Education

Question 1

Define formal curriculum

Answer 1

Timetabled subjects taught in school

Question 2

Define hidden curriculum

Answer 2

Values, attitudes and principles transmitted to pupils but not a part of the hidden curriculum

Question 3

Define social cohesion (Durkheim)

Answer 3

A sense of belonging to the wider society

Question 4

Define meritocracy (Parsons)

Answer 4

A social system that rewards merit rather than social status
Education is meritocratic - children are judged by universalistic standards and rewarded based on achievements
Education is a bridge between home and wider society

Question 5

Define social mobility

Answer 5

The movement of an individual either up or down the social scale

Question 6

Define the marketisation of education

Answer 6

The idea that the education system is designed to primarily serve the needs of the capitalistic education system
Introducing competition and choice to the education system to improve education

Question 7

Define setting and streaming (interactionists)

Answer 7

Dividing students into different groups based on a general assessment of their ability to

Question 8

How is social cohesion taught?

Answer 8

Through the hidden curriculum

Question 9

Outline Durkheim’s 3 functions of education

Answer 9

1. Social solidarity
   The feeling of being part of a larger group within society
2. Society in miniature
   School mirrors larger society in its structure and functions, teaching children about social norms and values and how to interact with others in a structured environment
3. Division of labour
   Helps children specialise by focussing on specific skills leading to a more efficient use of resources

Question 10

Outline the functionalist evaluation for the role of education

Answer 10

Evidence shows that there is not equal opportunity (class, ethnic, gender inequalities)
- junior doctors striking because of low pay - evidence against Davis & Moore’s role allocation theory

Question 11

What did Davis & Moore argue was the role of education

Answer 11

Role allocation
The system shifts and sorts people into future roles
The most talented people gain higher qualifications which leads to them gaining more important jobs with high rewards

Question 12

Outline the New Right argument on the role of education

Answer 12

Education is failing to prepare young people for work
This is why the marketisation of education is needed

Question 13

What did Althusser say about the role of education (M)

Answer 13

Education has replaced religion as the ideological state apparatus (a tool used to socialise people into the dominant norms and values of a capitalistic society)
The education system heavily contributes to false consciousness, making individuals believe that the system is fair and where they are is to do with their own merit or lack thereof

Question 14

What did Bowles & Gintis argue about the role of the education system (M)

Answer 14

Correspondence principles
- schools teach formal knowledge, values and attitudes that prepare students for the workplace
- correspondence principles work through school hierarchies, rules and regulations

Question 15

What did sociologist Willis argue about the role of education? (M)

Answer 15

The lads counter culture
- being a working class lad at school prepares young people for low working jobs

Question 16

What is the evaluation of the Marxist perspective of the role of education

Answer 16

• overlooks structural inequality relating to ethnicity + gender
• ignores that for many children, education is a route out of poverty

Question 17

What did Bourdieu say about the role of education (M)

Answer 17

Cultural capital
Disadvantages the working class because their culture is undervalued

Question 18

Outline the feminist perspective on education

Answer 18

Education reinforces gender stereotypes
- distinct gender disparities around subject choice and the pay gap that continues to exist despite girls achieving consistently better
- lack of education leaves women vulnerable to exploitation by men & poverty
- hidden curriculum reinforces stereotypes

Question 19

Outline the radical feminist perspective on education

Answer 19

Males monopolise teacher time
- men dominate social spaces
- men tend to be aggressive towards transgressive women who challenge male dominance

Question 20

What did Becker say happens in education (I)

Answer 20

Labelling and self fulfilling prophecy (Becker)
- teachers evaluate students on what they perceive to be the ideal student; hard working, submissive

Question 21

What did Rosenthal and Jacobson’s study find

Answer 21

Tested students to see who would make significant progress
Lied about the results
When they returned, those students had made progress
- proves labelling and self fulfilling prophecy

Question 22

Outline the evaluation of rosenthal and Jacobson

Answer 22

• study was small scale so may have been unrepresentative
• unethical
• labelling in schools reflects prejudice and stereotypes that exist in wider society

Question 23

Outline the postmodernist view of education

Answer 23

Discourse: the knowledge that teachers and students construct
The functionalist goal of unifying society leads to oppression (because it is only based on the dominant point of view)
All truth is relative- schools should be offering access to a variety of views
Role of education: to help individuals decide who they want to be

EV:
No evidence
If knowledge is relative, what’s the point

Question 24

Outline the New right perspective of education

Answer 24

• needs are better met through the market than the state
• Chubb + Moe: state education has failed to create equal opportunity
  Low income student do 5% better in private schools