Notesale: Turn your study into money

Document Preview

Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above

---

UNIT 2: EDUCATION TOPICS
Unit 2: Education
One:

The Social Construction of Educational Institutions
Relations and Processes within Schools

Two:

Who Does What? Differential Achievement
Class
Ethnicity
Gender

Three:

Social Policies
Theories About Education Policies
New Labour and Education Policies

Four:

Systems (Theories)
New Right Theories
Functionalist Theories
Marxist Theories

Interactionist Theories
Feminist Theories

Introduction
Education is a major social institution, and schools in
Britain command a captive audience of virtually all
children between the ages of 5 and 16
...
School is
therefore a major agency of secondary socialization in
advanced industrial societies
...

Therefore they are likely to create ANTISCHOOL SUBCULTURES
...
Therefore there is a LONG
SHADOW OF WORK
over
education
...
This hidden curriculum
teaches them the rules they will have to
conform to if employers are to take them
on
...

Boys are more likely to be anti-school than girls are
because school is too matriarchal
...


Working class children are most likely to
be anti-school, not because they are unintelligent, but because they resist the middle class culture of the school
...
They are not
only good things in themselves, but give
pupils the self-discipline and sense of
COMPETITION they will need in life
...

But they are also struck by the variety of
pupil responses to what happens in
school
...


Working class pupils are more likely to be
anti-school than are middle class pupils
because they are likely to be the least intelligent pupils
...


Working class pupils are most likely to be
anti-school, not because of their abilities
or their culture, but because of the labels
that teachers pin on them
...
They are
PATRIARCHAL in the
ways girls are labelled by teachers and by boys
...

And senior posts beyond primary school are male-dominated
...
These affect their identities and choice of subjects
...


4

ONE: THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
Evidence: Teacher Pupil Relationships
What are the effects of Labelling by teachers?
To label someone is to attach a meaning or definition to them
...

Studies show that teachers often attach such labels regardless of the pupil's actual ability or
attitude
...

A number of studies of labelling have been carried out by interactionist sociologists
...
They are interested in how people attach labels to one another,
and the effects that this has on those who are labelled
...
Based on
interviews with 60 Chicago high school teachers, he found that they judged pupils according to how closely they fitted an image of the 'ideal pupil'
...

The teachers saw children from middle-class backgrounds as the closest to the ideal, and
lower working-class children as furthest away from it because they regarded them as badly
behaved
...
Counsellors
play an important role in deciding which students will get on to courses that prepare them
for higher education
...
Although they claimed to judge students according to their ability, in
practice they judged them largely on the basis of their social class and/or race
...
He found that the teacher used information
about children's home background and appearance to place them in separate groups,
seating each group at a different table
...
She
seated these at the table nearest to her and showed them greatest encouragement
...
They were given lowerlevel books to read and fewer opportunities to demonstrate their abilities For example,
they had to read as a group, not as individuals
...
Rachel Sharp and Tony Green (1975) studied
Mapledene, a 'child-centred’ primary school where children were allowed to choose activities for themselves and develop at their own pace The teachers felt that when a child was
ready to learn they would seek help, for example with reading
...
Other studies show that labelling can be applied not just to pupils, but also
to the knowledge they are taught
...

The comprehensive school classes she observed were streamed by ability, but all
streams followed the same humanities course and covered the same course content
...

The 'less able' C stream pupils, on the other hand, were given descriptive, commonsense, low status knowledge, related more to everyday experience
...

A more recent study by David Gillborn and Deborah Youdell (2001) shows how
schools use teachers' notions of 'ability' to decide which pupils have the potential to
achieve five A*-C grade GCSEs They found that working-class and black pupils are
less likely to be perceived as having ability, and more likely to be placed in lower
sets and entered for lower-tier GCSEs
...


What is the self fulfilling prophecy?
A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that comes true simply by virtue of it
having been made
...
g
...
g
...

Step 2: The teacher treats the pupil accordingly, acting as if the prediction is already true (e
...
by giving him more attention and expecting a higher standard of
work from him)
...
He gains confidence tries harder and
is successful
...


6

ONE: THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
Evidence: Teacher Pupil Relationships
What is the self fulfilling prophecy?
Teachers’ expectations
In their study of Oak community school, a California primary school, Robert Rosenthal and Leonora Jacobson (1968) show the self-fulfilling prophecy at work
...
This was untrue, because the test was in fact simply a standard IQ test
...

The researchers tested all the pupils, but then picked 20% of them purely at random
and told the school, again falsely, that the test had identified these children as
'spurters'
...
The effect was
greater on younger children
...
The teachers had then conveyed these beliefs to the pupils through the way they interacted with them - for example,
through their body language and the amount of attention and encouragement they
gave them
...
The fact that
the children were selected at random strongly suggests that if teachers believe a pupil to be of a certain type, they can actually make him or her into that type
...

The self-fulfilling prophecy can also produce under-achievement
...
They may come to see themselves as failures

What is streaming?

Streaming involves separating children into different ability groups or classes called 'streams'
...
Studies show
that the self-fulfilling prophecy is particularly likely to occur when children are streamed
...
They
tend to see them as lacking ability and have low expectations of them
...

By contrast, middle-class pupils tend to benefit from streaming
...
As a result, they develop
a more positive self-concept, gain confidence, work harder and improve their grades
...


7

Evidence: The Organisation of Teaching and Learning
What are the effects of streaming and setting?
Why are pupils streamed or put into sets?

Ensures that all pupils get the education that’s right for them

Ensures most able are not held back

Ensures that weakest get more attention

Ensures that pupils can be prepared for different levels of exams
...
Evidence from Tikly (2006) shows
how A
...

What are the effects of streaming and setting on the pupil? Research by Hallam et al
(2004) points to the following:

Self fulfilling prophecy
...


Creates feelings of inferiority or superiority
...


Social adjustment, social attitudes and attitudes to peers of different ability were
healthier among children in non streamed classes

Polarises pro and anti school attitudes
...

However 2 studies by Sukhnandan & Lee (1998), and Ireson & Hallam (2001)
found that streaming and setting had very little effect on the attainment levels of pupils
...
Losers are ethnic minorities (W
...
C) and working class
...
Teaching tends to be differentiated to engage the weaker ones and stretch
and challenge the most able
...


Equality of opportunity
...
In state schools, part of this curriculum-the National Curriculum is laid
down by the government
...

The hidden curriculum involves messages and ideas that schools do not directly teach but
which are part and parcel of the normal routines and procedures of the organization
...
They appear as
commonsense, in total, as an ethos reinforced by all of the schools managers, teachers and
processes
...
Pupil subcultures often emerge as a response to the way pupils have been labelled, and in particular as a reaction to streaming
...
We can use Colin Lacey's (1970) concepts of differentiation and polarisation to explain how pupil subcultures develop
...
Streaming is a form of differentiation, since it categorises pupils into separate classes
...


■

Polarisation, on the other hand, is the process in which pupils respond to streaming by moving towards one of two opposite 'poles' or extremes
...

The pro-school subculture
Pupils placed in high streams (who are largely middle-class) tend to remain committed
to the values of the school
...
Their values are those of the school: they tend to form a proschool subculture
...

This label of failure pushes them to search for alternative ways of gaining status
...

Such pupils form an anti-school subculture as a means of gaining status among their
peers, for example by cheeking a teacher, truanting, not doing homework, smoking,
drinking or stealing
...
As Lacey says,
'the boy who takes refuge in such a group because his work is poor finds that the
group commits him to a behaviour pattern which means that his work will stay
poor — and in fact often gets progressively worse'
...


10

What are the effects of the hidden curriculum on pupil subcultures?
Lacey's study is a striking example of the power of labelling and streaming to actually
create failure
...

Once there, however, the competitive atmosphere and streaming meant that many
boys were soon labelled as failures, and many showed extreme physical reactions such
as bed-wetting and insomnia
...

David Hargreaves (1967) found a similar response to labelling and streaming in a
secondary modern school
...

One solution to this status problem was for pupils to seek each other out and form a
group within which high status went to those who flouted the school's rules
...

Stephen Ball (1981) takes the analysis a step further in his study of Beachside, a comprehensive that was in the process of abolishing banding (a type of streaming) in favour of teaching mixed-ability groups
...

Nevertheless, although pupil polarisation all but disappeared, differentiation continued
...

This positive labelling was reflected in their better exam results, suggesting that a
self-fulfilling prophecy had occurred
...

Since Ball's study, and especially since the Education Reform Act (1988), there has
been a trend towards more streaming and towards a variety of types of school, some
of which have a more academic curriculum than others
...

The variety of pupil responses
Pro- and anti-school subcultures are two possible responses to labelling and streaming
...
These include:





ingratiation: being the 'teacher's pet'
ritualism:
going through the motions and staying out of trouble
retreatism: daydreaming and mucking about
rebellion:
outright rejection of everything the school stands for
...


11

Sewell: the variety of boys'" responses
Like Mirza, Tony Sewell (1998) examines the responses and strategies black pupils adopt
to cope with racism
...
one effect of this stereotyping is that black boys are more likely to be
excluded from school
...


the rebels
The most visible and influential group, but they were only a small minority of black pupils
...
They rejected both the goals and the rules of the
school and expressed their opposition through peer group membership, conforming to the
stereotype of the 'black macho lad'
...
They were contemptuous of white boys, who they saw as effeminate, and dismissive of conformist black
boys
...
These boys were keen to succeed, accepted the
school's goals and had friends from different ethnic groups
...


the retreatists
The retreatists were a tiny minority of isolated individuals who were disconnected from both
school and black subcultures, and were despised by the rebels
...
Like Fuller's girls, they were pro-education
but anti-school
...
This distanced them from the
conformists and allowed them to maintain credibility with the rebels while remaining
positive about academic achievement'
Sewell shows that only a small minority fit the stereotype of the 'black macho lad'
...
Furthermore, many of the
boys' negative attitudes are themselves a response to this racism
...
These include low aspirations and the absence of fathers as role models in some black families
...


Evaluation of labelling and pupil responses
Rather than blaming the child's home background, as cultural deprivation theory does,
labelling theory shows how teachers' Stereotypes can be a cause of failure
...
Factors outside the classroom or individual school, such as the influence of role models in the family and media, also play a part, as
may government and school educational policies
...

There is also a danger of assuming that once labelled, pupils automatically fall victim to the
self-fulfilling prophecy and fail
...


12

The Limitations of Labelling Theory
The approaches we have examined start from the idea that under-achievement is the
result of pupils being negatively labelled
...

These studies are useful in showing how the interactions within schools actively create
class inequalities
...

Nevertheless, labelling theory has been accused of determinism
...
However, studies such as Mary Fuller's (1984) show that this is not always
true
...
Labelling theory tends to blame teachers for labelling
pupils, but fails to explain why they do so
...


13

What is marketization and selection?
So far, we have focused on small scale, 'micro' level processes within classrooms and
schools, such as labelling, the self-fulfilling prophecy and streaming
...
Such policies include
marketisation and selection
...




Exam league tables that rank each school according to its exam performance
and make no allowance for the level of ability of its pupils
...




Competition among schools to attract pupils
...
For
example, schools need to achieve a good league table position if they are to attract
pupils and funding
...
This is a system in which schools ration their time, effort and resources,
concentrating them on those pupils they perceive as having the potential to get five
grade Cs at GCSE and so boost the school's league table position
...
Triage literally means
'sorting'
...

Medics have to sort casualties into three categories: (1) the 'walking wounded', who
can be ignored because they will survive; (2) those who will die anyway, who will also
be ignored, and (3) those with a chance of survival, who are given treatment in the
hope of saving them
...
Schools categorise pupils into 'those who will pass anyway', 'those with potential' and 'hopeless cases'
...
As a result, they are likely to be classified as 'hopeless
cases' and ignored
...

Gillborn and Youdell's notion of 'triage' or sorting is very similar to Lacey's idea of differentiation, since both involve labelling and treating pupils differently
...

However, Gillborn and Youdell put the labelling and streaming process into a wider
context than simply individual teachers or schools
...


14

Stretch and Challenge

STRETCHING EXERCISE

Which theory is best at explaining what
goes on in school? Explain your answer
...
, AQA Sociology AS
(2008), page 138-142

Stephen Moore et al
...
, AS Level Sociology (2008), page 102-107
John J
...

Understand the difference between internal and external factors affecting
achievement
...

Understand and be able to evaluate internal factors including labeling, self
fulfilling prophecy, setting and streaming, the curriculum, pupil subcultures and
marketisation and selection
...


16

TWO: DIFFERENTIAL ACHIEVEMENT
Issue - What are sociologists trying to explain?

These are the
sorts of
issues that the
exam board
will ask you
about
...
When sociologists look at
educational achievement, however, they find that there are
distinct patterns, It seems that ability and motivation are closely
linked to membership of certain social groups
...
The issue was
initially considered by sociologists solely in terms of class, as they
attempted to explain the huge class differences that existed between schools within the tripartite system
...


What are internal and external factors?

Internal factors
These are factors within schools and the education system, such as interactions between pupils and
teachers, and inequalities between schools
...


17

TWO: DIFFERENTIAL ACHIEVEMENT: SOCIAL CLASS (A)
Issue - What are sociologists trying to explain?
By the end of this section you should understand the
following issues
Why do working class children underachieve compared to middle class
children?
Are differences between the classes changing?
What attempts have been made raise the achievement levels of the lower
social classes?
Is education contributing to social mobility?

How do pupils’ responses affect their identities and achievements?

Introduction
Children from middle-class families on average perform better
than working-class children, and the class gap in achievement
grows wider as children get older
...


Middle-class or non-manual occupations
traditionally include professionals such as
doctors or teachers, together with managers and other ‘white collar’ office workers
and owners of businesses
...
You
may find more comprehensive statistics
on the internet (ONS) Google ‘Social
Trends’
...

Sociology in Focus (Page 100) has an
activity which may be useful
...
p93
...

Second, working class children suffer from
CULTURAL DEPRIVATION: that is, they live for the
moment, don't respect education, and often don't
have the SPEECH CODES and LANGUAGE SKILLS
needed to do well in school
...
This is
the essence of Functionalist analysis
...


Working class children lose out because
they lack cultural capital, because of the
effects of secondary stratification and because they resist education
...


STARTING FROM INDIVIDUALS

NEW RIGHT

INTERACTIONISM

Recognise class differences in educational
achievement, but aren't too concerned
about them
...


Working class children do worse than
middle class children because they are less
intelligent and less committed
...
Anti-poverty
programmes and compensatory education
are therefore not worth the expense
...

Though some resist the
labels, for many the SELF-FULFULLING
PROPHECY takes place
...


FEMINISM
Feminists think gender differences are the most important
...


But they do recognise that

19

Evidence About Class Differences in Education - EXTERNAL
FACTORS: MATERIAL DEPRIVATION
What is material deprivation and how does it affect educational attainment?
Financial support and the costs of education
Poverty is closely linked to educational under-achievement
...



According to Jan Flaherty (2004), money problems in the family were a significant
factor in younger chidren’s non- attendance at school
...
Children excluded from school are unlikely to return to mainstream education, while a third of all
persistent truants leave school with no qualifications
...
There is a close link between poverty and social class
...
Factors such as these can affect their children’s
education in several ways
...
David Bull (1980) refers to this as ‘the costs of free schooling’
...
As a result, poor children may have to make do with hand- me-downs and
cheaper but unfashionable equipment, and this may result in being stigmatized or bullied
by peers
...
For example,
overcrowding can have a direct effect by making it harder for the child to study
...

For young children especially, development can be impaired through lack of space for safe
play and exploration
...

Poor housing can also have indirect effects, notably on the child’s health and welfare
...
Cold or damp housing
can also cause ill health, especially respiratory illnesses
...
Such health problems
mean more absences from school
...
Poor nutrition affects health, for example by weakening the
immune system and lowering children’s energy levels
...

Children from poorer homes are also more likely to have emotional or behavioural problems
...


20

Evidence About Class Differences in Education - EXTERNAL
FACTORS CULTURAL DEPRIVATION & CULTURAL CAPITAL
What is cultural deprivation and how does it affect educational attainment?

for





as l

Intellectual development
Language
Attitudes and values
...
They claim that the language used in lower-class homes is deficient
...

As a result, their children fail to develop the necessary language skills
...
Because of this, they are unable to take advantage of the opportunities that school offers
...
He distinguishes between two
types of speech code:
The restricted code is the speech code typically used by the working class
...

Speech is predictable and may involve only a single word, or even just a gesture instead
...
The restricted code is context-bound: that is, the speaker assumes
that the listener shares the same set of experiences
...
It has a wider vocabulary and is
based on longer, grammatically more complex sentences
...
The elaborated code is context-free: the speaker does not assume
that the listener shares the same experiences, and so s/he uses language to spell out his or
her meanings explicitly for the listener
...
This is because the elaborated code is the language
used by teachers, textbooks and exams
...

Early socialisation into the elaborated code means that middle-class children are already fluent
users of the code when they start school
...
By contrast, working-class children, lacking the code in which schooling takes place,
are likely to feel excluded and to be less successful
...
However, unlike most cultural deprivation theorists, Bernstein recognises that the school - and not just the home - influences children's achievement
...


How Might the development of thinking & reasoning skills differ between
social classes?

J
...
B
...
He argues that this is because workingclass parents are less likely to support their children’s intellectual development through reading with them or other educational activities in the home
...

They found that the way mothers think about and choose toys has an influence on their children’s intellectual development
...


22

How do values & attitudes relate to educational attainment?
Cultural deprivation theorists argue that parents' attitudes and values are a key factor affecting educational achievement
...
They visited schools less often and
were less likely to discuss their children's progress with teachers
...

Similarly, Leon Feinstein (1998) found that working-class parents' lack of interest was
the main reason for their children's under-achievement and was even more important than
financial hardship or factors within school
...

Cultural deprivation theorists argue that lack of parental interest in their children's education reflects the subcultural values of the working class
...
According to cultural deprivation theorists, large sections of the working class have different goals, beliefs, attitudes and
values from the rest of society and this is why their children fail at school
...
He argues that the values and beliefs of lowerclass subculture are a 'self-imposed barrier' to educational and career success
...
They are less willing to
make the sacrifices involved in staying on at school and leave early to take manual work
...

Barry Sugarman (1970) argues that working-class sub-culture has four key features that
act as a barrier to educational achievement:


Fatalism: a belief in fate — that ‘whatever will be, will be’ and there is nothing
you can do to change your status
...




Collectivism: valuing being part of a group more than succeeding as an individual
...




Immediate gratification: seeking pleasure now rather than making sacrifices in order to get rewards in the future
...




Present-time orientation: seeing the present as more important than the future
and so not having long-term goals or plans
...


Working-class children internalise the beliefs and values of their subculture through the socialisation process and this results in them under-achieving at school
...
This encourages ambition, long- term planning and a willingness to invest time
and effort in gaining qualifications
...
There are few promotion
opportunities and earnings peak at an early age
...
Middle-class values equip children for success,
whereas working-class values fail to do so
...
He uses the concept of 'capital' to explain
why the middle class are more successful
...
These are 'educational capital' or qualifications, and 'cultural capital'
...



Cultural capital

Bourdieu uses the term cultural capital to refer to the knowledge, attitudes, values, language,
tastes and abilities of the middle class
...
Like Bernstein, he argues that through
their socialisation, middle-class children acquire the ability to grasp, analyse and express abstract
ideas
...

This gives middle-class children an advantage in school, where such abilities and interests are
highly valued and rewarded with qualifications
...

By contrast, working-class children find that school devalues their culture as 'rough' and inferior
...
Many working-class pupils also 'get the message' that education is not meant for them and respond by truanting, early leaving or just not
trying
...

For example, middle-class children with cultural capital are better equipped to meet the demands of the school curriculum and gain qualifications
...
As Dennis Leech and Erick Campos' (2003) study of Coventry shows,
middle-class parents are also more likely to be able to afford a house in the catchment area of a
school that is highly placed in the exam league tables
...

Alice Sullivan (2001) used questionnaires to conduct a survey
of 465 pupils in four schools
...
She also tested their vocabulary and knowledge of
cultural figures
...

The pupils with the greatest cultural capital were children of graduates
...

However, although successful pupils with greater cultural capital were more likely to be middleclass, Sullivan found that cultural capital only accounted for part of the class difference in
achievement
...
Sullivan concludes that the greater resources and aspirations of middle-class
families explain the remainder of the class gap in achievement
...
Since the creation of
an 'education market' by the 1988 Education Reform Act, sociologists have been interested
in the effect of increased parental choice that the Act introduced
...
Her study of 14 London schools is based on interviews with
teachers and parents, and on secondary data such as school documents
...

Gewirtz found that differences in economic and cultural capital lead to class differences in
how far parents can exercise choice of secondary school
...

Privileged – skilled choosers: These were mainly professional middle-class parents who
used their economic and cultural capital to gain educational capital for their children
...

These parents possessed cultural capital
...
They understood the importance of putting a particular school as first
choice, meeting deadlines, and using appeals procedures and waiting lists to get what they
wanted
...

Their economic capital also meant they could afford to move their children around the education system to get the best deal out of it, for example by paying extra travel costs so that
their children could attend 'better' schools out of their area
...

They found it difficult to understand school admissions procedures
...
Many of them attached more importance to
safety and the quality of school facilities than to league tables or long-term ambitions
...
Their funds
were limited and a place at the local comprehensive was often the only realistic option for
their children
...
However, they too lacked
cultural capital and found it difficult to make sense of the education market, often having to
rely on other people’s opinions about schools
...

Gewirtz concludes that middle-class families with cultural and economic capital are better
placed to take advantage of the available opportunities for a good education
...

As Geoff Whitty (1998) notes, marketisation has not led to more opportunities for working
-class children
...


25
45

The myth of cultural deprivation
Nell Keddie (1973) describes cultural deprivation as a ‘myth’ and sees it as a victim- blaming
explanation
...
She points out that a child cannot be deprived of its own culture and
argues that working-class children are simply culturally different, not culturally deprived
...
Keddie argues that rather than seeing working-class culture as deficient,
schools should recognise and build on its strengths and should challenge teachers’ antiworking class prejudices
...
Teachers have a ‘speech hierarchy’: they label
middle-class speech highest, followed by working-class speech and finally black speech
...
According to Tessa Blackstone and Jo Mortimore (1994), they attend fewer parents’ evenings, not because of a lack of interest, but because they work longer or less regular
hours or are put off by the school’s middle-class atmosphere
...
There is also evidence that
schools with mainly working-class pupils have less effective systems of parent-school contacts
...

Finally, some critics argue that compensatory education schemes act as a smokescreen concealing the real cause of under-achievement, namely social inequality and poverty
...


What attempts have been made to combat material & cultural deprivation?

Compensatory education is a policy designed to tackle the problem of cultural deprivation by
providing extra resources to schools and communities in deprived areas
...

The best known example of such programmes is Operation Head Start in the United States, a
multi-billion dollar scheme of pre-school education in poorer areas introduced in the 1960s
...
It included improving parenting skills, setting up nursery classes,
home visits by health visitors and educational psychologists, and the creation of intensive learning
programmes for deprived children
...
These included the importance of punctuality, numeracy,
literacy and general knowledge
...
Educational Priority Areas were created in the 1960s
...
Although it also has non-educational goals such as
improving children's health, Sure Start has similarities to earlier compensatory education programmes
...

Explain your answer
...
, AQA Sociology AS (2008), pages 143-151
Stephen Moore et al
...
, AS Level Sociology (2008), pages 92-111
Ken Browne, Sociology for AS AQA (2008), pages 357-381
John J
...
Research from the Institute of Education’s centre
for longitudinal studies suggests that social class remains a major factor in determining life
chances
...
The report says that education provides an avenue for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, but their peers from
advantaged families gain even more from school
...
’ For children from disadvantaged backgrounds, the die is
cast by the time they reach the third year of secondary schools, when they may have already
started to truant
...
Student applicants from the upper social classes are more likely to be admitted to the London School of Economics than any other university, the latest official statistics reveal
...

The figures have emerged as two Oxford academics reiterate their calls to abolish the interview
system at the Oxbridge universities, after research showed that half of all independent school students attaining three A grades at A-level ended up at Oxbridge universities, compared to just under a third of those with the same grades from state schools
...


(2 marks)

(2)

Suggest three reasons why students from the upper social classes and those who have
attended independent schools are more likely to gain places at elite universities such as
LSE and Oxbridge, even when they have the same A-level grades as students from state
schools
...

(12 marks)

(4)

Using information from Items A and B and elsewhere, assess the view that factors within
schools are the greatest influence on social-class differences in educational achievement
...
g
...
g
...
Just as we can think of everyone as belonging to a class, so too we can see individuals as being part of an ethnic group - whether a minority or a majority group
...
When we use terms such as customs, language and religion, we are talking
about culture - that is, about all those things, that are learned, shared and valued by a
social group’
...
For example, should all 'Asians' be classified together - when this would
include people of many different nationalities, religions and languages?
It is a mistake to think of ethnic groups as always being defined by physical features such as skin colour
...
However, it
happens that the largest minority groups in Britain are
non-white: mainly of African, Caribbean or south Asian
origin
...
According to David Crystal (2003), well over
100 languages are in routine use in the UK
...


30

How does ethnicity relate to educational achievement?
We can see from the graph that there are inequalities in the
educational achievements of different ethnic groups
...

However, there are significant variations among Asians
...

There are also important gender and class differences within
and between ethnic groups'
...

Similarly, within each ethnic group, middle-class children do
better than working-class children
...
However when we look more closely, we find major class differences in their
performance, with many working-class white pupils performing at a lower level than that of other ethnic Groups
...
You could
bring some of these to the lesson / or ask students to research this in their own time
...
(Sociology in Focus) has some good activities (p
...





Material deprivation
Cultural deprivation
Racism in wider society

Internal factors
These are factors within schools and the education system, such as interactions between pupils and
teachers, and inequalities between schools
...

It depends how closely their
culture fits that of the school
...
Therefore, argue the Marxists, they
underachieve for class-based reasons
...


But they have the additional disadvantage
of facing an ETHNOCENTRIC CURRICULUM biased
against
them
and
INSTITUTIONAL RACISM
...


NEW RIGHT

STARTING FROM SYSTEMS

FUNCTIONALISM

INTERACTIONISM

Achievement also depends on how strongly pupils want to achieve
...
Teachers
label Afro-Caribbeans, especially the boys,
as disruptive and label Asians as
incapable
...


Some ethnic minority pupils do better than
White pupils
...
It depends
on intelligence
...


The problems are made worse by an
ETHNOCENTRIC CURRICULUM (which
itself labels ethnic minority cultures as
inferior), & INSTITUTIONAL RACISM
...

The differences seem particularly striking among Afro-Caribbean pupils where girls do significantly better than boys
...


32

Evidence About Ethnic Differences in Education EXTERNAL FACTORS
How might material deprivation relate to educational achievement?
Material deprivation explanations see educational failure as resulting from factors such as substandard
housing and low income
...
For example, according
to Flaherty (2004):






How might factors
‘outside’ the school
influence educational
achievement?

Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are over three times more
likely than whites to be in the poorest fifth of the population
...

15% of ethnic minority households live in overcrowded conditions, compared with only 2% of white households
...
Ethnic minority workers are more likely to be engaged in shift work
...
50 per hour
...

These inequalities parallel those seen in educational achievement
...
The material deprivation explanation argues that
such class differences explain why Bangladeshi and Pakistani pupils tend to do worse than
Indian and white pupils
...
lf
we fail to take the different class positions of ethnic groups into account when we compare
their educational achievements, there is a danger that we may over-estimate the effect of
cultural deprivation and under-estimate the effect of poverty and material
deprivation
...
When we compare pupils of the same social class but different ethnic origins,
we still find differences in achievement
...
The explanation has three main aspects:

intellectual and linguistic skills

attitudes and values

family structure
...


33

Intellectual and linguistic skills
Cultural deprivation theorists see the lack of intellectual and linguistic skills as a major
cause of under-achievement for many minority children
...

Bereiter and Engelmann consider the language spoken by low-income black American
families as inadequate for educational success
...

Likewise, Gordon Bowker (1968) identifies their lack of Standard English as a major barrier to progress in
education and integration into wider society
...
However, the Swann Report (1985) found that language was not a major factor in under — achievement, while David Gillborn and Heidi Safia Mirza (2000) note
that Indian pupils do very well despite often not having English as their home language
...
Most other children are socialised into the mainstream culture, which instills
ambition, competitiveness and willingness to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve longterm goals
...
By contrast, cultural deprivation
theorists argue, some black children are socialised into a subculture that instills a fatalistic,
'live for today' attitude that does not value education and leaves them unequipped for success
...
For example, Daniel Moynihan (1965) argues
that because many black families are headed by a lone mother, their children are deprived
of adequate care because she has to struggle financially in the absence of a male breadwinner
...
Moynihan sees cultural deprivation as a cycle where inadequately socialised
children from unstable families go on to fail at school and become inadequate parents
themselves
...
For example, Charles Murray (1984)
argues that a high rate of lone parenthood and a lack of positive male role models lead to
the under-achievement of some minorities
...
From a comparison of black and Asian pupils, he claims
that Asians are higher achievers because their culture is more resistant to racism and gives
them a greater sense of self-worth
...
As a result, many black pupils have low self-esteem
and under-achieve
...
Asian parents have more positive attitudes towards education, and higher aspirations
for their children's future, and as a result are more supportive
...
She found that respectful behaviour towards
adults was expected from children
...

However, some sociologists see the Asian family as an obstacle to success, despite the high
levels of achievement of some Asian minorities
...


34

How might Racism in wider society relate to educational achievement?

While material deprivation and poverty has an impact on the educational achievement of some ethnic minority children, some sociologists argue that poverty is itself the product of another factor namely, racism
...

John Rex (1986) shows how racial discrimination leads to social exclusion and how this worsens the
poverty faced by ethnic minorities
...

In employment, too, there is evidence of direct and deliberate discrimination
...
In terms of both the number and the helpfulness of replies, the
companies were more encouraging to the 'white' candidate
...


What is the relationship between Ethnicity, class & gender?
Gillian Evans (2006) argues that, to understand the relationship between ethnicity and
achievement, we need to look at how ethnicity interacts with gender and class
...
By contrast, when they examine white children's achievement, the focus
is on their class rather than their culture and ethnicity
...

One example of the ways in which ethnicity intersects with gender to affect achievement is Paul
Connolly’s (1998) study of five and six year olds in a multi-ethnic inner-city primary school
...
On the one hand, Connolly found that teachers saw black boys as disruptive
under-achievers and controlled them by punishing them more and by channelling their energies
into sport
...

On the other hand, teachers saw Asian pupils as passive and conformist
...
Other boys picked on them to assert their own masculinity and excluded them from
playing football
...
Studies such as those by Evans and Connolly show that we
cannot consider ethnicity in isolation from gender and class when explaining differences in
achievement
...
Ethnicity comes next
...


35

Evidence About Ethnic Differences in Education INTERNAL FACTORS
How might Labelling & teacher racism relate to educational achievement?
According to Gillborn and Youdell (2000), in one local
education authority African Caribbean children were the
highest achievers on entry to primary school, yet by the
time it came to GCSE, they had the worst results of any
ethnic group
...
These internal factors include:






Labelling and teacher racism
Pupil responses and subcultures
The ethnocentric curriculum
Institutional racism
Selection and segregation
...
Their studies show that teachers often see black and Asian pupils as being far
from the 'ideal pupil'
...
Negative labels may lead teachers to treat ethnic minority pupils differently
...

Result of teachers' 'radicalized expectations'
...
When teachers acted on this misperception, the pupils responded
negatively and further conflict resulted
...
Gillborn and Youdell conclude that much of the conflict between white teachers and black pupils stems from the racial stereotypes teachers hold, rather than the pupils' actual behaviour
...
As Jenny Bourne
(1994) found, schools tend to see black boys as a threat and to label them negatively, leading eventually to exclusion
...
She found that despite the schools apparent commitment to equal opportunities, teachers held ethnocentric views: that is, they took for
granted that British culture and Standard English were superior
...
For example, teachers assumed they would
have a poor grasp of English and left them out of class discussions or used simplistic, childish language when speaking to them
...
In general, teachers saw them not as a threat (unlike black pupils), but as a problem they could ignore
...


36

How might pupil responses & subcultures relate to ethnicity and
educational attainment?
Research shows that pupils can respond to labelling and racism in a variety of ways
...
Alternatively, pupils may refuse to accept
the label and even decide to prove it wrong by working extra hard
...


Fuller and Mac an Ghaill: rejecting negative labels
Mary Fuller's (1984) study of a group of black girls in year 11 of a London
comprehensive school
...

Fuller describes how, instead of accepting negative stereotypes of themselves,
the girls channelled their anger about being labelled into the pursuit of
educational success
...
Nor did they
limit their choice of friends to other academic achievers
...

Also unlike other successful pupils, they conformed only as far as the schoolwork itself was concerned
...
They had a positive attitude to academic success
but, rather than seeking the approval of teachers, they preferred to rely on their own efforts and the
impartiality of external exams
...
They were able to maintain a positive self-image by relying on
their own efforts rather than accepting the teachers' negative stereotype of them
...
Firstly, pupils may still succeed even when they refuse to
conform
...
These girls were able to reject
the labels placed on them and they remained determined to succeed
...

Mairtin Mac an Ghaill's (1992) study of black and Asian 'A' level students at a sixth form college
reached similar conclusions
...
How they responded depended on factors such as their ethnic group and
gender and the nature of their former schools
...
As with Fuller's study, this research shows that a label does not
inevitably produce a self-fulfilling prophecy
...
However, the
girls in Mirza's study failed to achieve their ambitions because their coping strategies restricted their
opportunities and resulted in under-achievement
...
For example, teachers discouraged them
from aspiring to professional careers
...

Mirza identifies three main types of teacher racism
...


The liberal chauvinists: teachers who believe black pupils are culturally deprived and who have
low expectations of them
...

Much of the girls' time at school was spent trying to avoid the effects of teachers' negative attitudes
...
However, although the girls had high self-esteem, these strategies put them at a disadvantage by restricting their opportunities
...


37

The ethnocentric curriculum
The term 'ethnocentric' describes an attitude or policy that gives priority to the culture and viewpoint of one particular ethnic group while disregarding others
...

Miriam David (1993) describes the National Curriculum as a 'specifically British' curriculum that
teaches the culture of the 'host community’, while largely ignoring non-European languages, literature and
music,
Stephen Ball (1994) criticises the National Curriculum for ignoring cultural and ethnic diversity
and for promoting an attitude of 'little Englandism'
...


Institutional racism
Troyna and Williams argue that explanations of ethnic differences in achievement need to go
beyond simply examining individual teacher racism to look at how schools and colleges routinely discriminate against ethnic minorities
...

From this point of view, the ethnocentric curriculum is a prime example of institutional racism
...

Studies of school governing bodies provide further examples of institutional racism
...
In the schools he studied, there were no formal channels of communication
between school governors and ethnic minority parents
...

These examples show that institutional racism may create an environment in which ethnic minority pupils are routinely disadvantaged by a system that disregards their needs
...
This is because selection gives
more scope for negative stereotypes to influence decisions about school admissions
...
Their study focuses on how
selection procedures lead to ethnic segregation, with minority pupils failing to get into better schools
...
For example, they used primary school reports to screen out pupils
with language or learning difficulties, while the application process was difficult for less educated
or non-English speaking parents to understand
...
Moore
and Davenport thus conclude that selection leads to an ethnically stratified education system
...
The
report identifies the following reasons:

reports from primary schools that stereotype minority pupils

racist bias in interviews for school places

lack of information and application forms in minority languages

ethnic minority parents are often unaware of how the waiting list system works and the importance of deadlines
...
Gorse attracted a mainly Asian intake
...
By contrast, Asian parents saw Gorse
as 'safe' and having an academic orientation and firm discipline
...


STRETCHING EXERCISE

Which theory is best at explaining ethnicity and
differential educational achievement
...


Further reading
References on Ethnic Differences in Educational Achievement
Circe Newbold et al
...
, Sociology AS for AQA (2008), pages 214-220
Rob Webb et al
...
Macionis & Ken Plummer, Sociology: A Global Introduction (1997),
page 540
Michael Haralambos & Michael Holborn, Sociology: Themes and Perspectives (5th Edition, 2000), pages 868-880
Chris Livesey & Tony Lawson, AS Sociology for AQA (2005), pages 244-251

39

Exam Questions
Questions on DEA & Ethnicity
Item A
The evidence that many teachers continue to have low expectations of pupils from some ethnic
and linguistic minorities can be found in the impact of largely hidden, day-to-day decisions about
such issues as placement in streamed classes
...

The introduction of tiered GCSE examinations has added new risks of discriminatory decisionmaking at that stage
...

Adapted from Cline, T
...
(2000) Language Needs or Special Needs? The assessment of learning difficulties in literacy among
children learning English as an additional language: a literature review, London: DfEE

Item B

Permanent exclusion rates: by ethnic group, 2001/02

England - Rate per 10 000 pupils
The number of permanent exclusions
per 10 000 pupils (headcount) in
each ethnic group In primary,
secondary and special schools
(excluding dually registered pupils
in special schools) for compulsory
school age
...


(2 marks)

(2)

Suggest three reasons why Black girls tend to do better than Black boys in
education
...

(12 marks)

(4)

Using information from Items A and B and elsewhere, assess the view that
processes in schools themselves are mainly responsible for ethnic differences in
attainment
...
Remember to relate these processes to ethnic differences (rather than say social-class or gender differences) in achievement
...

This could include ethnic differences in rates of exclusion (Item B) and information about teachers’
expectations, streaming and entry for tiered GCSE examinations
...


40

41

DIFFERENTIAL ACHIEVEMENT: GENDER
Issue - What are sociologists trying to explain?
By the end of this section you should understand the
following issues

Why did girls previously underachieve?
Why have girls’ improved?
Why haven’t boys kept up?
How does the behaviour of boys affect girls’ achievements?
What explains the different subject choices of boys & girls?

Introduction
Along with social class and ethnicity, gender has a major impact on people's
experience of education
...
In particular, while both sexes have raised their level
of achievement, girls have now overtaken boys
...

Similarly, there is also
evidence that schooling continues to reinforce differences in gender identity
between boys and girls
...

They did not do quite as well as boys in
exams, and were also less likely to take
A
-levels and enter higher education
...
For example, they do
better at every stage of the National Curriculum
SAT results in English, Maths and
Science, and in all subjects at GCSE and
Alevel
...
With regard to the number
achieving first-class degrees, the gender gap
has remained consistent, with women outperforming men by about 7 percent (Higher Ed- Percentage of pupils achieving five or more GCSE grades
ucation Statistics Agency 2007)
...
A national survey of 6,953 children by the
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority found that girls scored higher in all tests
...
Similarly, 56% of girls could write their own name and spell it correctly, but only 42%
of boys could do so
...

At Key stages 1 to 3, girls do consistently better than boys
...
In science and maths the gap is
much narrower; but girls still do better
...
At AS and A level, girls are more
likely to pass, and to get higher grades, though the gap is narrower than at GCSE
...
8% of girls passed two or more A levels, as against 94% of boys
...
The average A level points score in state schools was
274 for boys, but 295 for girls
...
A
larger proportion of girls achieve distinctions in every subject, including those such as
engineering and construction where girls are a tiny minority of the students
...


What are internal and external factors?
There are a number of reasons for gender differences in achievement
...

Differential socialisation
Changes in the family
The impact of feminism

Internal factors:
Factors within schools and the education system such as:

Schools equal opportunities policies

Positive role models in schools

GCSE and coursework

Teacher attention

Challenging stereotypes in the curriculum

The effects of selection and league tables

43

Theories About DEA & Gender
IMAGES OF SOCIETY
CONSENSUS

CONFLICT

STARTING FROM INDIVIDUALS

MARXISM

Changes in the family and the job market
are the main reasons why girls have
improved and overtaken boys
...


Gender
differences
can
largely
be
explained in the same ways as other class
differences – CULTURAL CAPITAL and
the secondary effects of stratification
favour middle class girls (and boys)
...


Interactionists look to explain why girls
have overtaken boys by focusing on what
goes on in the school
...


But boys have always been the very best
and the very worse
...


Resistance by working class boys (and
girls) causes them to fail
...


FEMINISM
Liberal Feminists tend to adopt a multi-factor theory to explain the improvement in girls’ performance
...
The Feminist political movement has contributed too
...
In addition,
they claim that there is a MORAL PANIC about boys
...
This list combines
EXTERNAL and INTERNAL factors
...
These include the
following:


The 1970 Equal Pay Act makes it illegal to pay women less than men for work of equal value, and the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act outlaws sex discrimination in
employment
...




Some women are now breaking through the 'glass ceiling' - the invisible barrier that keeps
them out of hiqh-level professional and managerial jobs
...
More women are working than ever before and
accessing training and jobs which previous generations would not have considered open
to women,"

These changes have encouraged girls to see their future in terms of paid work rather than as
housewives
...


The Impact of Feminism
Feminism is a social movement that strives for equal rights for women in all areas of life
...

Although feminists argue that we have not yet achieved full equality between the sexes, the feminist movement has had considerable success in improving women's rights and opportunities through
changes in the law
...

These changes are partly reflected in media images and messages
...
In the
1970s, girls' magazines such as Jackie emphasised the importance of getting married and not being
'left on the shelf', whereas nowadays, they contain images of assertive, independent women
...


45

Girls’ Changing Ambitions
The view that changes in the family and employment are producing
changes in girls' ambitions is supported by evidence from sociological
research
...
Her
findings show a major shift in the way girls see themselves and their
future
...
They gave their priorities as love, marriage, husbands, children, jobs and careers, more or less in that order'
...
Sharpe found that girls were now more
likely to see their future as an independent Woman with a career rather than as dependent on their husband and his income
...
Clearly, these aspirations require educational qualifications,
whereas those of the 1970s girls did not
...
These include:


an increase in the divorce rate



an increase in cohabitation and a decrease in the number of first marriages



an increase in the number of lone-parent families (mainly female-headed)



smaller families
...
For
example, increased numbers of female-headed lone-parent families may mean more
women need to take on a breadwinner role
...
To achieve this independence, of course,
women need well-paid jobs and therefore good qualifications
...

Again, this may encourage girls to look to themselves and their own qualifications to make
a living
...
Those who run the system are now much more aware of gender issues and
teachers are more sensitive to the need to avoid gender stereotyping
...

For example, policies such as GIST (Girls into science and
technology) and WISE (Women into science and engineering) encourage girls to pursue careers in these nontraditional areas
...

Similarly, the introduction of the National Curriculum in
1988 removed one source of gender inequality by making girls and boys study mostly the same subjects, which was often not the case previously Alison Kelly (1987) argues that making science part of the compulsory core curriculum for all pupils helps to equalise opportunities
...
Many of the barriers have been removed and schooling
has become more meritocratic (based on equal opportunities) - so that girls, who generally work harder than boys, achieve more
...
These women in positions of authority and seniority may act as role models for
girls, showing them women can achieve positions of importance and giving them nontraditional goals to aim for
...
It could be argued that primary schools
in particular have become 'feminised', with a virtually all-female staff
...
For example, Stephen Gorard (2005) found that the
gender gap in achievement was fairly constant from 1975 until 1988-9, when it increased sharply
...
Gorard concludes that the gender
gap in achievement is a "product of the changed system of assessment rather than
any more general failing of boys"
...
They conclude that girls
are more successful in coursework because they are more conscientious and better organised than boys
...

Mitsos and Browne argue that these factors have helped girls to benefit from
the introduction of coursework in GCSE,
AS and A level
...

Along with GCSE has come the greater
use of oral exams
...


Sociologists argue that these characteristics and skills are the result of early gender
role socialisation in the family
...
These qualities become an advantage in today's
assessment system, helping girls achieve greater success than boys
...

However, Janette Elwood (2005) argues that although coursework has some influence, it is unlikely to be the only cause of the gender gap
...


48

Teacher attention
The way in which teachers interact with boys and girls differs
...
However,
when Jane and Peter French (1993) analysed classroom interaction, they found that the
amount of attention teachers paid to boys and girls for academic reasons was similar
...
Becky Francis (2001) also found that while boys got more attention, they were disciplined more
harshly and felt picked on by teachers, who tended to have lower expectations of them
...
However, they found that the way teachers interacted with girls was
more positive because it focused on schoolwork rather than behaviour
...
Boys dominate in
whole-class discussion, whereas girls prefer pair-work and group-work and are better at
listening-and cooperating
...

This may explain why teachers respond more positively to girls, whom they see as cooperative, than to boys, whom they see as potentially disruptive
...


Challenging stereotypes in the curriculum
Some sociologists argue that the removal of gender stereotypes from textbooks, reading
schemes and other learning materials in recent years has removed a barrier to girls' achievement
...

Gaby Wiener (1995) argues that since the 1980s, teachers have challenged such stereotypes
...
This may have
helped to raise girls' achievement by presenting them with more positive images of what
women can do
...

David Jackson (1998) notes that the introduction of exam league tables, which place a
high value on academic achievement, has improved opportunities for girls: high- achieving
girls are attractive to schools, whereas low-achieving boys are not
...

Roger Slee (1998) argues that boys are less attractive to schools because they are more
likely to suffer from behavioural difficulties and are four times more likely to be excluded
...
They give the school a 'rough, tough' image that deters highachieving girls from applying
...
Recently, however, the gender gap in achievement has given rise to concern about
boys falling behind
...
These include external factors (outside
the education system) such as boys' poorer literacy skills and the decline of traditional
'men's jobs', as well as internal factors (within the education system), such as the feminisation of education, the shortage of male primary school teachers and 'laddish' subcultures
...
This has
been partly the result of the globalisation of the economy, which has led to much manufacturing industry relocating to developing countries such as China to take
advantage of cheap labour
...
Mitsos and Browne claim that this decline in male employment opportunities has led to an
'identity crisis for men'
...
This
undermines their motivation and self-esteem and so
they give up trying to get qualifications
...
Traditionally, most of
these jobs would have been filled by working-class
boys with few if any qualifications - largely because
qualifications were (and are) unnecessary for this
kind of work
...


50

Evidence About Gender Differences in Education
WHY HAVEN’T BOYS KEPT UP?
Internal factors
According to the DCSF (2007), the gender gap is mainly the result of boys' poorer literacy and language skills
...
Another may be that it is mothers who do most of the reading
to young children, who thus come to see it as a feminine activity
...
By contrast, girls tend to have
a 'bedroom culture' centred on staying in and talking with friends
...
In response to this problem, government has introduced a range
of policies to improve boys' skills
...
That is, schools do not nurture 'masculine' traits such
as competitiveness and leadership
...


Like Gorard, Sewell sees coursework as a major cause of gender differences in achievement
...
He argues: "We have
challenged the 1950s patriarchy and rightly
said this is not a man's world
...
"

The increasing lack of strong positive male role models both at home and at school is
said to be a cause of boys' under-achievement
...
5 million female-headed lone parent families in the UK
...
As a result, according to a Yougov (2007) poll, 39% of 8-11 year old boys
have no lessons whatsoever with a male teacher
...

However, recent research suggests that this approach is too simplistic and that the absence of male teachers may not be a major factor in explaining boys' underachievement
...
Similarly, Myhill and
Jones (2006) found that 13-15 year olds felt male teachers treated boys more
harshly
...
Debbie Epstein (1998) examined the way masculinity is
constructed within school
...

This supports Francis' (2001) finding that boys were more concerned than girls about
being labelled by peers as swots, because this label is more of a threat to their masculinity than it is to girls' femininity
...
Non-manual work, and by extension schoolwork, is seen as effeminate and inferior
...
As Epstein observes, 'real boys don't work' - and if they do
they get bullied
...
,
Epstein’s findings on working-class masculinity and schooling parallel those of Mac an
Ghaill and Willis
...
She argues
that this is because, as girls move into traditional masculine areas such as careers, boys
respond by "becoming increasingly laddish in their effort to construct themselves as
non-feminine"
...
Gender role socialisation is the process of learning the behaviour expected of
males and females in society
...
As Fiona Norman (1988) notes,
from an early age, boys and girls are dressed differently, given different toys and encouraged to take part in different activities
...

Schools also play an important part Eileen Byrne (197g) shows that teachers encourage boys to be tough and show initiative and not be weak or behave like sissies
...

As a result of differences in socialisation, boys and girls develop different tastes in
reading
...
Boys read hobby books and information texts, while girls are
more likely to read stories about people
...


Naima Browne and Carol Ross (1991) argue that children's beliefs about 'gender domains' are shaped by their early experiences and the expectations of adults
...
For example, mending a car
is seen as falling within the male gender domain, but looking after a sick child is not
...
For example, when they are set the same mathematical task, girls are
more confident in tackling it when it is presented as being about food and nutrition,
whereas boys are more confident if it is about cars
...
Patricia Murphy (1991) set primary and lower secondary pupils open-ended tasks where they were asked to design boats and vehicles and to write estate agents' adverts for a house
...



Boys designed sports cars and army vehicles, whereas girls designed family
cars
...

This study shows that boys and girls pay attention to different details even
when tackling the same task
...
This helps to explain
why girls choose humanities and arts subjects, while boys choose science
...

Sociologists have tried to explain why some subjects are seen as boys' or girls'
subjects in the first place
...



The examples that teachers use, and those found in textbooks, often draw
on boys' rather than girls' interests and experiences
...


Similarly, Anne Colley (1998) notes that computer studies is seen as a masculine subject for two reasons:


It involves working with machines - part of the male gender domain
...
Tasks tend to be abstract
and teaching styles formal, with few opportunities for group work which,
as we saw earlier, girls tend to favour
...
For example, they are less
likely to see science as a boys' subject
...
Analysing data on
13,000 individuals, she found that, compared to pupils in mixed schools, girls in
girls' schools were more likely to take maths and science A levels, while boys in
boys' schools were more likely to take English and modern languages
...


Subject choice can be influenced by peer pressure
...
For example,
boys tend to opt out of music and dance because such activities fall outside their
gender domain and so are likely to attract a negative response from peers
...
This may explain why girls
are more likely than boys to opt out of sport
...


56

Explaining Gender Differences in Subject Choice
Explanations of changing gender differences in subject choice
By contrast, an absence of peer pressure from the opposite sex may explain why girls
in single-sex schools are more likely to choose traditional boys' subjects
...


An important reason for differences in subject choice is the fact that employment is
highly gendered: jobs tend to be sex-typed as 'men's' or 'women's'
...
Women are concentrated in a narrow range of occupations
...
By contrast, only a sixth of male workers work
in these jobs
...
Thus for example, if boys get the message that nursery nurses
are women, they will be less likely to opt for a career in childcare
...

This also helps to explain why vocational courses are much more gender-specific than
academic courses, since vocational studies are by definition more closely linked to stu-

57

Education and Gender Identity
We have seen how early socialisation into a gender identity strongly influences pupils'
subject preferences
...
These experiences include:


verbal abuse



male peer groups



teachers and discipline



the male gaze



double standards
...


What Connell calls "a rich vocabulary of abuse" is one of the ways in which dominant
gender and sexual identities are reinforced
...
Sue Lees (1986) found that boys
called girls 'slags'
...

Similarly, Paetcher sees name-calling as helping to shape gender identity and maintain male power
...
For example, Andrew Parker
(1996) found that boys were labelled 'gay' simply for being friendly with girls or female teachers
...
Their function is simply to reinforce gender norms
...
For
example, as studies by Epstein and Willis show, boys in anti-school subcultures often
accuse boys who want to do well of being gay or effeminate
Similarly, Mairtin Mac an Ghaill's (1994) study of Parnell School examines how peer
groups reproduce a range of different class-based masculine identities
...
By contrast, the middle-class 'real Englishmen' tried to project an image
of 'effortless achievement' - of succeeding without really trying (though in some cases actually working hard 'on the quiet')
...
This represents a shift away from a
working-class definition based on toughness to a middle-class one based on intellectual ability
...


58

Education and Gender Identity

Research shows that teachers also play a part in reinforcing dominant definitions of
gender identity
...
Teachers tended to ignore boys' verbal abuse of girls and
even blamed girls for attracting it
...
For example, male teachers often have a protective
attitude towards female colleagues, coming into their classes to 'rescue' them by
threatening pupils who are being disruptive
...


There is also a visual aspect to the way pupils control each other's identities
...

Mac an Ghaill sees the male gaze as a
form of surveillance through which dominant heterosexual masculinity is reinforced and femininity devalued
...
Boys who do
not display their heterosexuality in this way run the risk of being labelled gay
...
In the case of gender identity, Sue Lees (1993) identifies a double standard of sexual morality in which boys boast about their own sexual
exploits, but call a girl a 'slag' if she doesn't have a steady boyfriend or if she dresses
and speaks in a certain way
...

Feminists see double standards as an example of a patriarchal ideology that justifies
male power and devalues women
...


59

What is the relationship between gender, class & ethnicity & DEA?

It would be wrong to conclude that boys are a 'lost cause'
...
Boys may now be
lagging behind girls, but boys today are achieving more
than they did in the past
...
For example, a
DfES (2007) study found that the class gap in achievement at GCSE is three times
wider than the gender gap
...
For example, at GCSE in 2006, the gender gap within any given social class
was never greater than 12 percentage points
...
For example, girls
from the highest social class were 44 points ahead of girls from the lowest class
...

Nonetheless, this topic has shown us that girls generally do better than boys - so
gender clearly does influence achievement
...

This may be because pupils define their gender differently
according to their class or ethnicity
...
As Fuller
shows, many black girls are successful at school because
they define their femininity in terms of educational
achievement and independence
...
Similarly, as Willis shows, working-class boys’ definitions of masculinity are often hostile to schooling and contribute to their underachievement
...
As Connolly (2006) suggests, there may be an
'interactions effect' - so that certain combinations of gender,
class and ethnicity have more effect than others
...
By contrast, class differences have more effect in producing performance differences among white pupils than

60

Exam Questions
Questions on DEA & Gender
Item A
Debates about boys and schooling take three main forms
...
‘Poor boys’ stories call for alterations to the curriculum and teaching to favour boys
...
Like ‘poor
boys’ the ‘boys will be boys’ stories call for alterations to teaching to favour boys and, in addition,
seek to use girls to police, teach, control and civilize boys
...

Not all boys are doing worse than girls
...
Rather than spending our
time in handwringing, we must try to understand the complexity of the situation
...

Adapted from Epstein, D
...
(eds) (1999) Gender and Achievement, Milton Keynes: Open University Press

Item B
‘Reports of girls’ GCSE success obscure the true picture,’ says Gillian Plummer
...
’ As a result, the government wants all
education authorities to take action in raising the academic performance of boys
...
We do not have a hierarchy in which girls are positioned in the top 50 per cent and boys in the bottom 50 per cent at
GCSE
...

The majority of boys and girls from socially advantaged families do much better in all subjects at
GCSE than the majority of girls from socially disadvantaged families
...
It is dangerous and inaccurate to imply that all boys underperform and
that all girls do well
...


(2 marks)

(2)

Suggest three ways in which teaching might be altered to favour boys
...


(12 marks)

(4)

Using information from Items A and B and elsewhere, assess sociological explanations
of why girls achieve better results than boys
...

Explain your answer
...
, AQA Sociology AS (2008), pages 153-158
Stephen Moore et al
...
, AS Level Sociology (2008), pages 124-137
Ken Browne, Sociology for AS AQA (2008), pages 381-393
John J
...

Before the industrial revolution in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, there was no
government educational policy or provision of state schools
...
It was provided either by private tutors or fee-paying schools
for the well off, or by the churches and charities for a few of the poor
...

Since then, the state has become increasingly involved in education and its policies now
have a major impact on pupils’ opportunities and achievements
...

Industrialisation increased the need for an educated workforce, and from the late 19th
century the state began to become more involved in education
...
Schooling did little to
change pupils' ascribed status (the position they were born into)
...

By contrast, working-class pupils were given a schooling to equip them with the basic
numeracy and literary skills needed for routine factory work and to instil in them an obedient
attitude to their superiors
...


64

Theories About Educational Policies
IMAGES OF SOCIETY
CONSENSUS

CONFLICT

STARTING FROM SYSTEMS

FUNCTIONALISM

MARXISM

Comprehensive schooling can overcome
some of the problems as long as SETTING
and STREAMING within comprehensives
are retained within a SCHOOL ETHOS
that values everyone
...


What Marxists want is an education system in which pupils and students learn to
challenge existing society
...


Reforms have improved the education
system: meritocracy (whether through a
tripartite system or set and streamed
comprehensives) is best for society;
private schools need to be more
Integrated; and compensatory education
works
...


STARTING FROM INDIVIDUALS

NEW RIGHT

INTERACTIONISM

The education system has needed reform
...


Interactionists advocate DE-SCHOOLING
society
...
They
welcome the diverse forms that education
is now taking
...


If there have to be formal institutions,
then child-centred education is best, rather than imposing rules on children and
labelling them for infringing those rules
...


FEMINISM
Feminists haven’t had much direct impact on government policies
...

Liberal Feminists have supported the reform of teacher-training and changes in teaching resources to make education more girl-friendly
...
Similarly, programmes like
G
...
S
...
(Girls into Science and Technology) are good at promoting girls' interests
...


Policy of free market in education

1870

State provision of education

Aim to raise morals and skills of the working
classes

1880

Compulsory primary education

As above

1880s

Government enquiries about failings of Fear of American and (especially) German
education
competition

1944

Tripartite education system (11+) –
Butler Education Act

Aim to create a meritocracy – that is, a system in which achievement depends on a pupil’s merits

1950s

A few comprehensive schools

Aim to integrate all state pupils into a common system with shared values

1964

Private schools an issue for Labour
Government

Perhaps (it’s debatable) an opportunity to
integrate private schools into the state system

1965

Government circular promoting comprehensives

Pressure put on local authorities

1960s-70s

Growth of comprehensives

Most areas went comprehensive, though
there are still 164 grammar schools in 2009
...
Influence of Marxist
ideas on the role of education in capitalist
societies

1970s

Heyday of child-centred education

Initiatives which came from teacher-training
colleges, rather than from government
...
(Plowden Report)

1971

School-leaving age raised to 16

Aim to increase skills of pupils

1976

Speech by James Callaghan (Prime
Callaghan’s (Prime Minister) speech reflected
Minister 1976-1979) on vocational ed- concern about standards in comprehensive
ucation
schools and reflected industry’s complaints

1979+

Decline of apprenticeships

Apprenticeships considered by some politicians too much of a burden on industry

Late 1970s

Growth of vocational education

Response to perceived economic problems
was a focus on preparation for jobs, e
...

Youth Training Schemes

66

Timeline of Educational Policies, England & Wales
1980s

Assisted Places Scheme

Children from poorer backgrounds given scholarships to private schools

1988

Education Reform Act: marketisation
(competition between schools) -- national
curriculum, SATs, league tables; OFSTED

Aim to make schools behave like businesses, competing in a market; transformation of pupils (and
parents) into consumers; illegal to discriminate
against girls

1988

Private schools don’t have to follow the
national curriculum

Private schools increasingly (up to 2009) choosing
harder A-Levels or International Baccalaureate

1988

Introduction of GCSEs

Abolition of the divide between O-Levels and CSEs

1980s

Schools able to opt out of local authority
control (e
...
Grant Maintained Schools)

Further marketisation

1980s – 90s

Increase in vocationalism within schools
(e
...
GNVQs from 1993)

Further commitment to meeting employers’ needs

1980s - 90s

Multicultural education

Aim to respect and promote the cultures of all ethnic minorities

1990s

Incorporation of colleges

Colleges forced out of local authority control and
made to compete

1990s

Polytechnics and universities merged
(UCAS)

Aim to increase competition in a single market for
higher education

1997

Abolition of Assisted Places Scheme

New Labour ends this Conservative policy

1997+

Continued marketisation; schools removed
from local authority control

Growth of academies (partly financed by private
individuals or companies); growth of faith schools

1997+

Continued emphasis on vocationalism in
education (e
...
through Key Skills)

Government responding to employers’ concerns
about young workers’ lack of basic skills

Late 1990s

Social inclusion npolicies for ethnic minorities

Legal duties of schools to promote equality; help
for Saturday schools

2000

Curriculum 2000: Reform of A-Levels and
introduction of AS

Aim to encourage broader range of subjects studied

2000s

Increase in resources for pupils with special An attempt to integrate all into one system
needs

200s

Gifted and Talented programme

Extra resources for the supposedly gifted and talented

2000s

Compensatory education (e
...
Education
Action Zones)

Intended to tackle poverty and cultural deprivation
in whole localities

2000s

Repeated attempts to break the alleged
academic/vocational divide

Proposals to introduce various pathways, which will
include vocational elements (e
...
Tomlinson Report)

2000s

Aim Higher policies: Government plans to
get 50% of age group into higher education by 2010

Debate about role of education in a Post-Fordist
economy: fewer jobs for workers in assembly-line
production (as in a Ford car factory), so government argues the need for a more skilled workforce

2000s

Introduction of tuition fees; growth of
loans

To increase participation in higher education, university students required to pay more for themselves
...
These were to be identified by the eleven plus (11+)
exam, which was taken by every child at age 11
...
They were for pupils with academic ability who passed the 11+
...


■

Secondary modern schools offered a non-academic, 'practical' curriculum and access
to manual work for pupils who failed the 11+
...


(The third type, technical schools, existed in a few areas only, so in practice it was more a
bipartite than a tripartite system
...
It aimed to
overcome the class divide of the tripartite system and make education more meritocratic
...

However, although there is evidence that comprehensives helped to reduce the class gap in
achievement, the system continued to reproduce class inequality, for two reasons
...

Labelling: as Ball shows, even where streaming is not present, teachers may continue to
label working-class pupils negatively and restrict their opportunities
...

Marketisation refers to the process of introducing market forces of consumer choice and
competition between suppliers into areas run by the state, such as education or the NHS
...
They argue that state control leads to low standards,
inefficiency and lack of choice for parents
...
Schools that provide customers with what they want - such as
success in exams - will thrive, and those that don't will 'go out of business
...
g
...

Some politicians have proposed educational vouchers
...

Similarly, Stephen Ball (1994) and Geoff Whitty (1998) examine how marketisation reproduces and legitimates inequality
...
This allows these schools to be more selective and to recruit high achieving, mainly middle-class pupils
...

For schools with poor league table positions, the opposite applies: they cannot afford to be
selective and have to take less able, mainly working-class pupils, so their results are poorer and they remain unattractive to middle-class parents
...
As a result, popular schools get more funds and so can afford better-qualified teachers and better
facilities
...

On the other hand, unpopular schools lose income and find it difficult to match the teacher
skills and facilities of their more successful rivals
...

The myth of parentocracy
Not only does marketisation reproduce inequality; it also legitimates it by concealing its
true causes and by justifying its existence
...
That is,
the education system seems as if it is based on parents having a free choice of school
...
It makes it appear that all
parents have the same freedom to choose which school to send their children to
...
For example, as Leech and Campos show they can afford to move into the catchment areas of
more desirable schools
...
They believed that
achieving these goals would also make Britain more
competitive in the global economy by turning the nation
into a high skill, high wage society
...
After 1997, Labour governments introduced several policies aimed specifically at reducing inequality in
achievement by targeting support on disadvantaged groups
...


■

The Aim Higher programme to raise the aspirations of groups who are underrepresented in higher education
...


■

A proposal to raise the school leaving age to 18 by 2015, so that there would no longer
be any 16-17 year old ‘Neets' (those 'not in education, employment or training')
...
It is claimed that these policies are of greater benefit to disadvantaged groups
and so help reduce inequality
...

To promote diversity and choice, Labour introduced a number of policies
...
By 2007, about 85% of all secondary schools had become specialist schools
...

There is some evidence that this has raised standards
...
For example, in 2006, 59
...
6% in non-specialist schools
...

Labour has also promoted academies as a policy for raising achievement and plans to have
200 academies by 2010
...
However results have been mixed: in some academies, they have improved,
but in others they have worsened
...
For example, Kenneth Thompson (1992) argues that in postmodern society,
schools can break free from the 'oppressive uniformity' of the old centralised 'one size fits
all' mass education system, where all schools were expected to be the same
...

However, critics of postmodernism argue that it exaggerates the extent of diversity in education
...

Critics also
argue that postmodernism neglects the continuing importance of inequality in education
...
For example, while EMAs may encourage
working-class students to stay on until they are 18, tuition fees for higher education may
deter them from going to University
...

Other critics point to the continued existence of both selective grammar schools and feepaying private schools
...
Polly Curtis (2007) estimates this to be worth £100 million per year
...

However, while Whitty and others argue that Labour governments' commitment to marketisation has prevented them from tackling class inequalities, others disagree
...


Policies relating to gender and ethnicity
So far we have focused largely on policies affecting class differences in achievement
...


Gender
In the 19th century, females were largely excluded from higher education
...
Since the 1970s, however, policies such as Girls into Science and Technology have
been introduced to reduce gender differences in subject choice
...
Those
who run the system are now much more aware of gender issues and teachers are more sensitive to
the need to avoid gender stereotyping The belief that boys and girls are equally capable and entitled
to the same opportunities is now part of mainstream thinking in education and it influences educational policies
...
Female scientists
have visited schools, acting as role models; efforts have been made to raise science teachers' awareness of gender issues; non-sexist careers advice has been provided and learning materials in science
reflecting girls' interests have been developed
...

Jo Boaler (1998) sees the impact of equal opportunities policies as a key reason for the changes in
girls' achievement
...

Marketisation policies have created a more competitive climate in which schools see girls as desirable recruits because they achieve better exam results
...
high-achieving girls are attractive to schools, whereas low-achieving
boys are not
...

Roger Slee (1998) argues that boys are less attractive to schools because they are more likely to
suffer from behavioural difficulties and are four times more likely to be excluded
...
They
give the school a 'rough, tough' image that deters high-achieving girls from applying
...
These policies have gone through several phases:
1

Assimilation policies in the 1960s and 70s focused on the need for pupils from
minority ethnic groups to assimilate into mainstream British culture as a way of raising their
achievement, especially by helping those for whom English was not their first language
...


3

Social inclusion of pupils from minority ethnic groups, and policies to raise their achievement,
have been the focus since the late 1990s
...







MCE has been criticised on several grounds:

Maureen stone (1981) argues that black pupils do not fail for lack of self-esteem, so MCE
is misguided
...
It picks out
stereotypical features of minority cultures for inclusion in the curriculum, but fails to tackle institutional racism, which some see as the real cause of under-achievement
...
They take the assimilationist view that education should teach a shared national culture and identity into which minorities should be assimilated
...
She argues that, instead of tackling the structural causes of ethnic inequality such as poverty and racism, educational policy
still takes a 'soft' approach that focuses on culture, behaviour and the home
...
Mirza argues that, while
these might make a small difference, they are short-term policies unlikely to have any lasting
impact
...
Marketisation is the process of introducing
market forces of consumer choice and competition into the state education'
system
...
Polices designed to
create an education market in the UK include publishing exam league tables,
open enrolment, formula funding and business sponsorship of schools

However, critics of these polices argue that marketisation has increased class
and ethnic inequalities in educational opportunity and achievement
...


(1)

Explain what is meant by 'comprehensive education'
...

(4 marks)

(3)

Outline some of the policies that governments have introduced to reduce
ethnic inequalities in educational achievement
...

(20 marks)

Examiners advice
Part (3) carries 8 A01 marks (knowledge and understanding) and 4 A02 marks
(interpretation, application, analysis and evaluation)
...
Include some analysis and/or evaluation, such as criticisms 0f MCE
...
You should explain the meaning of an
'education market'
...
Use examples of policies from Item A and elsewhere
(e
...
parental choice, education vouchers, specialist schools)
...


73

Further reading
References on the Impact of Social Policies
Circe Newbold, et al
...
, Sociology AS for AQA (2008), pages 235-241
Rob Webb et al
...
Macionis & Ken Plummer, Sociology: A Global Introduction (1997),
page 532-537; 544-549
Michael Haralambos & Michael Holborn, Sociology: Themes and Perspectives (5th Edition,
2000), pages 880-882; 774-777; 834-836; 801-818 (in that order)
Chris Livesey & Tony Lawson, AS Sociology for AQA (2005), pages 251-270

74

75

The Role of Education
Issue - What are sociologists trying to explain?
By the end of this section you should understand the
following issues
How important is education in society?
Does it prepare young people for jobs?
Does it socialise young people or fail to socialise them?
Does education coerce young people into conformity?
Is education meritocratic?
Who benefits most from education?
Is there a “correspondence” between education and the world of
work?

Introduction
This section looks at the role of education in society
...

Sociologists hold different and conflicting views on these questions
...
We focus on the following perspectives or theories of the role of
education in society:

The New Right - a conservative approach

Functionalism - a consensus approach

Marxism - a class conflict approach

Interactionism - an action approach

76

Theories About The Role of Education
IMAGES OF SOCIETY
CONSENSUS

CONFLICT

STARTING FROM SYSTEMS

FUNCTIONALISM

MARXISM

Within limits, education is functional for
society in providing secondary socialisation, teaching skills and allocating people
to the appropriate roles based on merit
...
Children of the rich take
advantage of private schools
...


These functions are being sustained in a
post-Fordist economy
...

More needs to be done to reconcile private
and state education

The role of education is (unfortunately) to
reproduce the class system: it favours the
middle classes, channels the workers’
children into low-level occupations, and
inflicts hidden injuries on the working classes
...


Education favours particular groups – the
middle classes and the ethnic majority
...


More than that, it teaches conformity
instead of creativity

FEMINISM
Liberal Feminists see the education system as slowly changing from patriarchal to more
equal
...

Radical Feminists, on the other hand, see the whole education system as still promoting patriarchal values like competition
...
Likewise, science is a male activity -with its concern for objectivity and control
...


77

NEW RIGHT THEORIES
The New Right is a conservative political perspective
...
A central principle of New Right thinking is the belief that the state cannot
meet people's needs and that people are best left to meet their own needs through the free market
...
The ideas explained below were
common in Sociology in the nineteenth century but largely disappeared in the thirty years after the
Second World War
...
They are conservative ideas: hence "Right"
...
They argue that individuals are selfish and pursue
their own interests
...
The New Right argue that MARKET RELATIONS are best
...
If they make what
they like and sell what they like for whatever they can get, then everyone benefits
...
It's in your interests for me to
scratch your back, but it's in my interests too because you'll scratch my back if you know I'll go on
scratching yours
...
There isn't really any
such thing as "society" or a "SOCIAL SYSTEM"
...

This is the thinking behind SOCIAL POLICIES in Britain and the United States since the
1970s
...
So too are arranging competition between parts of the BBC,
between parts of the NHS, between schools, and between colleges and universities
...

So the market is objectively a good thing and the source of self-discipline and responsibility
...

Let us be clear what this implies
...
So too does education and health-care if they are free at the point of
delivery
...
That situation, especially without the disciplines of RELIGION, takes away barriers to
CRIME if people have already lost their self-respect through dependency on the state
...
In fact, the New Right are firm believers in
the disciplines which marriage imposes on adults and on their children
...
They are not only good things in themselves, but give pupils the self-discipline and
sense of COMPETITION they will need in life
...
But they
have to be taught self-discipline
...

Unfortunately, it is more likely to be middle class
than working class pupils whose background has prepared them for school
...
Children
need courses which will appeal to their self-interest
...
Even pupils
who come from undisciplined homes will see the benefits
...



Working class pupils are more likely to be anti-school than are middle class pupils
because they are likely to be the least intelligent pupils
...


EDUCATION (2a): CLASS DIFFERENCES IN ACHIEVEMENT
The New Right recognise class differences in educational achievement, but aren't too concerned about
them
...

People, they say, are born with differences in
intelligence
...
When they breed they have unintelligent children who don't achieve
much
...
Anti-poverty programmes and compensatory education are therefore not
worth the expense
...


EDUCATION (2b): ETHNIC DIFFERENCES IN ACHIEVEMENT

Differences in the achievement of ethnic minority children depend on inherited intelligence
...



Some ethnic minority pupils do better than White pupils
...
It depends on
intelligence
...


EDUCATION (2c): GENDER DIFFERENCES IN ACHIEVEMENT
Achievement also depends on how strongly pupils want to achieve
...




On average, girls have always been better at academic work than boys, partly because of
their superior language skills
...
These facts were not apparent at 16 and 18 until large numbers of poor quality
pupils stayed on at schools
...

According to the New Right, the education system since at least the 1970s has not been doing its job
-- which is to turn out literate and numerate young people with marketable skills
...

The New Right have therefore promoted VOCATIONAL COURSES
...
And they push MOTIVATION BY REWARD
...

For these reasons they are particularly keen to defend PRIVATE SCHOOLS
...
They are ineffective because ability is innate
...
Marketisation has brought improvements
through competition and the growth of vocational courses
...


EDUCATION (4): THE ROLE OF EDUCATION
The New Right find a big gap between the role education ought to play and the role it does play in
society
...
They argue,
however, that it has fallen into the hands of vested interests -- particularly teachers and professional
educationalists -- who try to teach children what they either don't need to know or would be better off
not knowing
...
They look to the USA for more radical reforms
...
The New Right have no objection to children and adults learning things
that are of no economic value
...



Though it has improved, the education system is still too expensive, and still turning out
too many students who lack work disciplines and appropriate skills
...




Critics argue that the real cause of low educational standards is not state control but social inequality and inadequate funding of state schools
...




Marxists argue that education does not impose a shared national culture, as the New Right argue, but imposes the culture of a dominant minority ruling class
...
, AS Level Sociology (2008), pages 141-142
Michael Haralambos & Michael Holborn, Sociology: Themes and Perspectives (5th Edition,
2000), pages 794-801
Chris Livesey & Tony Lawson, AS Sociology for AQA (2005), pages 226-229

81

FUNCTIONALSIT THEORIES OF EDUCATION
Functionalism is based on the view that society is a system of
interdependent parts held together by a shared culture or value
consensus - an agreement among society's members about what
values are important
...
When studying education, functionalists seek to discover what functions it performs - that is, what
does it do to help meet society's needs?

STARTING POINT & IMAGE OF SOCIETY
Functionalists start by studying society as a whole (the SYSTEM) and argue that successful societies
need shared values (CONSENSUS)
...

If we look at society as though it was a system, we can see how each institution contributes to the
functioning of the whole
...
Another is to socialise children that
is, to teach them society's values so that those values become part of their personalities
...

One function of education is to continue socialising young people:
functionalists call this
SECONDARY SOCIALISATION
...
A third and
related function is to sort them into the types of jobs they will do
...

A function of religion is to bind members of society together
...
Modern societies may have people of
many different religions, but these societies still have SACRED SYMBOLS and shared
ceremonies
...

Functionalists argue that even people's reactions to crime can have a function
...
Whenever a noteworthy crime takes place we talk about it
...
" Functionalists call this
process BOUNDARY MAINTENANCE
...
Some societies will see shared values and community feeling decline
...
Functionalists call this condition ANOMIE (normlessness -- "a-normic")
...

EGOISM ("ego" is Latin for "I"
...
There can be other SOCIAL PROBLEMS
...
People's talents may be wasted in the education system
...

In all these cases SOCIAL POLICIES are needed to keep society functioning
...

However, the culturally-deprived are likely to suffer STATUS
FRUSTRATION when they realise they are unlikely to succeed, especially if they are put in lower
STREAMS and SETS and the SCHOOL ETHOS undervalues the lower streams and sets
...


82

According to Functionalists, these experiences are more common among working class pupils than
among middle class pupils
...
Furthermore, the development of matriarchal, non-competitive
education turns boys off
...

This development is especially common among Afro-Caribbean boys for whom education is sometimes
seen as a feminine thing
...




Boys are more likely to be anti-school than girls are because school is too matriarchal
...


EDUCATION (2a): CLASS DIFFERENCES IN ACHIEVEMENT
According to Functionalists, the education system in modern societies generally works well in
socialising children, teaching them skills, and getting them onto the right courses
...

Functionalists think that this happens for two reasons, which often go together
...
Second, working class children suffer from
CULTURAL DEPRIVATION: that is, they live for the moment, don't respect education, and often
don't have the SPEECH CODES and LANGUAGE SKILLS needed to do well in school
...
This is the essence of Functionalist
analysis
...



Working class children do worse than middle class children because of material deprivation and cultural deprivation (including differences in language codes)
...
They argue that the relative deprivation of Afro-Caribbean, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi
children explains their underachievement
...
Functionalists argue that ethnic minorities may not share the culture -- or
even the language -- of the education system
...



Some ethnic minorities do better than others
...




Ethnic minorities whose members are mainly working class do worse than ethnic minorities who members are mainly middle class
...


83

EDUCATION (2c): GENDER DIFFERENCES IN ACHIEVEMENT
To explain why girls used to do worse than boys at A-Level and above, Functionalists cite factors in
the wider social system, especially the FAMILY, rather than what goes on in schools
...
But today they invest in both genders
...
Now parents expect much more from their daughters
...
)
Furthermore, changes in the job market have favoured girls' greater interpersonal skills
...
Parents now socialise their daughters to be successful and to take
the job opportunities available for girls – namely, in jobs requiring linguistic and
interpersonal skills
...

There is something to be said for the 1944 tri-partite system as the most MERITOCRATIC England
has ever had
...

Comprehensive schooling can overcome some of the problems as long as SETTING and STREAMING
within comprehensives are retained within a SCHOOL ETHOS that values everyone
...

Then the education system can ensure that ROLE ALLOCATION takes place successfully: i
...
the
most talented get the best jobs
...
This seems to be integration at its
best, though it does require a great commitment to getting the ORGANISATION OF SCHOOLS
right
...

di

On the one hand, these schools are

Reforms have improved the education system: meritocracy (whether through a tripartite
system or set and streamed comprehensives) is best for society; private schools need to
be more integrated; and compensatory education works
...
On the other hand, they do produce the talented people that the
system needs
...

Working class underachievement is still a big problem
...


84

As Britain moves from a Fordist economy (based on semi-skilled production-line work) to a
post-Fordist economy (skilled workers in both commerce and manufacturing), education has
to change to prepare workers with the right skills
...




These functions are being sustained in a post-Fordist economy
...




More needs to be done to reconcile private and state education

Evaluation of functionalist theory



There is evidence that equal opportunity in education does not exist
...




Melvin Tumin (1953) criticises Davis and Moore for putting forward a circular argument, as
follows: How do we know that a job is important? Answer: because it's highly rewarded
...




Functionalists see education as a process that instils the shared values of society as a
whole, but Marxists argue that education in capitalist society only transmits the ideology
of a minority - the ruling class
...
Functionalists wrongly imply that pupils passively accept all they are taught and never reject the school's values
...
This is because state control of education discourages efficiency, competition and choice
...
, AQA Sociology AS (2008), pages 132-133
Stephen Moore et al
...
, AS Level Sociology (2008), pages 139-141
Ken Browne, Sociology for AS AQA (2008), pages 344-347; 353-355; 355-356
John J
...


STARTING POINT & IMAGE OF SOCIETY
Marxists argue that human life depends on how we produce what we need to exist
...
Marxists say that these epochs are based on different MODES OF PRODUCTION
...

The current mode of production is CAPITALISM: that is, a system in which businesses are privately
owned and their owners try to maximise profits
...

To maximise profits, they have to force down the wages of their workers (or even enslave them) and,
if necessary, make them work in unhealthy conditions
...
The
result is CLASS CONFLICT
...

Marxists argue that the bourgeoisie tries to make all the major institutions of society serve their
needs
...
EDUCATION is used to prepare
the next generation of the proletariat for exploitation by the bourgeoisie
...
RELIGION is also used to justify the power of the bourgeoisie
...
If this
ideological conditioning doesn't work, then the employers turn to THE REPRESSIVE STATE
APPARATUS -- the law, the police and, ultimately, the Army -- to declare the workers' activities
illegal and destroy their organisations
...
Because employers
force down wages and improve productivity, workers can't afford to buy what employers can produce
...
These slumps force the workers into
poverty
...
The capitalist system actually gives them the means to destroy it
...
Religion may also give them a moral critique of society
...
Then there will be no more exploitation
and people will be free
...
Therefore there is a LONG SHADOW OF WORK
over education
...
This hidden curriculum teaches them the rules they will have to conform to if
employers are to take them on
...
The rest of the Marxist theory focuses on the "middle classes" -- which is a far broader
term than the bourgeoisie
...


86

For the middle classes, especially in private schools, the HIDDEN CURRICULUM is different from
that presented to the working classes
...
In other words, the SCHOOL ETHOS fits the
culture of middle class families better than the ethos in schools fits working class culture
...


EDUCATION (2a): CLASS DIFFERENCES IN ACHIEVEMENT
According to Marxists, working class children underachieve for a number of reasons
...
They therefore lack the CULTURAL CAPITAL which the middle class
children have
...
But even those who are
capable of success and want to succeed suffer the SECONDARY EFFECTS OF STRATIFICATION
...

Private schools favours those who can pay for it
...

These are factors EXTERNAL to the school
...




Private schools and selection by mortgage also disadvantage them

EDUCATION (2b): ETHNIC DIFFERENCES IN ACHIEVEMENT

Ethnic minorities are largely working class
...
But they have the additional disadvantage of facing an ETHNOCENTRIC
CURRICULUM biased against them and INSTITUTIONAL RACISM
...




But they are all disadvantaged by an ethnocentric curriculum
...


Marxists look to changes in EMPLOYMENT and argue that capitalism's need for EMOTIONAL
LABOUR offers girls new opportunities
...




Resistance by working class boys (and girls) causes them to fail
...
They argue that only COMMUNIST education systems have offered equality and prepared
people for useful lives
...
Nor have
the policies of British governments found favour with Marxists, who argue that compensatory
education is ineffective in reversing de-industrialisation and consequent poverty
...




Though money spent on compensatory education is a good idea, it can’t reverse the
effects of de-industrialisation
...
Children of the rich take advantage of private schools
...

The long-drawn out process of schooling produces over-qualified people, but it suits the middle classes because they benefit from the SECONDARY EFFECTS OF STRATIFICATION -- that is, the
workers' children drop out earlier than children from the middle classes even if they're more
intelligent
...
While middle class children thrive, working class
children are channelled into vocational courses where they are encouraged to look forward to life as
cheap, flexible, and disposable labour
...

Furthermore, the education system imposes the HIDDEN INJURIES OF CLASS on the workers who
don't resist
...


88

Evaluation of Marxist theory


Marxist approaches are useful in exposing the ‘myth of meritocracy'
...




Postmodernists criticise Bowles and Gintis' correspondence principle on the
grounds that today's post-Fordist economy requires schools to produce a very
different kind of labour force from the one described by Marxists
...




Marxists disagree with one another as to how reproduction and legitimation
take place
...
That is, they assume
that pupils have no free will and passively accept indoctrination
...




By Contrast, Willis rejects the view that school simply 'brainwashes' pupils
into passively accepting their fate
...




However; critics argue that Willis' account of the ‘lads’ romanticises them, portraying them as working-class heroes despite their anti-social behaviour and
sexist attitudes
...




Raymond Morrow and Carlos Torres (1998) criticise Marxists for taking a ‘class
first’ approach that sees class as the key inequality and ignores all other kinds
...
They see non-class inequalities, such as ethnicity, gender and
sexuality, as equally important
...


Further reading
References on Marxist Theories
Circe Newbold et al
...
, Sociology AS for AQA (2008), pages 204-205
Rob Webb et al
...
Macionis & Ken Plummer, Sociology: A Global Introduction (1997),
pages 538-540; 542-543
Michael Haralambos & Michael Holborn, Sociology: Themes and Perspectives (5th Edition,
2000), pages 786-794
Chris Livesey & Tony Lawson, AS Sociology for AQA (2005), pages 208-209; 213-216

89

INTERACTIONIST THEORIES
INTRODUCTION
These theories are called Interactionist because they focus on the interaction between individuals or
among members of small groups – such as families or classrooms of pupils
...
This is not to say that they ignore society
...
This idea is the foundation of LABELLING THEORY: how I see myself depends on the labels I
think other people give me
...
Without
labels, no behaviour would be predictable
...

But there's a subtle issue here
...
For instance, in CRIME and
DEVIANCE, they have to study the prejudices of the police and the magistrates, not just the person
who is labelled as breaking the rules
...
It depends on the labellers
...
In other words, they study the low-level
INTERACTION that takes place between individuals and in small groups
...
The conflict isn't just class conflict, though members
of different classes try to control each other
...

Thus when Interactionists study the FAMILY, they want to study the struggles for domination that go
on within families, and the consequences of those struggles
...
Sometimes it's that of an
established church; but sometimes it's that of a prophet, or CHARISMATIC LEADER
...
The Interactionists then argue that in these organisations -- mostly work
organisations but, at the extreme, prisons and mental hospitals -- the needs of the managers for
control can crush the spirit out of individuals
...


EDUCATION (1): PROCESSES IN SCHOOLS
Interactionists see the NEGATIVE LABELLING associated with STREAMING and SETTING leading
to anti-school subcultures
...
Some pupils
conform, some rebel, some keep their heads down, some colonise the school to get what they want
from it
...
Some are based on class, but there are male subcultures, female
subcultures, ethnic subcultures, gay subcultures, and subcultures which cut across class
...


All this is possible because of the wide range of STYLES that the MEDIA put on
show
...



Working class pupils are most likely to be anti-school, not because of their abilities or
their culture, but because of the labels that teachers pin on them
...
This negative labelling takes place regardless of ability and consigns them to worse treatment and the lowest streams or sets
...


EDUCATION (2b): ETHNIC DIFFERENCES IN ACHIEVEMENT
more likely to be LABELLED negatively by teachers than are middle class children -- regardless of
ability
...

Though some resist the labels, for many the
SELF-FULFULLING PROPHECY takes place
...




Ethnic minority pupils underachieve because of teachers’ labelling
...
Then the
self-fulfilling prophecy ensures they fail
...


EDUCATION (2c): GENDER DIFFERENCES IN ACHIEVEMENT

According


to

Interactionists,

LABELLING

is

the

key

to

explaining

ethnic

differences

in

Interactionists focus on processes in schools – less negative labelling by teachers, positive role-models, and being able to choose the subjects they want to study
...


achievement
...


91

EDUCATION (3): EDUCATION POLICIES
Interactionists advocate DE-SCHOOLING society
...
They welcome the diverse forms
that education is now taking
...

If there have to be formal institutions, then child-centred education is best, rather than imposing
rules on children and labelling them for infringing those rules
...



Only de-schooling society can create fully developed individuals
...


EDUCATION (4): THE ROLE OF EDUCATION

Interactionists argue that education in modern societies is not in a healthy state
...




More than that, it teaches conformity instead of creativity

Evaluation of Interactionist theory


The interactionist perspective has the advantage of focusing directly on small scale interaction situations in schools and colleges
...
However, this focus can lead researchers to
ignore the wider society
...
Schools are situated in the wider society
...


Further reading

creative activity
...
Macionis & Ken Plummer, Sociology: A Global Introduction (1997),
pages 537; 543
Michael Haralambos & Michael Holborn, Sociology: Themes and Perspectives (5th Edition,
2000), pages 780-782; 818-821
Chris Livesey & Tony Lawson, AS Sociology for AQA (2005), pages 238-244

92

FEMINIST THEORIES
INTRODUCTION
Feminist sociologists do more than theorise and conduct research
...


They try to use Sociology to

There are many types of Feminist sociologists
...
Liberal Feminists argue that women have been exploited by men but their
life-chances are now improving
...


STARTING POINT & IMAGE OF SOCIETY
Both Liberal Feminists and Radical Feminists argue that women have been victims of PATRIARCHY
or male power (Pater = Latin for "Father")
...

However Feminists can't really be classified as starting from systems or starting from individuals
...
On the one hand, FEMINISTS argue that patriarchy is reproduced in the
everyday interaction of INDIVIDUALS, as when men make women do more than their share of
DOMESTIC LABOUR, or when teachers favour boys, or when religious groups exclude women from
holy places because they are unclean, or when the police don't take seriously women's report of
rapes
...
Men dominate in the
top jobs; a male-dominated parliament makes the laws; police with a macho culture enforce these
laws; Christianity sees God as a masculine figure; the higher up the education system you go, the
more men dominate, leaving women to primary schools
...
Thus the belief that women are
naturally carers and domesticated while men are outgoing providers merely justifies men's
domination of the top jobs and the relegation of women to a dependent housewife role
...

Even in the criminal system women are treated differently, patronised and let off for minor offences,
but punished more severely than men for supposedly "un-feminine" crimes
...

Girls are doing better in education than they used to and now out-performing boys
...
Men and women now
enjoy greater equality in the household when it comes to sharing tasks, looking after children, and
taking financial decisions
...
In religions women's position is increasingly recognised: for example, they are now
ordained as ministers in the Church of England
...

Rather awkwardly, Liberal Feminists also accept that increasing female power and freedom is
contributing to a rising female crime rate
...
They also think this
is good because men benefit too from showing their caring and nurturing side
...

According to Radical Feminists, by contrast, men have no caring and nurturing side
...
Not all men are rapists, but women can't tell which ones are
and which aren't
...


93

The Radical Feminists see no solution in society's existing organisation
...
Men still commit the most crime
...

And because of the inescapably patriarchal nature of a society with men in it, Radical Feminists recommend that women either withdraw or take over and control society themselves
...
They are PATRIARCHAL in the ways girls are labelled by
teachers and by boys
...
And senior posts beyond primary
school are male-dominated
...
These affect their identities and choice of subjects
...



Girls create anti-school subcultures to resist schools’ gender regimes
...
But they do recognise that middle class


Gender differences are more important than class differences
...




Gender differences are the most important
...
That’s because
they don ‘t want to be dependent on men
...
The dif-

EDUCATION (2c): GENDER DIFFERENCES IN ACHIEVEMENT
ferences seem particularly striking among Afro-Caribbean pupils where girls do significantly better
than boys
...




Liberal Feminists: multi-factor analysis to explain why girls have overtaken boys
...


Liberal Feminists tend to adopt a multi-factor theory to explain the improvement in girls’ perfor-

94

EDUCATION (3): EDUCATION POLICIES
Feminists haven’t had much direct impact on government policies
...

Liberal Feminists have supported the reform of teacher-training and changes in teaching resources to
make education more girl-friendly
...
Similarly, programmes like G
...
S
...
(Girls into Science and
Technology) are good at promoting girls' interests
...


EDUCATION (4): THE ROLE OF EDUCATION
Liberal Feminists see the education system as slowly changing from patriarchal to more equal
...

Radical Feminists, on the other hand, see the whole education system as still promoting patriarchal
values like competition
...
Likewise, science is a male activity -- with its
concern for objectivity and control
...



Liberal Feminists: the system is fairer than it used to be
...


Evaluation of Feminist theory



Feminist perspectives have been valuable for exposing gender inequality in education
...




Today, women have overtaken men on practically every measure of educational attainment
...
And
more women than men are going on to higher education
...


Further reading
References on Feminist Theories
Rob Webb et al

---