education

• hidden curriculum

  • schools pass on a set of social norms and values
  • turning up on time
  • dressing smartly
  • working hard for rewards
• self-fulfilling prophecy

  students internalise the label they've been given as a part of their identity and act up to the label
• gillbourne and youdell

  black pupils were more likely to be disciplined than their white classmates for the same behaviour, and felt that teachers had low expectations of them
• willis - subcultures

  • studied group of boys (lads) who were part of an anti school subculture
  • deliberately disrupted lessons to gain others respect
  • they were working class, likely to get manual jobs
  • saw school as useless to their future
• lacey

  • anti school subculture as a result of streaming
  • all students were selected 'bright' at age 11
  • bottom stream students formed anti school subculture
  • they were labelled as failures
• fuller

  • group of year 11 black girls in comprehensive school
  • high ability but felt that teachers were racist
  • formed subculture where they worked hard for their benefit rather than for teachers approval
• mixed ability

  students are sorted into classes not based on ability, top and bottom students taught together

  • can avoid worsening gaps in achievement
  • teachers still have low expectations for lower ability pupils
  • lower level of teaching doesn't challenge higher ability pupils
• streaming

  students are sorted into classes according to ability and stay in these groups for all subjects

  • students can work at their own level and pace
  • likely to be better at some subjects than others
  • aren't challenged enough in some subjects
  • can lead to low self esteem
• setting

  students are sorted into classes according to ability, but subject by subject

  • students can work at their own level and pace
  • can lead to low self esteem
• ball - streaming

  the pupils in top streams tended to be from higher social classes
• douglas - material deprivation

  children in unsatisfactory living conditions didn't do well in ability tests compared to others
• douglas - cultural deprivation

  the level of parental interest in the most important factor in affecting achievement

  • middle class parents attend parents evening more
  • however, working class parents may have inconvenient shifts
• bernstein

  • working class pupils use restricted code
  • middle calss pupils use elaborated code
• bourdieu

  • middle class pupils have right kind of cultural capital
  • more cultural capital means more success
  • middle class families pass on cultural capital
• sugarman

  pupils from manual and non manual backgrounds have different outlooks towards educational achievement

  • manual value immediate gratification
  • non-manual are ambitious
• feinstein

  • social class still has impact on achievement
  • redistributive policies (e.g. sure start) should carry on throughout the pupils entire education
• mitsos and browne

  • teaching has been feminised
  • women are more likely to be teachers
  • gives girls positive role models
• internal factors - gender

  • teaching resources are less stereotypical
  • initiatives (e.g. GIST and WISE) encourages girls to take on traditionally male dominant careers
• external factors - gender

  • policies such as equal pay act and sex discrimination act created more opportunities
  • feminist movement caused change and more awareness
• sue sharpe - gender

  • girls priorities have change
  • financial independence and career
• boys underachievement

  • identity crisis due to rise of female independence
  • decline of breadwinner role
  • rise in male unemployment
  • negative labelling leads to self fulfilling prophecy
  • boys have less role models
• subject choice

  • girls choose essay-based subjects
  • boys choose technical subjects
  • gender socialisation - stereotypes
• cultural deprivation

  • children from immigrant families have a language barrier
  • dialects and accents may influence teachers expectations
• wright - institutional racism

  policies and attitudes unintentionally discriminate against ethnic minorities

  • asian girls got less attention from teachers and felt that their cultural traditions were disapproved of
  • african-caribbean boys more likely to be punished
• gillborn - labelling theory

  • teachers sometimes negatively label black pupils
  • african-caribbean pupils seen as a challenge to school authority
  • 'myth of the black challenge'
  • high expectations of asian pupils
  • can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy of success/failure
• school curriculum

  • the curriculum is ethnocentric
  • taught languages are mainly european
  • assemblies, holidays and history lessons dont fit some cultures
• parsons

  education is the bridge between the family and adult roles of society

  • universal value of achievement is passed on
  • selects children into appropriate roles (meritocracy)
• durkheim

  education passes on norms and values to integrate individuals into society

  • social order
  • value consensus
  • social solidarity
• meritocracy

  • education is meritocratic
  • social rewards are allocated by talent and effort rather than the position someone is born into
• davis and moore

  every society sorts its members into different positions

  • principles of stratification
  • system of unequal rewards
  • motivates people to train for the top positions
• criticisms of functionalists

  evidence of differential achievement in terms of identity means that education is not meritocratic

  • 'who you know' is still more important than 'what you know'
  • don't explain conflict
  • doesn't prepare people adequately for work
• willis - role of education

  • doesn't turn out an obedient workforce
  • some pupils form anti school subculture (lads)
• myth of meritocracy

  • education legitimises inequality through meritocracy
  • working class pupils are blamed for poor results, its a result of their social class
• althusser

  education produces a docile and obedient workforce who will not challenge authority

  • ideological state apparatus
  • legitimises inequality
• bowels and gintis

  pupils are prepared for the world of work by the school system

  • taught to accept hierarchy
  • motivated by grades
  • school day is broken into small units
  • following rules is rewarded
• bourdieu

  • middle class children go on to fill top jobs
  • cultural capital
• criticisms of marxists

  • assumes people are passive victims
  • exaggerate how much working class pupils are socialised into obedience
  • most are aware of inequality in education
• marxist feminists

  • want to consider gender inequalities
  • combined with inequality of class and ethnicity
• radical feminists

  • men are a bad influence
  • want female centred education for girls
• liberal feminists

  • want equal access to education for both sexes