Education Sociologists

• Mac an Ghail (1992)

  Internal ethnicity

  Study of Black A-Level students at sixth form college.

  
  

  Students believed teacher labelled them negatively, did not accept label. Girls going to an all-girls = greater academic commitment

  Helped them to overcome neg labels
• Troyna and Williams (1986)

  Internal ethnicity

  Ethnocentric because gave priority to white culture & eng lang.
• David (1993)

  Internal ethnicity

  Describes National curriculum as a 'specifically British Curriculum'.
• Ball

  Internal ethnicity


  Claims NC ignores cultural & ethnic diversity & promotes an attitude of 'Little Englandism' eg WWI,WW11, focuses on glory of Britain
• Coard

  Internal ethnicity

  Ethnocentric curriculum may produce under-achievement
• Wright

  Internal ethnicity

  Found that teachers had ethnocentric views

  Asian pupils (especially girls) were marginalised

  Spoke to them in child-directed speech

  Mispronounced their names
• Mirza

  Internal ethnicity

  Findings: Racist teachers discouraged black pupils from being ambitious

  
  

  Colour-blind: Believes all students are equal, allows racism to go unchallenged

  Liberal chauvinists: Believe black students are culturally deprived & have low expectations of them

  Overt racists: Believes black people are inferior & actively discriminate against them
• Sewell

  Internal ethnicity

  Variety of boys' responses

  "Black machismo"

  Rebels: Anti-school sub, smallest sub goes against N&V of school, doesn't socialise with other races

  Conformists: Pro-school sub

  Retreatists: Isolated in lesson, disconnected

  Innovators: Pro edu but anti-school
• Fuller

  Similar to Mac an Ghail

  Internal ethnicity

  Rejecting negative labels

  Research: Study on a group of black girls (Year 11) at a London Comprehensive school (8 girls)

  Girls rejected labels & remained determined to succeed, forced a pro-school sub
• Bourdieu

  Internal ethnicity

  Chinese & Indian have largest proportion of MC members

  Attainment is due to having largest amount of CC

  Pakistani's & Bangladeshi's doing better than SC would suggest
• Modood

  External ethnicity

  Asian families have cultural capital because:

  1. Powerful desire on part of migrants to improve their position & prospects for their children

  2. High value placed on edu as a means for doing this

  3. Value passed onto their children
• Basit supports Modood

  External ethnicity

  "Migrants & their children always have aspirations of upwards social mobility"
• Driver and Bollard

  External ethnicity

  Asian children whose first language was not English were as good as their classmates at 16
• Sewell

  External ethnicity

  Tend to be single parent families - leads to low income & poverty. Young boys not having not father figure
• Browne

  External female


  Shows achievement of males & females within edu has roller-coasted

  1980s - Concerns about females low achievement levels

  1990s - Females began to significantly outperform in all subjects

  Present - Females outperform in all subjects
• McRobbie

  External female

  Method: Study of girls magazines

  1970s - Emphasis on the importance of getting married

  Now - Shows images of female independence & ambitions
• Webb et al

  External female

  Number of women in employment went up

  Pay gap between men & women fell

  Women are breaking through glass ceiling
• Sharpe

  External Female

  Method: Interviewed girls in 1970s and 1990s

  Findings: Girls priorities have changed

  1976: Love, marriage, husbands, children then career

  1994: Career & independence became priority
• Fuller

  External female

  Females see educational success as central aspect of their identity

  Saw themselves as creators for their own future & believed in meritocracy
• Diana Rey

  External female

  Reflects reality of girls' class position - limited aspirations reflect job opportunities
• Biggart

  External female

  Found that WC girls more likely to see motherhood as only practical option for their futures
• French and French

  Internal female


  Boys require more attention from teachers because need to be sanctioned
• Francis

  Internal female

  Boys felt they were disciplined more harshly by teachers & felt picked on
• Spender

  Internal female

  Carried out observations on teacher & pupil interactions

  Boys got positive labels
• Milhill

  Internal female

  Females passive & compliant nature that has led to success

  Helps at school but not at work
• Swann

  Internal female

  Boys dominate class discussions

  Girls prefer pair/group work, communication which involves turn taking

  Boys use hostile interruptions
• Elwood

  Internal female

  Argues that although coursework has some influence, unlikely to be cause of gender gap because exams have more influence than course on final grades
• Bleach

  Internal female


  1. Changes made to curriculum favour girls more than boys

  2. 2014 reforms in English means increased studying of Eng lit

  3. Girls prefer long fiction reading compared to boys who prefer short non-fiction reading
• Mitsos and Brown

  Internal female

  Boys have lower expectations than girls eg teachers expect work late, rushed & untidy

  Girls take care of presentation, better at meeting deadlines & bring right equipment & materials to lesson
• Bowler

  Internal female

  impact of equal opportunities is the key reason for the change in girls achievement

  Barriers have been removed & school has become more meritocratic for females
• Coffey and Delamont

  Internal female

  Schools have always been patriarchal & still are:

  Most senior staff in school are males

  Discourse of edu is hierarchical & competitive

  Most secondary schools are authoritarian, masculine & sexist
• Jackson

  Internal female

  League tables increased opportunities for girls because schools tend to want to recruit more girls knowing they are likely to perform better in exams
• Slee

  Internal female

  Boys less attracted to schools as seen as a 'liability' because of their behavioural difficulties & more likely to be excluded
• Murphy and Elwood

  Gender and Subject choice


  Shows how a difference in socialisation & reading leads to different subject choices
• Bleach

  Gender and Subject choice


  Changes made to curriculum favour long texts included in masculine subjects like maths & sciences (maths incorporates text)
• Colley

  Gender and Subject Choice


  Parental expectations - research indicates that parents still believe certain toys only appropriate for certain genders
• Norman et al

  Gender and Subject Choice


  Sex stereotyping starts at a young age with toys eg dolls to girls to emphasis the caring role, affects career aspirations
• Skelton

  Gender and Subject Choice

  Male gaze - peers & teachers have certain identities of masculinity & femininity
• Dewer

  Gender and Subject Choice


  Studies American colleges

  Found girls were called 'butch' or 'lesbian' if they were interested in sports
• Colley

  Gender and Subject Choice


  Computer studies is seen as a masculine subject