Education - Theories

• Parsons functions


  functionalism

  1.universalistic and particularistic standards

  2.focal socialising agency
• durkheim functions


  functionalism

  1.skilled workforce

  2. specialistic skills

  3. shared norms and values
• davis and moore functions


  functionalism

  1. sift and sort.

  2. inequality is needed

  3. better jobs need better rewards/pay
• durkheim crits


  1. fails to consider different cultures. not everyone has the same norms and values.
• davis and moore crits

  1. failing students rebel
• new rights


  1. government can't meet local needs

  2. parents need more of a say

  3. government unable to provide the best education for children

  4. competition should be created between schools to encourage harder working/better teaching
• new rights. crits


  1. schools become exam focused leading pupils to become stressed.

  2. less opportunities are available for the working class pupils.

  3. schools become exclusive
• chubb + moe


  1. schools run less by government and more by parents

  2. parents are able to shape the school

  3. schools listen more to parents, as they are now their money providers

  4. more parents = more money. better school = more parents attracted
• althusser functions


  marxism

  1. state apparatus. ideological and repressive

  2. reproduce and legitimise class system
• bowls + gintis functions


  marxism

  1. stunts and distorted personal growth

  2. obedient workforce
• bourdieu functions


  marxism

  1. symbolic violence

  2. limited social mobility

  3. cultural capital. middle class values
• willis functions


  marxism

  1. children do not always accept the system and create or join anti-school subcultures to rebel
• bowls and gintis study


  1. 237 high school students

  2. rewards for obedient behaviour

  3. reward personality traits that make submissive worker

  3. obedient = higher grades

  4. independence + creativity = lower grades
• bowls + gintis crits


  1. schools encourage pupils to raise hands and have an opinion or ask questions

  2. this is the opposite off what society wants in workers
• althusser crits


  1. middle class do better than the working class

  2. middle class teachers judge the working class pupils
• myth of meritocracy


  1. meritocracy doesn't exist

  2. to many barriers in place stopping working class from achieving social mobility or meritocracy

  3. poor are dumb theory

  
• cultural capital


  1. middle class experiences

  2. teaching middle class norms and values
• symbolic violence


  1. limits social mobility

  2. harms working class
• legitimise


  1. makes inequality in the education and class system look fair. (it's not)
• cultural deprivation


  1. we acquire basic values from primary socialisation

  2. working class parents fail to socialise children adequately so they become culturally deprived

  
• intellectual development


  1. development of thinking.

  2. middle class parents tend to choose education toys for their children so they start school of with an advantage.

  3. working class parents are often unable to afford educational toys so choose cheaper toys based only on entertainment.

  4. this leads to working class pupils starting school of without the right skills needed to progress.

  5. douglas found that working class students scored lower on intellectual tests than middle class children.

  
• language


  1. engleman and bereaver claim working class language is deficient and children fail to develop necessary language skills.

  2. working class kids incapable of abstract thinking

  3. bernstein identified two types of languages used by working class and middle class.

  
• restricted code


  1. used mainly by the working class

  2. descriptive and un-gramatical

  3. not analytic and short sentences

  4. context bound. this is where the speaker assumes the listener shares the same experiences as them.

  
• elaborated code


  1. used mainly by middle class

  2. analytic and grammatically correct long sentences.

  3. context free. where the speaker does not assume the listener shared the same experiences as them.
• language - continued


  1. elaborated code gives middle class pupils an advantage.

  2. elaborated code is used by teachers, exam papers and textbooks making it harder for working class who speak the restricted code.

  3. early socialisation of the elaborated code means middle class students become fluent in it and are more likely to succeed.
• parents attitude and values

  1. douglas

  2. hyman

  3. sugerman

  4. Feinstein
• douglas


  1. working class parents are less ambious and interested in childs education

  2. as a result of this they are less likely to go to parents evening

  
• hyman


  1. working class create a self imposed barrier.

  2. this is where they naturally give up and accept their failure as they see no point in trying.

  
• sugerman


  4 key characteristics

  1. fatalism. where working class pupils accept the fate that the will fail.

  2. collectivism. working class value being part of a group more than being independent.

  3. immediate gratification. working class seek pleasure now rather than later.

  4. present time orientated. working class focus on the present rather the future and so have no future goals

  
• myth of cultural deprivation

  
• Nell Keddie


  1. cultural deprivation is victim blaming.

  2. children can not be deprived off their own culture but working class children are culturally different.

  3. they fail because the education system is middle class dominant

  
• troyna and Williams


  1. the problem is not the children's language but rather teachers attitude towards it.

  2. teachers tend to label middle class language the highest and working class language as inadequate.

  
• blackstone and mortimore


  1. working class parents do not lack interest in child's education but rather does not have time to attend parents evening due to long working hours.

  2. working class parents are put off by the middle class atmosphere schools give off.

  
• difference in educational achievement.

  social class

  
• working class


  1. unskilled, lower paid jobs. e.g. manual labour jobs

  2. earn enough income to get by

  
• middle class


  1. skilled, higher paid jobs.

  2. better holidays and privileges

  3. better/higher education. e.g. more likely to attend university.

  4. smaller families.

  
• private education


  1. pollard saw private education as a major way in which class privileges are transmitted from generation to generation

  2. children attending private schools do better in exams than children attending state/free schools

  
• material deprivation


  1. lack of material necessities. e.g. home + income

  2. poverty linked to under achievement

  3. only 33% of children on free school meals gain 5 C-A* GCSEs. compared to 61% of children who are not on free school meals.

  4. exclusion and truancy more likely in working class pupils or poor families

  5. 90% of failing schools are located in deprived areas

  
• housing


  direct effects

  1. overcrowding leads to lack of place to play or study. lack of sleep. harder to study due to noise.

  2. temporary housing leads to children changing schools often and disruption to education as a result.

  
• housing. continued


  indirect effects

  1. poor housing leads to greater risk of accidents occurring. cold or damp housing leads to health problems which further leads to absences from school.

  2. health and welfare. Howard states that children from poor homes have lower intake of energy and vitamins, leading to weak immune systems. this means children are more likely to catch diseases or fall ill.

  3. reasons for this could be that fresh fruit is less expensive than sugary foods. therefore poor parents are more likely to buy sugary snacks for children.

  4. Wilkinson says that the lower the class the higher the chance of hyper-activity, anxiety or behavioral difficulties such as ADHD.