1. Social Policy and Education
1.1. Development of state education
1.1.1. 1944 EDUCATION ACT - TRIPARTITE SYSTEM. Grammar, secondary modern and Technical schools. 11+ Test decide what school children went to
1.2. Marketisation
1.2.1. Conservative Education Reform Act 1965 - introduced comprehensive schools, new curriculum, league tables, types of schools (grant maintained)
1.2.2. Labour Policies - promoting diversity, choice and equality. VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
2. Social Class and Education Attainment
2.1. Social Class - Material and Cultural Deprivation
2.2. Working Class subculture - immediate gratification, low value on education and fatalism
2.3. Some think that Working Class Parents fail to transmit the appropriate norms, values, attitudes, skills and knowledge
2.4. Cultural Deprivation socialisation of norms and values
2.4.1. Working Class Subculture immediate gratification, fatalism and low value on ecuation
2.4.2. A lack of intellectual stimulation intellectual development is stunted due to WC parents not providing educational toys and activities for their children
2.4.3. The restricted speech code - Bernstein (1975) identified 2 different speech codes
2.4.3.1. Working Class Restricted Code - more descriptive, limited vocab and simple sentences
2.4.3.2. Middle Class Elaborated Code - wider vocabulary, more analytic and complex sentences
3. Ethnicity and Education Attainment
3.1. Asian students are attaining the highest grades whereas black WC students are doing the worst
3.2. External factors - cultural and material deprivation, and also racism in wider society
3.2.1. Labelling by teachers - self fulfilling prophecy
3.2.2. Racial discrimination in jobs and housing - social exclusion - unemployment,low pay, inadequate housing - affects children's education
3.2.3. Lacking intellectual and language skills. Also different attitudes, values and family structure play a big part
3.2.3.1. Lack of male role model
3.2.3.2. Asian families - strict, motivated and high aspirations
3.2.3.3. Fatalism & immediate gratification
3.2.3.4. The impact of slavery - less resistant to racism which can lead to low self-esteem and under-achievement
3.2.3.5. Culture of poverty
4. Gender and Educational Attainment
4.1. Boys underachievement can be due to poor literacy skills. Reading is seen as "feminine"
4.2. Globalisation and decline of traditional male jobs - identity crisis, loss of motivation and self esteem
4.3. Feminisation of schools - this disadvantages boys. Also there is a lack of male primary teachers = make boys think school is a feminine activity
4.4. Patterns of achievement and gender gap
4.4.1. In the past boys were achieving higher than girls however girls have over taken boys and now are doing better than them
4.4.2. In 2007 66% of girls got 5+ GCSEs C-A* compared 57% of boys
4.4.3. Changes in the family means women and men must be more economically independent - motivation to do well in education
4.4.3.1. more employment opportunities for women - changes in the law (sex discrimination act, pay gap)
4.4.3.2. divorce laws, single parent families, more cohabitation & smaller families
4.4.4. Feminism have a major impact on women's rights and opportunities. They have changed girls image and aspirations, as a result motivated girls to do well in education.
4.4.4.1. Sharpe compared two studies of working class girls in the 1970s and 1990s.
4.4.4.2. In 1970s girls main priorities were marriage, children and husbands.
4.4.4.3. In the 1990s she found girls aspirations had changed from marriage to careers
5. The role of the Education System
5.1. FUNCTIONALISTS say that social institutions like education perform positive functions for society and it's individuals.
5.1.1. DURKHEIM= social solidarity and skills
5.1.1.1. Preparing Young People for Work - education equips young people with skills needed to participate in work
5.1.1.2. Promotes social solidarity - education binds people together and enables them to cooperate. Provides children with a common purpose and universalistic rules
5.1.2. PARSONS - socialisation and Meritocracy
5.1.2.1. Meritocracy schools are a miniature society both meritocratic. Individuals succeed or fail depending on ability and effort. It helps to prepare them for modern society which is competitive and individualistic
5.1.2.2. Secondary Socialisation - socialises individuals into the shared values of a meritocracy society
5.1.3. DAVIS and MOORE - Role Allocation : the main function of education is role allocation, the selection and allocation of individuals to their future work roles
5.2. MARXISM - Class division and exploitation. In this capitalist society there are 2 classes - ruling and subject class
5.2.1. BOWLES AND GINTIS
5.2.1.1. Education reproduces an obedient, exploitable workforce that accepts social inequality and captialism
5.2.1.2. HIDDEN CURRICULUM
5.2.1.2.1. Education transmits messages to students about society via rewards and cooperation
5.2.1.3. Meritocracy is a myth: class background determines how well a person does. Education creates a particular way of thinking - justifying inequality
5.2.1.4. Social institutions just reproduce class inequalities and teaching children that social exploitation is justified and acceptable
5.2.1.5. They claim that capitalism needs workers with obedient attitudes and submissive personalities that are willing to accept hard work, low pay and authority
5.3. NEW RIGHT PERSPECTIVE - believe that there is too much state control over education and a culture of welfare dependency has developed
5.3.1. State control has resulted in inefficiency, national economic decline and lack of personal business
5.3.2. The state should provide equality and meritocracy for all
5.3.3. The state does have a limited role which is creating a framework for competition between schools and the state still ensures that schools transmit society's shared culture through a curriculum
5.3.4. MARKETISATION
5.3.4.1. State run schools have low standards due to inefficient education for all
5.3.4.2. Forces schools to respond to the needs of the pupils, parents and employers. e.g. Competition
6. Relationships and Processes within Schools
6.1. Teacher expectations - labelling and the ideal pupil. Discriminates against other pupils. = self-fulfilling prophecy
6.1.1. Setting - based on perceived ability streaming - based on overall ability level
6.2. Hidden curriculum - informal messages and lessons that influence behaviour and attitudes of individuals.
6.2.1. Feminists argue that the HC is only benefiting one particular group - they think that the HC is transmitting patriarchal values
6.2.2. functionalist like Durkheim and Parsons say that it helps both society and the invididual
6.2.3. Bowles and Gintis think that HCs main role is to produce a exploited and manipulated work force for capitalists
6.2.4. Marxists argue that it just helps to reproduce a exploited workforce. Only benefits the ruling class