sociology education

• what are the 4 functions of education

  socialisation and social solidaity - durkheim

  bridge between family and society - parsons

  role allocation - davis and more

  developing human capital- schultz
• marxists believe that education reproduces inequality as schools teach middle class values which benefit those who already have power and wealth
• functionalist view on education is that it helps individuals become integrated into society through learning about its culture and values
• durkheim's theory of social solidarity is that society needs to be held together by shared values, norms and beliefs
• socialisation and social solidarity - Durkheim 


  education meets the functional needs of society by passing on cultural values of society. this achieved through the hidden curriculum and this helps build social solidarity
• exampleof social solidarity 


  schools in wales teach welsh to keep their heritage
• criticism of durkheim and socialisation and social solidarity

  marxist- the hidden curriculum reinforces social inequality
• bridge between family and society - parsons 


  school acts as a bridge between family and society. It allows students to move from ascribed status and particularistic values of home to meritocratic and universalistic values of society
• criticism of the bridge -paraons


  bowels and gintis - myth of meritocracy (e.g. private education)
• developing human capital- schultz 


  education benefits the wider economy. it provides a properly trained, qualified, and flexible workforce. he argued that the best and most qualified people get more skilled jobs
• criticism of developing human capital - schultz


  weak link between education achievment and economic sucsess
• role allocation - davis and more 


  the education system puts people into a social hierachy in a meritocratic society access to jobs and power, wealth and status are linked to educational achievment
• criticism of role allocation

  weak link between educational achievment and economic status
• education should provide individual choice - New Right


  claim that the role of school should be more like the role of a business - marketisation

  they also say that as state school are ran by the state they dont need to compete for pupils. This has caused poor standards
• State policy on education

  1988-education reform act

  education should link to the economy (more vocational cources)

  Better standards in education (ofsted , national curriculum)

  more testing (SATs ,GCSEs and league tables)
• Marxist view of education

  they believe that the main role of education is to maintain captialism and reproduce social inequality
• Marxists -Bowels and gintis

  correspondence principal: school mirrors the world of work in order to prepare them for manual labour : wages not satisfaction, lack of controll obedience. Achieved status discipline, consensus and bordem.

  Myth of meritocracy - education claims to be meritocratic but schools discriminate in favour of the middle class.

  Hidden curriculum lowers working class ambitions
• Maxist- Althusser (legitimisation of social inequality)

  middle class has access to more cultural and economic capital putting them at an advantage.

  education encourages pupils to blindly accept capitalist values through hidden curriculum.
• marxist -Althusser (reproduction of social inequality) 


  private education prepares children of the elite postion of power
• criticisms of marxists view of education (new right)

  chubb and moe - they say that marxists fail to see how education has failed all social groups not just the working class. They think that education has failed to equip all students with skills needed to be successful in the global market place
• criticisms of marxists view of education (post modernist)

  they say that marxists fail to realise that school reproduces diversity instead of inequality.

  morrow & torres say that pupils create their own identities rather than being constrained by traditional structures like class.
• howard becker 


  teacher labelling- teachers often label a pupil with little to do with their actual ability they then form an opinion based on how close the students fit the ideal pupil
• criticism of teacher labelling - margaret fuller

  structural sociologists point out that schools themselves encourage teachers to label student as she found that girls in london were motivated to do better
• paul willis 


  anti school subcultures "lads" they rejected the mental work involved in learning which they viewed as unmanly.
• criticisms -paul willis


  feminists argue that willis ignores the experience of girls in school and celebrates "lad" culture
• setting and streaming 


  setting- individal sets for each subject

  streaming- putting students in the same set for all there subjects.

  working class students usually end up in the lower streams which can then lead to lower self esteem therefore they start to underachieve
• external factors cultural deprivation(language)

  Bernsline- identified that the working class and the middler class have different languauge codes. working class have a restricted speach code which involves simple grammar, limited vocab and gestures. However middle class use an elaborated speach code which involves complex grammar, fuller sentences and more abstract ideas
• external factors cultural deprivation (parents education)

  Douglas argues that parental attitudes to education and their own educational level often have an impact on educational achievment. he argued that working class parents place less value on education and therefore less likely to push their kids academicaly
• external factors cultural deprivation (W/C subcultures)

  Sugarman argues that the working class has a different culture to middle class which is a barrier to educational achievement. he identified 4 elements of this subculture:

  1. fatalism
  2. collectivism
  3. immediate gratification
  4. present time orientation these all lead to achievement in education
• external factors cultural deprivation (family structure & support)

  sociologist argue that dysfunctional family types are to blame for under achievement of certain ethnic groups.

  Murray - murray says that African caribbean lone parenthood is to blame. Lack of male role models means that mothers struggle to socialise children well
• external factors cultural deprivation (attitudes & values)


  different ethnic groups are socialised into different attitudes &values

  Driver 1977- highlights how ethnicity can be an advantage in education e.g. African caribbean girls actually do very well in school
• external factors matterial deprivation (cost of education)

  Ridge highlights that working class pupils might need to take on paid work whilst still in school in order to help the household which takes time away from studying.
• external factors material deprivation (housing & health)


  Howard says that children from poorer families have worse diets and nutrition which leads to lack of energy & higher absence rates
• external factors 


  cultural deprivation - language, parents education , working class subcultures, family structure & support and attitudes +values

  
  

  material deprivation - cost of education, housing and health

  
  

  types of capital
• external factors types of capital

  Bourdieu states that there are 3 interlinked types of capital which combine both material and cultural factors to explain why middle class students do better then working class

  3 types of capital are:

  cultural capital

  economic capital

  educational capital
• internal factors (labeling)


  racialised expectations- teachers quick to disipline black pupils. teachers see black pupils as anti authority creating conflict between pupils and teachers - Gilbourn & Youdell

  dicipline- black students are more likely to be both officially & unofficially excluded (osler)

  setting & streaming - teacher sterotypes of black students could result in them being put in lower sets. Then the self furfiling prophecy - Foster

  Asian pupils- Wright - he saw that asians suffer from labelling teachers as they had ethnocentric views
• internal factors - pupil identities

  Archer- teachers often define pupils by sterotypical ethnic identities which often lack the favoured ideal pupil characteristics. leading to negative labelling.
• internal factors (girls succeeding)

  Gorard- he argues that the introduction of coursework into the GCSE curriculum in 1989 benefited girls because they are more conscientious and have better organisational skills than boys
• internal school factors (subject choice)

  kelly- she argued that girls were put off doing science because of its masculine characteristics. most science teachers in comprehensive schools in the 1980s were male and books mainly focused on male science achievements.
• criticisms of kelly and subject choice

  weiner 1995 argued that gender stereotypes were removed from classroom and textbooks