Sociologists Paper 1

What did Althusser argue?

Institutions spread Bourgeoise beliefs to maintain social control, controlling people's ideas and values to keep people in their classes, which is known as the Repressive State Apparatus

What did Archer argue?

Working class students needed to change the way they spoke and presented themselves to gain symbolic capital

What did Archer et al argue?

Students developed Nike identities because they felt like they were being looked down on by society and schools

What did Ball and Whitty argue?

Marketisation policies (exam league tables) reproduce class inequality, creating inequalities between schools

What did Ball argue?

The National Curriculum ignored ethnic diversity and promoted 'little Englandism', in which England's history was praised, whilst ignoring the history of other ethnic backgrounds

What did Bartlett argue?

Schools perform a thing called 'silt shifting', where good schools avoid taking poor performing children

What did Becker argue?

Students who were labelled by teachers to be successful typically got more advice and help, and did better as a result

What did Bernstein argue?

Middle class students often performed better in school due to their more elaborate speech code

What did Bourdieu argue?

Because the school is a middle class institution, middle class students have cultural assets (knowledge, behaviour, cultural experiences, etc) that will ensure they succeed

What did Bowles and Gintis argue?

Education isn't meritocratic, and pupils are judged more on their class position than efforts

What did Bryne argue?

Teachers encourage boys to be tough and show initiative, whereas girls are taught to be quiet, helpful and tidy

What did Chubb and Moe argue?

Education has failed all social groups and that schools should start funding for students and their education, creating the Golden Ticket to ensure equal opportunity for every family

What did Davis and Moore argue?

Social stratification (rewarding good work) encourages people to work harder and do well in school

The main function of the education system is to select and allocate students to their future work roles

What did Driver argue?

Ethnicities can be an advantage in education if the student had the right role model

What did Durkheim argue?

Society shapes the individual, including their religion, beliefs and moral code.

He also believes that too much freedom in society is bad, and that social solidarity and restrictions within society can make people feel more comfortable

What did Epstein argue?

Not wanting to be harassed or be subject to homophobic verbal abuse influences how boys behaved

What did Feinstein argue?

Middle class students typically performed better at school due to their parents giving them more praise

What did Francis argue?

Real boys didn't try hard in school, and if they did, they were bullied for it

What did Gewirtz argue?

Disconnected local choosers chose schools closest to them due to restrictions in cultural and economic capital

What did Gillborn and Youdell argue?

Teachers were quick to discipline black students than other students, and teachers misinterpret behaviour and see black students as anti authority, reinforcing stereotypes.

They also created the Educational Triage, consisting of:

Hopeless cases

Borderline Cs and Ds

Those who will pass anyways

As a result, teachers focus more of their time on the borderline Cs and Ds to ensure they pass

What did Hall argue?

Conservative government policies are part of the 'long march of the neoliberal revolution', seeing academies as an example of handing over public services to private capitalists

What did Keddie argue?

Classroom interactions affect both the self-perception and performance of the children

Teachers should help build on the strengths of children with an anti-school subculture

What did Kelly argue?

Science is a boys subject because most science teachers are men, and in the science lessons, boys take control of the equipment and dominate the laboratory

What did Lacey argue?

Pupils are sorted into 2 polarised groups through differentiation, consisting of highly achieving students and low achieving students, and couldn't interact with eachother. This meant the high achieving pupils achieved higher, and the low achieving pupils achieved lower

What did Lupton argue?

Adult authority in Asian families is similar to the model that operates in school (respectful behaviour towards adults) and are more likely to support the school behavioural policy

What did Marx argue?

Working class students are taught to be obedient and remain in working class jobs

Students weren't on equal level due to home life and the education system favouring the middle class

What did Mirza argue?

Ambitious black girls faced teacher racism, and there were 3 main types in school:

Colour blind (saw them as equal but didn't stop the racism)

Liberal chauvinists (low expectations for black students as they saw them as culturally deprived)

Overt Racists (saw black students as inferior)

What did Mitsos and Browne argue?

Girls are more organised and more motivated with their coursework, and so do better than boys in terms of completing coursework

A decline in role models meant boys did worse in school

What did Moore and Davenport argue?

Selection reproduces ethnic segregation, with minorities failing to get into schools

What did Murphy and Elwood argue?

Boys are encouraged to read non fiction and information based books (Maths and Computer Science) whereas girls are encouraged to read books about people (Sociology and English Literature)

What did Parsons argue?

Each student has a role to fulfill in society based on their strengths

Education bridges particularistic and universalistic values so that people know society is meritocratic

What did Ringrose argue?

Being popular was important to the 13/14 year old girl's identity

What did Schulz argue?

If more money is spent on providing a high quality education, the economy will eventually benefit due to the skills of the workforce

What did Sewell argue?

Black boys typically performed worse due to a lack of fatherly nurture for boys to overcome behavioural and emotional difficulties in adolescence

Schools don't teach or encourage masculine traits to boys, such as leadership and competition

What did Sugarman argue?

There are 4 key factors that explain why working class students usually do worse:

Fatalism

Present time orientation

Collectivism

Immediate gratification

What did Willis argue?

'The lads' have formed an anti school subculture due to their obnoxious behaviour being rejected by the school, as the lads choose instead to gain social capital and seek validation from peers