Education

Assessed on a 4, 6, 10 and a 30 marker

Topic 1 and 2, Class Difference in Achievement

Intro for class difference:

A striking feature of education is the difference in achievement between pupils of different social
classes. This difference can be explained for a myriad of ideas. Referring to internal such as labelling,
setting and streaming as well as external factors including material (with reference to debt, housing)
and cultural deprivation (as well as parental occupation, language). This essay will explore both
internal and external factors which explain the difference in class achievement

EXTERNAL FACTORS

3 elements in cultural deprivation

1. Language
- There are clear differences between typical working class and middle-class language
resulting in a difference within the education system
- Hubbs-Tait et al found this through the way in which middle class parents use language
that challenges their children to evaluate their own understanding and abilities;
improving their cognitive performance in education, whereas working class use language
to make simplistic descriptive statements resulting in poor language and discussion skills
which is a disadvantage in the education system
- An example of these types of language codes is distinguished by Bernstein, known as
Restricted and Elaborated language codes. Restricted refers to limited vocabulary,
grammatically simplistic sentences which is often context bound used by the working
class. Whereas, elaborated is usually consisting of a wide vocabulary, used to express
abstract concepts often used by the middle class.
- These differences in language codes give the middle class an advantage at school; the
language of education is usually elaborated code, while working class feel excluded by
this system as it is not accommodating to their needs in language
- Compensatory education was put in place to resolve this issue by providing extra
resources to schools and communities in deprived areas

2. Parents Education
- Parental attitudes and values to schools are a key factor in a pupil’s educational
achievement.
- This is often due to the ways in which they offer motivation, support and ambition to
their children from their own education.
- An example of this is within working class is put forward by Douglas where he found that
working class parents place less value on education and therefore give less
encouragement for homework and revision for exams and visited parents’ evenings less
often, often because this system had failed them when they were at school developing
an element of bitterness and resentment
- As a result, working class often lack the resources at home to stimulate a child’s
intellectual development, disadvantaging them in the education system
 - However, Blackstone and Mortimore argue working class parents are still interested in
their child’s education but often are not able to attend parent’s evenings due to working
longer hours

3. Working Class Subculture

- The lack of interest in a child’s education is arguably reflects their subcultural values of
working classes.
- A subculture is a group whose attitudes and values differ from those of the mainstream
culture. Large sections of the working classes have different goals, beliefs and attitudes
from the rest of wider society, these very norms and values of the working classes act as
a barrier for success.
- Examples of this are shown in Sugarman’s study such as collectivism, where there is
higher value placed in being part of a group than succeeding individually in education
due to wanting symbolic capital over educational.
- As a result, Douglas found that some children internalise these opinions and place less
value in succeeding in the education system
- However, Keddie argues that cultural deprivation is simply a myth and sees it as victim
blaming of working classes when in reality, they are just culturally different.

4 main features of Sugarman’s study of working-class subculture

1. Fatalism – idea of believing in fate, where ‘what will be will be’ and therefore nothing can be
done to change that, including education.
2. Collectivism – value of being part of a group more than succeeding in education individually,
resulting in an anti-school subculture
3. Immediate gratification – seeking pleasure now as opposed to later, in contrast to deferred
gratification of middle classes where making sacrifices now to get rewards later
4. Present time orientation – seeing present time as more important than future

4 types of material deprivation affecting educational achievement

1. Housing
- Poor housing, such as council housing and blocks of flats can affect pupils’ achievement
both directly and indirectly
- Direct include overcrowding making it harder to study as well less room for educational
activities such as homework and desks and sharing a bedroom can result to disturbed
sleep and effect concentration
- Indirect refers to health and welfare due to poor standard of living as more accidents
can occur as well as illness such as asthma
2. Diet and health
- Howard claims children from poorer homes have lower takes of energy, vitamins and
minerals
- As a result of this poor nutrition, immune system is weaker leading to more absences
3. Financial support
- Lack of this means children have to do without equipment and miss out on things that
enhance education
 - Lack of funds often mean children have to take on part-time jobs to pay for things they
need at school, which also is a role of distraction
4. Fear of debt
- The process of going to university usually involves getting into debt to cover expenses,
meaning less working-class students apply as their parents are unlikely to help alleviate
some of the cost
- They are also more likely to go to local unis to save money but often offer less
opportunities

Difference between Cultural and Material deprivation

1. Cultural
- Feinstein argues that educated parents make a positive contribution to their child’s
achievement regardless of income, demonstrating that cultural deprivation has the
biggest impact
2. Material
- Robinson argues that the most effective way to tackle underachievement would be to
eradicate child poverty and deprivation, and remove the material barriers to success

How Cultural Capital affects a pupil’s achievement

- The term capital refers to an individual’s wealth, assets and resources, Bourdieu argues
this is central to educational achievement
- It can take three forms as cultural referring to language, attitudes and values, economic
to disposable income for enrichment activities and educational for outlook on success
- An example of this is within Sullivan’s use of questionnaires to explore this matter, she
found those who read complex fiction and serious T.V. developed a wider vocabulary
and greater cultural knowledge and were more likely to be successful in GCSES
- This demonstrates the high impact of cultural capital has on educational success
- Material deprivation may affect it further

INTERNAL FACTORS

What is labelling and the self-fulfilling prophecy?

- The term labelling refers to the artificial label attached to an individual. Becker’s study
found that in the US teachers judged pupils based upon how closely they fitted the
image of the ‘ideal’ pupil which included factors including a pupil’s work, conduct and
appearance, working class pupils often received negative labels due to this
- This is because teachers saw a middle-class background as the closet to the ‘ideal’ pupil,
with correct manners, language skills and behaviour whereas working class were seen as
troublemakers which Becker argues leads to a pupil internalising this label which is
referred to as the self-fulfilling prophecy.
- An example of the self-fulfilling prophecy affecting pupil’s achievement is within
Rosenthal and Jacobson’s study; where by randomly labelling 20% of pupils in a primary
school as naturally intelligent from a bogus test it saw the ‘spurters’ a year on were
outperforming other pupils
- Demonstrating how labelling a pupil can affect their achievement
- Not all accept label
What is setting and streaming?

- One external factor which can affect a pupils’ achievement is a school’s process of
setting and streaming
- Setting is when pupils are put into higher, intermediate or lower sets in certain subjects,
whereas streaming involves pupils being put in the same ability classes for all subjects.
- A study of Gillborn and Youdell found from the publishment of league tables created an
‘A to C Economy’ where schools feel under pressure to achieve high results. this in turn,
meant that schools categorise students in the three sets, focusing all their time and
resources on those who have potential to achieve a C with help, disregarding those of
lower sets who often consist of working class
- As a result, their educational achievement will be negatively affected, particularly when
there is a cap on the maximum grade, they can achieve in the lower stream
- Evidence of this affecting a child’s achievement is seen through Ball’s study through
analysis of school who had abolished this system and the chance for polarisation of
subcultures helped improve achievement of working-class pupils

The effect of pupil subcultures?

- Another internal factor which may affect a pupil’s achievement is subcultures found
within schools
- This refers to groups of pupils who share similar values, attitudes and patterns of
behaviour, often resulting from being labelled given within school
- Woods states there are 4 types of subcultures alongside Lacey’s pro-school and anti-
school. These include; ingratiation (teacher’s pet), ritualism (going through motions and
staying out of trouble), retreatism and rebellion
- This helps us understand how pupil subcultures can affect a pupil’s achievement in the
way in which a pupil can fall into a negative subculture which places less importance in
achieving through educational purposes such as rebellion and anti-school
- However, the process of labelling is very deterministic as it assumes all pupils who
receive a label will fulfil it.

What is the effect of pupils’ class identities and the school?

- Occasionally, how pupils’ class identities that are formed outside of school interact
within school and the values to either produce educational success or failure can affect a
child’s achievement
- This is referring to a persons’ habitus which refers to dispositions (ways of seeing the
world that are largely taken for granted that are shared by a particular social class and
varies in amount of capital)
- High cultural, economic and educational capital is largely associated with a middle-class
habitus and evident in the schooling system and therefore feel comfortable in the
system, while low capital is associated with lower classes and undervalues their habitus.
- This helps us to understand how not holding symbolic capital working class experience
symbolic violence where they are kept in place by their inferior view, leading to a feeling
of alienation in the education system.
- In response to this, working class develop what sociologists call ‘Nike identities’ where
the invest in bands distinct from the middle class to create a strong authentic identity.
 EDUCATION

PAPER 1
4 MARKER = 6 MINUTES
6 MARKER = 9 MINUTES
10 MARKER = 15 MINUTES
30 MARKER = 45 MINUTES
Topic 3, Ethnicity and Achievement

INTRO: =Statistics to show ethnic differences in achievement?

- 50-60% white pupils attain 5 or more A*-C GCSEs

- On average, over 75% of Chinese pupils attain 5 or more A*-C GCSEs
- 40-50 % of Pakistani and Black pupils attain A*-C GCSEs

EXTERNAL FACTORS

3 cultural factors that can affect ethnic underachievement

1. Intellectual and linguistic skills

- Cultural deprivation theory claims that children from low income families lack
intellectual stimulation.
- This as a result, leads to a failure to develop reasoning and problem-solving skills which
are vital in the education system in order to achieve.
- An example of this behaviour is evident in Bereiter and Engelmann’s study where they
stated language spoken by low income black American families is inadequate, as they
see it as ungrammatical, disjointed and incapable of expressing abstract ideas.
- This demonstrates how the linguistical capabilities of a pupil can affect the way they
understand educational content resulting in underachievement.
- However, the establishment of compensatory education aims to combat this cultural
deprivation to instil achievement motivation.

2. Attitudes and values

- Difference in attitudes and values towards education may also be the result of
differences in socialisation within a family structure.
- This is because most children are socialised into mainstream culture, which instils
competitiveness and desire to succeed however, some children are socialised into
subcultures which places less value on succeeding in education.
- For example, an attitude displayed within a subculture that some black pupils might be
socialised into is fatalism. It is focused on immediate gratification where rewards in
present time are more important than achieving long term goals (like mainstream
culture would suggest)
- This attitude results in a lack of motivation to succeed, therefore leads to some black
pupils to underachieve.
- However, Keddie argues that it is a victim-blaming explanation, as schools are biased in
favour of an ethnocentric curriculum.
-
3. Family and structure
- Within the family, there are various structures that can affect a child’s opportunity to
succeed within the educational system.
- Within many African Caribbean families Sewell argues the family structure is very
matrifocal which implies a lack of a male figure within the home for young boys
- This results in less ‘tough love’ for many young boys which may encourage them to turn
into gang culture to seek ‘tough love’ and stimulation for a motive in life.
- This shows how the lack of a key value in the family structure can result in anti-
educational attitudes which are found within gang cultures.
 - However, this is not seen within all ethnic minorities, Asian families instil children with
an Asian Work Ethic where high value is placed on education.

How can material deprivation lead to underachievement for ethnic minority pupils?
- One way in which a pupil’s achievement can be undermined is material deprivation.
- This refers to a lack of basic necessities, such as nutritious food, housing, clothing or
money to buy things that will greatly impact upon a pupil’s achievement.
- Palmer found this was common in ethnic minority households, where half of all children
within this social group lived-in low-income households compared to a quarter of white
children.
- This demonstrates how a low income within the home can lead to a lack of resources
vital for education such as pens, paper and money for educational trips can lead in
missing out on valuable content. Which can result in underachievement, especially for
ethnic minority students.
- However, compensatory education introduced in America and the UK is aimed to
combat issues for children who are deprived.

How can racism in wider society lead to underachievement?

- While material deprivation and poverty have an impact on the educational achievement
of some ethnic minorities, some sociologists state that the root of poverty is actually a
result of racism within wider society.
- This is due to the idea put forward by Rex where the racial discrimination leads to social
exclusion which progresses into unemployment, low pay and inadequate housing which
can affect a child’s education.
- A study conducted by Wood et al that involved sending 3 closely matched applications
with fictional names related to different ethnicities found 1 in 9 ‘white’ applicants got an
interview while only 1 in 16 ethnic minority applicants got an interview.
- This demonstrates how racial discrimination within wider society can lead to material
deprivation within the home, especially within ethnic minority households.
- Although, this idea does not consider other roots of poverty such as social class.

INTERNAL FACTORS

How does labelling and teacher racism lead to underachievement?

- Labelling is the process of attaching a meaning to someone or something, which is often

based on stereotypical attitudes.
- Within education, teachers will place certain labels on pupils and lead to the teacher
treating the pupil in a certain way based on this label.
- For example, Gillborn and Youdell found teachers expected black students to present
more disciplinary issues and misinterpreted their behaviour to be challenging to
authority based on these stereotypical labels as a result of racialised expectations of this
certain social group and led to teachers picking on the pupils more often resulting in less
focus on lessons.
- Therefore, these racialised expectations will lead to more confrontational and black
pupils will be absent for more lessons that can undermine educational success.
- However, not all black pupils conform to these labels and will succeed in education.
How can streaming lead to underachievement?

- Another way which can affect a pupil’s opportunity to succeed is streaming.

- As found by Gillborn and Youdell, within the A-C Economy, a teacher’s focus is on
students who believe are most likely to achieve a C or above disregarding those who
they believe will not

What did Wright’s study find?

- Asian pupils can be a victim of teacher labelling.

- Teachers hold ethnocentric views, and often see British culture and standard English is
superior.
- They are judged against English language and its culture.

What is institutional racism?

- Troyna and Williams argue that to explain ethnic differences in achievement it is needed
to go beyond examining individual teacher racism, and look at how schools routinely and
unconsciously discriminate against ethnic minorities
- This is because, within the Critical Race Theory it sees racism as a deeply ingrained
feature of society and is not just an intentional act of an individual, but an institution
- An example of this theory can be demonstrated by Locked-in inequality, where the scale
of historical discrimination is so large that there no longer needs to be any conscience
intent to discriminate as it becomes self-perpetuating

How does marketisation and segregation affect a pupil’s achievement?

- Gillborn argues that marketisation gives schools more scope to select pupils
- Schools are more likely to select pupils which show academic success, which are usually
labelled as of white background. However, pupils of an ethnic minority background are
less likely to be selected due to the lack of opportunities given to them due to the label
given.

The effect of an ethnocentric curriculum?

- Ethnocentric describes an attitude that gives priority to the culture or view point of one
particular ethnic group, whilst largely disregarding others
- This can undermine a pupil’s achievement if they do not belong to the prioritised culture
due to being at a disadvantage within the education system
- Ball in particular sees the history curriculum in British schools as recreating a ‘mythical
age of empire and past glories’ while disregarding or ignoring the history of black and
Asian people.
- This have a detriment effect on a pupil’s achievement due to not having the advantage
of belonging to the culture that is taught in schools, leaving pupils lacking in confidence
to do well.
- However, statistics show over 75% of Asian pupils achieve 5 or more A*-C GCSE grades
compared to 50-60% of white pupils attaining the same grades.

Evidence of improvements or disadvantages in access to opportunities for ethnic minority students?

1. ‘Gifted and talented’ programme

 - Meets needs of more able students in inner city schools, benefitting bright pupils from
minority groups.
- However, Gillborn argues who is more likely to be labelled as gifted?

2. Exam tiers
- Tikly, 30 schools in the ‘Aiming High’ initiative to raise Black Caribbean achievement
- But black students were more likely to be entered into foundation or lower exam tiers

3. New IQism
- In what Gillborn calls ‘new IQism’ he argues that teachers and policy makers make false
assumptions about the nature of pupil’s ability or potential
- This suggests that access to opportunities (high sets or talented programmes) depends
heavily on teachers which works against black pupils due to institutional racism
- However, only focuses on two issues – under achievement of black pupils and over
achievement of Indian and Chinese pupils

4. Ethnicity, class and gender

- Evans argues that in order to fully understand the relationship between ethnicity and
achievement, we need to look at how ethnicity interacts with gender and class. For
example, in examining black children’s achievement, sociologists tend to look at their
culture and ethnicity but rarely class
- There is a bigger gap in achievements of white middle class and white working class than
there is between black middle class and black working class.

Archer and pupil identities

- Archer found that teachers often define pupils as having stereotypical identities, a
teacher’s dominant discourse defines ethnic minority pupil’s identities
- These identities are categorised into 3 – ideal, pathologized and demonised. Where
typically black or white working class, hypersexualised identities and culturally deprived
are placed into ‘demonised’
- Archer argues that even those minority pupils who perform successfully can be
pathologized (seen as abnormal) for example, Chinese pupils were simultaneously
praised and viewed negatively by their teachers.
- This in turn, puts the pupils at a disadvantage within the education system due to the
racialised opinions and expectations placed on them.
- However, Fuller’s study into a small group of high achieving black girls in year 11
maintained a positive self-image by rejecting the teacher’s stereotypes of them

Negative pupil responses and subcultures to teacher labelling

1. Failed strategies for avoiding racism

- Mirza found that a large majority of teachers in education held racist attitudes
- Identified in 3 main types; colour blind (all equal but don’t challenge racist behaviour),
liberal chauvinist (sees black pupils as deprived and have low expectations) and overt
racist (believe black pupils are inferior)
2. Sewell – variety of boys’ responses
- Rebels, the most visible and influential subculture, actively reject goals of school
- Conformists, pupils are keen to succeed and accept rules within schools
- Retreatists, a minority of pupils who are isolated from both school and black subcultures
- Innovators, group is pro-education and want to succeed, but are anti-school and
disruptive on the surface
Topic 4, Gender and Achievement

INTRO:

Within the past 40 years there has been a shift in patterns of achievement according to gender; with
recent studies showing girls outperforming boys at GCSE and A level. This can be due to a number of
factors such as the impact of the feminism movement, laws and policies promoting equality for
women and social changes. However, whilst girls on average achieve more highly than they did in
the past this does not mean that all girls are successful (especially those of lower social structures)

External Factors behind Girl’s Achievement?

1. Impact of Feminism
- One factor that has had an impact on girl’s achievement is the increasing influence of
feminism.
- Feminism is a social movement that strives for equal rights for all women. Which, since
the 1960s has challenged stereotypical roles of women in society and improved
women’s rights and self esteem to achieve in careers.
- For example, McRobbie studied girl’s magazines in the 1970’s and found the emphasis
was on marriage. However, nowadays magazines contain messages of assertiveness and
independence
- Feminism has made girls see their future in terms of careers and therefore has had a
knock-on impact on female success in education as girls strive to do well in order to gain
careers
- However, it does not account for the difference in achievement between working class
girls and middle class.

2. Changes in the Family

- Another factor which has had an impact on a girl’s achievement is changes within the
family
- This is because there have been major changes in structure in the past 40 years such as
increase in divorce, cohabitation and lone parent families
- An example of this is the increase in lone parent female-headed families which can lead
to a girl’s determination to be able to provide within this structure
- The changes within a family have had an impact due to promoting the independence a
girl can have providing more career driven futures.

3. Changes in Female Employment

- Changes in female employment can also have an impact on a girl’s achievement.
- Important changes in the law have allowed women to take on a greater role within the
workplace.
- Particular policies which have benefitted women include; the Equal Pay Act 1970 and the
Sex Discrimination Act of 1975
- These changes in law have encouraged girls to see their future in terms
- However, some feminists argue that the ‘glass ceiling’ is still a barrier for many women
that keeps themselves out of high-level professions and managerial jobs

4. Changing Ambitions and Perceptions

 - Sharpe’s longitudinal study to investigate changing female aspirations found that in 1974
‘love’ and marriage were the top aspirations for girls but in 1994 jobs and a career were
the top aspirations for many women
- This is because of the influence of many factors such as positive female role models in
education and the media, laws, policies and the movement of feminism
- Evidence of this is seen within O’Connor’s recent study where 14-17-year-old girls did
not see marriage and children as a major part of life plans
- These changing ambitions have had a huge impact on girl’s attitudes towards education
as they recognise that if they want a successful career, education must be taken
seriously
- However, Reay argues that working class girls perceive they have limited job
opportunities so therefore have limited job aspirations where being in a couple is more
attainable and offers a source of status

Internal factors that have had an impact on a girl’s achievement?

1. Equal opportunities
- Feminist ideas have had a major impact on the education system, and those who run the
system are now much more aware of gender issues and the importance of equality
within schools
- This leads to the belief that boys and girls are equally capable and entitled to the same
opportunities is now part of mainstream thinking
- Evidence of this is seen within the programmes like GIST and WISE that encourage girls
into science and technology or engineering for equal opportunities in the world of work
removing various barriers
- This shows how schools have become more meritocratic (based on equal opportunities)
and girls generally worker harder to boys and therefore achieve highly (based on
Boaler’s study)
- However, the proportion in different apprenticeships show that girls are still not equal in
engineering with only 3% of apprenticeship roles in this industry being female.
2. Role models
- The increasing proportion of women in positions of authority in education and schools in
recent years has acted as positive role models for female pupils
- It can be argued that this because girls feel very comfortable in education as they
surrounded by ‘motherly’ figures from the ‘feminisation’ of education particularly in
primary schools
- An example of this is demonstrated within a study where from 1992 to 2012 the
increase of female head teachers increased by 21%
- This shows how the increase in females in the education system offers more confidence
for girls to succeed
- However, the gender domain within education has a negative impact on boys due to not
feeling ‘at home’ within the system

3. GCSE and coursework

- Gorard found gender difference in education remained consistent before the
introduction of GCSEs and coursework in 1989 and argued this greatly benefitted girls
 - This is because of reasons such as girls often take more care in presentation, better at
meeting deadlines and often spend more time on the work
- Evidence of this is often seen in more creative subjects such as English and Art which are
coursework heavy
- These changes in assessment have played to female skills, and therefore arguably made
it easier for girls to achieve
- However recent changes in GCSE and A level have decreased the amount of coursework
in subjects and represented a move back to exam-based assessments which implies
male students may start achieving more highly

4. Teacher attention
- A factor which can affected a girl’s achievement internally is teacher attention
- This is because of French and French’s study which found the way teachers interact with
female and male pupils differ where boys received more attention because they
attracted more reprimands and harsher disciplinary actions
- This is an example of labelling, with girls being labelled positively by teachers as hard
workers, whereas boys are often seen by teachers as disruptive
- This demonstrates how in turn, being labelled by teachers positively raises a girl’s
achievement and confidence in education
- Although, this has a negative effect on a boy’s achievement which is not providing equal
opportunities for males and females

5. Challenging stereotypes
- A factor which has impacted girl’s achievement is the way in which stereotypes within
the curriculum have been challenged
- This is because of the removal of stereotypes in textbooks, reading schemes and other
learning materials which have helped raise confidence in girls
- An example of this is evident within 1970-80s sexist educational material in physics
showing women as frightened of such subject
- This shows how by removing the materials which portray women as inferior within
specialist subjects like physics offers more opportunities for girls to succeed in such
areas
- However, due to changing attitudes in wider society Weiner argues that educational
materials have removed gender stereotypes which in turn affected female aspirations as
girls are presented with positive images of what women can do

6. Selection and league tables

- The marketisation of education has meant that schools now compete for the most
desirable students, as they students will achieve the best exam results and improve
position in league table
- This impacts a girl’s achievement positively due to girls outperforming boys so therefore
best schools will select more female students
- Slee found that boys are less attractive to schools as they are more likely to have
behavioural issues and seen as a liability due to boys being 4 times more likely to be
excluded and will affect their position in the league tables
- This means that girls are more likely to attend high performing schools, which increases
their achievement
How does identity and class affect a girl’s achievement?

- Central to the idea of class affecting a girl’s achievement negatively is the concept of
symbolic capital and educational capital
- This is because symbolic capital refers to when working class girls gain status from their
peer group by performing working class female identities instead of gaining educational
capital where status is gained from teachers by acting like the ideal pupil
- An example of the female identities displayed by working class girls is the hyper-
heterosexual identity, where they spend a considerable amount of time, effort and
money in constructing a glamourous appearance rather than spending the same amount
of time on their education
- This shows how some working-class girls aspire to gain symbolic capital from peers but
in doing so lose educational capital which has a negative effect on education
- However, Evans found within his study that many of the girls wanted to go to university
and increase their earning power not just to benefit themselves but their family

Types of female identities

1. Hyper-heterosexual feminine identities

Considerable time spent on constructing a glamourous appearance. For example, ‘sexy
clothing’, makeup, fake tan and excess jewellery. They lose educational capital as teachers
see them as rebellious for gaining symbolic capital and miss out on education.
2. Boyfriends
Distraction, symbolic capital
3. Successful working-class girls (Evans study)

External factors affecting boy’s achievement

1. Boys and literacy

- Many sociologists argue that the gender gap in achievement is a result of a boy’s poor
literacy and language skills.
- It can be suggested this is because parents often spend less time reading to their sons in
comparison to daughters
- As well as this, when a boy is read to, it is often by the mother showing reading as a
feminine quality
- As a result, it means they are less able to express themselves in lessons and convey ideas
and knowledge in essays or exams explaining lower rates of success in education
- However, programmes such as compensatory education aims to resolve issues such as
this, so therefore cannot be a major impact on the reasons why boys are falling behind
in education.

2. Globalisation
- Globalisation of the economy has resulted in a decline in masculine industries such as
iron, steel and mining due to manufacturing industries relocating to take advantage of
cheap labour.
- Because of this, many jobs boys would ‘naturally’ drift into no longer exist and are
replaced by more feminine work such as the service industry
 - Due to this, it creates a ‘crisis of masculinity’ that is a result of the changes in the
workplace where boys do not have a clear long-term focus or goal
- This demonstrates how due to globalisation, education loses its meaning to some boys
resulting in less incentive to do well and work well as there is no long-term goal

Internal factors affecting boy’s achievement

1. Feminisation of education
- Sewell argues that schools have become increasingly feminised and female centred
- This is because of the increase in coursework, policies and role models in the education
system has meant girls are more inspired to achieve and boys have been left out
- An example of this are the programmes GIST and WISE, which help girls into industries
such as science and engineering.
- This shows that changes in education may have made boys associate doing well at
school as being girly and will resist in order to appear masculine resulting in poorer
performance
- This is supported within statistics of achievement at GCSE level where boys achievement
is averaged 9% lower than girls to 5 or more A* to C grade.

2. Shortage of male primary school teachers

- The lack of strong positive role models particularly in primary education can impact a
boy’s development and can contribute to male underachievement.
- This is because with positive male role models’ boys are more likely to feel at home
within the education system and have the confidence to do well
- For example, a study conducted by YouGov saw that the majority of boys stated a male
teacher made them behave better and 42% stated it made them work harder
- Therefore, for many boy’s education appears to be perceived as a female domain
- However, Francis found over 2/3 of 7 to 8-year olds believed gender of a teacher did not
affect their learning

3. ‘Laddish’ subcultures
- Another reason that can impact a boy’s achievement internally are laddish subcultures
- Epstein found that boys who worked hard in school were labelled by peers as ‘sissies’
and received verbal teasing
- This resulted in many boys turning to anti-school subculture to demonstrate clear
masculine values which rejected classwork and good behaviour
- This shows how the ‘laddishness’ is an attempt to demonstrate themselves as non-
feminine’ and in doing so their performance in education will suffer.
- However, Messerschmidt found this is less likely for white middle-class boys due to
wanting a successful career so will only resort to minor misbehaving outside of
education such as underaged drinking which does not affect their performance.

How gender and subject choice affect achievement?

1. Gender role socialisation

- Gender role socialisation refers to the specific norms and values expected of us
according to gender
 - These are often enforced from an early age by what we wear, games we play and the
behaviours encouraged by parents and teachers which can help explain differences in
subject choice for girls and boys.
- For example, Browne and Ross argue that children are taught beliefs about gender
domains which are tasks and activities that boys and girls see as male or female
‘territory’ (e.g. mending a car is male domain and caring for children is a female domain)
- This shows how boys feel more confident in practical subjects such as engineering due to
the ‘hands on’ demand whereas girls feel more confident in health and social care to
provide support
- This is supported by the statistics of apprenticeships where only 1% of those who are in
health and social industries are male

2. Gendered subject images

- It can be suggested that the gender image of a subject will affect which students want to
choose it
- This is because if a subject is considered feminine such as health and social care, boys
are less likely to pick it to appear masculine.
- Kelly also argues that this is seen within science, which is portrayed as a boy’s subject
due to teachers more likely to be male, examples are often drawn on a boy’s interest
over girls
- This is a strong reason as when we look at single sex schools there tends to be less
stereotyped subject images and students therefore make less traditional subject choices

3. Gender identity and peer pressure

- Subject choice can be influenced by peer pressure, in order to avoid a negative response
to peers
- For example, Paechter found that girls see sport as part of the male gender domain, and
therefore ‘sporty’ girls receive a label from their peers as being an unconventional
female
- As a result of the peer pressure from associating subjects with gender identity girls are
likely to opt out of subjects like sport within schools
- On the other hand, it is also evident for males. Boys perhaps opt out of subjects like
dance and music because they are seen as creative and fall outside the male gender
domain

4. Gendered career opportunities

- An important reason for difference in subject choice is the fact that employment is
highly gendered.
- This is because women’s jobs often involve work similar to that performed by
housewives such as childcare or nursing
- An example of this, is seen through the fact girls often still aspire to have career which
link to the emotional, caring expressive role so therefore take subjects such as Health
and Social care, whilst boys are more likely to aspire high earning careers which link to
the breadwinner, instrumental role and therefor take subjects like maths or physics
- These gendered career opportunities mean that girls and boys often pick subjects which
match career opportunities
 - However, in an attempt to break down gender differences in subject choice, policies
such as GIST and WISE have been introduced to have a positive impact on females in
industries such as maths and physics

How pupil’s gender and sexual identities affect achievement

1. Double standards
- Lee identifies double standard of sexual morality, where boys boast about sexual
exploits and receive praise from peers. However, girls are often called ‘slags’ if they
boast about their sexual exploits receiving a negative label
- By radical feminists, they argue this is an example of patriarchy in education where girls
are treated differently for the same behaviour

2. Teachers discipline
- Research shows that teachers play a role in reinforcing dominant definitions of gender
identity.
- Haywood and Mac an Ghaill found male teachers told boys off for behaving like girls and
often teased for not outperforming girls
- This reinforces the patriarchal view that girls are subordinate to boys

3. Male gaze
- The male gaze is a process where girls are judged based upon their appearance by male
pupils and teachers
- Mac an Ghaill sees this as a from of surveillance through which dominant heterosexual
masculinity is enforced and femininity devalued due to girls being seen primarily as
sexual objects

4. Verbal abuse
- Sexual identities are also enforced in education, with heterosexual being promoted as
ideal.
- One way in which this idea is promoted is through verbal abuse where the identities are
enforced by a ‘rich vocabulary of abuse’
- Such as labels like gay and queer often are meant as insults enforcing the superiority of
the heterosexual identity

5. Male peer groups

- Male peer groups use verbal abuse to reinforce definitions of what it means to be
masculine
- Such as the study conducted by Willis where he found boys in an anti-school subculture
often accused boys who wanted to do well in school as gay or queer
- This enforces the view that homosexuality is negative
- However, emergence of middle-class subcultures promotes intellectual ability which
represents a shift from this subculture
Topic 5, The Role of Education in Society

INTRO:

Sociologists have conflicting views on the role education has in society. This is often because they
have different sociological perspectives that see society differently. This essay will focus on the
theories of education from functionalism, neoliberalism and Marxism and their views on the role of
education

What is the functionalist perspective on education?

1. Social solidarity
- Durkheim identifies two main functions of education; creating social solidarity and
teaching specialist skills. Where, social solidarity refers to societies shared culture and
values and teaching specialist skills promotes the idea of social solidarity through
everyone developing their own specialist skills for work
- This is because education binds people together and enables cooperation through the
teaching of a common history and shared rituals to promote a shared common purpose.
As well as this, education teaches children universalistic rules to follow which are
essential for solidarity in society
- An example of this in education is the way in which subjects like history teach a shared
background which show the positive impact of having a shared past. It also provides a
‘society in miniature’ preparing students for life in wider society
- This perspective shows how education is a step in preparing for work and a value
consensus is needed for a functioning society
- However, the education system does not properly prepare pupils for all roles of work
such as some opportunities are blocked for different social classes

2. Meritocracy
- Parsons claims that school acts as a focal socialising agency in modern society acting a
bridge between family and society.
- This is because the system teaches children the knowledge and skills they need to
flourish outside family and in society for work
- For example, within the family your status is ascribed where you are born into your
position within that group. However, for society, your status is achieved where in order
to achieve hard work is needed in individual achievement
- This shows education as promoting meritocracy where everyone achieves their status
through own efforts and abilities that enable higher positions in wider society.
- Although, a person’s gender, ethnicity or class can affect this idea of equal opportunity
to succeed due to the labels placed on them

3. Role allocation
- Davis and Moore argue the purpose of the education system is to identify the subjects
you are best at, which leads to the process of role allocation
- This is because the people who are more talented than others are needed for the more
complex roles due to the requirement of greater skills. For society to function efficiently,
the most talented individuals need to be allocated to the most important jobs and are
often offered with higher rewards to motivate individuals
 - For example, jobs such as doctors and politicians require more complex intellectual skills
compared to manual labour jobs so therefore will have greater requirements and
rewards to sift and sort the individuals best suited for the roles
- As a result, this shows how society is more productive due to this process within
education
- However, it can be argued that footballers are paid a great deal and lack many academic
qualifications which questions the view that the jobs which lack complex skills are often
fitted with fewer rewards

What is the neoliberalism and new right perspective on education?

1. Marketisation
- The new right and neoliberalism view that the education system should operate in a free
market
- This is because they believe the education system is not encouraging competition to
compete in a global economy where in order to be successful it must train people to do
the jobs that society requires
- An example of education not working is that it tries to implement a one size fits all
approach, imposing a uniformity that disregards local needs
- This demonstrates the idea of the need of marketisation in education to increase
competition between schools to bring more efficiently and choice to schools and
increase the availability to meet the country’s needs in work
- However, this competition only would benefit the middle classes due to the only ones
able to afford better standards of schooling and opportunities for high positions in work

Marxist perspective on education

1. ISA and RSA

- For Marxists, school is an ideological state apparatus which enables class division and
exploitation in wider society
- Althusser states that an ISA is a way to maintain the rule of the bourgeoisie through
control of people’s ideas, values and beliefs
- This is seen through education in the way a school creates false class consciousness,
controlling a pupil’s ideas encouraging them to passively accept their future work roles
- This shows how education serves the interest of the ruling class, by presenting
capitalism as inevitable
- However, even with a communist regime there are inequalities in education present

2. Reproducing inequality
- Bowles and Gintis claims that the education system does not foster personal growth and
development, instead it works to procedure obedient works that capitalist class needs.
- This is because they suggest there is a correspondence between values learnt at school
and the way in which the workplace operates. The values, they suggested, are taught
through the ‘Hidden Curriculum’, which consists of those things that pupils learn
through the experience of attending school rather than the main curriculum subjects
taught at the school.
 - For example, passive subservience of pupils to teachers corresponds to the passive
subservience of workers to managers; acceptance of hierarchy (authority of teachers)
corresponds to the authority of managers.
- These values help reproduce inequality in society by persuading w/c pupils to accept
values in the hidden curriculum so they willingly become next generation of proletariat.
So, the transmission of values of the correspondence principle through the hidden
curriculum helps reproduce class inequality
- Giroux, says the theory is too deterministic. He argues that working class pupils are not
entirely moulded by the capitalist system

3. Learning to labour
- Willis argues pupils rebelling are evidence that not all pupils are brainwashed into being
passive, subordinate people as a result of the hidden curriculum.
- This is because he says that pupils are not directly injected with the values and norms
that benefit the ruling class, some actively reject these. These pupils also realise that
they have no real opportunity to succeed in this system but that there is counter-school
culture produced by workers
- For example, the group studied by Willis in 1977 were actively resisting school’s
authority with acts of defiance. By resisting this, they would ultimately fail ensuring they
end up in manual labour
- This shows
- However, this criticises traditional Marxism. The contradictory affects validity.
Topic 6, educational policy

INTRO: Educational policy refers to the plans and strategies for education introduced by
government, for example Acts passed through Parliament. Since the late 19 th century, the
government has taken an active role in providing education for the masses, to ensure Britain can
compete on a global industrial stage with policies such as the Forster Act, the Butler Act and the
introduction of the Comprehensive system in 1965. This essay will….

Tripartite System

- After the Butler Act of 1944, government aimed to make the education more
meritocratic and more available to the masses. This saw the introduction of the
Tripartite system.
- The aims of the tripartite system were; to provide different education to different types
of student and provide an equality of opportunity where ability and not money
determined schooling.
- Examples of this are seen with the establishment of the 11+ where students would sit an
exam at the end of primary schooling that would grant them access to higher education
in three categories (grammar, secondary modern and technical) to suit their abilities
- This shows how…
- However, it reproduced class inequalities due to MC students being more likely to pass
the 11+ due to having more cultural capital(knowledge)& economic capital (money to
pay for private tutors) & go to grammar schools & get a better education, while WC
children went to secondary moderns - got a lower standard of education.

Comprehensive System

- Under the Labour government of 1965, the comprehensive system was established with
the aims to make the education more meritocratic & remove the class inequalities of the
tripartite system.
- This was done with the idea all students went to one type of school (comprehensive) &
received the same education.
- An example of the attempt to remove class inequality is the way in which the system
was based on the principle places at schools were based on catchment areas (an area
around a school where it takes pupils from). Not intellectual ability or money
- This shows…
- Although it helped to reduce the class gap in achievement to some extent. Due to
teacher labelling it still reproduces class inequalities.

Streaming

- Another principle influenced by policy within the education system is streaming to

ensure all abilities were catered for
- Streaming refers to the class sets that are based upon ability, where once placed in a
stream, pupils would remain at that level across all subjects.
- For example, those of higher abilities would be placed in higher classes while those of a
lower ability would be placed in ‘intermediate’ or ‘foundation’.
- This demonstrates how streaming was introduced with the attempt to cater for all needs
for a more equal system.
 - However, there was still a myth of meritocracy within this element of the
comprehensive system as no matter how hard you work you still are still in the same set
across all subjects preventing pupils to excel in certain subjects.

Views of the Comprehensive system

- Functionalists argue: fulfils essential functions such as social integration and brings
children from different classes together and promotes social solidarity
- Marxists argue: serves interests of the R/C, legitimates class inequality, 11+ promotes
myth of meritocracy

Marketisation and Privatisation

- The 1988 Education Reform Act introduced marketisation in the British education
system
- Marketisation refers to the way in which schools could compete for students. It created
an education market by reducing state control over education & increasing competition
between schools & Parentocracy.
- Examples of marketisation include, OFSTED reports, league tables & formula funding
where funding depended on the number of students a school had.
- This shows…
- However, Ball argues that marketisation only benefitted the middle class. Due to the
League tables where, top schools can be more selective over their intake- they cream-
skim (pick the best students- middle class) & silt-shift (avoid taking in ‘bad’ students -
WC), meaning WC students go to underperforming schools.

Parentocracy

- As a result of the marketisation policy and the increase in competitiveness it saw a

development of choice for parents described as ‘Parentocracy’ (David 1993) which
means rule by the parents
- This is because schools are increasingly being run like a business, all attempting to
attract the most parents to send their children to that school.
- Examples of this within the publication of the Formula funding enabling the top schools
get more money and improving their facilities which will attract more parents.
- This shows…
- However, Gerwitz found some parents had an advantage due to this, as of differences in
capital created class differences. She identified 3 types of parents - privileged-skilled
choosers (MC - use economic & cultural capital to get children into best state schools
e.g. paying transport costs or to move house), disconnected-local choosers (WC, lack
economic & cultural capital, often send children to local schools) & semi-skilled choosers
(ambitious WC, but lack cultural/economic capital to get children into best schools, have
to rely on others- social capital).

League Tables

- The policy of publishing exam results and ranking schools in league tables, means that a
huge emphasis is placed on ensuring pupils achieve the best grades
- Although it has positives of keeping a school ‘on its toes’ it can mean some schools spiral
into decline
-
New labour educational policy

- New Labour’s policies focused on promoting equality

- As a result of this the policies aimed to reduce class inequalities and supporting
disadvantaged areas
- These policies included; Education Action Zones - more money to schools in poor areas,
Aim Higher - encouraging children from deprived backgrounds to go to university and
Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) - £ to students from low-income families to
go to college.
- This meant…
- However, some say Labour’s policies were contradictory- they introduced EMA to
encourage poor children to go to college, then introduced university fees which may put
them off higher education.

Promoting diversity and choice

- New Labour’s idea of promoting diversity and choice in part, reflects the views put
forward by post modernists
- This is because of Thompsons view that schools need to be ‘customised’ to meet the
needs of communities and individuals
- For example, cities in Britain which have a high level of multi-faith communities should
therefore have options of faith schools instead of just comprehensive schools
- This shows how in creating these specialist schools, parents are able to send their
children to a specific school with the areas of interest the child needs
- However, this postmodernist view of schooling has not been achieved throughout with
many schools falling into a modernist approach.

Coalition government policies

- The coalition focused on two marketisation policies within the education system
- Although academies were introduced by Labour, more schools were encouraged to
become academies by the coalition. They receive money from central government and
sponsors, don’t have to follow the National Curriculum (except core subjects) & can set
their own term times. As well as introduction of free schools - can be set up by parents,
teachers & others. Don’t have to follow the National Curriculum & don’t have to employ
qualified teachers.
- This shows…
- However, the coalition scrapped EMA and replaced it with bursaries (which less students
get) & raised uni fees to £9k- increasing class inequalities.

Privatisation

- Privatisation involves the transfer of public assets such as schools to private companies
- This process is seen within education as it becomes a source of profit for capitalists in what
Ball calls the Education Services Industry
- Examples of direct involvement in education include they way private companies build
schools and provide supply teachers
- This process of this privatisation, Ball argues that education has become a commodity to be
brought and sold for profit as opposed to provider for educational services
- In the Marxist view, they claim that privatisation and competition is used to legitimate the
turning of education into a source of profit for capitalists – benefitting the R/C
Indirect involvement in education

- The ‘cola-isation of schools’ - when private companies have a presence in schools e.g.
vending machines, having a Costa coffee at ASFC.
- Education as a commodity - Ball argues that education is now a commodity (something to be
bought/sold). Marxists say New Right ideas of marketisation are being used to make profit
for companies & take power away from governments.