Feminism

How do feminists see the education system?

As a patriarchal institution

Because the education system is a patriarchal institution, what does the education system do?

Reinforce traditional gender roles

By reinforcing traditional gender roles, what does the education system enable?

Inequality to remain

What do feminists claim about previous research on the differences of men and women?

• Women were either wilder overstated

• Or completely ignored

If women were widely overstated, what would this mean?

They were seen as naturally less intelligent

If women were ignored, what would this mean?

Their experiences were not seen as important or relevant

Because of the failures of previous research on women, what have feminists developed?

Modern methods

What has fuelled the creation of these modern methods?

Anger

Because of this anger, what do feminists want to raise the consciousness of?

Women

Why do feminists want to raise the consciousness of women?

To make them aware of their own oppression

Statically, who outperforms who in education?

Females are outperforming the achievement of males

Though females are outperforming males, what do feminists argue?

The set up of the education system remains patriarchal

How many central roles do feminists argue the education system has?

3

• What are these 3 central roles of education?

• Formal socialisation

• Social selection

• Skills

Formal Socialisation - What is formal socialisation?

Refers to the way the education system is an official agent that teaches pupils the norms and values of society.

Formal Socialisation - Through formal socialisation, what does feminists argue about the norms and values?

The norms and values which get passed on are those of men, reflecting a patriarchal society

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - When was the national curriculum introduced?

1988

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - Despite the introduction of the national curriculum, what do many feminists argue about what is taught in schools?

What is taught still creates gender inequalities in education

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - What 2 subjects are examples gender inequalities persisting despite the national curriculum?

Sport

History

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - How does sport allow gender inequalities to remain?

The way that sport is taught in schools tends to focus more on the achievements of boys rather than girls

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - What is an example of how sport studies focuses on men’s achievements more?

Football and rugby. Focus on male teams

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - How does history allow gender inequalities to remain?

Women have been hidden from history, or are placed in the background and given a second place to men

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - What examples show how history hides women, or places the beneath men?

There is brief focus given to the role of women in the first and second world wars. As though this is somehow separate to the main business of war performed by men

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - How would you describe the choices made by males and females in A - Levels?

Gender specific in many subject areas

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - Usually, what subjects do girls enrol onto

Those with lower academic status and market value

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - What are examples of subjects that have low academic status and market value?

Sociology

Textiles

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - At A- Level there are gender specific subject choices, where is this further reflected?

At university level

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - At university level, what is there evidence of?

Entrenched masculinity

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - What does entrenched masculinity reinforce the idea of?

The idea of women opting for courses that are less paid

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - Examples of subjects and degrees women may do

• Health and social care

• Law

• Textiles

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - Examples of subjects and degrees men may do

• Engineering

• Maths

• Accounting

• Physics

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - What do feminists argue the reason for gender subject choice is?

The outcome of gender socialisation and stereotyping

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - What does Best (1993) find about gender roles socialisation?

It led to boys choosing subjects that are more scientific

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - What does Best argue about socialisation?

It has led to children developing their own stereotypes of suitable subjects

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - Evaluation - Liberal Feminists - Why would liberal feminists critique Heaton and Lawson?

They argue the National Curriculum has since been updated

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - Evaluation - Liberal Feminists - Due to the update of the National Curriculum, what has this led to?

The removal of gender inequality

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - Evaluation - Liberal Feminists - What is an example that shows that gender inequality has been removed since the update of the National Curriculum?

Maths, Science and English are compulsory for both genders

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - Evaluation - Liberal Feminists - In addition to the update of the National Curriculum, what else has removed gender inequality?

Social policies

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - Evaluation - Liberal Feminists - What social policies have removed gender inequality?

GIST and WISE

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - Evaluation - Liberal Feminists - Why have such social policies been introduced?

To provide opportunities for females to engage in previously typical male environments

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - Evaluation - Functionalist Durkheim - Why would Durkheim disagree with Heaton and Lawson?

Durkheim argues that every student has access to the same education and will be taught the same universalistic norms and values

Formal Socialisation - A Patriarchal Curriculum - Heaton and Lawson - Evaluation - Functionalist Durkheim - By all students being taught the same norms and values of society, what is this good for?

Social cohesion

FORMAL SOCIALISATION A PATRIARCHAL CURRICULUM FINISHED

FORMAL SOCIALISATION A PATRIARCHAL CURRICULUM FINISHED

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - What do Marxist Feminists and Radical Feminists believe?

That the organisation of an education system and daily school life is structured in a way that favours men

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Due to the education system and daily school life structure favouring men, what does this reinforce?

Patriarchal control

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - The structure of education and school life favours men and reinforces patriarchal control, how is this done?

Indirectly in a number of different ways

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - What are the 3 ways patriarchal control is reinforced in education and daily school life?

• SPA

• Space

• Power

• Attitudes

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Space - How are many female students made to feel in the presence of male students?

Uncomfortable

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Space - When do female students feel uncomfortable in the presence of male students?

When studying certain subjects

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Space - Culley - What did Culley observe?

IT lessons

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Space - Culley - What happened in IT lessons?

Boys tended to colonise the space around computers

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Space - Culley - When boys colonised the space around computers, what did teachers often not do?

Intervene

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Space - Culley - Due to the lack of intervention from teachers, how did this led many girls to feel?

Excluded

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Space - Culley - What did girls feel excluded from?

What was wrongly perceived as a male activity

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Space - Kelly - What did Kelly find boys do?

Dominate science classrooms

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Space - Kelly - In what ways do boys dominate science classrooms?

• Grabbing apparatus first

• Answering questions aimed at girls

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Space - Kelly - Furthermore, what did Kelly find out about the examples used by teachers?

They often drew on boys’ interests and experiences rather than girls

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Space - Kelly - More recently, who has there been aggression towards?

Transgressive women

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Space - Kelly - What do transgressive women do?

Challenge male dominance

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Space - Kelly - Example of transgressive women

Women are taught to avoid sexual violence implying that the women have brought it upon themselves and not dealing with male sexually violent behaviour itself

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Power - According to the Future Leaders Trust, what is the percentage of female secondary teachers in Britain?

63%

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Power - Though 63% of secondary teaches in Britain are female, what is the percentage of secondary head teachers that are male?

60%

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Power - What are male staff more likely to occupy?

The senior management levels of secondary schools and colleges

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Power - With men occupying senior management levels in education, what does this reinforce?

Gendered hierarchy

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Power - Because of the gendered hierarchy, what do feminists argue this creates?

An expectation in young minds that positions of power and authority are automatically associated with men rather than women

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Power - What are examples of jobs women are likely to carry out?

• Cleaning

• Dinner assistant

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Power - What is an example of a job men are likely to carry out?

• Secretaries

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Power - What do statistics show?

Over half of all women’s employment fall into the categories of cleaners, dinner assistants and teachers

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Power - How is the gendered hierarchy reflected in wider society?

The ONS (2013) found that women make up 82% of the caring labour force. Whereas men male up 67% of senior officials and management

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Power - What are jobs within the caring labour force often like?

Low status roles

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Power - With women dominating the caring labour force and men dominating higher up jobs, what could this show?

How females are socialised in schools to occupy lower positions when entering employment in wider society

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Attitudes - Heaton And Lawson - What do Heaton and Lawson argue teachers still posses?

Sexist ideas

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Attitudes - Heaton And Lawson - What do teachers posses sexist ideas about?

Certain tasks within the classroom and around the school

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Attitudes - Heaton And Lawson - What is an example of teachers sexist ideas about certain tasks?

Boys are asked to move furniture and help with manly tasks

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Attitudes - McCabe - What did McCabe find evidence of?

Gender stereotypes reinforced in textbooks between 1900 and 2000

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Attitudes - McCabe - In these textbooks, what was the percentage that had female central characters?

31%

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Attitudes - McCabe - In books about animals, what kind of animals was there a focus on?

Male animals

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Attitudes - McCabe - Who else supported McCabe’s view?

Fine

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Attitudes - Fine - What did Fine argue about many modern books?

They presented positive images around race, yet failed to address gender equality

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Attitudes - Fine - With books having a positive mage on race but not addressing gender equality, what does this send?

A strong message

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Attitudes - Fine - Who is this strong message sent to?

Girls and women

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Attitudes - Fine - What is this strong message?

That girls and women are less important

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Attitudes - Fine - With the message of girls and women being less important, what does this encourage children to accept?

The invisibility of women

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Attitudes - Fine - By accepting the invisibility of women, what does this reinforce?

The gender division

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Attitudes - Fine - What is the gender division often referred to as?

Symbolic annihilation

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Evaluation - Functionalist Parsons - What does Parsons argue about the hidden curriculum?

It doesn’t create gender inequality

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Evaluation - Functionalist Parsons - According to Parsons, what does the hidden curriculum do?

Teach every student the universalistic values of society indirectly

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Evaluation - Marxist Bowles And Gintis - Why do Bowles and Gintis criticise the Feminist view of the hidden curriculum?

They believe that the hidden curriculum’s role is to socialise students into capitalist values of society

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Evaluation - Marxist Bowles And Gintis - What examples show how students are socialised into the capitalist values of society?

Students learn to

• Be submissive to hierarchy

• Do hard work

• Accept low pay

• Be obedient workers

Formal Socialisation - The Hidden Curriculum - Feminists - Evaluation - Marxist Bowles And Gintis - What do Bowles and Gintis argue the school has?

Specific parallels to the workplace

FORMAL SOCIALISATION FINISHED

FORMAL SOCIALISATION FINISHED

Social Selection Or Cultural Reproduction - What is cultural reproduction?

Refers to the transmission of existing cultural values and norms from generation to generation.Cultural reproduction often results in gender reproduction from generation to generation

Social Selection Or Cultural Reproduction - Marketisation - Jackson - What does Jackson argue?

The introduction of marketisation policies have created are more competitive climate

Social Selection Or Cultural Reproduction - Marketisation - Jackson - In this competitive climate, how are girls viewed by schools?

More desirable

Social Selection Or Cultural Reproduction - Marketisation - Jackson - Why are girls viewed as more desirable?

Because they achieve stronger exam results

Social Selection Or Cultural Reproduction - Marketisation - Jackson - What does Jackson note?

The introduction of exam league tables has improved opportunities for girls

Social Selection Or Cultural Reproduction - Marketisation - Jackson - Why has the introduction of exam tables improved opportunities for girls?

High achieving girls are selected by outstanding schools

Social Selection Or Cultural Reproduction - Marketisation - Jackson - Why are high achieving girls selected by outstanding schools?

As they are seen as more attractive to heads

Social Selection Or Cultural Reproduction - Marketisation - Jackson - In what relation are girls seen as more attractive to heads?

In relation to exam results and the schools position in the league tables

Social Selection Or Cultural Reproduction - Marketisation - Jackson - Who else supports Jackson’s view?

Slee