EDUCATION
SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES:
Functionalism – See education as an agency of socialisation to maintain stability through the value
consensus, social harmony, and cohesion. Durkheim and Talcot’s 4 functions of education:
Building social solidarity – Subjects & hidden curriculum give shared values and culture
which builds social solidarity (brings them together)
Providing a bridge between particularistic and universalistic values – Durkheim argued
schools are small societies. Parsons argued schools provide a bridge between PV and UV.
Human capital – Schultz developed HC (knowledge & skills of a workforce). Functionalists
argue education prepares the labour force.
Legitimization of social inequality & meritocratic society – Davis and Moore, people selected
based on talent, skill and qualifications. Legitimizes inequality “if you don’t deserve I, it’s
your fault”.
CRITICISIMS:
Marxists argue it ignores power inequalities and the culture passed on by school is from the
ruling class. Feminists argue school passes on patriarchal values.
Link between qualifications and job status is not strong like functionalists say. Qualifications
more raise the status of the job rather than provide knowledge and skill for it.
There is no equality of opportunity as not everyone has the same opportunities.
Bowles and Gintis argues education disguises that there’s no quality and social class,
ethnicity and gender influence educational success.
The New Right – Argue education should be concerned with training the workforce.
Chubb and Moe believe education should be a market with a range (Marketization)
The new right see education like supermarkets, competing for customers.
Marxism – See education as a means of control, emphasises reproduction of social inequalities.
Althusser saw education as reproduction of obedient labour force and that ideological state
apparatus is needed to stop people from rebelling because it justifies ideology and
socializes.
Bourdieu argues middle & upper classes have an advantage of cultural capital, a ‘Habitus’.
Illich and Freire argues schools are repressive institutions that promote conformity rather
than encouraging independence.
Education has a role in producing hegemony and hegemonic control of ruling-class
Bowles and Gintis argued education is reproduction of labour through; Hidden curriculum
and justifying & legitimising inequality and class structure.
CRTICISMS:
There’s a lack of research into schools, they assume the hidden curriculum is influencing
pupils but pupils often rebel against school (Willis’ Research)
Deterministic, they assume people have little control over what happends to them but can’t
explain why many working-class kids are successful in school
, Interactionist – Micro approach (contrasts to functionalism and Marxist macro approach) using
qualitive methods (interviews & observations), interactionists want to see how through interaction
how people develop meanings and interpret and form identities. Shown by issues ike teacher
stereotyping, labelling etc.
SCHOOL PROCESSES & ORGANIZATION
School ethos – The character, atmosphere, or ‘climate’ of a school
The hidden curriculum – Routines in school like sports, punctuality, rules assemblies and more that
install values, attitudes, and behaviours among students.
Labelling – defining a person or group in a certain way which may contribute to the moulding of
student identities and can affect performance and behaviour of students.
This stereotyping by teachers can lead to the Halo effect (when pupils are stereotyped good
or badly based on earlier impressions).
Waterhouse suggests that teachers labelling pupils has implications of the way they deal
with them.
This may lead to the Self-fulfilling prophecy, where people act in response to the predictions
made and make it come true.
The ‘ideal’ pupil:
Becker discovered teachers evaluate pupils in comparison of their stereotype of the
ideal pupil. This identity includes hard work, concentrating, listening, performing well
etc.
Research like Gilborn and Harvey & Sutton found that teachers stereotype of the ideal
student favoured white people and black students weren’t seen as successful and were
given less opportunities and that the stereotype is more likely to be applied to girls than
boys. (suggest ethnicity and gender have important influences)
BANDING, STREAMING AND SETTING
Banding – Where schools try to make sure they take students of all abilities.
Streaming – Where students are divided into groups of similar ability and stay in that group across all
subjects.
Setting – Where students are put into sets of same ability in particular subject.
Smyth et al found students in lower streams have negative attitudes, find the teaching pace
slow and disengage from school. This suggests streaming has harmful effects. Streaming
contributes to underachievement of working class pupils and effects their occupation and
social class in the future.
Research from Sutton trust found setting was a good way of reaching bright people from
poor backgrounds but not enough have reached the top sets.
A consequence of streaming and setting is that not everyone gets the same knowledge
EDUCATIONAL TRIAGE
The way schools divide pupils into 3 groups; most likely to succeed, those who might with extra hope
and hose with no chance.
