Sociology | semester 2

Sociology (Germov & Poole, 2011)

The study of how individuals and society shape one another through human thought, action and interaction

Sociology of education

Uses sociological thinking, rather than only psychology, to understand how education reflects and shapes society

Social Stucture

The wider system of patterned social relationships organised through institutions

Social Institutions

Institutions such as family, religion, politics, economy, work, law, health, media and education; they socialise people into norms and values and change over time.

Social Factors

Class, race, ethnicity, gender, age, health, education, occupation, wealth and income; these shape people's choices and opportunities

Agency

The ability of individuals to make choices and take action

Structure

The wider social conditions, rules and constraints that shape or limit individual choices

Agency and structure

Individuals exercise agency, but their choices are shaped by structural opportunities and constraints

Sociological perspective

People are born into an existing social world; their background and culture shape attitudes, behaviour and life chances

Life chances

The opportunities people have to improve wellbeing and quality of life, influenced by their position in society

Sociological imagination

The ability to connect personal experiences with wider social structures and social issues.

C. Wright Mills

Developed the idea of the sociological imagination: personal troubles are connected to wider social problems.

Black & Sipos (2020, p. 26)

Seeing how society is connected helps us develop a sociological imagination.

Peter L. Berger (1963)

Argued that sociology teaches us that “things are not what they seem”; question everyday assumptions

Macro sociology

Looks at large-scale systems and institutions, such as government, religion, education and law

Micro sociology

Looks at individuals' and groups' beliefs, values, attitudes and everyday interactions

Schools as social institutions

Schools reflect and shape wider society and can reproduce inequalities linked to class, gender, race and age

Feminist perspective on institutions

Institutions often reflect rules and norms historically organised by men, which can advantage men

Social construct

An idea society creates and treats as natural or normal, such as expectations about motherhood, masculinity or the “good student”

Social norms

Shared beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviours about what is considered normal in a society

Why is teaching complex?

Increasing diversity, larger classes, social issues, ICT, global economics and politics, and debates about funding and
inequality

Good teacher vs effective teacher

A sociological approach aims to develop a good teacher who understands social contexts, not only an effective teacher
who delivers outcomes

Key week 1 tutorial terms

Positionality, reflexivity and sociological imagination.

Ryan (2006)

Discusses inclusive leadership and social justice; educational inequality follows patterns linked to ethnicity, race, class,
gender, sexuality, ability and languag

Education as a site of inequality

Education can reproduce social inequality from one generation to the next, including inequalities linked to SES, gender and race

Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration (2019)

Goal 1: promote excellence and equity. Goal 2: develop confident and creative individuals, successful lifelong learners, and active and informed community members

Sullivan, Perry & McConney (2013)

Australia has high educational standards compared with OECD benchmarks, but disadvantaged groups still experience unequal access, achievement and attainment

UNICEF- AN UNFAIR START

Australia ranks in the bottom third of OECD countries for equitable access to quality education.

Educational quality (OECD)

Measured in the notes through comparative levels of PISA performance

Educational equity (OECD)

Measured by the relationship between students' socioeconomic backgrounds and their performance

What would a perfectly equitable education system look like?

Students' socioeconomic backgrounds would have no bearing on their educational performance

OECD stratification findings in the notes

Students in the top SES quartile are about three times more likely to attend private school; disadvantaged young people are over seven times more likely to attend a disadvantaged school.

Why does school value matter?

There can be a mismatch between what schools value and what children bring; schools should value students' knowledge and explicitly teach the skills schools expect.

Article 1 (2015): Why don't all kids do well at school?

Argues that schools should broaden what counts as valuable knowledge while also explicitly teaching school-valued
skills; both are needed

Streaming

Group students into classes according to perceived ability.

Article 2 (2022): Is this really fair?

Research on streaming found students felt pressured, privileged, disempowered or misunderstood; low-stream
students could internalise low expectations.

Johnston & Wildy (2016)

Their review found Australian streaming research focused on gifted students; internationally, benefits for high achievers may come at the expense of low-streamed students.

Ford (2013)

Argues Indigenous educational inequality in Australia is entrenched, reflected in low PISA and NAPLAN outcomes.

Gillborn (2008)

Argues racial inequality in education is persistent under existing conditions and calls for radical reform

Rurality and educational inequality

Metro students outperformed provincial and remote students in PISA 2015; location can affect results and school resources

Is technology automatically a level playing field?

No. Access and use are shaped by SES, gender, ethnicity, language, location and family composition.

Australian national stories

Ideas such as the “fair go”, egalitarianism, being a migrant nation and working hard can shape how Australians
understand society.

Three levels of educational inequality

Between schools, within schools, and outside school.

Between-school inequality

Inequality between schools, including differences in resources and student composition; the notes refer to Richard
Teese's ABC 7.30 interview (2012).

Within-school stratification

Inequality within schools through curriculum, streaming, technology and parent engagement.

Curriculum inequality

Curriculum content and structure are not neutral and may favour socioeconomically advantaged students.

Parent engagement and SES

Lower-SES parents value education just as much, but may be less able to participate directly in academic aspects of
schooling

Outside-school inequality

Inequalities beyond school, including poverty and unequal access to resources

Cultural capital

Knowledge, skills, dispositions and tastes that provide social advantage, such as ways of speaking, qualifications and books at home.

Social capital

Resources gained through relationships, networks and group membership.

Why can schools reward middle-class students?

Schools often operate around middle-class expectations and may reward the cultural capital middle-class students are
more likely to possess.

Meritocracy

The belief that success results from ability and effort, rather than birth or social background; Henry (2000) is cited in the notes.

Social stratification

The ranking or division of people in society, historically linked to birthright, property, religion, gender and power.

Socioeconomic status (SES)

A measure of social position based on factors such as household income, wealth, occupation and education

Year 12 completion and SES (RoGS 2019 data)

Completion rates generally rise with SES; the notes report the largest gap in the NT: 22% for low SES compared with 77% for high SES

Key class theorists

Marx and Engels, Weber, Durkheim and Bourdieu; their work addresses wealth, prestige, power and social class

Connell (1982, p. 33)

Class is a practice, not simply a category; it is shaped by what people do with resources and relationships

Class positions

Upper/ruling, middle, working and underclass positions; class is complex and people within a class are not all the same.

Bourdieu & Passeron (1977)

Social class shapes patterns of school success and failure; educational success is linked to unequal access to different forms of capital

Bourdieu (1986, p. 243)

Cultural capital helps explain unequal scholastic achievement because it is distributed unequally across social classes

Economic capital

Financial resources and material wealth

Social capital

Resources and opportunities gained through social networks and relationships

Cultural capital

Knowledge, skills, language, behaviours, values and dispositions that are valued by powerful institutions.

linguistic capital

Language styles and communication skills that are socially valued and rewarded.

symbolic capital

Status, recognition or prestige that is treated as valuable

How does cultural capital affect schooling?

Schools often value middle-class language, knowledge, behaviours and attitudes, benefiting students who already
possess them.

Pushing back against poverty myths as a teacher

Understand class and poverty, build relationships, recognise students' existing cultural capital, maintain high but
achievable expectations and reject deficit thinking and stereotypes

Common explanations for school success or failure

Individual ability, work ethic, the school and teachers; a sociological approach also examines wider social conditions.

Positionality

Understanding how your personal background, experiences, beliefs and identity influence your perspective and how you see the world.

Reflexivity:

Thinking critically about how your own beliefs, experiences and biases influence your actions, decisions and interactions with others.

Social theory

An analytical framework or perspective used to examine and explain social phenomena

bell hooks (1994)

Theorising begins when we ask why the social world is the way it is and imagine how it could change

Ferfolja et al. (2024, p. 7)

Theory helps future educators identify, confront, challenge and unpack assumptions about students, parents, colleagues and communities

What does theory do?

Explains and helps us re-see reality, supports equitable practice and develops higher-order thinking.

Theory and practice

Theory is not separate from practice; the two are connected

Praxis

The relationship between theory and practice; using reflection and action together

Core themes of social theory

Social life, the individual and society, institutions and structures, social transformation, and identities such as gender, race and class.

Macro theories

Theories that examine large-scale society; in these notes, functionalism/consensus theory and conflict theory

Micro theory

Symbolic interactionism, which focuses on everyday interactions and meaning-making

Consensus theory / functionalism

Society is made of interdependent parts that work together; inequality is viewed as inevitable and potentially useful for matching people to important roles

Functionalist view of inequality

Inequality is seen as necessary because important jobs require more training and receive greater rewards; this can support the status quo

Conflict theory

Society and institutions are unequal because power, wealth and opportunities are unevenly distributed

Conflict theory view of inequality

Powerful groups dominate less powerful groups to maintain the status quo; inequality restricts social progress

Marxist base and superstructure

Base = relations and means of production, such as ownership and labour.

Superstructure = institutions and ideas such as education, family, religion, media and politics

How do base and superstructure relate?

The economic base shapes the superstructure, while the superstructure helps maintain and legitimise the economic base

Bourgeoisie

The capitalist or ruling class that owns or controls the means of production

Proletariat

The working class, which sells its labour

Cultural hegemony

Domination maintained through ideas, values, beliefs, norms and expectations, rather than relying only on force

Antonio Gramsci

Explained how a ruling class can maintain control by making its worldview seem like common sense; education can help reproduce this control

Theories influenced by conflict theory

Feminist theory, critical race theory, postmodernism, postcolonial theory, queer theory, post-structuralism and world-systems/globalisation approaches

Symbolic interactionism

A micro theory: society and institutions are continually made and remade through people's interactions; people can also create social change.

Theory map from Week 4

Macro: functionalism and conflict theory. Micro: symbolic interactionism. Critical approaches include postcolonial,
post-structural, feminist, postmodern and posthumanist theories

Equality

everyone receives the same support

Equity

People receive the support they need to access the same opportunities; removing systemic barriers is the deeper goal

Limits of theory

Theories simplify reality and may leave things out or overemphasise certain factors; no theory explains everything

Neoliberalism in education prioritises

Market choice, privatisation, standardised testing, school effectiveness and improvement measures.

Neoliberalism shifts education away from

Collective democratic service towards individualism, education as a public good towards a commodity, and social purposes towards economic reform

Official curriculum

The formal, explicit syllabus: lessons, content, learning outcomes and assessment

Enacted curriculum

What students actually experience through what teachers say and do and through teacher-student interactions

Null curriculum

Knowledge or perspectives that are left out or not taught