Flashcards · 8192 · Topic 4

Education flashcards

19 cards on Topic 4, subtopics 3.4.1 to 3.4.4. Pick a subtopic or study them all.

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What did Durkheim (1925) see as the main function of education?: Transmitting society's norms and values, welding individuals into a united whole; the teaching of history links the child to society, and strict rules teach self-discipline.
Particularistic vs universalistic standards: Particularistic: rules that apply to one person because of who they are, as in the family. Universalistic: the same rules for everyone, as in school and wider society (Parsons).
How did Parsons see the school?: As a bridge between the family and society, operating on meritocratic principles so status is achieved, and selecting individuals for their future roles.
Home schooling vs de-schooling: Home schooling moves education out of school. De-schooling (Illich) rejects formal schooling as an institution altogether.
State vs private schools: State schools are funded by taxation and free to attend. Private (independent, fee-paying) schools are funded mainly by fees.

Correspondence principle: Bowles and Gintis's idea that school relationships mirror workplace relationships.
What did Bowles and Gintis (1976) argue education does in capitalism?: It reproduces labour power, creating a hardworking, docile, obedient and motivated workforce too divided to challenge management. They rejected the idea that capitalist societies are meritocratic.
How does Willis (1977) differ from Bowles and Gintis?: Both are Marxist, but Willis argues education is not a very successful agency of socialisation: pupils can resist, and schooling can have unintended consequences.
Hidden curriculum: What pupils learn from how school is organised, not from lessons, e.g. obedience and punctuality.

What did Halsey, Heath and Ridge (1980) find?: In over 8,000 males born 1913–1952, service-class boys were 4 times as likely as working-class boys to be at school at 16, 8 times at 17, 10 times at 18 and 11 times as likely to attend university. Females were excluded.
What did Ball, Bowe and Gewirtz (1994) find about parental choice?: A study of fifteen schools: parental choice and league tables pushed some schools to reintroduce streaming and setting and to focus on more able pupils.
Cultural capital: Middle-class knowledge, tastes and confidence that schools reward.
Material vs cultural deprivation: Material: lack of money for housing, diet, equipment and study space. Cultural: claimed lack of parental attitudes and language codes that schools value. Critics say cultural deprivation blames the victim.
Why do girls now outperform boys?: Feminism and changing aspirations, equal-opportunity policies, and a crisis of masculinity as traditional male manual work declines.
Ethnocentric curriculum: A curriculum centred on one culture's history, language and values.

Streaming vs setting vs mixed ability teaching: Streaming: one ability group for all subjects. Setting: ability groups subject by subject. Mixed ability: pupils of all abilities taught together.
Labelling vs self-fulfilling prophecy: Labelling is the act of defining a pupil, e.g. as "bright" or "lazy". The self-fulfilling prophecy is the result when treatment and self-image change until the pupil matches the label.
What did Ball (1981) find at Beachside Comprehensive?: In three years of participant observation, middle-class pupils were more likely to be placed in band 1 and faced higher teacher expectations; he compared a banded cohort with a mixed ability cohort.
What did Willis (1977) find about counter school culture?: Working-class "lads" in a Midlands school rejected school values, felt superior to teachers and conformist pupils, and their rejection prepared them for manual work.