Education

Key terms:
• Education: the gradual process of acquiring knowledge.

• Formal education: takes place in classrooms, where there is a syllabus and set content to be
taught and learnt.

• Informal education: takes place outside classrooms at home or work or

through daily interactions.

• Hidden curriculum: attitudes and behavior that are taught through the way that school is run and
how teachers act, rather than the taught content of lessons.
Education as agency of socialization & social control:
• In schools children learn about academics & also about social expectations
(the ways they are expected to behave in a particular social situation).

• Education plays a vital role as an agency of social control by making children conform to the
value system by applying rewards & sanctions e.g. school code of conduct.

• Education system can be misused by those who have power in the society; that’s why Marxists
believe that it’s in favor of ruling class (capitalists), while feminists believe that it’s in favor of
males and used to prevail the male superiority.
Functions of education: the functionalists
view:
• They believe that education contributes to the continued well-being of society.
According to them functions of education are:

1. Schools pass on the norms & values of a society from one generation to the next. (agency of
socialisation).

2. produce people with the skills & abilities needed for the economy of that society. (sifting
&sorting). If the system works well it will produce the right number of people for the numbers
of jobs available.
 Criticism of functionalists view:

1. There is no set of shared values to be passed on.

2. There is no strong connection between schools & work.

3. People are selected for jobs not by their ability but more by their social class, ethnicity &
gender.
The functions of education: The Marxist view:
1. Education is used to instil the ideology and the value system of the ruling
class. (indoctrination).

2. Working-class children are sent to different schools from those of middle or upper class and
taught differently, so working-class student are prepared to be submissive to those in authority
unlike middle and upper class children whom are taught that they are superior and always
deserve to be better than the lower class people.

3. Instil false consciousness and fatalism into working-class student.

The functions of education: The feminists view:
• Schools insure male superiority, girls have lower expectations and they are
likely to accept traditional gender roles for the following:

1. Girls are taught different knowledge. (sewing , cookery & childcare).

2. Teachers have higher expectations of boys.

3. Gender role models in schools where the head teachers & senior staff are often male, give the
impression that men are better suited for leadership roles.
H.W
• Test yourself page 163.
Education & social mobility:
• Equality of opportunity: when everyone has the same chance of
succeeding.

• Meritocracy: a system in which individuals reach the social positon they deserve, based on their educational
achievements, talent & skills.

• the system is meritocratic, then social mobility could be obtained through education. However, Marxists reject the
idea that educational system is meritocratic; they believe that success mainly depends on social class, and any
mobility that is allowed is a safety valve, taking away from the working class its potential leaders.
Types of schools
According to age:

1. Primary schools (elementary): usually from age 5 to 11, supposed to be

compulsory, however that’s not the reality in all cases.
Pre-schools or kindergartens are designed to help children develop
cognitive, emotional and social skills.

2. Secondary schools: 11 to 16, variety of subjects are taught, compulsory in most

countries, always ends with series of examinations e.g. IGCSE.
3. Tertiary Education: post-compulsory education, offers undergraduate &
postgraduate degrees, university staff members carry out research as well as teach
students.
 According to ownership:

1. State schools: directly or indirectly run by the government. Funded by

taxation

2. Private schools: owned by individuals, funded mainly by tuition fees.

 In some countries there are some schools that are partly state & partly
private.
 Private schools debate:
Points for Points against

Smaller classes, better resources & facilities. Most parents can’t afford those schools.

Parents can afford & they prefer to spend on high They are charities, so attract subsidies and benefits
quality education. although they educate only a wealthy minority.

Students will be more qualified for top jobs. Exam results are often better due to the smaller
classes.

The private schools spend about four times as much a year on

each student as state schools do. This money could be better
spent on improving education for all.

Play important role in ensuring that higher classes can pass

on their privileges to their children.
 Other types of schools:

• Faith schools: schools controlled by religious organisations.

• Selective education: pupils are selected (and other excluded), usually on the basis of their
academic ability.
• Comprehensive system: non-selective secondary schools accepting all the children of that age in the
area.
• Grammar schools: children can’t get admission unless they pass the entrance exam, provide
maths, science & other demanding subjects.
• Technical schools: prepare children for manual occupations.

• Secondary modern schools: offering basic education with often few opportunities to take
exams.
• Specialist schools: sports, arts, business & enterprise, engineering, maths &
computing, etc.
• Academies: funded directly by the government and can set their own
curriculum, salary level and ethos..
• Free schools: set up by parents, teachers, charities and\or other groups and
directly funded by the government.
Comprehensive schools debate:

Points for Points against

Allow equal opportunities. They bring down standards because brighter students
have to work at the same speed as the less able.

They have a strong community spirit, bringing Not very diverse.

together all children regardless of class, ethnic group
or religion.

Children are no longer labelled as failures, they Large and impersonal and may have discipline
have a chance to succeed. problems.

Fewer pupils leave without any qualifications. Some of them use streaming and setting, providing
different education for different pupils with different
abilities.
 • Competition between schools increases efficiency, raises results and give
parents choice. However, not all parents have choices due to their different
economic statuses.

Factors behind the

differences in educational
achievements:
Patterns in educational achievement &
experience:
 Educational inequality: (based on class, gender & ethnicity): when different
groups are treated differently or have different levels of educational
achievement.
A) Gender: in the past girls had less education than boys.
 In the past girls & boys were used to be taught different subjects, but now
they follow the same curriculum.
 Generally girls tend to do better than boys academically.

Why do girls do better than boys?

1. More female role models acted as motivational factor for girls.
2. Schools & teachers make considerable effort to ensure that girls have same
opportunities as boys.
3. Positive discrimination.
4. Girls seem to be better motivated and work more consistently.
5. Girls mature earlier than boys.

Why do boys underachieve compared to

girls?
1. Boys may be treated differently in schools.
2. Boys tend to be too confident. They overestimate their abilities.
3. Laddish behavior (being exuberant & boisterous).
4. Due to lack of job opportunities or for having unrealistic ambitions such as
being a star footballer.
5. Boys & girls spend their leisure time differently.
6. most school work is based on reading & writing. Boys tend to have different
skills & interests.
B) Ethnicity: pupils from ethnic minorities tend to do less, here are the reasons
why:
1. Ethnicity can’t be separated from class & gender.
2. Wider social factors. (discrimination).
3. Factors within schools. (discrimination, ethnocentrism & racism).
4. Cultural differences. (values clash).
5. Genetic difference. (debateable).
C) Social class: FACT (basic schooling for most children and a privileged education
for the few ‘upper class’).
 Social class is the most influential factor in educational achievement.
 Private schools (wealthy), grammar schools (middle class) and secondary
moderns & technical schools (lower class).
 Compensatory education: an attempt to raise school-leaving achievements of
working class students.

Working class pupils may underachieve

for:
1. Factors within schools (labelling &streaming).
2. Inherited intelligence.
3. Home background. (material deprivation).
4. Low self esteem & low expectations of themselves.
5. Language differences.
6. Cultural capital.
7. Class position.
Material, cultural and linguistic influences on
educational achievements:
 Material deprivation: problems in the standard of living in the home background of some children that prevent
them from achieving in education.
 Social class: poor children are likely to face these disadvantages:
1. Not having a quiet place to study at home.
2. Inadequate diet ( problems in concentration & tiredness).
3. Being unable to afford extras (uniforms, sport kits and other equipment).
4. missing pre-school education.
5. Being working & studying at the time.
6. Having few resources at home (books & computers).
7. Attending a disadvantaged school in a poor area.
8. Coming from a family that can’t support the tertiary education which will lower the aspiration
of kids in their primary & secondary education.
Ethnicity:

 Some minority ethnic groups have a high proportion of their members in the working class, so
they suffer from material disadvantages more than the majority ethnic group, e.g. Bangladesh
immigrants moving to the UK in the 1960s & 1970s.
Gender:

 If a family has limited resources then girls’ education may be seen as less
important than that of boys.
Cultural influences:

Social class:
 Cultural deprivation: aspects of the values and attitudes from the home and family background of some children that
prevent them achieving in education.
 Cultural deprivation is related to working-class people, includes:
1. a fatalistic attitudes: (to believe that you are not in control).
2. The need for immediate rather than deferred gratification.
3. for boys, a liking for thrills & excitement, may get them into trouble.
4. Having parents who don’t value education.
5. Loyalty to the group.
6. Absence of successful educated role models in the family.
Some sociologists argue that the above mentioned claims can’t be said to apply to all working-class people, cause in fact some
working-class people firmly believe that education can play a vital role in their kids future.
Ethnicity:

 Some ethnic groups are highly valuing education, according the British sociologist Louise
Archer Chinese students do much more better than others because their culture motivates
hard work at school.
Gender:

 In modern industrial societies there has been a shift a way from the traditional gender roles
and girls are now much more likely to have career aims and to be motivated to work hard in
school to reach them.
Linguistic influences:
social class:

 According to Basil Bernstein language has two codes:

1. Restricted code: used for informal everyday communication.
2. Elaborated code: formal, used to express complex and abstract ideas.
Middle-class student are more familiar with the elaborated code which will help them to do better in
schools compared to those of working-class who are more familiar
with the restricted code.
Ethnicity:

 Students of ethnic minorities who speak different languages may struggle at school. They need
to be bilingual in order to catch up with the rest of native students.
 The American linguist William Labov proved that the AAVE (African American Vernacular
English) had a grammatical structure and could be used to express complex and abstract ideas,
before Labov that’s used to be thought of as incorrect or broken English. But still some teachers
do not recognize that, therefore the language of the African American students may held them
back from achieving.
The influence of school, teachers & the peer group on
educational achievement:
 Social class: according to Michael Rutter school factors (factors at school that affect children’s educational achievement)
can play a vital role in children’s achievement regardless their class, ethnicity or gender.
 He stated that the positive features of schools can make a significant effect on kids achievements, they
are summarized as follows:
 Teachers well preparation for lessons.
 Teachers high expectations of their students.
 Teachers set examples of behaviour.
 Teachers treat students as responsible people.
 Teachers always show interest & always encourage their students.
 School’s ethos.
 A mixture of abilities benefits all students.
 Research has suggested that social patterns of underachievement in education are affected by what goes on schools
and the way meanings are constructed in classrooms (how teachers & students see each other) affects students
progress.
 Interpretivists emphasise that through interactions, teachers & students come to interpret or define situations and
develop meanings that influence the way they behave.
 The process of classification & labelling by teachers has been shown to affect the performance of students and that can
produce Halo effect (pupils become stereotyped on the basis of earlier impressions and these impressions influence
future teacher-student relations).
 According to Howard Becker teachers judge pupils on non-academic factors (speech, dress,
punctuality & their enthusiasm for work) together these make up stereotype of the ideal pupil.
 The social class has great influence on this, working class student might be thought of as being
lazy and lacking motivation, and lacking ability even if they are very able.
 By contrast students from upper or middle-class are most likely to fit with the
teacher’s stereotypes of the ideal pupil.
 Student who are labelled as bright are more likely to be successful, unlike those who have been
labelled as failures.
 Self-fulfilling prophecy: when people act in the way they have been expected
to, making the expectation come true.
 If teachers are more likely to negatively label working-class pupils and have low expectations
of them , this suggests that a self fulfilling prophecy will lead to low achievement by those
pupils.
 Self-negating prophecy: this is when a pupil is labelled as unable to do well, but reacts against
the label by setting out to prove that it’s wrong, and succeeds.
Other types of labelling are:

 Streaming: when children are taught in classes of similar ability for all
subjects. One of it’s critics is that it involves prejudging success and failure.
 Setting: when children are taught in classes of similar ability for a particular subject.
Ethnicity:

 Pupils of ethnic minorities are often put in low streams and teachers do
always have low expectations of them (teacher’s racism).
 African-Caribbean pupils are thought Of as troublemakers, so because the self-fulfilling
prophecy they underachieve educationally.
 Chinese students are always labelled as bright student, that’s why for most of the time they
overachieve, but sometimes this may negatively affect them like by not being rewarded for their
achievements, or by not receiving help when they need to, assuming that they could help
themselves.
Gender:

 For most of the time schools and teachers treat boys & girls differently.
 Boys are more likely to be seen by schools as problems unlike girls.
 Teaching is a female-dominated profession in many countries. However
senior levels are male-dominated.
 In nowadays there’s a growing awareness of the ways in which racism and sexism can be present
in schools has led Many schools to adopt new policies , to train staff to be aware of these issues
and to take positive action to ensure equal opportunities. Schools that do this, however, face the
problem that these attitudes may still be present in the wider society.
Influence of peer group and pupil sub- cultures
on educational achievement:

 Social class: in response of labelling and streaming, some pupils rebel against
the school and form anti-school or counter-school sub-culture.
 Anti-school sub-culture: the norms and values of a group of pupils that reject the school’s
values.
 Culture of masculinity: norms and values that involve supposedly masculine characteristics,
for example preferring sports to reading.
 Because it’s working-class pupils who are labelled as failures it’s working-class pupils who are
more likely to form or to belong anti-school sub-cultures.
Influence of peer group and pupil sub- cultures
on educational achievement:

 Social class: in response of labelling and streaming, some pupils rebel against
the school and form anti-school or counter-school sub-culture.
 Anti-school sub-culture: the norms and values of a group of pupils that reject the school’s
values.
 Culture of masculinity: norms and values that involve supposedly masculine characteristics,
for example preferring sports to reading.
 Because it’s working-class pupils who are labelled as failures it’s working-class pupils who are
more likely to form or to belong anti-school sub-cultures.
Ethnicity:

 For most of the time pupils of ethnic minorities are labelled as failures and
are allocated to low streams.
 However, in some cases ethnic minority pupils such as Chinese students (studied by
Archer) set significant standard of hard work.
 Tony Sewell in his book Black masculinities and schooling stated that African- Caribbean pupils
tend to be rebels but as a reaction to discrimination and racism.
 Marlin Mac & Ghaill expressed another form of rebel by the so called (the Black sisters) who used
to rebel critically by working hard and challenging and rejecting the college’s authority.
Gender:

 According to Valerie Hey, cliques (tight, closed friendship groups) tended to form among girls
from the same background. Working-class girls used their attractiveness to manipulate boys
and male teachers. Girls resisted schools and misbehaved as much as boys but in less visible
and less confrontational than those adopted by boys.
 According to Carolyn Jackson British secondary school girls are behaving in ways previously
associated with boys (fighting, swearing and being aggressive). Jackson suggested that being
seen not to work was a way of protecting from the effect of failure.
Measuring intelligence:

 IQ tests: intelligent quotient tests involve answering questions that are then used to work out a
score which supposedly indicates how intelligent the person is.
 Some sociologists are questioning the test for the claim that intelligence mainly has two parts
innate and developed parts, while Gardner stated that there are many forms of intelligence but
the tests are designed only to test
verbal and logical reasoning.
1. If intelligence depends partly on environment, then higher scores may indicate a very
positive environment in early childhood rather than innate ability, while lower scores
may suggest a less stimulating environment.
2. Are based on a fairly narrow range of reasoning skills and exclude other types
of intelligence.
3. Are written by people who inevitably built into the tests their own assumptions drawn from
their culture; those from other cultures will find the test more difficult.
4. The scores are taken one moment in time but intelligence develops so the scores should not
be taken as predicting future achievements (this would rule out their use in selection for
schools).
5. Performance in IQ tests can be affected by factors such as feeling nervous or ill.
6. Performance in IQ tests improves with practice. This raises the question of whether IQ
tests actually measure intelligence or just the skill of doing well in tests like this.
7. Some people with low scores go on to do well in their education and career,
while those with high scores do not always succeed in later life.
The role of official curriculum & the hidden
curriculum:

 Official curriculum: the subjects and lessons and their content.

 Many countries have their own national curriculum where all students are going to have
same exams and then results are used to classify schools into different categories.
 Division of knowledge into arts and science subjects is socially constructed.
 Hidden curriculum: learning the norms, beliefs and attitudes through school experiences. The
physical structure and organisation of the school, competitive sports, the importance of
punctuality and the importance of obeying rules are all parts of the hidden curriculum.
Vocationalism:
 Vocationalism: vocational education prepares people for work or trains them for particular jobs or
careers.
 In UK has always had a lower status than academic education.
 Critics of new vocational courses and training:
1. They are ways of keeping young people who are not suitable for academic courses occupied and of
avoiding counting them as being unemployed.
2. They have been used by some employers as a source of free or cheap labour, with young people
working for little or no pay and no real job at the end.
3. The purpose of education should not just be to produce workers but to increase the potential of
individuals to lead fulfilling and constructive lives, and for that a more rounded and wider education
is needed.