Sociology Education BIG BOY FLASHCARDS

What is the Functionalist view of education?

A consensus view arguing that education creates social solidarity, teaches shared values, and allocates individuals to roles in society.

Durkheim’s two main functions of education?

1) Promoting social solidarity by transmitting shared culture. 2) Teaching specialist skills needed for a complex division of labour.

What does Durkheim mean by social solidarity?

A sense of belonging to society created when education binds people together through shared culture, norms, and values.

How does Hargreaves criticize Durkheim's view on social solidarity?

Hargreaves argues modern schools encourage individual competition rather than social solidarity.

How does Parsons view the school’s role in socialisation?

School acts as a focal socialising agency that bridges the family (particularistic standards) and wider society (universalistic standards).

What is meritocracy according to Parsons?

A system where status is achieved through individual effort and ability, with equal opportunity for all.

What is role allocation (Davis and Moore)?

Education sifts and sorts pupils by ability into future work roles, offering higher rewards for the most important jobs.

What is Human Capital Theory?

The idea that a meritocratic education system develops a skilled workforce to maximize economic efficiency.

Name three key criticisms of Functionalism in education.

Marxists argue values are ruling-class, not shared. 2) Education is not meritocratic due to class/gender/ethnic inequalities. 3) Interactionists say it is too deterministic.

What is the Neoliberal view on education?

The state should not run education; a free-market economy with private competition drives up standards.

How does the New Right compare to Functionalism?

Both support meritocracy and national identity, but the New Right argues state-run education fails because it is inefficient.

Why does the New Right criticize state-run schools?

State schools are "one size fits all" and not accountable to consumers (parents/pupils), leading to lower standards.

What solution do Chubb and Moe propose for state education?

A market system with a voucher system, allowing families to buy education from a school of their choice.

What two roles does the New Right see for the state?

Creating a framework for competition (league tables). 2) Enforcing a national curriculum to transmit national identity.

What is Gewirtz’s criticism of the New Right marketisation view?

Marketisation benefits middle-class parents who have the capital to choose top schools, leaving working-class families disadvantaged.

What are Althusser's Repressive and Ideological State Apparatuses?

RSA controls by force (police, courts). ISA controls ideas and beliefs (education, media).

What two functions does education perform as an ISA (Althusser)?

1) Reproduction of class inequality. 2) Legitimation of class inequality by convincing people inequality is inevitable.

What is the Correspondence Principle (Bowles and Gintis)?

The relationships and structures in school directly mirror those in the capitalist workplace (e.g., hierarchy, alienation).

What is the hidden curriculum?

Unwritten lessons learned in school without direct teaching (e.g., accepting authority, punctuality, competition).

What is the "myth of meritocracy" (Bowles and Gintis)?

The false idea that success is based on ability, which disguises the fact that success is actually based on class background.

What did Bowles and Gintis find regarding role allocation?

The education system rewards obedient, conformist students with the best grades, not creative thinkers.

What did Paul Willis find in his "Learning to Labour" study?

12 working-class boys formed an anti-school counter-culture, but their resistance to school guaranteed they ended up in manual jobs.

How does McRobbie criticize Willis's study?

Answer: McRobbie notes that female pupils were completely absent from Willis’s study.

How do Postmodernists criticize the Marxist view of education?

Postmodernists argue class divisions are out of date; post-Fordist economies require a diverse, flexible workforce with choice.

What is the achievement gap between manual workers' and professionals' children?

Children of professionals are 2-3x more likely to get 5 A*-C grades at GCSE and 5x more likely to go to university.

What is the difference between cultural and material deprivation?

Cultural deprivation is lacking the norms, values, and language for success. Material deprivation is lacking physical/financial necessities.

What are Bernstein’s restricted and elaborated speech codes?

Restricted code: Short, simple, context-bound (working-class). Elaborated code: Complex, explicit, analytic (middle-class and education).

How does Feinstein explain the impact of parents' education?

Educated parents use consistent discipline, high expectations, and spend income on educational growth.

What are four working-class subcultural values (Sugarman/Hyman/Douglas)?

Immediate gratification, fatalism, present-time orientation, and placing low value on education.

How does Keddie criticize Cultural Deprivation theory?

Keddie calls it victim-blaming; working-class children are culturally different, not deprived, and schools are middle-class biased.

How does poor housing and diet cause underachievement?

Overcrowding/damp causes poor study space, illness, school absence, and lack of concentration.

What did Callender and Jackson find about working-class pupils and university?

Working-class pupils are debt-averse and see tuition fees as a high-risk debt rather than an investment.

What are Bourdieu's three types of capital?

Economic capital (wealth), Cultural capital (middle-class culture), and Educational capital (qualifications).

What is teacher labelling (Becker)?

Teachers attach definitions to pupils, judging working-class pupils unfavourably against an "ideal pupil" standard.

What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?

A prediction made about a pupil (e.g., failure) that comes true simply because it was made and internalised.

How does streaming affect achievement (Lacey / Douglas)?

Working-class pupils are placed in lower streams, which lowers their IQ over time, restricts curriculum access, and creates anti-school subcultures.

What are pro-school and anti-school subcultures?

Pro-school: High streams who accept school goals. Anti-school: Low streams who reject school values to gain status from peers.

What is habitus (Bourdieu)?

A social class’s habitual ways of thinking, acting, and living.

What are symbolic capital and symbolic violence (Archer)?

Schools grant symbolic capital (status) to middle-class habitus and commit symbolic violence by devaluing working-class culture.

What are "Nike identities"?

Working-class pupils seek peer status by consuming branded clothing, which causes conflict with the school's middle-class code.

What did Ingram find about working-class boys in grammar schools?

Boys experienced identity tension between their neighbourhood habitus and the middle-class school habitus.

What did Evans find about successful working-class girls?

Girls chose local universities to stay near family due to family attachment and debt fears, limiting their choices.

What is the trend in gender achievement since the 1980s?

Girls outperform boys at all Key Stages, in GCSEs, A-Levels, and university attendance.

How has feminism improved girls' achievement?

Feminism challenged patriarchal stereotypes, improved legal rights, and raised girls' self-esteem and ambitions.

How did Sue Sharpe’s study show changing girls’ ambitions?

1970s priorities were love, marriage, and children. 1990s priorities shifted to careers and financial independence

Name two equal opportunities policies for gender in schools.

1) GIST and WISE programmes. 2) National Curriculum (1988) making core subjects compulsory for both sexes

Why did coursework benefit girls more than boys (Mitsos & Browne)?

Girls are generally more conscientious, organized, and manage deadlines better than boys.

How do marketisation policies benefit girls?

High-performing schools select girls for better exam results and view boys as "liability students" prone to poor behaviour.

What are hyper-heterosexual feminine identities (Archer)?

Working-class girls invest in glamorous appearances for peer status, bringing them into conflict with school rules.

Why do boys lag behind in literacy?

Mothers mainly read to children (making reading seem feminine), and boys' leisure focuses on sports/gaming rather than language.

What is Sewell's "feminisation of schooling"?

Schools no longer nurture masculine traits (competition), focus on coursework, and lack male primary teachers

How did Read challenge the idea that boys need male teachers for discipline?

Read found female teachers also use a "disciplinarian discourse" (strict authority) effectively in class.

What is the "moral panic about boys" (Ringrose)?

Focus on failing boys leads to the neglect of problems faced by girls, such as sexual harassment

What are "laddish subcultures" (Francis / Epstein)?

Boys face peer pressure to be anti-school; working hard leads to being labelled as "swots" or "gay".

What are gender domains (Browne and Ross)?

Tasks and activities seen as male or female territory, shaped by early socialisation.

Why do post-16 subjects have gendered images?

Science/Physics is seen as masculine due to male teachers and textbooks; English/Sociology are seen as feminine.

What is hegemonic masculinity (Connell)?

The dominance of heterosexual male identity and subordination of female and gay identities.

What is the male gaze (Mac an Ghaill)?

Male pupils and teachers looking girls up and down as sexual objects, reinforcing dominant masculinity.

Which ethnic groups perform highest and lowest statistically?

Chinese and Indian pupils perform highest. Black Caribbean, Pakistani, and Gypsy/Roma perform lowest

What is Bereiter and Engelmann's view on Black language?

Low-income Black American speech is ungrammatical and disjointed, preventing children from expressing abstract ideas.

What is Moynihan's "culture of poverty" argument?

Black matrifocal lone-parent families lack a male breadwinner role model, leading to inadequate socialisation

How does Sewell explain Black Caribbean boys' underachievement?

Lack of fatherly nurturing leads boys to seek status in anti-school street gang cultures.

Why do Asian pupils achieve highly according to Sewell?

Asian families provide strong support, high educational value, and an "Asian work ethic"

What did Lupton find in white working-class schools?

Poorer discipline and lower achievement due to negative parental attitudes toward education

Give two criticisms of cultural deprivation theories of ethnicity.

Keddie: It is victim-blaming; schools are ethnocentric. 2) Connor: Minority parents value education highly.

How does material deprivation affect ethnic minority pupils

Ethnic minorities are twice as likely to be unemployed and half of ethnic minority children live in low-income homes

What are "racialised expectations" (Gillborn and Youdell)?

Teachers expect Black pupils to present discipline problems, leading to harsher punishments and lower set placements.

What four responses to teacher racism did Sewell identify?

Conformists, Innovators (pro-education, anti-school), Retreatists, and Rebels (macho lad subculture)

How did Fuller's Black girls reject negative labelling?

High-achieving Black girls rejected teacher stereotypes and worked hard in secret without seeking teacher approval.

What is institutional racism?

Discrimination built into the routine operation of institutions like schools, rather than individual teacher bias.

What is an ethnocentric curriculum?

A curriculum prioritizing white British culture, language, and history while ignoring minority cultures.

Give two examples of institutional racism in schools (Gillborn).

1) Assessment profiles rigged to teacher judgment. 2) Access to Gifted & Talented programmes favouring white pupils.

What is "the new IQism" (Gillborn)?

Using IQ tests to stream pupils based on the false belief that potential is a fixed, measurable quality.

What was the 1944 Tripartite System?

Secondary education split into Grammar, Secondary Modern, and Technical schools, selected by the 11+ exam

How did the Tripartite System reproduce inequality?

Middle-class pupils passed the 11+ for Grammar schools, while working-class pupils failed and received a basic education.

What was the Comprehensive School System (1965)?

Abolished the 11+ exam and combined all local pupils into one state-run school.

What is marketisation in education?

Introducing business forces of consumer choice and school competition (1988 Education Reform Act).

Name four marketisation policies

Exam league tables, formula funding, open enrolment, and academies/free schools

What are cream-skimming and silt-shifting (Bartlett)?

Cream-skimming: Good schools select top middle-class pupils. Silt-shifting: Good schools avoid lower-achieving working-class pupils.

What is Gewirtz's "myth of parentocracy"?

The false idea that all parents have equal freedom to choose schools; middle-class parents possess the capital to exploit choices.

What are Gewirtz's three chooser types?

Privileged-skilled (middle-class). 2) Disconnected-local (working-class). 3) Semi-skilled (ambitious working-class lacking capital).

Name two New Labour policies aimed at reducing inequality.

1) Education Action Zones (EAZs). 2) Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) for low-income post-16s.

What are Academies and Free Schools (post-2010)?

Academies: Schools funded directly by central government, bypassing local councils. Free Schools: State-funded schools set up by parents/charities/businesses.

What is Stephen Ball's "fragmented centralisation"?

Education is a fragmented patchwork of school types, with power centralized directly in government hands

What is the privatization of education (Ball)?

Education moves from a public good to a commodity owned by private businesses for profit (e.g., inspections, supply teachers, building).

What is the "Cola-isation" of schools?

Private sector penetration into schools via vending machines, brand logos, and sponsorship schemes.

What are the three historical stages of UK ethnicity policies?

1) Assimilation (1960s/70s). 2) Multi-Cultural Education (1980s/90s). 3) Social Inclusion (2000s onwards).