The role and functions of the education system, including its relationship to the economy and to class structure (the perspectives: functionalism etc.)
Differential educational achievement of social groups by social class, gender and ethnicity in contemporary society.
Relationships and processes within schools, with particular reference to teacher/pupil relationships, pupil identities and subcultures, the hidden curriculum, and the organisation of teaching and learning.
The significance of educational policies, including policies of selection, marketisation and privatisation, and policies to achieve greater equality of opportunity or outcome, for an understanding of the structure, role, impact and experience of and access to education; the impact of globalisation on educational policy.
How most text books break the specification down further….
Topic 1 – Perspectives on Education (‘role and function of education’)
There are 4 Main Perspectives:
Functionalism
Marxism
The New Right
Postmodernism
You can also use knowledge from these perspectives: Feminism/ Social Democratic/ Liberalism
Functionalism
Focuses on the positive functions performed by the education system. There are four positive functions that education performs
Creating social solidarity (value consensus)
Teaching skills necessary for work
Bridge between home and school
Role Allocation and meritocracy
Marxism
Traditional Marxists see the education system as working in the interests of ruling class elites. The education system performs three functions for these elites:
Reproduces class inequality.
Legitimates class inequality.
The Correspondence Principle – School works in the interests of capitalist employers
The New Right
Created an ‘education market’ – Schools were run like businesses – competing with each other for pupils and parents were given choice. This required league league tables
Schools should teach subjects that prepare pupils for work, Hence education should be aimed at supporting economic growth. Hence: New Vocationalism!
The state was to provide a framework in order to ensure that schools were all teaching the same thing and transmitting the same shared values – hence the National Curriculum
Postmodernism
Not a major perspective on education.
Use to criticise the relevance of the previous three perspectives.
A ‘one size fits all’ education system does not fit with a post-modern society
Education needs to be more flexible and targeted to individuals.
Topic 2 – In-School Processes
Make sure you explain the difference between Interactionism and Structural Theories
School Ethos and The Hidden Curriculum
Teacher Stereotyping and the halo effect
The ideal pupil
Labelling and the Self Fulfilling Prophecy
Banding, streaming and setting
Definitions of banding/ streaming setting
Summaries of evidence on the effects of banding etc.
Unequal access to classroom knowledge
Educational triage
Student responses to the experience of schooling: school subcultures
Differentiation and Polarisation
Pro-School subcultures
Anti-school (or counter-school) subcultures
Between pro and anti-school subcultures: a range of responses
Gender and differential educational achievement
There are three main types of question for gender and education – achievement, subject choice the trickier question of how gender identities affect experience of schooling and how school affects gender identities.
Distinguishing between out of school and in-school factors in explaining these differences is one of the key analytical skills for this topic (and in class/ ethnicity)
Achievement (why do girls generally do better than boys)
In the 1980s boys used outperform girls
Today, girls do better than boys by about 8% points at GCSE.
There are about 30% more girls in University than boys.
Subject Choice (why do they choose different subjects)
Subject choice remains heavily ‘gendered’
Typical boys subjects = computing/ VOCATIONAL especially trades/ engineering
Pupils’ gender identities may influence the way they experience school.
Schools may reinforce traditional (hegemonic) and femininity
Gender identity varies by social class and ethnicity.
Out of school factors and differential educational achievement
Changes in Employment – Rise of the service, decline in manufacturing sector, crisis of masculinity.
Changes in the family – dual earner households, more female worker role models. LINK TO FAMILY MODULE
Changing girls’ ambitions – from marriage and family to career and money (Sue Sharp)
Differential socialisation –girls socialised to be more passive/ toys related to different subjects (Becky Francis) LINK TO FUNCTIONALISM/ PARSONS.
Parental attitudes – traditional working class dads may expect boys to not try hard at school.
Impact of Feminism – equal opportunity policies.
Policy changes – introduction of coursework in 1988/ scaling back of coursework in 2015.
Gender and In-School Factors
Teacher Labelling – typical boys = disruptive, low expectation, typical girls = studious, high expectations (Jon Abraham) – LINK TO INTERACTIONISM, Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Subcultures –boys more likely to form counter-school cultures (Willis) – LINKS to out of school.
Feminisation of teaching – increase in female teachers puts boys off
Subject counsellors advise boys to choose boys subjects
Gendered subject images match traditional gender domains
Boys’ domination of equipment puts girls off practical subjects like PE
Traditional masculine identities – boys just don’t see school as a ‘boy thing’ – Working class boys saw school as ‘queer’, middle class work hard but hide this (Mac An Ghail)
Hyper-Feminine identities (hair/ make up) clash with the school (Carolyn Jackson)
Verbal Abuse – boys who study hard get called ‘gay’ as a term of abuse.
Social class differences in educational achievement
Why do working class kids do worse than middle class kids? (Free School Meals to measure, not class!)
Material Deprivation
Lots of ways!
Hidden costs
The cycle of deprivation
Selection by mortgage
Cultural Deprivation – blame the working classes
Immediate/ deferred gratification
Restricted/ elaborated speech codes
Cultural Capital – Marxist – blame the middle classes
Skilled and Disconnected Choosers
In-School Processes
Labelling, the ideal pupil (Becker)
Counter School Culture (Willis)
Aspirational culture in school (links to cultural capital)
Ethnicity and differential educational achievement
Chinese/ Indian kids do best/ African-Caribbean, Gypsy Roma worst.
Material Factors
Differences in income/ class don’t explain the difference (poor Chinese kids compared poor white kids)
Cultural factors
Family structure (single parent households)
Parental attitudes (Steve Strand 2007)
Language differences (linguistic deprivation)
Black anti-school masculine street cultures (Tony Sewell)
In-School Processes
Teacher racism/ labelling (Gilborn)
Subcultures and anti-school attitudes (Tony Sewell)
Subcultures as a means of resisting racism (Mac An Ghail).
Banding and Streaming/ Educational Triage
Ethnocentric Curriculum
Experiences of institutional racism and from other pupils (Crozier)
Also – racism in admissions at Oxford University
Education Policies
Main policies
1944 – The Tripartite System
1965 – Comprehensivisation
1988 – New Right – Education Act – Marketisation
1997 – New Labour – Academies, Expansion of HE, Sure Start, EMA.
2010 – Coalition/ New Right – Forced Adacademisation, Free Schools, Funding Cuts, Pupil Premium, and MORE STATE GRAMMARS.
Compenstory Education – E.G. EMA.
Vocationalism – e.g, Apprenticeships.
Policies – key questions
To what extent have policies raised achievement?
To what extent have policies improved equality of opportunity?
How have policies changed the way schools select pupils and what are the consequences (apply the perspectives)
In what ways has education becoming more privatised and what are the consequences (apply the perspectives)?
What is the relationship between globalisation and education policy?
There are three main types of question for gender and education – achievement (why do girls generally do better than boys); subject choice (why do they choose different subjects) and the trickier question of how gender identities affect experience of schooling and how school affects gender identities.
Below is the briefest of overviews(*it would be a grid, but wordpress doesn’t like them, so it’s just linear!) designed to cover all three areas within gender and education for A level sociology.
Achievement
In the 1980s boys used outperform girls
Today, girls do better than boys by about 8% points at GCSE.
There are about 30% more girls in University than boys.
Subject Choice
Subject choice remains heavily ‘gendered’
Typical boys subjects = computing/ VOCATIONAL especially trades/ engineering
Pupils’ gender identities may influence the way they experience school.
Schools may reinforce traditional (hegemonic) and femininity
Gender identity varies by social class and ethnicity.
Out of School and Home Factors
Changes in Employment – Rise of the service, decline in manufacturing sector, crisis of masculinity.
Changes in the family – dual earner households, more female worker role models. LINK TO FAMILY MODULE
Changing girls’ ambitions – from marriage and family to career and money (Sue Sharp)
Differential socialisation –girls socialised to be more passive/ toys related to different subjects (Becky Francis) LINK TO FUNCTIONALISM/ PARSONS.
Parental attitudes – traditional working class dads may expect boys to not try hard at schoo.
Impact of Feminism – equal opportunity policies.
Policy changes – introduction of coursework in 1988/ scaling back of coursework in 2015.
In School Factors
Teacher Labelling – typical boys = disruptive, low expectation, typical girls = studious, high expectations (Jon Abraham) – LINK TO INTERACTIONISM, Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Subcultures –boys more likely to form counter-school cultures (Willis) – LINKS to out of school.
Feminisation of teaching – increase in female teachers puts boys off
Subject counsellors advise boys to choose boys subjects
Gendered subject images match traditional gender domains
Boys’ domination of equipment puts girls off practical subjects like PE
Traditional masculine identities – boys just don’t see school as a ‘boy thing’ – Working class boys saw school as ‘queer’, middle class work hard but hide this (Mac An Ghail)
Hyper-Feminine identities (hair/ make up) clash with the school (Carolyn Jackson)
Verbal Abuse – boys who study hard get called ‘gay’ as a term of abuse.
Be sure to check the more detailed revision sheets for each of the 3 sub topics above!
You could also link in different types of Feminism to many of these subtopics
School factors include teacher labelling, banding and streaming, school ethos and pupil subcultures. Although home factors are generally more important in explaining differences in achievement
An essay on ethnicity and education written for the A Level Sociology paper 1 exam, AQA focus.
Assess the claim that ‘ethnic difference in educational achievement are primarily the result of school factors’ (30)
There are significant differences in educational achievement by ethnicity. Around 80% of Chinese children achieve 5 or more GCSE grades at A*- C compared to only 55% of Caribbean and about 15% of Gypsy Roma children. The national average is around 65%.
The idea that in-school processes are the main reason for these differences is associated with Interactionism which focuses on processes such as teacher labelling, Institutional racism and pupil subcultures. I will explore how these in-school factors affect pupils differently while evaluating using cultural deprivation and cultural capital theory.
Teacher Labelling and Ethnicity
Two classic studies in Sociology found that teacher labelling based on ethnic stereotypes did occur in British schools 25 years ago.
Cecile Wright (1992) Found that teachers perceived ethnic minority children differently from white children. Asian children were seen as a problem that could be ignored, receiving the least attention and often being excluded from classroom discussion and rarely asked to answer questions. African Caribbean children were expected to behave badly, were seen as aggressive and disruptive, and were more likely to be disciplined for bad behaviour than children from other backgrounds.
David Gilborn (1990) found that teachers tended to see African-Caribbean children as a threat when no threat was intended and reacted accordingly with measures of control. Despite the fact that teachers rejected racism their ethnocentric perceptions meant that their actions were racist in consequence. African-Caribbean children experienced more conflict in relationships with pupils, were more subjected to the schools detention system.
The main problem with both of these studies are based on small scale samples and they are very dated, and they tell us nothing about whether ethnic stereotyping exists today. If anything, teacher bias is less likely given the greater emphasis put on multi-cultural education and the increased awareness of diversity.
Having said this, the rates of African-Caribbean pupils are still 3-4 times higher than the national average, which could be a result of the biases found by Wright and Gilborn, but given lack of recent research, we simply don’t know whether African-Caribbean children are objectively more deviant, or whether they are just perceived to be so by racist teachers.
A further problem with the above is that if teachers are just ignoring Asian pupils, and letting them get on with it, then they can’t really be having much of an impact on their education – and thus it must be home factors which explain why many Asian (Indian and Chinese) students today do better than the white majority.
Institutional Racism in Schools
A second reason for ethnic differences in achievement may be Institutional Racism which is where discrimination against minority groups is built into the organisation of the school – this can happen in various ways: through the ethnocentric curriculum, through banding and streaming and through the hiring of fewer minority teachers.
The ethnocentric curriculum is one which reflects the culture of one dominant group – for example the white majority culture in Britain. The curriculum can be described as Ethnocentric – for example students have to study British history from the European point of view, use out of date textbooks that racially stereotype and some subjects having a narrow, white British focus.
Banding and Streaming has been found to disadvantage both the working classes and some minority groups. Gilborn and Youdell (2007) point out that Black Caribbean children are overrepresented in the lower sets and talk of how those in the lower sets get ‘written off’ because they have no hope of achieving A-Cs.
Crozier (2004) examined the experiences of racism among Pakistani and Bangladeshi pupils and found that the experience of racism from both the school system and other pupils led to a feeling of exclusion. The researchers discovered that Pakistani and Bangladeshi pupils had experienced the following – anxieties about their safety; racist abuse was a lived experience of their schooling; careers advisors at school believed South Asian girls were bound by tradition and it was a waste of time advising them; Not being allowed off during Ramadan; feeling that assemblies were not relevant.
The problem with the idea of the ethnocentric curriculum is that it cannot explain why so many ethnic groups do better than white children. It may be the case the Pakistani and Bangladeshi children feel marginalised by it, but they have caught up with white children in recent years and so achieve well in spite of ethnocentricity in education.
Moreover, schools in recent years have made huge efforts to be more multicultural – with RE and PSHE lessons and event such as ‘black history month’ doing a lot to raise awareness of diversity, so this has changed significantly.
However, some recent statistics do suggest that institutional racism is rife – black applicants are half as likely to be accepted onto teacher training programmes compared to white applicants (around 20% compared to 40% success rate) – the end result of this was that in 2013, in the whole of the UK only three black people were accepted as trainee-history teachers. Professor Heidi Mirza, herself of African Caribbean origin, says there is evidence of discrimination within our education system today.
Pupil Subcultures and Ethnicity
Another in-school factor is pupil subcultures – as with teacher racism a number of classic studies from 20 years ago have focused mainly on black subcultures:
Tony Sewell (1997) observed that Black Caribbean boys may experience considerable pressure by their peers to adopt the norms of an ‘urban’ or ‘street’ subculture. More importance is given to unruly behaviour with teachers and antagonistic behaviour with other students than to high achievement or effort to succeed, particularly at secondary school. Fordham and Ogbu (1986) further argue that notions of ‘acting White’ or ‘acting Black’ become identified in opposition to one another. Hence because acting White includes doing well at school, acting Black necessarily implies not doing well in school.
Mac an Ghail (1998) looked at three subcultures – the Asian Warriors, the African- Caribbean Rasta Heads and the Black Sisters. He used mainly participant observation both in the school and through befriending the students and socializing with them outside of the school. What he found was that the African Caribbean community experienced the world in very different ways to white people – namely because of institutional racism in the college and he argued that any anti-school attitudes were reactions against this racism.
As with the research on teacher labelling, the research on the relationship between pupil subcultures and educational achievement is somewhat thin today. If anything, today subcultures are probably less important, as there seems to be less resistance to the school today than in previous years.
Evaluation – Home Factors
Most sociologists seem to agree that home background is more important than in-school factors in explaining differences in achievement by ethnicity: As with class and gender, schools only account for s10% of the differences in achievement (according to a recent Analysis podcast), home-factors are much more important. Pupils only spend a minority of their time in-school after all!
Tony Sewell, for example, focuses on the higher rates of single parent households and the influence of gangsta culture on young black boys, which is far more significant than anything which goes on in-school.
Also, where the excellent achievement on Chinese children is concerned, it seems to be the ‘tiger parenting’ style which advantages these pupils compared to others.
Most of the research on in-school factors focuses on African-Caribbean underachievement, which is a narrow focus, there are other differences too – Gypsy Roma for example, and given that the main reason for their underachievement is the low attendance rate, again school is not a significant factor here.
However, in-school factors may play a role in explaining the biggest problem with underachievement today – that of white working class children, who themselves feel excluded from the culture of the school because they feel school does not reflect their culture, but this is more of a matter of social class (and gender) rather than ethnicity.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would say that in-school factors explain very little of the differences in achievement by ethnicity, most of the difference is accounted for by home factors and schools cannot be expected and should not be expected to close the gap, moreover, I believe that focusing on issues of race within education are a red-herring, the issue of class and differential achievement is far more important, irrespective of ethnic background, and here, as with ethnicity, much of the differences in achievement are down to differences in home background, not differential achievement within schools.
Signposting
This post has primarily been written for students of A-level Sociology preparing for the education section of paper 1: Education with Theory and Methods.
For further links to ethnicity and education topics, please see my sociology of education page.
For these questions you need to make a point and then develop that point to explain further.
Possible questions for the A Level Sociology Education (71912) PAPER 1 exam – the two short answer questions in this paper will ask you to outline two reasons/ ways/ criticisms. You will have one 4 mark question and one 6 mark question in this format (outline 2 and 3 ways/ reasons/ criticisms respectively).
The five examples below are all taken from the Perspectives part of the education topic, but draw on other parts of the module, as you should do.
NB these are my (over qualified) educated guesses about why might come up, and the answers are my best guesses as what will qualify as full markers).
Also the questions may be more obscure, or much nastier – remember, there is a theory that the people who write these exam papers have a burning hatred of teenagers and haven’t seen daylight since 1984.
If you like this sort of thing, why not buy my ‘short answer practice questions and answers for A Level sociology‘ – it’s as much fun as it sounds, actually more because I’ve colour coded the skills. It includes examples of 4,6 and 10 mark questions in the education bit of the A level paper 1 exam.
Anyway, enough wittering – some exemplar questions and answers:
Outline two ways in which education might prepare students for work (4)
Two developed examples, should get 4/4
Teaching specific skills for specific jobs – a complex economy requires lots of people doing different jobs, requiring different skills – school starts off with some people specialising in sciences, other in humanities – later, education splits into more vocational courses and degree courses to offer more specialisation.
Motivation by external rewards – at school, pupils learn to put up with boring lessons in order to reap the rewards of exam results at the end, this prepares them to put up with dull work in reward for pay at the end of the month in later life.
Possible additional identifiers (1 mark for each, you’ll need to add in the plus 1s)
Teaching soft skills such as team work
Role allocation (if developed appropriately)
Teaching to accept hierarchy/ authority as normal
Exams being competitive
Outline two ways in which the education system might perform ideological functions (4)
Two developed examples, should get 4/4
Passive subservience of authority/ hierarchy – in school students learn they should accept the authority of teachers, later at work they have to accept the authority of managers – this makes them passive and obedient, thus easily controlled, according to Marxists
Teachers ignoring sexual abuse of female students – according to Radical Feminist analysis this reinforces patriarchal control as it means girls are more likely to grow up learning to say nothing about male violence against women in later life.
Possible additional identifiers (1 Mark each, add in the plus 1s)
Motivation by external rewards
Fragmentation of subjects
Reinforcing of gender domains in subject choice
Outline two reasons why schools today might fail to create value consensus among pupils (4)
Possible identifiers (you’ll need to add in the plus 1s)
The ethnocentric curriculum
The growth of home schooling
The existence of private schools
Marketisation
Outline two criticisms of the Marxist view of education (4)
Possible identifiers (you’ll need to add in the plus 1s)
There are many critical subjects taught at university that criticise elites
It is deterministic – not every child passively accepts authority
Some students from poor backgrounds do ‘beat the odds’ and go on to achieve highly
Marking Practice…
Outline two positive functions which the education system may perform (4)
Mark the 2 examples below (1 mark per point +1 for development of that point). Feel free to comment below, and I’ll respond with my marks/ comments if enough people do. If you can’t wait, you’ll find the marks and comments here.
Candidate X
The first positive function is, according to Emile Durkheim, schools might create value consensus among pupils.
The second positive function is that schools teach pupils the same subjects through the national curriculum, thus making them think the same.
Candidate Y
Role Allocation – where pupils are sorted into appropriate jobs based on their qualifications. The idea here is that different pupils have different levels of ability, and the more able/ harder working get higher qualifications, proving they are more suited to the more demanding, professional jobs.
Social solidarity – making people feel as if they are working together towards a shared goal.
Use the Point – Explain – Expand – Criticise method (PEEC), demonstrate knowledge, application and evaluation skills, and use the item to make your points!
This post offers some advice on how you might plan and write essays in the A level sociology exams.
Essays will either be 20 or 30 marks depending on the paper but the general advice for answering them remains the same:
Use the PEEC method for the main paragraphs: POINT – EXPLAIN – EXPAND – CRITICISE
Use the overall structure below – PEEC (3 to 5 times) framed by an introduction, then overall evaluations and conclusion towards the end.
Use the item provided – this must form the basis of your main points!
How to write an A-level sociology essay
Allow yourself enough time – 1.5 minutes per mark = 45 minutes for a 30 mark essay.
Read the Question and the item, what is it asking you to do?
Do a rough plan (5-10 mins) – initially this should be ‘arguments and evidence’ for and ‘against’ the views in the question, and a few thoughts on overall evaluations/ a conclusion. If you are being asked to look at two things, you’ll have to do this twice/ your conclusion should bring the two aspects of the essay together.
Write the essay (35 mins)– aim to make 3-5 points in total (depending on the essay, either 3 deep points, or 5 (or more) shallower points). Try to make one point at least stem from the item, ideally the first point.
Try to stick to the following structure in the picture above!
Overall evaluations – don’t repeat yourself, and don’t overdo this, but it’s useful t tag this in before a conclusion.
Conclusion (allow 2 mins minimum) – an easy way to do this is to refer to the item – do you agree with the view or not, or say which of the points you’ve made is the strongest/ weakest and on balance is the view in the question sensible or not?
Skills in the A Level Sociology Exam
The AQA wants you to demonstrate 3 sets of skills in the exam – below are a few suggestions about how you can do this in sociology essays.
AO1: Knowledge and Understanding
You can demonstrate these by:
Using sociological concepts
Using sociological perspectives
Using research studies
Showing knowledge of contemporary trends and news events
Knowledge can also be synoptic, or be taken from other topics.
NB – knowledge has to be relevant to the question to get marks!
AO2: Application
You can demonstrate application by…
Using the item – refer to the item!!!
Clearly showing how the material you have selected is relevant to the question, by using the words in the question
Making sure knowledge selected is relevant to the question.
AO3: Analysis and Evaluation
NB ‘Assess’ is basically the same as Evaluation
You can demonstrate analysis by….
Considering an argument from a range of perspectives – showing how one perspective might interpret the same evidence in a different way, for example.
Developing points – by showing why perspectives argue what they do, for example.
Comparing and contrasting ideas to show their differences and similarities
You can show how points relate to other points in the essay.
You can demonstrate evaluation by…
Discussing the strengths and limitations of a theory/ perspective or research method.
You should evaluate each point, but you can also do overall evaluations from other perspectives before your conclusion.
NB – Most people focus on weaknesses, but you should also focus on strengths.
Weighing up which points are the most useful in a conclusion.
Use the item
Every 30 mark question will ask you to refer to an ‘item’. This will be a very short piece of writing, consisting of about 8 lines of text. The item will typically refer to one aspect of the knowledge side of the question and one evaluation point. For example, if the question is asking you to ‘assess the Functionalist view of education’, the item is likely to refer to one point Functionalists make about education – such as role allocation, and one criticism.
All you need to do to use the item effectively is to make sure at least one of your points stems from the knowledge in the item, and develop it. It’s a good idea to make this your first point. To use the evaluation point from the item (there is usually some evaluation in there), then simply flag it up when you use it during the essay.
Seven examples of sociology essays, and more advice…
For more information on ‘how to write sociology essays for the A level exam’ why not refer to my handy ‘how to write sociology essays guide’.
The contents are as follows:
Introductory Section
A quick look at the three sociology exam papers
A pared-down mark scheme for A Level sociology essays
Knowledge, application, analysis, evaluation, what are they, how to demonstrate them.
How to write sociology essays – the basics:
The Essays
These appear first in template form, then with answers, with the skills employed shown in colour. Answers are ‘overkill’ versions designed to get full marks in the exam.
Assess the Functionalist View of the Role of Education in Society (30) – Quick plan
Assess the Marxist view of the role of education in society (30) – Detailed full essay
Assess the extent to which it is home background that is the main cause of differential education achievement by social class (30) – Detailed full essay
Assess the view that education policies since 1988 have improved equality of educational opportunity (30) – Quick plan
Assess the view that the main aim of education policies since 1988 has been to raise overall standards in education.’ (30) – Quick plan
Assess the claim that ‘ethnic difference in educational achievement are primarily the result of school factors’ (30) – Detailed full essay
Assess the view that in school processes, rather than external factors, are the most important in explaining differences in educational achievement (30) – detailed essay – Quick plan.
According to the Marxist sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, middle class parents possess more cultural capital, than working class children.
Bourdieu argues that the skills and knowledge middle class parents possess, such as themselves having benefited from education, and the fact that they are more comfortable dealing with middle class institutions such as schools, is passed down to their children, which explains why they do better in school.
Hooks in the item:
Skills – might be research skills
Knowledge (might be linked to tastes)
Better education
More comfortable dealing with middle class institutions
Suggested answer
Point 1 – More cultural capital means middle class parents are better educated than working class parents and they are more able to help children with homework and coursework.
Analysis 1 – This is especially likely to advantage children from high income earning families which can afford to have stay at home mums, so they have the time to advantage their children
Analysis 2 – This advantages middle class children early on in their school careers by boosting confidence. This early advantage accumulates over time and develops through school.
Analysis 3 – This takes place at home, not in school. It is unlikely that schools will have the resources available to close this gap
Point 2 – Cultural Capital also means middle class parents are skilled choosers – They are more able to research schools, take time filling in application forms, and networking with teachers to give their child more chance of getting into the best schools – Stephen Ball found this.
Analysis 1– The opposite of this is working class parents who are disconnected choosers, they don’t have the skills to complete large amounts of applications and so just send their children to the local school.
Analysis 2 – This aspect of cultural capital has become more significant since the introduction of the 1988 education act which introduced marketization and parentocracy and gave parents’ choice over schools.
Analysis 3 – This means that the system has changed recently to allow those with more cultural capital to have even more of an advantage.
More competition from abroad and more multiculturalism
A suggested model answer to this 10 mark analyse question, a possible question for the AQA’s education with theory and method’s A level paper (paper 7192/1)
Hooks
What you need to apply the hooks to
Item A
Globalisation, or the increasing interconnectedness of countries across the globe, creates both challenges and opportunities for the United Kingdom. For example, economic globalisation has resulted in both more opportunities abroad and more competition for jobs for these jobs; and increasing migration has resulted in greater multiculturalism in the UK.
Education has had to adapt to globalization, and as a result, pupils today experience education very differently to previous generations.
Suggested Answer
Economic globalisation means increased competition from abroad (point 1)
This means British students today are expected to spend longer in education (as evidence by the increasing of the school leaving age. So one change in the experience of education is that students stay in school for longer.
Development – globalisation has meant that most of the unskilled factory jobs have now moved abroad, and increasingly British workers need to be better educated in order to get jobs at all, thus the expansion of higher education means that more students ‘experience’ higher education and are better qualified than their parents.
Further development – however, ironically, poorer UK students are put off by the fees universities now charge, meaning that the globalisation of HE is possibly resulting in more class inequality.
Further development – increased competition also means more pressure to succeed, schools are now ranked by PISA league tables, which means even more ‘teaching the test’ and ‘narrowing of the curriculum’, which is a final way the experience of education has changed.
Increased immigration has led to more multiculturalism (point 2)
and British schools have long had multicultural education in response to this, which also changes pupils’ experiences of education.
Development 1 – For example, religious education has long taught about other religions, and increasingly schools and colleges have events such as ‘black history month’ raising awareness of diversity.
Further Development – schools have also introduced compensatory education to help recent immigrants from Eastern Europe, such as extra support for pupils who don’t have English as a first language.
Further development – however, some policies may be seen as potentially divisive, for example, the prevent agenda in schools seems to target Muslim pupils through ‘categorical suspicion’.
Further development – There is also doubt that these inclusive policies are working, many people, especially in working class areas, object to the extra resources being spent on minority groups, and given the fact that it is the white working classes who have the lowest achievement, they might have a point.
Signposting
This answer should get you 10 out 10, or full marks.
Four and Six mark outline questions appear on the education and crime and deviance AQA A level sociology exam papers. This blog post shows you some possible examples of outline questions which might appear on the Education exam paper, along with some suggested answers.
NB These questions are marked in a ‘1+1’ style – you get one mark for identifying and one mark for developing and explaining further. So to be on the safe side, make a point and then develop it – do this twice for a 4 mark question, and thrice for a three mark question.
Outline two ways in which material deprivation may affect educational achievement (4 marks)
Suggested points, you need to add in the explanations as to HOW these factors have a negative effect on educational achievement.
Smaller, overcrowded houses
Poor diets and higher levels of sickness
Less/no educational books/toys, PC’s
Parents can’t afford to support children in education after 16
Less access to nursery facilities
W/C more likely to have part time jobs.
Schools themselves, less resources etc than schools in M/C areas
Selection by mortgage
Can’t afford private tutors
Suggested full answers (outlining and explaining two ways)
(ID) Low income means families will live in smaller houses which could mean there is lack of a private study space, or children may even have to share bedrooms. (EX) This means there is no quiet space for children to do homework, which could result in them falling behind at school.
(ID) Children from low income households are more likely to have poor diets, the low nutritional content of which could result in higher levels of sickness. (EX) This could result in them having time off school, which could have a detrimental effect on their education.
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Outline two ways in which cultural deprivation may affect educational achievement (4 marks)
Suggested full answers (outlining and explaining two ways)
(ID) Working class pupils are more likely to have immediate Gratification (wanting to work straight after school to earn money immediately) (EX) this explains working class underachievement because working class kids are more likely to be poor thus more likely to want to earn money immediately after finishing their GCSEs, which means they are less likely to stay onto further education
(ID) The working classes are more likely to be fatalistic, which is where one resigns oneself to the fact that they can’t improve their lot in life. (EX) This explains working class underachievement because they think they are inevitably going to go into working class jobs so don’t try hard at school as there is no point.
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Outline three reasons why girls are now generally out-performing boys in education (6 marks)
Suggested full answers (outlining and explaining three ways)
(ID) Introduction of coursework: (EX) has enabled girls to do better as they are more organised, meticulous, persistent, etc than boys and this is rewarded in coursework.
(ID) Changes in the family such as more divorce (EX) has given girls a greater incentive to gain useful qualifications, as they cannot now expect to be full-time housewives permanently provided for by their husbands.
(ID) Changes in the labour market such greater numbers of women working and opportunities for promotion (EX) have given girls more role models and the inspiration to achieve qualifications with which to pursue a career.
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Outline three reasons why girls are less likely to choose science subjects than boys (6 marks)
Suggested points, you need to add in the explanations in most cases.
Teacher’s sexist ideas channelling girls into ‘girls subjects’
Science taught in a male way using male examples (engines), put girls off
Biological differences. Girls better at communication, not much discussion in science subjects
Differential parental encouragement
Boys more likely to play with technical toys
Fewer girls in text books
Fewer female science teachers
Boys dominate classroom by dominating practical equipment
Suggested full answers (outlining and explaining three ways)
(ID) Teachers may have stereotypical ideas that girls would struggle in male dominated subjects such as physics, (EX) and they may try and put them off, steering them towards other, more traditionally feminine subjects such as English, meaning fewer girls end up doing science subjects.
(ID) Science subjects are often taught using masculine examples – for example, physics text books might use cars to illustrate the laws of motion. (EX) This might put girls off doing physics because they have no interest in the masculine examples used to teach these subjects.
(ID) Girls are more likely to be socialised into discussing their feelings, (EX) and thus they might be more likely to choose subjects such as history and English where you need to discuss things more, rather than sciences where there is less discussion and ‘one right answer’.
definitions of the key concepts for the A-level sociology of education module (AQA focus)
Definitions and examples of the most important key concepts for the A level sociology 7192 (1) exam, including the definition of labelling, the correspondence principal, meritocracy, privatization, and lots more.
All of the concepts below are most relevant to the education module within A-level sociology (AQA focus) but many have wider application.
Initially I include only the ‘most important’ sociology words. More to follow later, as with all tings in life, this is work in progress.
A-C Economy
Where schools focus a disproportionate amount of their resources on making sure ‘middling’ students get 5 A*-Cs, rather than helping to boost more able students or getting less able students passes below the 5- A*C threshold.
Achieved status
Where individuals gain their social position in society through their own efforts, rather than that position being based on their ascribed characteristics such as their ‘race’ or their class background.
Ascribed status
Where an individual’s position in society is pre-determined by their birth or social characteristics. An example of this is the royal inheritance in the United Kingdom: only a son of Queen Lizzie II can become King when she dies.
Banding/ Streaming
Grouping students by ability. Students are put into the same group across all subjects (unlike setting, which is where students might be placed in different ability groups in different subject.
Canalisation
Where choices of subjects become gradually more limited as children progress through school.
Compensatory Education
Educational policies which provide additional money or resources for students facing cultural or material deprivation. The idea is that the extra money/resources helps overcome disadvantage and boost results.
Comprehensive School
One type of school for all students. Non-selective schools where all students have an equal opportunity within the same school.
Comprehensivisation
The establishment of comprehensive schools in the 1960s which replaced the selective tripartite system.
Core Values
The fundamental ideas about how we should act in society which, according to Functionalists are taught to children in schools as part of secondary socialisation in industrial societies.
Core values might include such things as a belief in meritocracy, trust in government and authorities, punctuality and politeness. They are the kind of values which are necessary to keep society functioning at a national level according to Functionalist theory.
The function of and even the existence of ‘core values’ is questioned by Marxists and Postmodernists.
Correspondence principle
The Marxist idea that the norms and values pupils learn in school prepare them for their future exploitation at work.
For example, schools teach pupils to be ‘motivated by external rewards’ – they learn to put up with boring lessons in order to achieve higher grades, thus focussing on the end result of learning rather than the ‘joy of learning’ itself’. This corresponds (relates) to putting up with the dull routine of working life in a factory day to day, while focussing on the pay packet at the end of the month.
Related concepts: ideological state apparatus, Marxism, socialisation, hidden curriculum.
Counter school culture
A group within a school which has norms and values in direct opposition to the mainstream culture of the school. E.G. a group of students who see value in messing around and ‘having a laugh’ or disrupting lessons rather than working hard and studying. Status will be rewarded within the counter school culture on the basis of how deviant they are, how far they go against school rules.
Cultural capital
The skills, knowledge and attitudes associated with the dominant culture, possessed by the middle classes, which give middle class parents and children an advantage in life.
Cultural capital is a Marxist concept used to explain why middle-class pupils achieve more than working class pupils do. As part of the dominant culture, middle class pupils have an automatic advantage over working class pupils because they share the culture of the school. Their language is like that of teachers (also middle-class) and their values correspond more closely to those of the school. This ‘cultural capital’ enables middle class families to pass on their superior position to their children and in so doing, reproduce class inequalities.
Related concepts: skilled and disconnected choosers, habitus, social capital.
Cultural deprivation
Where some groups, such as the lower social classes have inferior norms, values, skills and knowledge which hold them back in life.
Cultural deprivation can have a negative effect on the education of working class children: poor language skills can mean the students struggle to understand what they are taught, and the fact that working class parents do not value education means that their children are less likely to stay on at school post-16.
Related concepts: material deprivation, immediate and deferred gratification, restricted and elaborated speech codes.
Cycle of Deprivation
Where one aspect of material disadvantage has a knock on effect and leads to other types of disadvantage, such that poverty is reinforced and carries on, often across generations. For example, being poor, means a poor diet , means more sickness, means more time of work, means more poverty.
Deferred Gratification
Where one delays immediate reward and instead works hard now in order to receive a greater reward in the future.
Deterministic
Self-fulfilling prophecy theory is often criticised as being deterministic, because it assumes that a particular input (labelling) always has the same affect (the subject accepts their label), without taking into account the fact that individuals respond in different ways based on their different subjective views of the situation in which the labelling takes place.
Disconnected Choosers
Working class parents who simply send their children to local schools rather than researching different schools and then making their choice. The opposite of ‘skilled choosers’
Division of Labour
Where production is broken down into a number of small, specialized tasks to improve efficiency. For example, instead of one person constructing a whole car, each individual specializes in adding different bits.
Education Action Zones
A New Labour Education policy which promoted links between clusters of schools (typically around 20) in deprived areas and local businesses and parents, with the intention of getting business to provide extra funds to those schools. This policy was introduced in the late 1990s, but after running for five years it had largely failed to generate any additional funds and so was axed.
Educational triage
Where schools sort students into three groups: those who will pass without help, those could pass with help, and those who probably won’t pass even if they do get help. Schools then focus most of their resources on helping the middle of these groups, while leaving the former alone and effectively ‘writing off’ the later.
Elaborated Speech Code
Language consisting of a wide vocabulary, complex sentences and which is context-free, so able to express abstract ideas. Used by the middle class and the opposite of restricted speech code.
Equality of opportunity (within education)
Where everyone has an equal chance to get into the best schools and universities and achieve good qualifications, and everyone competes for the best results on a level playing field, without being discriminated against on the basis of race, gender, disability or social class.
Ethnocentric Curriculum
Ethnocentric means seeing or judging things in a biased way. An ethnocentric curriculum is one which treats middle class European white culture as superior – having Christian assemblies or teaching history from a European rather than an Indian or African perspective are examples of this.
Ethos
The culture of a school – including its expected norms of behaviour, core values and especially the aspirations for its students.
Exclusions
Where pupils are either suspended for a set period or permanently expelled from school, typically for breaking school rules.
Exogenous Privatisation (of education)
Where schools, or school services, are taken over by private businesses such as academy chains, rather than being run directly by the state.
A related concept here is ‘endogenous privatisation’, where schools are made compete like businesses while still being run by the state. This was the idea behind marketization.
Related concepts: neoliberalism, the new right, marketization.
Faith school
A school with formal ties to a particular faith. Many have different admissions (selection) criteria to regular state schools and select a proportion of their students on the basis of their faith.
Fatalism
According to Bernstein this is an attitude held by working class children and parents. It is the belief that they will inevitably end up in working class jobs, and so prevents them from aspiring to do any better.
Free Schools
Schools set up and run by groups of parents, charities or businesses and run directly by them. They are funded directly by the government and not by Local Education Authorities.
Gender domains
The activities that boys and girls see as typically the territory of their gender. E.g. playing football for boys and playing with dolls for girls.
Globalisation
The increasing interconnectedness of people and societies across the world.
Grammar School
A selective school catering to students who pass their 11+. Offers an academic education catered to high achieving students. Part of the ethos of grammar schools is that students should aspire to go to university.
Hidden Curriculum
The Hidden Curriculum refers to the norms and values not taught directly as part of the official curriculum, but passed on informally in schools.
Whereas the official curriculum is made up of subjects, subject content, formal lessons etc. the hidden curriculum is composed of teacher attitudes and expectations, and the general ethos of school which includes such things as attitudes to punctuality, attendance, dress codes and future career aspirations.
Related concepts: Feminists argue that the hidden curriculum works against girls. Marxists believe it works against working-class pupils.
Ideal Pupil
The idea of the perfect pupil which teachers have in their heads. Such pupils are smart, have good manners, obey school rules and work hard. According to Howard Becker they are typically middle class.
Ideological state apparatus
This is main function of education in a capitalist society according to Marxists. Education works to transmit an ideological justification of capitalism, presenting the unequal capitalist system as normal and inevitable.
Schools do this directly by ‘agenda setting’ – not teaching subjects which criticise capitalism such as sociology (at least until much later on in life), and they do it indirectly by mirroring the inequality found in wider society (teacher-pupil relations, banding and streaming), thus getting students used to the idea that inequality is normal.
Related concepts: passive subservience, Marxism, socialisation, hidden curriculum, power, inequality.
Immediate Gratification
Wanting instant reward, right now. The opposite of deferred gratification
Independent (Private) Schools
Schools which are not state-funded and are paid for by parents. They do not have to follow the national curriculum, but most choose to do so.
Institutional Racism
Discrimination which is built into the everyday workings of institutions such as schools.
Labelling*
‘Labelling’ is where someone judges a person based on the superficial ‘surface’ characteristics such as their apparent social class, sex, and ethnicity.
In the case of education, the main ‘labeller’ is the teacher, the main ‘labelled’ the pupil. Howard Becker has shown that teachers have an ‘ideal type’ of a pupil. The ‘ideal’ pupil is courteous, hard working and academically able. Middle-class pupils are far more likely to fit this model than are working class students, and thus middle class students get a positive label working class students a negative label.
Related concepts: Interactionism, self-fulfilling prophecy, ideal pupil.
*American misspelling: ‘labeling’
League Tables
Published documents which show the GCSE and A level results of all schools in England and Wales. Schools are effectively ranked against each other and thus are easy to compare.
Legitimation of class inequality
A Marxist term – where schools justify inequality through teaching the myth of meritocracy. Schools teach working class pupils that it is their fault if they fail their exams and end up in working class jobs, rather than the fault of the unequal and unfair system which is biased towards the middle class.
Marketization
Making schools compete for pupils, like businesses compete for clients or consumers.
This was the basic principle behind the 1988 education act: the government introduced open enrollment (parental choice), formula funding and league tables to introduce endogenous privatisation.
Related concepts: New Right, neoliberalism, privatisation, league tables, 1988 education act.
Material deprivation
Where someone cannot afford or lacks access to basic, material resources such as food and heating.
Material deprivation can have a negative effect on educational achievement because students may not have access to computers and the Internet at home and poor diet and housing conditions may lead to health problems which can result in time off school.
Related concepts: social class, cultural deprivation, differential educational achievement.
Meritocracy
The idea that what an individual achieves is based on a combination of their ability and effort.
In education this is where the qualifications one achieves is based on a combination of their intelligence and the amount of effort they put in during their time in school.
Marxists argue that meritocracy is a myth because in reality an individual’s educational achievement is more a reflection of their class background, a result of their material and cultural capital, rather than their ability or effort. However, the working classes believe the myth of meritocracy and thus blame their own failure on themselves rather than the unequal opportunities in the system.
Related concepts: achieved status, ascribed status, Marxism, Functionalism, equality of opportunity.
Motivation by external rewards
Being motivated by the end result, not the act itself. In education this means being motivated by exam results rather than the ‘joy of learning’.
Multicultural education
Any education that raises awareness of the different cultures, traditions and religions in a society, typically aimed at promoting acceptance of (or at least tolerance of diversity).
Myth of meritocracy
Part of Marxist Theory – the idea that schools are not meritocratic but teach students that they are so as to legitimate inequality (see the legitimation of class inequality).
National Curriculum
Set subjects (and the content within those subjects) laid down by the government that all state funded schools must teach.
OFSTED
The government body which inspects schools and publishes reports, grading schools from ‘outstanding’ to ‘in need of improvement’. Has the power the put schools into special measures and change the management and staffing of failing schools.
Parentocracy
Literally ‘the rule of the parents’. It is where parents have a choice over which school to send their children to.
Parity of Esteem
Where schools teach different subjects and have a different ethos but have equal status.
Particularistic values
The specific standards by which parents judge their children.
Passive subservience
Accepting authority and doing what you are told without questioning it.
Patriarchal Ideology
Norms and values which make patriarchy seem natural. E.g. the idea that women should be the primary child carers because they give birth to children.
Patriarchy
A system of male domination, or one in which men have advantage over women.
Polarization
Moving further apart. In education, marketisation is said to have caused this: the best schools improved and the worst schools got worse.
Postmodernisation
The changes associated with the move to a postmodern society, including globalization, more consumerism, more individual choice and diversity.
Privatisation (exogenous)
Where schools, or school services, are taken over by private businesses such as academy chains, rather than being run directly by the state.
Privatisation (endogenous)
Where schools are made to compete like businesses while still being run by the state. This was the idea behind marketization.
Reproduction of inequality
Where inequality is carried on from one generation to the next.
Restricted Speech Code
Language consisting of limited vocabulary, simple sentences, and which is context specific. According to Bernstein, this is what the working class speak. It is the opposite of the elaborated speech code.
Role allocation
Where pupils are sifted and sorted into appropriate jobs based on their abilities, reflected in the qualifications they achieve.
Society requires the most able to be in the most important and demanding jobs. Education makes sure this happens- only the most able and hardest working can rise to top and get the three A grades in science required to go on to do a medical degree and become a doctor for example.
Related Concepts: achieved status, Functionalism, division of labour, meritocracy.
Self-fulfilling prophecy
This is where someone acts according to their label and the label becomes true in reality.
In education a pupil who is repeatedly told that they are unlikely to achieve may consequently give up their efforts which in turn will reduce the likelihood of gaining a qualification. The teachers’ label has thus become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Related concepts: interactionism, labelling, deterministic.
Social Solidarity
Where individuals work together in pursuit of a shared goal.
Social Solidarity is most commonly used in politics where the public might show ‘solidarity’ with striking rail workers who’s goals is achieving the social justice of getting appropriate wages for their labour.
But the concept can also be applied to education – social solidarity is achieved through working together in team sports, or shared creative events such as artistic productions or even whole class educational projects.
Working together is one of the main ways we achieve a sense of belonging to wider society in Functionalist theory and education is probably the first time children will get to feel this sense of connection to the wider society beyond their family.
Subculture and Counter School Culture
A subculture consists of a group of people who share norms and values which are different to mainstream values.
An important type of subculture is the counter-school culture – identified by Paul Willis (1977). A counter school culture has norms and values which are in direct opposition to the mainstream culture of the school. Thus the lads who made up the counter-school culture valued messing around and ‘having a laugh’ and got status for doing so, and did not value working hard to achieve good grades.
Related concepts: pro-school subculture; myth of meritocracy, white working class underachievement; the young entrepreneurs (Mac An Ghaill), active-passive, Marxism.
Vocationalism
Work related education or training.
Vocationalism refers to any training or education which is specifically targeted to a particular type of job or sector.
It is usually contrasted to academic education which is more subject based and purely academic (subjects such as history, english literature or sociology are ‘academic’) and involve primarily reading, thinking, debating and writing essays.
Vocational education by contrast will be more focussed on teaching the specific technical skills and knowledge that individuals will require for work in a specific field of employment such as construction, the media or hairdressing.
Examples of Vocational Education include many BTEC qualifications and Apprenticeships.
Some courses may be a mixture of both Vocational and Academic.
Signposting and Related Posts
This post was written to help A-level sociology students revise for the education aspect of their SCLY1 7192/1 exam.
For further posts on revising for that exam paper, you might like this post which is specifically about techniques for answering the AQA A-Level Sociology Paper 1.
A news headline from 2016 – Is this just a ‘moral panic’?
They argue that boys’ underachievement has long been a feature of the UK education system, but it has recently become a ‘moral panic’ (In 1996, the UK’s Chief Inspector of Schools called it “one of the most disturbing problems facing the education system”) which has arisen because of the following three reasons:
First, deindustrialisation in the UK has led to the decline of traditional manufacturing jobs, and so there are fewer jobs available for those with few or no educational qualifications. As a result, young working-class men who leave school with relatively few qualifications have now become a ‘problem’.
Second, feminism has had an impact on girls’ education and career aspirations, and so women are advancing into technical and professional jobs which were previously male dominated.
Third, examination performance is increasingly central to policy, with Britain ranked against other countries, and failing students matter more.
They argue that focusing on boys’ underachievement is a problem because:
It ignores other differences between young people, particularly of ethnicity and class, which actually have a far greater affect on results.
Since girls are on top, there’s no space to tackle the problems that girls have in education. including teenage pregnancy, sexualisation and bullying in friendship groups.
Finally, they point out that some of the strategies adopted to deal with the ‘problem with boys’ are unlikely to work:
For example, there has been a big push to recruit more male teachers, particularly in primary schools, to act as role models for their male pupils. Yet research shows that the gender of the teacher has no effect on how well boys achieve in school.
Similarly, to solve the gender gap in reading policymakers have suggested giving boys adventure stories and factual books. But research shows that boys have a more positive attitude to reading when all pupils are encouraged to read as wide a range of books as possible.
How to write an A-level sociology essay
