Education

• Types of schools


  • Maintained/Comprehensives
  • Academy
  • Special school
  • Grammar school
  • Faith school
  • Independent school
• Comprehensive Schools


  Designed for pupils of all abilities to attend, first came about in 1965, funded by the government
• Academies


  Originally a way of helping failing schools, now any school can become an Academy, school is given funding directly from the Government and controls its own budget
• Special schools


  • Littleover
  • Derby moor, Noel beker
  • Ivy house, St Clairnes
• Grammar Schools


  Selective, only accepting the top performing students based on an exam they take in Year 6 (sometimes called the 11+)
• Faith school


  • St Benedicts
• Independent/Private schools


  They charge fees, the most exclusive (and expensive) ones are called Public Schools
• Independent/Private schools


  • Darby Grammar
  • Repton
• Marketisation of Education


  Introduced in the 1980's, gave parents greater choice about where they could send their child, designed to improve results as schools had to act like businesses to attract more pupils
• The Curriculum


  • Formal Curriculum
  • Hidden Curriculum
• Formal Curriculum


  The subjects you learn at school, the National Curriculum is a document written by the Government which lists all the things students should be taught
• Hidden Curriculum


  The messages you pick up from school without being formally taught them, e.g. the importance of punctuality, competition
• Perspectives on the Hidden Curriculum


  • Functionalist
  • Marxist
  • Feminist
• Functionalist view


  The hidden curriculum benefits the whole of society by socialising children into a common set of values which will help them get jobs in the adult world
• Marxist view


  The hidden curriculum helps the capitalist system, schools train pupils to be obedient and accept authority, it helps to develop false class consciousness
• Feminist view


  The hidden curriculum transmits gender roles and encourages gender appropriate behaviour, most teachers are female but most head teachers are male, supporting the patriarchal view of the world
• Hargreaves researched an anti-school subculture in the 1960's, found students in the top stream 'A' worked hard and conformed, students in the 'C' stream rejected the school's rules and failed academically
• Willis conducted a study of 12 working class Year 10 boys in 1977, found they had developed an anti-school subculture where they skipped lessons, messed about, and their main aim was to "have a laff"
• Bernstein's language codes


  Middle Class speak in elaborated code, with longer words and more complex sentence structures, Working Class speak restricted code, with a smaller vocabulary and simpler sentence structures
• Cultural Deprivation


  Working class students lack the skills and attitudes needed for success in education thanks to a lack of encouragement and support at home
• Cultural Capital


  Having the skills and attitudes needed to succeed, certain culture is seen as superior (art, literature, theatre etc.) and more highly valued by the Education system, but that culture is often expensive to access, so the working classes are excluded
• Social Capital


  Many working class parents do have high hopes for their children, but don't have the knowledge to 'play the school system to their advantage, Middle Class parents have networks of friends, who may include teachers, who can advise them how to complain effectively
• Material Deprivation


  Lack of basic needs such as good quality housing, heating, food, clothing or resources caused by lack of money, affects attainment as wealthy pupils are more likely to have a secure, quiet revision area, access to revision guides and websites, a healthy diet and live in the catchment area of a good school
• Even though state education is meant to be free it is estimated that parents spend an average of £1,000 per year for a child's education
• Labelling


  Teachers have the power to label pupils, both positively and negatively, middle class pupils are more likely to fit the teachers idea of an ideal pupil and so are more likely to experience the 'halo effect', working class pupils are more likely to attract negative labels
• Self Fulfilling Prophecy


  When someone accepts the label applied to them and the label becomes the reality
• Setting and Streaming


  When students are placed into groups based on ability, those in bottom sets are more likely to join anti-school subcultures and fail their exams
• Factors affecting differential achievement and Ethnicity


  • Material factors
  • Cultural factors
  • Language factors
  • Teacher racism
  • Institutional Racism
  • Ethnocentric curriculum
• Members of some minority ethnic groups are more likely to be working class than the white majority, so the material factors will apply to a greater percentage of them
• Some minority ethnic groups place a strong emphasis on working hard at school, e.g. Tiger Parents, other minority ethnic groups may place a high value on boys being macho, which doesn't fit well with our education system
• Minority ethnic students are more likely than the white majority to have English as an additional language, which will impact their education
• Studies have found continued evidence of teacher racism, e.g. black boys are likely to have their aspirations 'cooled down' and they are often directed towards the stereotypical areas of sports and music
• Institutional Racism


  When an organisation is racist, often unintentionally, the education system can be seen as institutionally racist as school holidays are automatically organised according to the Christian calendar, ignoring the religious festivals of other faiths
• Ethnocentric curriculum


  The curriculum is often focused on the achievements of white men, the history, literature, art and music students study is largely that of dead, white, middle class men
• Factors affecting differential achievement and Gender


  • Increased opportunities for women in the world of work
  • 1970 Equal Pay Act and 1975 Sex Discrimination Act
  • McRobbie's 'bedroom culture'
  • Crisis of Masculinity
• Up until the mid 1990's girls were less likely than boys to achieve A Levels and go to University, since the 1990's this has reversed and girls are now more likely than boys to achieve these things
• McRobbie's 'bedroom culture'


  Girls are more tightly controlled by their family, so spend time at home revising and doing homework rather than messing about on the street or at the park like male pupils do
• Crisis of Masculinity


  Many traditional male jobs have disappeared, to be replaced with more feminine service sector jobs, this may cause some males to join anti-school subcultures as they cannot see where else they can gain status
• Functionalist views of Education


  • Durkheim - education system as a vital source of secondary socialisation, helps to develop social cohesion
  • Parsons - education system as a bridge between the family and society, a meritocracy where the most able get the highest qualifications and best jobs
• Marxist views of Education


  • Bourdieu - schools only exist to reproduce the class system, the upper classes have many advantages over the working class
  • Bowles and Gintis - schools exist to create a passive, obedient workforce, 'Correspondence Principle' where education matches up with work