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Theoretical perspectives- Education - Coggle Diagram
Theoretical perspectives- Education
Functionalism
Schools are a sorting ground to sort the most able from the rest so that they are trained and able to take on the better jobs in society. Meritocracy- work hard and you will achieve.
Durkheim (1890s): schools were essential for 'imprinting' shared social values of society, teaching the specialised skills for an economy based on specialised division of labour.
Durkheim: social solidarity- instilling a sense of belonging to wider society, a sense of commitment to the importance of working towards society's goals
Durkheim: 'It is by respecting the schools rules that the child learns to respect rules in general, that he develops the habit of self-control and restraint simply because he should control and restrain himself. It is a first initiation into the austerity of duty. Serious life has now begun'.
Talcott-Parsons (1940s): school acts as a bridge between family and society as a whole, preparing children for their adult roles in society. Schools instil VALUE CONSESNSUS in the value of achievement and the value of equality of opportunity- everyone is working towards the same thing and leads us to have a highly motivated and skilled workforce.
Davis & Moore (1964): the education system 'sifts and sorts' students into their roles in society- role allocation. They promote meritocracy and rewarding (merits). SETTING AND STREAMING. E.g. Vocational vs academic based on results.
Marxism
Schools teach children to obey authority without challenging it- just like they want you to do in the workplace. This produces class inequality as education is built in the interests of the ruling class. Middle class parents use their wealth to ensure their children get into the best schools with the best resources.
Althusser (1970s): Ideological state apparatus- the government controls the masses by giving them a set of ideas which make them easy to control (through teachers), making people accept capitalism and ensuring children become compliant and obedient- the hidden curriculum promotes subservience.
Bowles & Gintis (1970s): THE CORRESPONDENCE PRINCIPLE- schools mirror the way the workplace operates. Passive subservience, acceptance of hierarchy, and motivation by external rewards are all features of both work and school. E.g. Grades motivate students, wages motivate workers. This produces employees who accept exploitation from employers. Pupils work only for qualifications they eventually hope to achieve. Little satisfaction from work as learning is based mostly on the 'jug and mug' principle- teachers poor their knowledge into students' empty mugs.
Bowles & Gintis (1970s)- found the hidden curriculum helps to produce a subservient workforce as students who were more conformist received higher grades than those who were creative and independent.
The Myth of Meritocracy disguises class inequality so that when people don't succeed, they blame themselves for not working hard enough instead of the inequality they experience.
Paul Willis (1977): Neo Marxist argues pupils are rebelling is evidence that not all pupils are brainwashed into being passive, subordinate people as a result of the hidden curriculum. Pupils are not directly injected with the values and norms that benefit the ruling class, some actively reject these. They also realise they no have no real opportunity to succeed in the system. COUNTER SCHOOL SUBCULTURE.
Counter-school subculture still produces exploited workers as they spent school skipping class because they looked forward to manual paid work instead.
Feminism
Feminists agree that education has a role in transmitting norms and values to children through school. But they see schools as transmitting patriarchal views.
Heaton and Lawson (1996)- argued that the hidden curriculum taught patriarchal values in schools, e.g. traditional family structures in textbooks, predominantly female teachers and male managers, gender divisions in PE and sport.
Liberal feminists- girls outperform boys academically so if the system was patriarchal, it was failing. Schools have made progressive steps, e.g. boys used to have a lower pass rate than girls in 11+ exams.
Stanworth (1983)- still higher expectations of boys in education and boys more likely to be recommended for further education than girls of the same level so inequality does still exist.
Wilkinson- genderquake.
Radical feminists- the whole system is patriarchal, through the formal and hidden curriculum.
Benyard (2011)- sexual harassment in education and how unseriously it's taken as other forms of bullying.
Black feminists- not all girls have the same experience in education. Ethnic minority girls are often victims of specific stereotyping and assumptions.
Sharpe (1996)- found London school girls in the 1970s had completely different priorities and aspirations as similar girls in 1996. E.g From marriage and family to careers.
Interactionism
Focus on the interactions between pupils, peers and teachers, looking at concepts such as labelling.
Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968)- shows that teachers' views about students can affect how much the students learn. When teachers think students are smart, they tend to spend more time on them to call on them and praise them.
Jones & Dindia (2004)- teachers have an unconscious bias sending an implicit message to girls that maths and science isn't for them.
Hargreaves (1975)- teachers' labels influence construction and development of students' identities or self-concepts to see how they define themselves and interact with others, affecting their attitudes, behaviour and achievement in education.
Merton's self fulfilling prophecy- low expectations can cause poor achievement.
Postmodernism
Marketisation- making schools compete with each other for more funding, better schools get more money, effectively turning schools into businesses, and parents/ students consumers. Parents 'browse' different alternatives.
Education is more tailored than it used to be as teachers have to account for all learning styles and pathways of education. Fragmentation through home-schooling and private schools. Increase in ICT use improves teaching online at home.
The New Right
Believe in Marketisation and Parentocracy (parental choice) which can be seen in the introduction of league tables (ranking schools), GCSEs, OFSTED (artificial realities- notice allows preparation) as a part of the 1988 Education Reform Act.
The National Curriculum- a state provided framework to ensure transmission of the same shared values.