Education

• Participant observation


  Allowed Willis to immerse himself into the social settings of the lads and gave him the opportunity to ask the lads (typically open) questions about their behaviour that day or the night before, encouraging them to explain themselves in their own words
• The lads were completely uninterested in school – they saw the whole point of school as 'having a laff' rather than trying to get qualifications
• The lads' approach to school was to survive it, to do as little work as possible, and to have as much fun as possible by pushing the boundaries of authority and bunking as much as they could
• The reason the lads didn't value education is because they anticipated getting factory jobs which didn't require any formal qualifications. They saw school as a 'bit cissy' and for middle class kids
• Reay's argument


  Much of the curriculum is not relevant to the working class, which causes them to disengage and can lead to anti-school subcultures
• Ball's argument


  The education system is unclear and difficult to navigate, and league tables are difficult to understand. The middle class are well-informed and confident persistent parents give them an advantage
• Some children in the UK live on less than half of the recommended calories, and lunch clubs are important to feed hungry children
• Restricted code


  Shorthand speech, short, simple sentences. Has an 'assumed' element to it. Meanings are implicit. Much depends on gesture and expression.
• Elaborated code


  Detailed, explanatory, illustrative, analytical. Meanings are explicit.
• The working class speak in restricted code, which the middle class teachers aren't able to understand. The working class students also aren't able to understand the middle class teachers.
• Cultural capital


  The capital of the upper and middle class are regarded as superior but is also the capital desired by schools as the upper class control education. Upper and middle class children therefore fit in better in school as they have the same culture.
• Anti-school black masculinity's ideal is 'the ultra tough ghetto superstar, an image constantly reinforced through rap lyrics and MTV videos', and this causes conflict between the values of school
• School governing bodies gave low priority to race issues and failed to deal with pupils' racist behaviour, and there were no formal channels of communication between school governors and ethnic minority parents
• Over half of Pakistani and black African children in Britain were growing up in poverty, which can lead to poor, overcrowded housing and poor diets
• Teachers negatively label black students within schools, and they will often be disciplined more than other students for the same behaviour
• Indian families put pressure on their children to succeed, and this has affected their performance in a positive way. For some Asian parents, who were often poorly educated themselves, there was a strong desire to help their children's education more.
• Lack of Standard English was identified as a reason for low achievement of low income black children
• Feminisation of schools


  There are more female than male teachers, especially in primary school. This means that girls increasingly have positive role models while boys may fail to identify with female teachers. As a result, the curriculum, teaching styles and means of assessment, are more appropriate to the learning styles of girls.
• Feminism


  Sue Sharpe found that there was a change in girls' attitude as feminism increased in society. The main priorities of the 1970s girls were 'love, marriage, husbands and children', but by the 1990s, this had changed to 'job, career and being able to support themselves'. She found that the girls in 1990 were more confident, more assertive, more ambitious and more committed to gender equality.
• Changes in employment


  The 1975 Sex Discrimination Act meant that workplaces could not discriminate against women due to their gender and therefore had to open opportunities to females. This gave females more incentive to do well at school, as they knew they couldn't be stopped when trying to get a career and the law was on their side.
• Peer group pressure is very influential amongst African-Caribbean boys, who often lack a male role model and are brought up in single parent families. The culture of the street encourages the rejection of school values.
• Parsons' view


  After primary socialisation (the family), the school takes over as the most influential agency of socialisation. Schools provide two functions: 1) Schools act like a bridge between the family and children's role as adults in society. 2) Schools allocate the right people to the right jobs (role allocation).
• Peer pressure, fear of ridicule and the need to fit in contribute to boys not being seen to 'try'
• Schools have become 'too girl friendly' and boys learn in ways that don't suit them
• The 'lads' were 12, working-class boys who were more interested in 'having a laff' than education
• Crisis of masculinity


  This is where men are not sure about their role in society due to the lack of traditional male jobs (e.g. factories or mining). Men struggle to see ways to show off their masculinity. This can lead to a lack of motivation.
• Bourdieu's Marxist view


  Bourdieu argues that the middle/upper classes have the same cultural capital of schools. Cultural capital: the knowledge, and understanding of society that parents can pass onto their children. E.g. knowledge of middle/upper class interests or knowledge from media.
• Durkheim's view


  There are two functions to education in advanced industrial societies: 1) Transmitting the shared values of society and therefore creating social cohesion. 2) Teaching the specialised skills for an economy based on a specialised division of labour.
• Bowles and Gintis' view

  The main function of education in capitalist societies is the reproduction of labour power. Schools are organised to benefit the bourgeoisie. Schools create the worker that they need, teaching students to be obedient, passive, do what they are instructed, and not argue.
• Boys dominate classroom space and draw more attention from teachers, both positive and negative. They tend to be noisier than girls, which leads to more interaction with the teacher. They even dominate playing areas with games such as football.