AS sociology

Question	Answer
socialisation	a learning process
culture	shared way of life
cultural transmission	key norms and values : passed onto another
primary and secondary agencies of socialisition	primary-learning process that takes place at home secondary-learning process that takes place outside of the home.
social construction	agreed or socially accepted definition or expectation of something or group of people.-built by society culture
norms and values	beliefs (values), behaviour (norms)
1944 Education Act	Before 1944 all primary education was free to everyone however secondary required fees but now secondary education was free. All people over 11 would sit an 11+ exam, this would determine what school they would attend either Secondary Modern school (if you failed the exam), Technical schools (if you almost succeeded) and Grammar School if you succeeded this was called the Tripartite System.
1976 Education Act	abolished the Tripartite System and introduced a fair system that introduced comprehensive schools into the nation and meant that students of all abilities could study together.
1988 Education Act	-City technical college opted out of LEA control and got sponsorship from local businesses. Local businesses became shareholders with some say in how the school was run. -were able to opt out of local authority control;they could spend their budget however they liked. Allows schools to be more flexible to local needs. Governors aren't necessarily the best people to decide how money should be spent -Broadly christian act, where you had to teach religion.. At least 50% christian, at least 50% another religion. -formula funding;more kids=more money small schools closed down -key stages were introduced, key stage four assessed on GCSe and key stage five assessed on A levels. -in 1981 schools people with SEN got support, but in 1988 it became more of a problem because they thought it was more cost-effective to put them all in one school. -National curriculum 5-16 year olds science,maths, english (core subjects) -League tables published on how well students did on exams so schools would compete to get best results.
more 1988 Education act	Until 1988 it was important to send children to the closest comprehensive school but the new act allowed you to go to which ever you liked. Designed to drive up standards.
Education changes	free schools 2010, academies 2002, removal of modular exams 2013,pupil premium 2011, increase in university fees 2000, increase in the school leaving age 2013, a new national curriculum 2014,grammar tests Key stage 2 2013,2 year a levels 2015, aim higher, education action zones.
Functionalism	key institutions: media, criminal justice system, health, religion, education, economy, family. socialise us to act in a certain way. this is consented by everyone in society and so it is a consensus theory. Equality of opportunity (Durkheim)-everyone has the same school/option choices and sit the same exams. Individual achievement (Durkheim)- schools encourage students to achieve as individuals. High achievement awarded with good grades. Specialised division of labour (Durkheim)-ensures students learn the right skills for the occupations they may have one day -Secondary Socialisation (parsons) preparation for social life;how to behave in society -hidden curriculum (not on timetable) Social Solidarity (Durkheim)- everyone is different but school hold us together, through shared history and uniform. Meritocracy (Davis and Moore)-taught if you work hard you get good grades. system in society where success is worked for role allocation (parsons)-finding what students are best at to prepare them for future careers.
Marxism	recognises that there are key institutions all owned by the rich and they use their institutions to brain wash ordinary people. This is a conflict theory because people are unaware that society is unfair. Marx thinks that the rich and poor are equally important
Feminist theory	the search for gender equality. All key institutions are occupied by the male population and this showed be tested. conflict theory as gender inequality has been questioned.
ideology	set of beliefs which control our actions, attitudes and behaviours.
evaluating the 1988 era	finance-how schools got their money and how they spent it. sink schools struggle to fund. competition/market forces-any opportunity for pupils/parents/schools to compete with each other.lead to improving all schools to get more students but led to schools losing money due to lack of students. schools improved to attract students schools lost students so lost money the development of parental control-schools improved as parents had a good idea of what was best for their child. parents don't always have the best knowledge of how to run a school so it's important to hire trained people to do this league table-a list of schools according to exam results students wont go to the school if it's at the bottom of the league table. only based on exam results not actual school. schools at the top get more formula funding. ofsted-the organisation which inspects schools if they get a bad report the school becomes an academy or shuts down schools improve to get a good report to attract students. only inspect a school for two days so don't get a full perspective of the school
The New Right: does marketization work?	Levin and Belfield found that results only improved a small amount under these principles
What is wrong with marketization?	schools spend money on DVDs, brochures and advertising rather than educating young people.
Who should decide how a school is run?	Chubb and Moe believed that market forces in education were crucial and that students and parents and the local community should have a say in how a school is run
how should schools accept their students?	at the extreme end of the New Right is the belief that schools should be able to select the best students for their intake as that is who will get them the best grades.
how do the New Right principles affect the way that schools are run?	The New Right believe that schools should decide how to spend money including how much to pay teachers. Schools should use marketing strategies to encourage students and the amount of money should depend on the amount of students they have
do the new right believe that education has other functions apart from teaching young people to be competitive?	schools socialised young people through religious assemblies and use of the national curriculum
why do the new right believe in competition?	economy is competitive and is essential to prepare young people to be competitive. League tables and ofsted reports both enable schools to try and outperform each other.
What do the New right believe should be done about social inequality?	The state should keep out of the affairs of individuals and leave them to make their own choices; if a person is poor then it is their own fault and their own responsibility to fix it.
What are free market principles?	The idea that if individuals and organisations are able to compete freely without rules then they will always strive to be better and this will drive up standards. Those that do not improve will be forced to close down.
can schools make up for the inequality in the society.	even with good management and high quality teaching schools can still rarely provide equality of opportunity for students from low income. Halsey et al (1997) found that schools in working class areas are rarely able to improve outcomes for students.
23%	if your parents are working class you have 23% chance to get 2 or more A levels
3 years	by the age of three poorer children are around one year behind the rich children in terms of communication skills
56.4%	of white children achieved good GCSE results in 2014
74.4%	of chinese students did well in GCSEs in 2014
13%	of white people aged 25-49 are unemployed.
54%	54% of A level entries are girls
15%	of british citizens are below the poverty line
Sciences subjects are the only	GCSe subject where there is no female advantage
53% chance	of middle class students achieve 2 or more A levels
80%	of exclusions are boys
boys 51.6% girls 61.7%	61.7% of girls achieve five good gcse results 51.6 % of boys achieve five good GCSE results.
girls chose options like: boy chose options like:	girl choose english, psychology,sociology,media boys choose physics, PE, business and geography
70%	of SEN students are boys.
social action	studies behaviour close up
black feminists	focuses : class, ethinicity, human rights. Hooks thinks that black women in the USA did not join together to fight for womens rights as they didn;t realise womanhood was an issue however sexist socialisation changed perspective of this. the feminist theory studies the interplay of race, class and gender in shaping and restricting the life chances of black women. Bell Hook was disatisfied with western feminism because it didn't address problems faced by black women
Radical feminism	focuses on the home. Women and men are affected by inequalities. women are denied of talents and men don't have opportunities to bond with their children the womens position in the home is primary carers this benefits capitalism not their husbands women are used as free labour as they carry out childcare and housework for free. they are denied access to positions of power.
Female supremacists and separatists	women are morally superior to men patriarchial institutions should be replaced by matriarchal ones so theres no more conflict. lesbians can only be true feminist as they can be truly independent of men violence and sexual abuse are ways in which men maintain power, rape is about power not sex. Women should organise themselves independently from men or outside of partiarchal society.
marxist feminism	focus on economy and work women accept lower wages because they depend on their husbands income. women reproduce next labour force and help to make them responsible ready for the workforce. in the past employers prefer part time, flexible female workers because they didn't share the same legal protection to full time workers.
liberal feminists	general equality Feminists reject help from males in their quest for liberation as they believe its males that are the cause of their opression
functionalist definitions of the family	Murdock1949-believed that the nuclear family had four functions: sexual function-regulates sexual activity, controlling mechanism keeps people together reduces sleeping around so reduces STIs and unwanted pregnancy economic-earn money at work to support children, for example heat, shelter, water food. educational-teaching children the basics for example how to write their name, alphabet reproductive-to produce offspring for the future workforce Talcott Parsons: insistutions existing within industrialised nations are specialised. The family therefore has it's own specific specialised functions. The nuclear family is ideal He argues that there are 2 "basic and irreducible" functions THESE ARE: primary socialisation-learning process stabilisation of adult personalities (warm bath theory) - idea is to reduce mental health problems. shaping childrens personality in a positive way
New Right Political Ideology	the new right is like a horseshoe of the spectrum of ideas. The new right are politicians they believe in roll back states: benefits, pensions, education. right wings want to reduce the welfare state. they believe in a self-regulated economy (everyone makes their own money) the left wing believe in full state interventions, state owned economies, left thinking celebrates differences in individuals "Single parents should be starved into marriage" charles murray US New right Nuclear Family is important to the new right : Ideology is based on traditional functionalist theories of the family. Nuclear family is important due to socialisation Nuclear family is important due to socialisation to children so that they can develop workforce and moral society. If not socialised properly they become semi-feral
Parsons view on the family	the mothers natural state: carer,barer of children, housewife, "expressive role" the fathers natural state is the breadwinner the father is a "instrumental role " in the nuclear family.
class structure	Landed gentry-royalty upper middle class-landed middle class lower middle class working class-skilled/unskilled underclass
The marxist views of the family	The family pass down norms and values of material needs and consumerism. this is to pursue "false needs" The family reproduces and maintains a "false class consciousness " through primary socialisation. The traditional heirachy of family such as the male dominance encourages passive acceptance of authority well suited to factor/call centre type jobs The family serves the needs of the economy as property is passed down through inheritance.
Marxism definitions	-ascribed status: the social status a person is assigned at birth or assumed involuntarily later in life. it is a position that is not chosen but assigned -false class consciousness- a term used by some Marxists for the way in which material, ideological and institutional processes in a capital society mislead members of the proletariat and other class actors.
internal factors within school that affect attainment	-attendance-if they don't come to school they will fall behind. -if they feel well on the day-maintains concentration. -bullied-if someone is bullied they will always feel on edge and have low self-esteem -teachers-teachers make lessons easy to understand students are able to learn more -if they enjoy the lesson-they are more likely to listen -if they have additional needs-dyslexia affects spelling and memory processes. -on time to lessons or not-if they're not on time they will miss vital pieces of information if they listen in class-will have an impact on memory processes and if they don't concentrate they wont learn as much
external factors affecting attainment	-death-if a loved one dies you will mourn and have time off school and fall behind on work. -pregnancy-is a full time commitment and if a child becomes pregnant they will require time off school and fall behind. -amount of sleep-sleep deprivation will prevent students from concentrating fully. -influences peer have-peers may have a negative impact on individuals i.e. smoking or drinking -problems at home i.e. parents splitting up may cause a child to become depressed and not focus on school work -how much they revise-A levels require 4-5 hours a week on each subject.. -amount of money parents have-a child doesn't have revision guides may miss crucial information needed for their exams. if they don't have a computer they cannot research for homework.
cultural capital	Bordieu suggested that school is based on the experiences of middle class. middle class parents have the skills to "play the system" suggests that working class children don't understand the use of language the teacher has. this means that working class have less money due to how well they did in school. their place is legitimated because they failed in school. working class students are more likely to drop out of school because they believe they will fail. this is called "fatalism" Douglas found that the attitudes of children is a mirror of their parents. working class parents encourage children to find work quickly to supply for family and they know that the children don't have much potential. sugarman believes children are made to be fatalistic as they believe they will fail. immediate gratification is living for the moment. Blackstone and Mortimer- parents did not have good experiences of schools so they are prevented from supporting their children
Speech codes	Basil Bernstein- "speech codes" one aspect of culture which affects attainment of children from different social class. Elaborated class-universal language using full words and phrases spoken by middle class teachers and students Restricted code-brief, "Niche" language involving slang and colloquialisms spoken by working class students but not valued by the education system.
interactionism	peter woods came up with different rankings for students on how good they were based on their attitude was towards school and if they tried to gain approval from teachers or peers. -ingratiation- most positive -compliance -opportunism -ritualist -retreatist -colonization -intransigence -rebellion interactionists believe in self-fulfilling prophecy an example is the teacher labels a student and effects their motivation. Interaction will be based on the label given by the teacher. Rosenthal and Jacobson did an example of this-Pygmalion in the classroom. Stephen Ball examined the process of banding. information from primary schools determined your band. band 1=most able band 3=least able Neil keddie looked at streaming in London comprehensive schools. he found that knowledge provided by teachers depended on assessments of the students ability to handle it. Ball + keddie say students experience school differently Hargreaves (1967) related the emergence of subcultures to labelling and streaming in schools.
Gender and subject choice	The national curriculum introduced the idea that many subjects were to be made compulsory. However, where there is some choice or pre or post 16 girls and boys tend to follow different paths in terms of the subjects they choose. National curriculum options-stables and wikeley found that when there is a choice girls opt for food technology, whereas boys tend to choose graphics and resistant materials AS and A levels-there tends to be a big difference between subject choice at this stage. Boys choose maths and physics and girls literature and social sciences. there also are reflected in degree levels. Vocational courses-hairdressing -girls, construction courses-boys. Reason for difference: Innate ability-natural differences boys have "visual spatial ability" so choose sports girls have verbal ability so choose language subjects. peer pressure-boys opt out of dance due to being ridiculed. Carrie Paetcher -sport was seen as male so girls had to cope with the assumption that it is a male subject.
Gender and subject choice	Primary socialisation-they are treated differently engage in different activities and wear different clothes. this influences their later attitudes towards subject choice. Murphy and Ellwood - showed how boys and girls have different tastes in reading boys choose factual books and girls choose fiction. this explains why girls choose English as they are more creative browne and ross - argue childrens beliefs about gender domains are shaped by early experience Hidden curriculum-include textbook images, teacher attitudes. lobban -reading schemes and out of 225 stories she found only 2 showed womans roles other than domestic tasks Kelly - looked at science textbooks found they concentrated on images of male scientists at the expenses of females.
Internal factors affecting the underachievement of boys	Girls less likely to guess -therefore ask for help and get accurate information Teachers are tolerant and lenient towards girls (Warrington) -teachers tell a boy off rather than a girl which causes a boy to get annoyed that they are not being treated the same Boys risk takers- results in Boys having the wrong information Things boys see as important aren't valued - eg physical aggression Girls are more likely to ask for help (Warrington) - girls get more accurate inflation Teacher labelling (Becker) teachers label Boys as troublemakers and girls hard workers Girls make more effort to build relationships with teachers - girls ask about their weekend and don't mess around and don't socialise with teachers like girls and help more Girls don't like practical subjects because they are overshadowed by boys - boys are loud and aggressive the boys are likely to get equipment if it's a practical lesson ie per and science The nature of exams (Pickering) long essay style exams, boys are risk takers therefore prefer multiple choice exams
The teachers are female	80% of teachers are female which causes boys to associate learning with girls
English is perceived as female	English is seen as "girly" so boys give up on English therefore affecting the rest of subjects.
Out of school factors affecting male underachievement	Employment - modern jobs need communication skills associated with girls Puberty - girls hit puberty earlier than boys so are ready to learn at 12 Spender -said girls are socialised to be ladylike which contributed to subject choice so behaviour links to grades Attitude -mitsos and Browne suggest boys are socialised to act tough so they develop anti education attitudes as wanting to learn gives bad reputation Toys- boys have aggressive toys for example gun Boys described as little rascals and girls are pretty sweet and quiet. No jobs for under qualified individuals -Boys look up to fathers but they worked in factories and there are no longer these jobs available Independence -feminism and media teaches women to be independent so girls work hard to achieve this Changes in law - sex discrimination act made it illegal to differentiate women at work. Equal property at night shows that individuals don't need men anymore Shores -noted that traditional male jobs no longer exist Reading -parents spend more time reading with girls than boys Masculinity

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