ALL Education: Sociology AQA GCSE

Universalistic values- everyone judged/ treated same like school rules (Universalistic standard) to prepare for wider society like law, achieved status (result of hard work, qualifications etc)
Value consensus- 2 key values: importance of achievement (value high achievement+ resulted rewards so aiming higher- maximise potential benefit society), value of equality of opportunity (encouraged to believe they compete equally in class- high achievers seen as deserving, low accept lower status as fair)
Meritocracy- achievement based on ability/effort not gender, class etc, mirrors wider society as based on achieved status, merit, Universalistic standards applied equally to all
Roll allocation- sorts people, matching people to correct job based on ability (most able get top jobs- fair as system meritocratic)

-Marxism-values transmitted not considered fully(values of dominant groups)
-Feminism- system not meritocratic(gender has influence on opportunity)
-system not fair/meritocratic

Social solidarity- socialisation so people part of community + no selfish aims (via hidden curriculum + subjects like history)
Society in miniature- school reflects wider society (cooperate with others, rules etc)
Skills for work- provide specialist skills (production of goods + services need them)
Rules and punishment- punishment should reflect seriousness of damage done (self-discipline + realise bad behaviour damages society)

-May not teach specialised skills adequately for workplace
-Feminism- culture transmitted is patriarchal + male dominated
-not all students accept values like Durkheim suggests
-Marxism- culture transmitted benefits ruling class not society as whole

Myth of meritocracy- led to believe meritocracy so no questioning system, social class main factor affecting income (education hides this leading people believe high class deserve high income)
Correspondense principle- reinforces reproduction of labour power by consciousness, behaviour + personality it fosters(hidden curriculum), mirrors workplace (eg competition,hierarchy, motivation by external rewards, fragmentation, obey rules)

Reproduction of power

Step 1- Reproduction of skills for efficient labour force
Step 2- Reproduction of ruling class ideology + socialisation of workers
Result- ensures technically efficient, submissive, obedient workforce (educations role is reproduce this workforce)

Ideological state apparatus= ensure control of behaviour through ideology (mass media, law, religion, education etc)
Repressive state apparatus= ensure control of behaviour through physical things (army, police, prison system)

Learning to labour

Research: 
-working class boys felt superior to conformist students + teachers seeing no value in academic + rejecting school values 
-Willis argues 'lads' saw through myth of meritocracy going through sch on own terms, focusing on entering the world of work asap meaning shop-floor culture of male manual workers
-working class boys to working class jobs through students actions not just educations effective socialisation-> challenges Bowles and Gintis

-Sample is inadequate (only 12 male students)
-ignores existence of other subcultures
-not as relevant now

-study of fifteen schools
-impact of parental choice and the publication of league tables (eg pressure to reintroduce streaming/setting + tendency schools to focus more able students meaning students less able/with SEN being left behind- more inequality in education)
-(different choosers/ parental choice?)

-Specialist schools promotion- raise standards of achievement in their strength eg science (select 10% of students based on specialism)
-promoting faith schools- greater diversity + choice of school
-introduced academies- former failing comprehensive sch taken out of local authority and funded by government + private to raise achievement, select part of intake

Critics: continued marketisation 

-Educational maintenance allowances(EMAs)- payments for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, encouraging post-16 education
-exellence in cities- development of mentoring + focusing on helping 'gifted' + 'talented' regardless of background
-aim higher programme- raise aspirations of students from disadvantaged background encouraging higher education
-sure start programme- support families with preschool children
-Connexions service- personal support to young people (especially ones at risk of social exclusion), bringing together range of services(careers + youth services)

Critics: double standards(fee for higher education), beneficial to all classes

-Provide nursery for all 3/4 yr olds
-reduce class size in primary schools
-National literacy + numeracy schemes
-identify 'beacon schools' as being outstanding standard (pass good practise to other schs in area)
-look at league table in value-added terms(measure child's progression academically not just final result- clearer measure of sch performance)

-1997
-raising standards, reducing inequality, promoting diversity + choice

-Measure students performance against national targets (parents/ sch know how well students perform- can then improve performance of kids below avg)
-Greater equality of education by ensuring all students take some subjects (eg science traditionally for boys, now all take it)

-1989
-established core subjects for 5-16 yrs
-student progress assessed formally by teachers + national tests in core subjects

Increase social class inequalities

-Improve sch as compete to attract parents
-personal freedom/ choice

Independent 

-Lower teacher student ratio (more attention for students)
-resources/ facilities better
-academic culture (academic achievement emphasised) meaning better exam results and students are highly motivated
-More parental input (fees, support, expectations)
-(boarding sch) full immersion of staff + students in sch life
 
State

-Free (paying not morally right and would reinforce class inequalities)
-more socially mixed (independent is elitist + socially divisive)
-social mobility 
-less travel (more local)

-League tables (exam/ national curriculum testing results)
-Ofsted
-Open enrolment (recruit students from outside immediate area)
-Formula funding (schools funded based on number of students)
-encouraged to make very appealing to attract students with prospectus (booklet advertisement)+ open days
-value feedback of parents more as consumers of education (parentocracy)

Process where services (education) become more business based on competion + consumer choice

-1988
-Introduce marketisation

-Home schooling (professional/ parent tutor at home)
-boarding school (?)
-eg Sands school (students + teachers=, relaxed free style)

-Disguises that it's not young people lacking skills for work but no work for skilled young people (reduce number of 16-18 in NEET (not in education,employment, training)
-(Marxist) lower status working class children preparing to be workers for capitalism
-similar to tripartite system (seen as failures + lower status)

= idea that education system as it’s currently organised should be abolished
who: Ivan Illich
why: - sch repressed children, promoting passive conformity
- doesnt develop creative individuals

-chance for kids to be mire creative
-better for kids who find sch hard

-no teaching of norms and values (chaos w/ out univerlistic values)
-organic analogy (w/ out education society wouldnt function well

Education like home schooling

Work/ career related education eg plumber

-Usually 14-18
-reflects functionalist view that education system provides skill/ expertise required for industry/ economy
-Pro: more skilled better work force allow Britain to be more competitive 

-Pre-school- <5 yr childen (care/ education, may be provided by local authority)
-Primary - 5-11 infants + junior (most provided by state)
-Secondary- 11-16 (mainly provided by state, some grammar)
-Further- 16-18 (final required stage, eg A-levels, level 3, apprenticeship)
-Higher (universities- masters PHD etc)

Older more famous independent secondary schools (eg Eton, Harrow + Rugby)

All schools that charge fees

-Not really mixed social class (based on neighbourhood eg suburban mainly middle class)
-not comprehensive (stream/ band students within school based on ability- stream reflect social class difference)

-Limit parental choice- kids go to nearest sch good or bad
-academically able held back (especially mixed ability w/ no sets)
-accepting lower standards (mix of classes means range of values/ attitudes)

-Social- social barriers broken down (mixed class)
-Educational- cater for all abilities(no entrance exam so no one 'failure', fairer especially for late developers)
-Geographical- 'catchment area' establish principle that local schs enroll local kids of all abilities (equal opportunities)

-1965
-comprehensive schs (comprehensivisation)

-Charges fees, not subject to same rules as other schools, offer different curriculum, small class sizes
-includes private + public schools

All children in catchment area can attend regardless of ability

Failed school taken over by central government in partnership with private sponsors (eg businesses / churches)- try to raise achievement 

school allocation based on 11+ exam

Secondary modern(75%): general education- less academic (did avg)
Secondary technical(5%): practical education- craft + skill (did worse)
Grammar(20%): Academic education- more academic (did better)

Rich still get better school as they have money for tutoring
not true reflection of ability (children still very young)

1944
everyone gets equal chance to develop abilities/ talents in free state run education (meritocratic)
tripartite system (11+ exams)

Result of hard work + educational qualifications etc

Judging child as 'good' or 'bad' (depends on values of family)

Children judged in line with particular values + standards (of their family)

Everyone judged same way, no special treatment

Hierarchy: reflects hierarchical structure of society + work place, hierarchy like pyramid (higher levels have more power but less people + vice versa)
Competition: encouraged in sport + exam, reflects society (jobs, status, material possessions) to prepare students
Social control: students learn to accept society's social controls (rules, regulation, obedience, respect for authority etc)
Gender role allocation: link between expectations, subject choice + gender (gender allocation in wider society), reflects job segregation (girls worse at science), male dominance begins at sch (dominate playground space with football)
Lack of satisfaction: prepare students for boring, meaningless + repetitive jobs 

Other things learned in hidden curriculum (eg values, routines, attitudes)

Subject knowledge studied in official curriculum (eg maths)

Economic: reinforce class system + children from higher class r taught higher status job (vice versa)
Selective: unequal cos teachers/ school reject working class causing under performance (not meritocratic as no equal opportunity)
Socialisation: socialises individual to accept powerful groups' values
Social control: social control at sch reflects social control in wider society, benefiting those in power
Political: only certain political opinions/ ideals are tolerated (radical ideas rejected) + political view of powerful becomes widely accepted

Economic role: teaching skills for work in modern, technical, industry society + prepare young people for jobs (benefiting economy)
Selective: system like a sieve grading and placing students based on ability + equal opportunity (social mobility, most able get higher pay job)
Socialisation: teaching norms + values
Social control: regulates behaviour + teach rules like obedience punctuality (formal eg rules + informal eg peer pressure)
Political: learn abt society, accepting political system (eg vote wisely)

Process of receiving/ giving systematic instruction, especially at schoolni

influence of home environment/ background

-additional funding for state-funded sch to raise attainment of disadvantaged pupils of all abilities + close gap between them + peers (available to schools for each child registered as eligible for free sch meals at any point in last 6 years)
-extra one on one support
-encourage high performing sch to admit disadvantaged

most talented in education left behind if from low income family

social class biggest determining factor of educational achievment

inability to afford basic resources, impacting a students educational achievement

-Lack of necessary uniform (sch uniform + PE kit might get dets)
-Lack of privacy or study area (working class bigger families smaller houses so less privacy and space)
-Poor diet (no breakfast, lunches unhealthy so less focus)
-Poor attendance through illness (healthy lifestyle like diet and environment expensive)
-not attended pre-sch + nursery (nursery expensive)

who: Douglas
-desire for control over their lives
-individual achievement stressed (improve position by own efforts)
-deffered gratification (sacrifices now like money + time to invest in + fufill future ambitions eg uni)
-emphasise on future planning

who: Douglas
-passive attitude w/ fatalistic acceptance of other’s
-collective action stressed (working ppl achieve improvement by sticking together eg trade union activities)
-present gratification (live in moment with little attempt to plan for future)
-emphasise on present or past

working class inadequately socialised therefore lacking right culture needed education (eg no deferred gratification)

developement of thinking and reasoning skills like ability to solve problems amd use concepts)
who: Douglas + Bernstein + Young -> say WC students deprived of this due to parents not encouraging it

the way speech, vocab,and grammar is used
who: Bernstein -> language codes of different classes responsible for different attainment

-introduced under new labour to target disadvantaged areas
-all sch now encouraged to be like this with government funding
-free from having to follow national curriculum, can increase student numbers if wanted, more control of teachers pay, term times + sch day lengths

low performing sch before converting to academy status

already high performing sch choosing to convert to academy status

private businesses that have taken over running of large number of schs across country

-funded by fovernment but can be set up or run by parents, teachers, businesses or religious groups
-have to submit business plan, identify site, free from national curriculum, control over teacher pay + choose term times

create further choice for people unhappy w/ sch provision in local area

appeal to middle class who may not want kids to go to comprehensive sch (so inequality)

sch may use money for other things

less accountability for educational provision, choatic system

-howard becker
-teachers apply labels on pupils in terms of ability, potential or behaviour
-labels can be positive or negative resulting in self fulfilling prophecy
-its an internal factor that could explain differential achievment in sch by class, ethnicity or gender

who: Rosenthal + Jacobson
-teacher was told random group (spurters) had high iqs (fake)
-year later spirters significantly progressed
-progress was result of teacher expectation that communicated to students they really were smarter

teachers positively label pupil based on a first impression/ one characteristic which might not be true, then behaviour interpreted differently than same behaviour for different pupil.
-might assume theyre smart so dont need help but do

splitting pupils into groups based on ability, which then stay in across all subjects

students split into groups based on ability, individual to each subject

-students in lower streams have damaged confidence resulting in less effort to improve even higher performing low set pupils
-even when not disheartened, less attention to lower ability
-streaming linked to social class therefore inequality (WC often lower)
-lower groups more likely to have behavioural issues + form anti school subcultures
-teachers prefer higher sets due to conduct

-Hargreaves
-lower stream tend to reject academic values + behaviour standards expected by sch which labelled them as failures
-evolved counter sch subculture, stressing defiance of teachers/ other cooperative acts, forming alternative type of status (respected by peers for actions)

-curriculum tailored to fit ability
-top students warmed up due to higher expectations based on stream

skills and values passed onto children by middle class parents that help them succeed in education system

-legal reforms (external- education reform act + national curriculum)
-changing job opportunities (more women start apply for top jobs + skills desired usually displayed by women)
-subculture (male peer groups devalue sch + say its ‘girly’
-socialisation (boys relate by active, girls relate by talking)
-feminist movement (improving expectation + self esteem of women)
-teacher/pupil relations (different expectations of girls, education= feminised, more female teachers)
-hidden curriculum (textbooks/ resources more girl friendly, values + norms more accessible for girls)

-attitude from 16 yo mainly WC
-Boys suffer from increasingly low self-esteem and poor motivation
-Boys less likely willing to overcome, struggle and understanding work
-Less likely to consistently work hard and more distracted (Difficulty organising time for coursework)
-girls More willing to spend time on and complete homework
-Girls think more about future and importance of qualifications (boys Less concerned)

-School to friendly and boys forced to learn in ways not fit for them (<verbal skills + >competitive environment

-peer pressure, fear of ridicule + need to fit in mesns boys not seen to ‘try’
-Low self-esteem in boys linked to incompetent men found in advertising sitcom etc ,Or decline in trad male jobs meaning boys uncertain about future and lack motivation

-Women reassessed role in society so recognise work and career and therefore school as part of their role
-boys are now reassessing what masculinity means in society (Geek isn’t masculine making a barrier for boys to take education seriously)

Gender roles learnt at home from early age

-Oakley: gender role socialisation= process of learning behaviour expected from males + females in society
-Byrne: teachers encourage boys to be tough+ punish feminie behaviour, girls taught to be quiet, helpful and punished for being rough and noisy
-Browne + Rose: children beliefs abt gender domains shaped by adult expectations + encourage children to be more confident in engaging in tasks of their own domain

tasks that girls + boys see as their territory (eg cars male domain + cooking female domain)

Gender image subject gives of ffects who chooses it
-Kelly: science is boy subject due to mainly male science teachers, textbooks based on male experiences + in lessons boys monopolise apparatus and dominate lab
-Colley: computer science is masculine bcos involves working with machines and less group work so girls put off
-Leonard: singel sex sch have less stereotyped subjects so students take less traditional subjects (girls more likely to take maths + science A levels)

-boys tend to opt out of drama and music as it attracts negative responses from male peers
-Paetcher: girls who chose sport get taunted eg called lesbian or butch, but in single sex sch girls more likely to do sports as less ridicule (absenceof boys puts less pressure on girls to conform to gender stereotypes)

-employment is highly gendered: jobs sex typed as women jobs usually mirror housewife role eg cleaning, personal services (over half of womens employment mirror housewife role)
-explains y vocational courses more gendered as theyre more closely linked to students’ career path

women pick humanity, creative/ emotional a levels, men dominate STEM

social group whose members share identity based on cultural traditions/ characteristics eg language + religion

highest: chinese, indian
lowest: black caribbean, gypsy roma(lowest)

-expectations abt clothing not consider minority culture norms and values
-teaching staff not from ethnic minority
-holidays celebrated not from ethnic minority
-food available may not meet minority needs

-factors affecting achievement ‘double up’ as ethnic difference in achievement mirror class
-class position influenced by: types of work offered to groups coming to britain, class background/ resources they had prior to coming to britain

ethnic minority more likely to be deprived than british pupils (eg most bangladeshi + pakistani pupils live in deprived areas

-some ethnic group norms and values different to those white mainstream ones that dominate sch
-Clarke

language as barrier to achievement issue is complex
-indian, pakistani, bangladeshi students may speak up to 8 languages meaning: 1. confusion with new language 2. ablility to quickly absorb new language (eg indian background= high achievers so language not important)

some argue parents from some ethnic minorities less interested in child education but evidence suggests otherwise:
-indian families put pressure on children for success causing achievement
-african caribbean parents made Sat sch dueto worry of underachievement (Ken Pryce: african caribbean communities in bristol had very high academic aspirations for children

-Bhatti

1Asian parents with poor education have strong desire to help their children succeed 2 but parents frustrated abt their lack of knowledge of sch/ edu system (3 due to sch lack of interest in them + gap between their experiences and their childrens) 4 leading to difficulty understanding childrens daily lives