SOCIOLOGY education

• Functionalist perspective


  Looks at the role or function of an institution in society in keeping the social body 'functioning' properly
• Emile Durkheim


  One of the main functions of education is to bind members of society together. This creates social unity and solidarity. Education is seen as a functional prerequisite because it passes on the culture of a society, particularly, its core values
• Role of education as seen by functionalists


  • Education is a secondary agent of socialisation
  • Education passes on society's culture, norms, and values to each new generation through the Hidden Curriculum and Formal Curriculum
  • Education results in value consensus and collective conscience, ensuring social solidarity is achieved
• Parsons


  • Education system helps children bridge the gap between an environment based on particularistic values to one based on universalistic values
  • Universalistic values are rules and values that apply equally to all members of society, regardless of who they are
• Schultz


  • Education provides individuals with the necessary skills, qualifications, and talents to fill the 'division of labour'. This is why the curriculum is fragmented
• Davis and Moore


  • Education system becomes the best mechanism for selecting the right people for the right job. People are sifted and sorted into the social hierarchy
• Evaluation of the Functionalist view

  • Marxists argue that the education system legitimises social inequality through the hidden curriculum and maintains ruling class ideology
  • Bowles and Gintis argue that capitalist societies are not meritocratic, because it's not the amount of ability an individual puts into their education however, it's their social class that influences their academic achievement
  • Feminists argue that the gendered curriculum and gender stereotyping in education encourages women to become dual workers
• New Right Perspective


  A perspective that aims to achieve the goal of raising educational standards through marketisation
• The Conservative party introduced the Tripartite System and the 11+ exam


  1944
• The Labour government encouraged a comprehensive system

  1965
• Comprehensive schools


  Schools open to all students regardless of their ability to pay and educational achievements
• The Conservative Party (New Rights) introduced the 1988 Education Reform Act which aimed to achieve the goal of raising educational standards through marketisation


  1988
• The Coalition government allowed the privatisation of education by allowing companies/parents/organisations to set up free schools


  2010 to 2015
• 1988 Education Reform Act included

  • A government-approved national baseline curriculum
  • National tests such as A-Levels and SATs
  • City Technology Schools
  • Funding formula
  • The release of league tables
  • Ofsted inspections
• New Right arguments against the functionalists


  • The state and the LEA interfere too much with people's lives
  • Education is best produced in a free-market and should be marketed as competition drives up standards and lowers costs
  • Consumers of education (parents/students) should be empowered with more choices and a greater say in their educational decision-making
• Parentocracy


  A concept in a free-market society where the education system is expected to conform to the wealth & wishes of parents rather than the educational achievement of the pupil. Parentocracy introduces socio-class inequality in education
• Evidence of Parentocracy


  • The 2019 college admissions bribery scandal – Famous actors and businesspeople bribed coaches and university administrators of top US universities with millions of dollars
• Educational Vouchers


  A system where each child receives a cash grant which their parents can use to select a private/public school to send their child to
• New Rights on UK Education

  • Improved vocational education to make students more employable and reduce youth unemployment
  • 1988 ERA introduced marketisation and Parentocracy
  • The coalition govt (2010-2015) allowed the privatisation of education systems by allowing non-profit trusts/organisations to set up free schools
• Evaluation of the New Right View

  • Marxists argue that Parentocracy reproduces social-class inequality as middle-class parents use their economic, cultural, and social capital to ensure their children get into the best schools
  • Marxists argue that privatised education will always prioritise profit over student future and well-being
  • Marxists and Feminists argue that evidence has been found that academies and free schools discriminate against disadvantaged students
  • Vocational education has been accused of preparing students to passively accept undemanding jobs for exploitative wages
  • Feminists argue that vocational education is likely to funnel people into traditional gender roles
• The NCTAF (National Commission of Teaching and America's Future) found that new underqualified teachers (25% of all teachers) are assigned to teach disadvantaged students. Qualified teachers are hired by wealthier schools
• In 1994, 1/3rd of teachers in high-poverty schools taught without a minor in their main field
• Shepherd (2012) found that free schools took in a lower proportion of FSM pupils (Free School Meals) than other local schools
• Marketisation


  The establishment of the Education Reform Act means that parents can now 'shop' around for the best school for their child. Parents would like to shop around because there is a wide difference in what a child can achieve in one school, compared to another in the same area
• Market signals


  Aspects such as the price, reputation, quality, and reliability of a commodity
• Postcode lottery


  The unequal provision of services such as healthcare, education, and insurance prices depending on the geographic area, or postcode
• Catchment area


  An area from which a location or service attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. It has good healthcare and educational services
• 3 Features of Marketisation

  • Independence - Allowing schools to run themselves how they see fit
  • Competition - Making schools compete with each other for students
  • Choice - Giving parents and students more choice in where they go to school
• 3 Elements of Quality Control

  • Ofsted inspections
  • League tables and exam results
  • National curriculum - baseline for what is taught
• Education Policies Promoting Marketisation

  • Conservative government: League tables, Local management schools and City Technology Colleges, Funding formula, Open enrolment, Ofsted ratings
  • Labour government: Business-sponsored academies, Specialist schools, Comprehensive schools
  • The coalition government: Free schools, New-style academies
• The Myth of Parentocracy - Stephen Ball: Parents do not have equal freedom to choose the schools which their child attends due to covert selection processes and postcode lotteries in catchment areas. Middle-class parents have more freedom in choice due to their cultural capital, higher education, and income
• Parentocracy reproduces social-class inequality by empowering middle-class parents
• Marketisation leads to dumbing down - As schools need to retain and attract students, they would lower the teaching standard and educational material. Otherwise, people may leave if the course is too hard
• Marketisation leads to reduced quality control - Ofsted is not very independent because governments and politicians interfere with the process by changing goals and standards
• Privatisation


  The transfer of assets and resources from state control to the private sector
• Private education


  Fee-paying schools not directly funded by the government
• Privatisation within education systems

  When schools change their internal processes to be more like private businesses. Business characteristics they adopt: having performance targets, marketing, performance-related pay, and league tables. They opt out of LEA control and manage themselves
• Academisation


  Importing business principles into education establishments
• Privatisation of education systems

  Outsourcing of services within education to private companies
• In 2018 there were 738 multi-academy trusts (MATs) operating in the UK, and by November 2019, the number of MATs rose to 1170