Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Unit 2 Sociology
- The Role of the Educational System
- Functionalist
- Emile Durkheim
- Argueud that
social
solidarity
(social unity)
is essential to
the survival of
the society
- Education should develop
similarities between members of
society and bind them together
- Common history is vital for
uniting society
- Industry has
specialized
division of
labour
- Talcott Parsons
- Education system is the main
form of secondary socialisation
- Individual achivement
- Equality of opportunities
- Schools are a miniature
version of wider society
- Role allocation is one of the main
functions of the educational system
- Criticisms
- The education system
may be transmitting the
values of the ruling
classes
- The way history is taught
reflects a white middle
class view, not other
cultures, taking away
from social solidarity
- There is evidence to say certain
groups underachieve in schools
- Hard to see a direct link between
school subjects and the real world
- Marxist
- Louis Althusser
- Schools teach that
capitalism is just
and reasonable
- Capitalist society
is fundamental to
social control
- Bowles and Gintis
- Schools are like
wider society,
based on heirachy
- Children are motived by
external rewards, much like
the workplace e.g. pay rise
- If unequality was to be questioned,
social stability could become threatened
- Those who get the
higher paid jobs do so
because of their social
backround and because
they do as they are told
- Willis
- The lads were not shaped by the
educational system, as they created
their own counter school culture
- The rejection of school means they have
prepared themselves for the workplace
- Criticisms
- It is based on capitalism
being unjust, oppressive,
and exploiting the workforce
- Social Class and Educational Attainment
- Working Class Subcultures
- Fatalistic: accepting the situation rather than working to improve it
- Present-time orientated:
Living for the moment rather
than planning for the future
- Concerned with immediate gratification: taking pleasures
now, rather than making sacrifices for the future
- Cultural Depravation
- Views of sociologists such as
Sugarman and Douglas became
known as cultural deprivation theory
- Those at the bottom of the class system
are deprived of important values, attitudes,
experiences, skills which are essential for
educational success
- Their home life lacks books,
educational toys, and
motivation from their parents
- A culturally deprived child is
seen as substandard, which in
turn probably makes them fail
- Criticisms
- So called culturally deprived
behavior may be down to lack of
money, not lack of norms and values
- Diverts blame form the
educational system and
places it on their backround
- Restricted and Elaborated Codes
- Bernstein identified to two forms of speech pattern
- Restricted Code: Shorthand speech, used with friends
and family, sentences are often short and unfinished,
detail is omitted, explanation is not given
- Elaborative Code: Meanings are
made explicit, details are explained,
and can be understood by everyone
- Middle class children are fluent in both,
whereas working class are limited to
restricted, disadvantaging them, as
education is in elaborative code
- Criticisms
- He provides little evidence
that the working class is
limited to restricted code
- Cultural Capital
- Bourdieu starts with the idea that
there is a dominant culture in society
- The higher peoples position in society
the more dominant culture they have
- Children born into middle and upper
class families are more likely to
succeed in school, as their culture
because they are closer to teachers
- Bourdieu said that dominant culture can be seen as cultural capital,
as it is converted into material rewards or high saleries
- The primary purpose of education
is to reproduce dominant culture
- Labelling Theory
- Teachers
are more
likely to
label middle
class
students as
good
students,
and well
behaved
- If a pupil is
labelled as
bright then
others will react
to this, and
interpret their
actions based on
their label
- The pupil will act in terms of their label and
see themselves as bright, fulfilling the
prophecy others (self fulfilling prophecy)
- Setting and Streaming
- Middle class pupils are placed in
higher groups, with lower class
students placed in lower groups
- Most teachers prefer to teach the higher ability
groups, because the conduct is likely to be
better of the pupils, than in lower groups
- Those in lower groups tend to develop the
anti-school subculture, where breaking the
rules is highly regarded by some pupils
- Teachers spend more
time controlling the
behaviors of such groups
than teaching them
- Criticisms
- Recent research has indicated
that setting and streaming has
little effect on pupils achievement
- Examination Sets
- GCSE is split, mostly, into higher and
foundation tiers, those in foundation
cannot achieve B-A* grades
- Middle class students are usually placed
into higher tier exams, and working class
students into foundation exams
- This has more to do with
teachers perception of what
counts as ability than the
students actual ability
- Working class students are
denied the opportunity of
attaining high grades
- Ethnicity and Educational Achievement
- Explaining the Differences in Attainment
- Social Class
- A higher proportion of ethnic minority
groups that come from a working class
backround are less likely to succeed
- However the influence of
class on ethnic performance
varies from group to group, in
particular class effects whites
- Bangledeshi students don't seem
effected by this, they are mostly
working class, and have improved
greatly since 1992-2006
- Cultural Factors
- To a degree ethnic groups have
their own subcultures and values
- Language reasons hold a large part to
why there are differences in achievement,
Bangladeshis are less likely to be familiar
with the English language
- The value placed on education can also
play a role in this, with research showing
how those parents from ethnic minorities
encourage their children