Education studies

Durkheim

Functionalist who argued that education socialises young people into the norm and values of wider society

Parsons

Functionalist who argued that education acts as a bridge between the family and wider society

Davis and Moore

Functionalists who argued that education helps to allocate people into appropriate jobs and career roles

Sugarman

Functionalist that argued that working class children fail because their norms and values are inferior to middle class children

Feinstein

Functionalist who argued that working class parents lack interest in their child's education which is why they do not achieve

Albert Cohen

Functionalist who argued that working class boys experience status frustration because they are denied status within the middle class education system

Althusser

Marxist who argued that education is an ideological state apparatus and socialises students into capitalism

Bowles and Gintis

Marxists who argue that the hidden curriculum teaches the norms and values of a capitalist work place - myth of meritocracy

Bourdieu

Marxist who argued that middle class students have an advantage in school due to cultural capital

Bourne

Marxist who argued that cultural capital is passed on from one generation to another through primary socialisation and how the parents' education is important for their child's education and attainment

Willis

Marxist who argued that working class boys join anti-school subcultures to rebel against capitalism however, it still prepared them for life in the capitalist workplace

Heaton and Lawson

Feminists who argued that the hidden curriculum taught patriarchal norms and values and gender divisions

Sharpe

Feminist who found that schoolgirls in the 70s had different priorities and aspirations to schoolgirls in the 90s (70s \= marriage and family, 90s \= jobs and careers)

Mirza

Black feminist who argues that minority-ethnic girls are often victims of stereotyping and assumptions which leads to them not trusting their teachers

McRobbie

Feminist who argued that girls have bedroom cultures -\> girls spend more time in their rooms and less time going out which means they have more time to focus on revision

Becker

Interactionist who argued that teachers have an idea of an "ideal pupil" and if they label a student as an "ideal pupil", they have higher expectations of them and treat them differently

Rosenthal and Jacobson

Interactionists who conducted a study on teachers and found that students who were labelled as bright and intelligent were treated differently and outperformed the other students even though at the beginning all students were as smart as each other

Dunne and Gazely

Interactionists who argued that teachers view working class students more disruptive which leads teachers to have low expectations of them and placing them in bottom sets, setting them up to fail

Gillborn

Interactionist who argued that teachers treat black children differently and penalise them more harshly for bad behaviour -\> leads them to retreat into anti-school subcultures to avoid the racism within schools

Usher and Edwards

Postmodernists who argued that educational diversity leads to a more flexible education system that is ideally suited to meet the needs of young people in a postmodernist society - they also argue that education should take account of cultural pluralism

Usher, Bryant, and Johnston

Postmodernists who argued that education has become a consumer product in which we construct our identity. Education has become centred around marketisation and parentocracy

Lyotard

Postmodernist who argued that education has become fragmented as there is no longer a set shared or fixed values which leads to instability, uncertainty, and confusion

McLuhan

Postmodernist who argued that education has become media saturated and that media has become a key source through which to educate children

Livingstone

Postmodernist who argued that young people's lives are media-rich, meaning that they can confidently utilise technological developments into their learning and expect teachers to do so too - students are increasingly directed to online sources for support

Evans

Argued that working class mothers wanted their child to succeed, however they tended not to use formal-learning-type skills which in turn means that their children are less prepared and cannot catch up in comparison to middle class children

Smith and Noble

Argued that working class children are at a disadvantage due to learning barriers resulting from material deprivation (eg. no desk, no wifi, no books, no heating, no quiet space, etc)

Reay

Argued that working class students are more likely to attend local universities to save money, which might affect access to Russell Groups universities

Tanner

Argued that working class children often have to use hand-me-downs and cheaper clothes and equipment, therefore they are often stigmatised and bullied

Ridge

Argued that older working class students take on part-time jobs which negatively affects their school work as they have less time to focus on their education

Sullivan

Found that middle class children had high cultural capital were more successful with GCSE results

Archer

Found that many working class students didn't think they were able to go to university so they didn't bother trying in school

Mitsos and Brown

Feminists who argued that teachers expect boys to mess around in lessons more than girls and that girls are seen as the "ideal pupil" - Found that girls spend more time on their work, are more organised, and better at meeting deadlines

Wilkinson

Argued that girls have improved their educational performance due to the "genderquake", in which fundamental changes in attitudes towards female roles in society have been achieved

Mac an Ghaill

Argued that due to the changes in the job market, men experience the "crisis of masculinity" which is where they no longer feel clear about their role in society and feel they have no jobs available for them and therefore do not try hard in school

Chua

Argued that Chinese parents strongly demand high educational attainment in their children and, as a result, they are equipped for success in school

Bhatti

Argued that Asian parents wants their children to do well in school despite not not having high qualifications themselves, and so will pass on to their children a positive attitude towards school and education

Flaherty

Found that some ethnic minorities are more likely to face material deprivation and live in poverty, specifically Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and African communities

MacPherson

Argued that schools were institutionally racist

Gillborn, Mirza, and Youdell

Argued that black students are often perceived by teachers as being least likely to succeed and are therefore seen given less priority for teaching and additional support

Demie and Mclean

Argued that schools teach an ethnocentric curriculum which makes ethnic-minority students feel marginalised and demonised

Banyard

feminist, sexual assault of girls in schools, they would hide in the bathrooms and stop showing up to school to avoid it