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AQA Sociology Education questions and answers
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A variety of 10, 20 and 30 mark questions and essays. Achieved grade A's and A*'s at A-Level. Written this year, 2023.
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AQA Sociology Essays – EducationAnalyse two ways in which teaching and learning in schools may affect the
educational experiences of minority ethnic groups. (10 marks) Institutionalised
racism within schools, the deep rooted routine prejudice against ethnic groups
within the education system, negatively impacts the experience of education
for minority ethnic groups. For instance the ethnocentric curriculum, the
schools curriculum which is centred around white culture, means that ethnic
minority groups can feel alienated by and disinterested in education. The
teachings of white history, christianity and white poets are some of the many
examples of the ethnocentric curriculum. This shows that education can be a
negative experience for minority ethnic groups as the curriculum is non
inclusive of other cultures. Although in recent times there have been
progressive movements away from the ethnocentric curriculum. Another
reason minority ethnic groups may have a negative experience of education is
due to teacher labelling.
This refers to teachers attaching negative stereotypes to ethnic minority
students. For example Gilbourn and Youdell found teachers had ‘racialised
expectations’ and as a result were much quicker to discipline black students
than white students for the same behaviours. As a result black students may
feel isolated in education and as a result reject educational principles, in turn
negatively impacting their academic achievement. This exemplifies that ethnic
minority students are negatively impacted by teacher labelling. However
labelling is deterministic and black students have the choice to actively reject
the label they are given.
Analyse two ways in which the education system might serve the needs of
capitalism. (10 marks) Althusser, a marxist, claims that the education system
is an ideological state apparatus. This refers to a system that control’s
people's ideas, the education system makes working class individuals believe
that their position is inferior. The education system is able to reproduce class
inequalities as every education goes through the education system and
therefore produces generations of workers that serve the needs of capitalism.
However Althusser does not acknowledge the positive impact the education
system can have. Bowles and Gintis claim class inequality is achieved through
the correspondence principle, the notion the workplace mirrors the education
system. For instance the hierarchy of students, teachers, headteachers in
schools mirrors that of the workplace where there are workers, managers and
bosses. In turn obedient working class workers, who are taught that their
position is inferior, are produced allowing capitalist society to thrive. However
the marxist view of education ignores other inequalities within the education
system, such as gender and ethnicity.
Businesses compete with each other to attract customers. Another route
to success for businesses is to provide unique products for their
customers. The introduction of marketisation policies into the state
, education system means that schools are run like businesses. Applying
material from the Item analyse two ways in which marketisation policies have
led to schools being run like businesses. (10 marks) The Education Reform
Act, introduced by the Conservatives in 1988, brought about marketisation.
This refers to schools being ‘run like businesses’ (Item) as they compete
against one another for customers, namely students and their parents. One
way in which this is carried out is through the introduction of League Tables
and Ofsted Reports. This allows students and parents to easily compare
schools by a variety of criteria, such as average grades and incidents of
bullying. This in turn means customers can easily distinguish which schools
are right for them and which are not. Schools, similarly to businesses, attempt
to be in the higher ranks of the League Tables and will therefore encourage
driving up grades and decreasing rates of bullying for instance. This shows
that, as businesses do, schools ‘compete with each other to attract customers’
(Item). However schools who are in the lower ranks of the League Tables due
to poor Ofsted rankings often enter a spiral of decline, meaning they are
unable to compete with other schools as they are too low in the League Table.
Another way in which schools are run similarly to businesses is through
Funding Formula. This refers to each child being worth a certain amount of
money, given to the school by the Government when a pupil enroles at their
institution. In order to fund the best teachers and resources available schools
want to receive the most Formula Funding possible and therefore attempt to
attract as many customers as they can. This means schools compete against
each other for economic gain, as businesses do. Although in certain cases
schools can become oversubscribed due to this desire for monetary gain.
Item: Social class differences in achievement are found at all stages of
the education system and sociologists have put forward several
explanations for these differences. Some sociologists focus on factors
outside school, such as the material circumstances of pupils’ families or
the ways in which parents socialise their children. Other sociologists
see factors internal to the education system itself as responsible.
However, it can be argued that it is the interaction between these
external and internal factors that produces class differences in
educational achievement. Applying material from Item and your knowledge,
evaluate sociological explanations of social class differences in educational
achievement. (30 marks) ‘Social class differences in achievement are found at
all stages of the education system’ with middle class children being more likely
to excel academically than working class children. These social class
differences in educational achievement are explained in a variety of ways by
sociologists. Whilst some suggest factors within the system are the main
contributors others claim it is external factors that have the most detrimental
impact.
One external factor that impacts social class differences in educational
achievement proposed by sociologists is material deprivation. This refers to
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