Studied by 4 people
Durkheim
Major function of education is the transmission of society’s norms and values.
Education (especially history) provides the link between the individual and society.
School enables children learn to cooperate with those who are neither their family or their friends so they can function in society.
Rules should be strictly enforced to promote self-discipline and for society to run smoothly.
Criticisms of Durkheim
some students accept neither the schools rules nor societys norms and values
the education system does not necessarily teach skills that prepare students for their future workplace roles
Parsons
School acts as a bridge between the family and society, taking over as the main agency of socialisation.
Schools are based on meritocracy – ability and effort, not money. In school an individual is judged on universalistic standards.
Schools socialise children into the basic values of the wider society, maintaining value consensus
Criticisms of Parsons
critics question how far role allocation is effective or meritocratic
people with the best qualifications do not always get the top jobs
marxists argue that the education system transmits values that benefit the dominant groups in society
Bowles and Gintis
Correspondence principle – Schools reflect the workplace, students are prepared for work e.g accepting authority (hierarchy), this means that they don’t question their position.
They do not believe that schools are meritocratic.
Class determines achievement.
Criticisms of Bowles and Gintis
they assume that students passively accept the values taught via the hidden curriculum. however many students reject the values of the schools and resist their teachers authority
they exaggerate the power of the education system in forming personalities and attitudes
Willis
Conducted a participant observation of boys in a Midlands secondary school.
Working class boys joined a counter school subculture where they avoided attending lessons and resisted any attempt to control their behaviour. They were not obedient.
Willis concludes that this prepared them for the kinds of jobs that they would have in the future. These would be unskilled or semiskilled and quite repetitive.
Criticisms of Willis
feminists argue willis ignores the experiences of girls in schools and celebrates lad culture
he doesnt explore the conformist boys experiences of education or their views on the lads
his ideas may not be relevant today because there are far fewer manual wc jobs available for school leavers
ball
Conducted a participant observation at Beachside Comprehensive to look at the effect of setting / teacher expectations on achievement.
Pupils in lower sets were more likely to be working class, were not given as much support, were labelled and more likely to be disruptive as a result.
interactionist
ball bowe and gerwitz
They used a range of methods to look at the effect of marketisation and parental choice.
They found that increased parental choice and league tables led to pressure for schools to introduce setting and streaming and to focus on higher ability students to improve their exam results.
Middle class parents were better able to use their choices to get their children into higher achieving schools.
interactionist
halsey heath and ridge
found evidence of social class inequalities in education
a boy from the service class compared to a working class boy was 4x more likely to be at school at 16
8x more likely at 17
10x more likely at 18
11x more likely to go to uni
bernstein
language codes
elaborate and restricted
sue sharpe
in 1976 she found that girls priorities were love, marriage, husbands, children, jobs and careers
when she repeated research in 1994 she found those priorities had changed to job, career and being able to support themselves
mcrobbie
argued that the bedroom culture of girls (girls spend time in their bedrooms chatting with their friends) can create their own subcultures
they chat and read, which allows them to develop communication skills that are valued in school
david reynolds
claims that the curriculum does not teach the skills needed by employers and it teaches uncritical passive behaviour that makes workers easy to exploit
Note 
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