchy: The hierarchy in school can be seen to reflect the structure of society and in the workplace
  • Competition: School encourages competition between students e.g. sports, exam results
  • Social Control: Rules, regulations, obedience and respect for authority
  • Gender role allocation: teacher expectations and subject choice
  • Lack of satisfaction: Preparing students for boring, meaningless and repetitive jobs is a similar experience to employees at work
• Functionalist view on education

  • Education is an important agency of socialisation, it maintains social stability and social cohesion
  • Prepares young people for working life and adulthood
  • Teaches specialist skills for work
  • Education is meritocratic
• Marxist view on education

  • Prepares young people for a capitalist society
  • Education is not meritocratic
  • Encourages conformity and acceptance of social position
  • The hidden curriculum teaches young people the expectations of society
• Feminist view on education

  • There are inequalities in the education system between boys and girls
  • It plays a role in socialisation of boys and girls
  • Even thought girls are outperforming boys, education still reinforces patriarchal views
• Talcott Parsons' (Functionalist) view on education

  • Schools prepare children for the same universalistic standards- the opposite of the particularistic standards from homelife
  • Schools promote a value consensus: encouraged to achieve high and the rewards encourage them to maximise their potential
  • Students are also competing on equal terms in the classroom
  • Meritocracy: students achievements are based on their abilities and efforts, not on social class, gender or ethnicity
  • Role allocation: matched to the correct job based on skill/knowledge
• Arguments for vocational education


  • It will lead to a more skilled, better-qualified workforce that will make Britain more competitive
  • Functionalists believe it shows the importance the education system has to provide skills and expertise needed by industry & the economy
• Arguments against vocational education

  • The emphasis on skills training disguises the fact that the problem is not that young people lack necessary skills for work it's that there is no work for skilled young people
  • Marxists argue it is viewed as lower status compared to purely academic qualifications
  • Seen as replicating the Tripartite system
• De-schooling


  • Illich (1995) argues that schools repress children and promotes passive conformity rather than developing creative individuals
  • He argues for de-schooling. School should be abolished and people should pursue knowledge and skills with like-minded individuals
• Home education (home schooling)


  • Teaching children at home rather than in a state or independent school
  • Parents or tutors usually carry this out
  • It is a legal option for people who with to provide a different learning environment or ethos to local schools
  • Recently raised issues around standards and impact on social development
• Key education acts and policies

  • 1944 Butler Education Act: Equal chance to develop talents, free state run education
  • 1965: The Comprehensive System: One school for everyone- all abilities and social classes
  • 1988 Education Act: Introduction of the marketisation of education- consumer choice and competition
  • 1997 New Labour Educational Policy: Raising Standards, Reducing inequality, Promoting Diversity & Choice
• Types of schools

  • Comprehensive
  • Grammar School
  • Private Schools
  • Public Schools
  • State Schools
  • Independent Schools
  • Home education
  • Vocational education
  • Specialist schools
  • Faith Schools
  • Academies
  • Free Schools
• Factors affecting educational achievement

  • Material deprivation
  • Social Class
  • Material environment
  • Parental attitudes
  • Cultural Deprivation
  • Social Capital
  • The School: The 'Halo effect', The 'self-fulfilling' prophecy, Streaming
  • Gender
  • Ethnicity
• Paul Willis- Learning to Labour- Anti School subculture