Learning objectives

The objectives of this chapter involve understanding:

■ different perspectives on the relationship between ■ how concepts of knowledge and learning are socially
education and the economy constructed
■ how intelligence is defined and measured ■ deschooling and cultural capital
• different perspectives on the relationship between ■ power and control in modernity and postmodernity
intelligence and educational achievement • language codes and the language of education
• consensus and conflict approaches to the rel ationship • labelling, the hidden curriculum and the gendered
between education and social mobility curriculum as explanations for differential achievement
■ the relationship between different forms of social ■ examples of pro- and anti-pupil sub-cultures.
inequality (class, gender and ethnicity) and educational
achievement
Education in social context
Theories about the links between education
and the economy
The relationship between formal education systems and
the economy is both complex and multidimensional.
This is partly because the structure and organisation
of education always reflects ideological beliefs about
its meaning, purpose and relationship to other social
institutions. This complexity is also due to the way in
which economic systems of production, distribution
and exchange have developed historically.
Why was there a new need for a literate and numerate workforce
I
with the onset of industrialisation?

Formal education: education that takes place within the

Funct ionalism
formal setting of the school. It involves learning a specific
range of subjects (the formal curriculum), mastery of which Functionalism sees society as a social system consisting of
is tested through formal examinations. different institutions (family, work, education, etc.). These
institutions are functionally connected in two ways:

1 Each institution performs certain essential (core)

Mass education, where the majority of a population functions, such as providing the means of survival (work)
experience formal schooling, is a feature of most modern or secondary socialisation (education).
industrial societies. The relationship between mass
2 To perform these functions, each institution needs
education and economic development is not accidental.
certain things from other institutions. In contemporary
In pre-industrial societies, when most people lived and
societies, where the workplace usually requires a certain
worked in and around the home, there was no economic
level of knowledge and skill, the education system needs
need for education. It was only when industrialisation
to provide individuals with the necessary social and
and factory production increased the demand for a
intellectual foundations. Schools perform this function
literate and numerate workforce that the pressure for
by accrediting certain levels of knowledge and skill
mass education arose. Education systems are thus closely through qualifications.
linked to economic systems, but the precise nature of
their relationship is open to debate. We can explore this The relationship between education and work is one of
debate by looking at three sociological approaches to the dependency. The workplace needs the education system to
relationship between education and work in contemporary perform its allotted roles in order for society to function
industrial societies. successfully.
 Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology

The development of mass education is, therefore, they also reflected current economic needs in terms of
explained in terms of functional differentiation: types oflabour:
institutions develop to perform particular functions,
■ Grammar schools provided a wholly academic education
such as 'work' and 'education'. If the needs of one
and were geared towards the needs of professional
institution are not being adequately met, tensions
occupations, such as doctors and accountants, based on
develop within the system that threaten its stability and
particular qualifications.
ability to function. For example, industrial forms of work
■ Secondary modern schools provided a mix of vocational
require a literate and numerate workforce; without these
{work-related) and academic education geared towards
skills, the economy cannot function. Institutions such
the needs of the service sector.
as the fam ily cannot meet this new requirement, so the
stability of the system is threatened. It can be restored in 11 Secondary technical schools provided a work-
one of two ways: related technical/vocational education and were
geared towards the development of skilled manual
■ An existing institution, such as the family or religion, occupations. In fact, this section was never fully
evolves to perform the required function. This involves established and its function was largely taken over by
differentiation that occurs within individual institutions; secondary modern schools.
different roles need to be developed if the institution is to
perform its new function.
■ A new institution, such as formal education, a rises to fulfil
Intelligence: capacities and abilities related to the
the need. acquisition and demonstration of knowledge and skills,
such as problem-solving and decision-making.
Although it is possible for an existing institution to evolve,
the scale of economic change that occurs as societies

I industrialise is often too great. Existing institutions

cannot adapt quickly enough or in all the necessary
ways to deal with the new demands. At some point in
The argument that this type of division is functional and
necessary is reflected in secondary education systems
worldwide:
their development, therefore all societies will develop a
■ India has both academic and vocational {school and
specialised institution (education) that can restore stability
profession-based) routes through secondary education.
in such situations.
■ Pakistan has similarly developed academic and technical
routes.
■ Mauritius organises secondary education in a slightly
different way, but has also developed a distinction
Explain the term 'functional differentiation'. between academic routes into t he workplace and a
fo rm of basic education intended to be a route into
vocational training, for around 5% of the school
In the UK, the 1944 Education Act that established free, population.
universal education explicitly addressed the relationship
between education and the workplace through a The separation of academic and vocational educational
distinction between: routes reflects a belief in two basic forms of work:

1 professional careers, requiring higher levels of abstract

■ academic pupils, destined to move on to university and knowledge and lower levels of practical expertise
professional employment 2 non-professional work, requiring higher levels of
■ vocational pupils, who were destined to follow a practical practical expertise and lower levels of abstract
or technical route into the workforce. knowledge.

Secondary (ages 11-15) education was organised 1l1ese ideas are reflected in Davis and Moore's ( I 945)
into a tripartite system. Pupils were allocated to one argument that those who are most able and talented
of three types of school after taking an intelligence intellectually are allocated work roles that offer the highest
test at age 11. The types of school not only mirrored rewards in terms of income, power and status. In other
contemporary beliefs about the nature of intelligence, words, the most functionally important economic roles
 Chapter 6: Education

must be filled by the most capable and competent members solve problems rather than simply 'remember names
of society. There is a clear relationship between education and dates'
and the economy: 'Education is the proving ground for ■ narrow the distinction between different types of
ability and hence the selective agency for placing people in knowledge and skills.
different statuses according to their abilities.'
Neo-functionalist and new-right perspectives argue
Neo-functionalism/new right that economic behaviour in the 21st century is very
different from 50 - let alone 150 - years ago. Various
Neo-functionalist or new-right perspectives acknowledge
globalising processes have caused a long-term decline
the basic relationship outlined by writers such as Davis
in manufacturing and a rise in the financial and service
and Moore. However, they also argue that this kind of
sectors. This has changed both the nature of economic
society and economy no longer exists. The rapid social and
production and, as a consequence, the nature of education
economic changes that have occurred over the past 40 years
systems.
as a result of globalisation have changed our understanding
of the relationship between education and the economy.
For example, Bell (1973) argues that post-industrial
societies developed first in heavily industrialised parts of Which type of economic activity is most significant in
the USA and Western Europe and subsequently spread modern societies?
across the world.
There has been a steady rise in general service industries
and, more recently, a rapid rise in computer-based service Evaluation: 'Functional importance' is the idea that
technologies. In post-industrial society, therefore, services different adult roles are measured according to their
and knowledge arc the dominant productive industries, social contribution. For example, accountants have
and these are characterised by their flexibility and speed higher social status and pay than road sweepers because
of change. This brings into question the academic/ their role is functionally more important fo r society.
vocational distinction in modern education systems. Tumin (1953) questions the idea that we can objectively
Neo-functionalists argue that this type of division is too measure functional importance. He argues that this
inflexible to meet the needs of a globalised economy. is something we can only establish subjectively and
Luhmann (1997) adopts a similar systems approach, that it represents an ideological justification for the
but criticises traditional functionalism as being too functionalist analysis of education and its relationship
'mechanical' in its theorising of the relationship between to the economy. Such arguments are based on a
education and the economy. He questions, for example, tautological argument (one that contains its own proof).
the idea that an economy simply exists - that it has unity Accountancy has greater functional significance
and coherence as a system - and that people are simply because it requires high-level academic qualifications;
allotted places within it depending on such criteria as the demand for advanced academic qualifications are
educational qualifications. While Luhmann sees social proof that this occupation is functionally important to
systems as interconnected networks, questions of inclusion the economy.
or exclusion from an ever-changing system of social and A second line of criticism focuses on the assumption
economic relationships are the key to understanding that modern education systems 'sift and sort' students
education systems. They must be as flexible as the into different types of education and qualifications in
workplace if they are to function coherently. In many a meritocratic way - that is, based on each student's
education systems, these ideas are reflected in recent merits. These merits might be higher levels of
changes to different types of academic and vocational intelligence, or a willingness to work hard and make
qualifications, with various attempts to: personal sacrifices to pursue an education. However,
there is little evidence that a genuinely meritocratic
■ break down rigid distinctions between 'academic' and system exists in modern industrial societies. These
'vocational' subjects through the development of new societies are marked by inequality, which affects who is
qualifications and routes to competence able to succeed in the education system. For example,
■ move away from a curriculum wholly focused on subject wealthy people can send their children to fee-paying
knowledge towards one based on functional knowledge schools, which effectively buys them social status rather
and skills, such as the ability to work with others and than children earning it through their own talents.
 Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology

Parkin (1971) suggests that the functionalist view is The solution to these problems in the UK was
merely an ideological attempt to justify inequality in comprehensive education, which was designed to
societ y. The idea of meritocracy has been criticised by address social inequality and technological change.
both interactionists, who focus on school processes to Social democrats believe that comprehensive schools
show that education is not meritocratic, and Marxists, fulfil the ideal of a meritocracy. These schools contain
who argue that the 'meritocracy myth' obscures a broad class mix, in which all children - regardless
underlying processes of class reproduction. Willis (1977) of prior academic achievement - receive the same
claims that working-class children get working-class secondary education. In the UK, the introduction of
jobs not because these are the jobs to which they are best comprehensive schools was intended to establish a
suited but because middle-class children get the middle- system of 'contest mobility'. Turner (1960) states that its
class jobs. objective was 'to give elite status to those who earn it'.
Equality of opportunity was not only seen as socially
fair, but in addition, competition would produce larger
numbers of better-qualified workers to serve the new
Meritocracy: system based on equality of opportunity; technological requirements of a changing economy.
those with ability and talent achieve their just rewards From this perspective, therefore, education is the means
regardless of their social characteristics. through which problems of technological change and
social inequality can be addressed and managed. A truly
meritocratic system would result in a fairer distribution
Luhmann argues that traditional functionalism docs of economic and social rewards, increased social mobility
not consider how modern social systems operate. Ideas and a decline in social inequality.
that were relevant to education 100 or 50 years ago no
longer apply.

I Social democratic theory

Social democratic theory looks at the relationship
Comprehensive education: system where schools are
open to all children, regardless of their ability to pay, where
between education and the economy in terms of two they live or prior educational achievement.
related processes in modern societies:

1 Technological changes in t he workplace, involving both More recently, social democratic theory has argued
a decline in traditional manufacturing and the rise of for the need to retrain and refocus the workforce in
service industries in areas such as finance, computing contemporary societies to address both economic and
and information technology. In the UK, for example, social changes. As Chitty (2009) notes, this involves
the tripartite system produced a small percentage of
highly qualified university entrants (around 15% of
18-year-olds) and a large number of poorly qualified
school-leavers. This situation failed to meet the
economic need for a better-qualified service-industry
workforce.
2 Social changes focused on ideas about equality in
gender, sexuality, ethnicity and class. The tripartite
system failed to meet the requirements of social fairness
because it was based on ideas about intelligence that
were increasingly divided along class lines.

Social democratic theory: political theory that advocates

technocratic and meritocratic solutions to the problem of
differential educational achievement.
Which of these people does the most functionally important work?
, Chapter 6: Education

seeing 'education and training' as the means through ■ the teaching and learning process: pupils are
which industrial societies are 'transformed from low-skill, encouraged to compete against each other for grades
low-wage economies into a high-skill, high-wage and and qualifications rather than see knowledge and
technologically advanced economies'. understanding as worthwhile goals in their own right.
Evaluation: While social democrats see comprehensive
For Bowles and Gintis, the correspondence principle
schooling as a way of reducing class inequality by creating
is maintained at all levels of the education system, usually
more opportunities for working-class children, Marxists
through streaming, setting or banding (see below):
argue that this m isunderstands institutional relationships
in capitalist societies. Fundamental economic inequalities ■ For those destined for lower levels of work, 'rule
are not affected by educational changes. Bowles and Gintis following' is emphasised; pupils are given little
(2002) argue that the reverse is true - economic inequality responsibility and made to do simple, repetitive tasks.
drives educational inequality. ■ For those destined for middle levels of work, reliability
We can see evidence of this idea when considering and some ability to work independently is emphasised.
the claim that comprehensive schools promote social ■ For those destined for higher levels of work, there is an
mixing by abolishing selection by intelligence test. Critics emphasis on working independently and taking some
argue that this system has been replaced by an even more control over their academic work.
unequal selection process, in which middle-class children
attend middle-class schools and working-class children
attend working-class schools.
Correspondence principle: nee-Marxist theory that argues
In this respect, social democratic theory confuses
that the organisation of schools closely corresponds to the
change with equality: the idea that making schools more organisation a nd demands of the workplace.
meritocratic or compensating working-class children
for their social disadvantages overcomes wider social
inequalities and economic disadvantages. However, The relationship between education and the economy,
Wilkinson and Pickett (2009) argue that social inequality in therefore, is based around cultural reproduction - the
the UK is greater now than at any time in the past 50 years. means through which higher social classes reproduce their
economic domination from generation to generation.
Marxism
Bowles and Gintis (2002) argue that the structure
and organisation of the workplace is mirrored in the
Cultural reproduction: Marxist idea that higher social
organisation of schools. Workplace inequalities are
classes try to reproduce their leadership and privileges by
reflected and reproduced through the education system investing time, money a nd resources in the education of
in a range of ways: their offspring.
1 The school disciplines students to the demands of work
and the 'crucial ingredient of job adequacy'. This involves For Bourdieu (1986), meritocracy is a myth. The education
behaviour such as regular attendance and the regulation system works in favour of a ruling elite in various ways.
of personal time and space - where pupils should be and Some involve the ability to pay for exclusive forms of
when they should be there. education such as private schooling and tutoring, while
2 Social relationships within t he school copy the others relate to educational practices such as streaming,
relationships found at work. There is, for example, where children of different abilities are taught separately.
a hie rarchy within the school similar to that in the Meritocracy is, however, a legitimating myth for Bourdieu;
workplace, with teachers exercising authority over the education system has the appearance of fairness,
pupils. equality and merit, when in fact it is the opposite.
3 Just as workers have no control over or ownership of the
things they produce, so too are pupils alienated in the
education system. They have no control over:
Streaming: situation in which groups of children of
■ the educational process as a whole: they must simply different measured ability are taught separately in all
do as they are told subjects on the forma l curriculum.
111 the content of education: this is decided by others
 Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology I

Cultural reproduction whereas (white and black) working-class students are

The formal curriculum plays an important part in cultural encouraged along the vocational route to lower-paid/
reproduction because it allows children of different classes lower-status work.
to be separated into different employment streams at an
early age. In this way, cultural reproduction is <lisguised
as a consequence of the choices children make and their
differing levels of ability or aptitude. For Althusser Vocationalism: the knowledge and skills required for
(1971), schools are an ideological state apparatus (ISA) specific types of employment.
that involves social learning. Teachers 'transform pupil
consciousness' by encouraging them to accept not just
'the realities of life', that the workplace is unequal, but Marxists have generally been critical of both vocational
also their likely future social positions. In this respect, education and work-based training schemes. For example,
vocational education within schools has two main Finn (1988) argues that youth training schemes involved
advantages for ruling elites: cheap labour that employers could use for a short time and
then discard without penalty. Bonded trainees who left a
■ It eliminates working-class children as competitors for job risked losing state benefits and were effectively tied to
higher-level occupations. a particular employer, whatever the conditions of the job.
■ It gives the appearance of being chosen by the working Many trainees were either placed on 'work-creation
class, either through deliberate choice or because schemes' devised and funded by the government or in
they have failed to reach a required level of academic work offering no prospect of further employment once
achievement. the training period was over and the government subsidy
ended. Finn argues that training was minimal to non-
existent in many types of work placement and, where

I Ideological state apparatus (ISA): Marxist concept that

argues that institutions such as schools encourage values
training was given, it did not cover the skills required for
work in a high-technology, service-based economy. For
Bates and Riseborough the new vocationalism is more
favourable to the interests of a ruling class in capitalist about social control. It takes potentially troublesome
societies. unemployed youth 'off the streets' and subjects them to
workplace discipline, lowers wages for all young people by
subsidising some employers, and lowers unemployment
figures. Similar criticisms have been made about recent
forms of government-sponsored work-based training
schemes:

■ Work-experience programmes are designed as 'voluntary'

schemes for those who take unpaid work for up to
six months. While they receive an allowance during
their placement, if they leave the job their benefits are
stopped.
■ Mandatory schemes are compulsory. The longer-term
unemployed must take unpaid work and a failure to
complete the programme results in a loss of state
benefits.
How do teachers 'transform pupil consciousness'? As Davies (2012) reports, such schemes have been accused
of being 'modern slave labour' that involves little or no
Bates and Riseborough (1993), for example, argue that a training.
significant feature of contemporary forms of vocational Evaluation: Criticism of Marxist approaches has
education in the UK (sometimes called the new focused on the connection they make between education
vocationalism) is that most (white) middle-class students and the economy. Young (1981), for example, has called
follow the academic route into professional employment, this approach 'left functionalism': the idea that education
 Chapter 6: Education

functions to 'meet the needs of a ruling class'. Marxists computing and construction. This concept is reinforced by
have also been criticised for seeing working-class pupils dual labour markets:
as passive and for making the assumption that everything
■ Male-dominated primary labour markets involve
that is taught in schools is necessarily learnt. Willis's
companies with high levels of job security, career
(1977) study of working-class students in the UK showed
prospects and wages.
that they were not passive - they strongly resisted attempts
by teachers to make them conform to school rules and ■ Female-dominated secondary labour markets involve
values. The claim that schools prepare people for working worse working conditions, job security and considerably
life is also problematic. In the USA, Gloria Joseph (1988) lower wage levels.
showed that there is a large body of Black and Latino Female over-representation in secondary labour markets
people who are not in employment at all. Poor school is, for Sommerlad and Sanderson (1997), partly explained
records and low levels of educational achievement partly by the idea that 'primary markets are conceptualised as
explain why the unemployment rate is so high among male and characterised by male ways of working and
these ethnic groups. Neo-Marxists such as Poulantzas career norms'. Even where women are present in a primary
(1978) argue that schools are relatively autonomous market, they occupy a secondary position, based on the
institutions, which can interpret the curriculum in ways idea of vertical workplace segregation - men dominate
that make it difficult to see how a precise correspondence higher managerial positions, for example.
between education and work can develop. Subject choices: These ideas are important for
A different level of criticism focuses on the ability of feminists because the way economies are structured
individuals to make choices about their education. This sends messages to pupils about how different occupations
involves the idea that the choices made by working- and are gendered. This translates into gendered curriculum
middle-class pupils reflect their different interests and choices. In terms of the most popular choices:
experiences. Schools should be responsive to these choices
by making different types of academic and vocational ■ Girls choose subjects such as English, Psychology, Art and
education available. Design, Sociology and Media Studies.
Heath (1997) argues that Marxist approaches tend ■ Boys choose subjects such as Physics, Business Studies,
to reject all forms of vocational education because they Geography and Physical Education.
encourage class-based cultural reproduction. She notes
that, by demanding equal opportunities, some forms
of vocational education have helped women in areas of
Gendered curriculum: situation in which males and
schooling and eventually work that were traditionally
females choose, or are given, different subjects to study.
male preserves.

This difference in subject choice at school level translates

into differences at undergraduate level. Self and Zealey
Give two examples of a correspondence between school (2007) note that:
and work.
■ more women than men studied subjects allied to
medicine, such as nursing
Feminism
■ more men t han women studied business and
From a general feminist perspective, the relationship administrative services, engineering and technology
between education and the economy is one in which subjects and computer sciences.
males and females are channelled intu different types and
levels of work. Women are at a disadvantage because of The Equal Opportunities Commission (2007) argued
horizontal and vertical workplace segregation that filters that educational achievements - girls consistently
down through the education system.
Horizontal segregation refers to the idea that many
occupations are sex segregated, or mainly performed by
Educational achievement: a narrow interpretation of this
either males or females. Female-dominated occupations idea refers to the gaining of different levels of educational
include teaching, nursing, shop and secretarial work, while qualification,
their male-dominated occupations include engineering,
 Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology

outperform boys at all levels of the UK education system - Kampmeier (2004), however, argues that while there are
'are not necessarily helping women into well-paid jobs'. greater opportunities for stereotyping and segregation in
They suggest that one cause of the discrepancy between vocational training, because of a relatively narrow range
achievement and occupation is gender stereotyping, the of occupational types covered, 'academic education' does
idea that boys and girls have different educational and not necessarily guarantee a lack of stereotyping and
occupational aptitudes. As Warrington and Younger segregation.
(2000) note, male and female career aspirations reflect Across Europe 'gender segregation in the labour
traditional gender stereotypes, such as childcare, nursing, market has not been considerably reduced during the last
hairdressing and secretarial for girls, and computing, decades, as far as 'typical' male and female occupations -
accountancy and plumbing for boys. such as electricians and nursery nurses - are concerned'.
The argument here, therefore, is that one role of vocational
education is to reinforce gender (and class) stereotypes
and divisions in ways that are not quite so apparent with
Gender stereotyping: the practice of assigning particular academic forms of education, mainly because they do not
characteristics to whole gender groups, such as males and necessarily channel males and females into particular
females, regardless of their individual differences. forms of work at a relatively early age.
Evaluation: The relationship between work and
education is a complex one, and female over-representation
in secondary labour markets may reflect wider social
processes, such as family roles, responsibilities and choices,
that have little or nothing to do with education.

I Design a poster to show how the organisation of

schools might correspond to the demands of the
workplace. For example: school uniforms and work
uniforms. Also discuss examples of where there is no
correspondence between schools and work.

Is science a male subject? Explanations of educational achievement

and intelligence
One area in which gender stereotyping appears most fully What is intelligence?
embedded into the school curriculum is in vocational It might seem that 'intelligence' is relatively easy to
education and work-based training. In the school describe and demonstrate. However, Sternberg (1987)
curriculum, there is evidence that work experience suggests that, not only is it very difficult to define, but its
places boys and girls into traditionally stereotyped jobs. meaning is also vigorously contested: 'There seem to be
Mackenzie's (1997) study found that: almost as many definitions of intelligence as there are
■ 45% of girls were allocated to caring placements, but experts asked to define it.' For convenience, however, we
these did not always reflect their choices. can group these definitions into two broad categories:
■ Boys who did not get their preferred placement tended 1 Capacities: This general categorisation of intelligence is
to be allocated to occupations that they considered as based on the idea that humans have certain faculties,
either neutral or traditionally male. aptitudes and competences that allow them to behave
■ Girls who were unsuccessful in their preferred placements ' more intelligently' than other animals. Sternberg's
were allocated to traditionally female occupations. (1986) triarchic theory, for example, argues that
intelligence has three related components:
In this respect, vocational training is more likely to
result in both males and females being channelled into ■ Meta-components involve the capacity to solve
'traditional' forms of gendered employment. problems and make informed, correct, decisions.
 Chapter 6: Education

■ Performance components involve the ability

to actually carry out meta-component actions,
such as seeing a relationship between two or more Why is it difficult to define intelligence?
ideas.
■ Knowledge-acquisition components refer to the
capacity to acquire new information and make logical Measuring intelligence
choices between different options. While there is a general agreement that something
called 'intelligence' exists and can be defined, there are
From this perspective, intelligence is defined in terms of
serious disagreements about what it is and how it
the ability to use each capacity to process information
should be defined. As we have seen, although
and choose appropriate responses, depending on the
it is possible to measure some aspects of intelligence,
particular situation.
such as mathematical or verbal abilities, there are different
2 Abilities: This is a narrower definition that focuses on views about what is being measured and how it
the ability to perform particular tasks or solve specific can be reliably and validly measured. In an educational
problems. Binet (1916), for example, the creator of one context, however, the most common tests use s
of the first tests to measure intelligence, defined it as omething called an intelligence quotient (IQ); this is
'the capacity to judge, reason and comprehend well'. a measure, not a definition, of individual intelligence,
Jensen {1973) argues that while human intelligence is where an IQ of 100 is taken as the average for any
complex and difficult to define precisely, it is possible population.
to test and quantify some important aspects of what
he calls 'general intelligence' or the 'g' factor, a subset
that relates to 'abstract reasoning ability'. By focusing
on abilities, therefore, it is possible to develop tests that Intelligence quotient (IQ): a specific measure of
measure the extent to which individuals are able to do individual intelligence, where a score of 100 is the average,
conventionally based on tests of mathematical, verbal and
things like identify rules, patterns, reasons and logical
spatial skills.
principles in three particular areas:
■ mathematical
■ verbal or comprehension
■ spatial.

While categories based on capacities or abilities recognise

different dimensions to 'intelligence; it is still something
conceptualised in the singular. Someone is either
intelligent or they are not. Gardner (2003), however,
has introduced a further layer of complication through
his theory of multiple intelligences. This questions the
assumption that 'intelligence is a single entity' passed
between generations, with children inheriting their
parents' general intelligence.
Gardner ( 1999) argues there are at least seven distinct
types of intelligence, ranging from the conventional Mathematics has been a traditional arbiter of intelligence. Why
linguistic, mathematical and spatial abilities, through might this be a limiting perspective on intelligence?
musical intelligence to interpersonal intelligence - the
extent to which an individual can empathise with others. Purpose of IQ tests: The purpose of IQ testing in
Interpersonal intelligence is sometimes called emotional education varies around the world. In the UK it was
intelligence and, as Ogundokun and Adeyemo's (2010) extensively used between 1950 and the mid 1970s to
study of Nigerian secondary school students found, it is separate children into different schools at the age of 11.
possible to measure and quantify it. They found a strong Those who passed the 11-plus exam were eligible to
correlation between levels of emotional intelligence and attend grammar schools and follow a broadly academic
academic achievement. curriculum. Those who failed attended secondary
 Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology

modern schools that followed a broadly vocational an unfair advantage over those from less well-off
curriculum. Although most children currently attend backgrounds'.
comprehensive education, for which there is no entry A further criticism is that tests of verbal reasoning
test, grammar schools still exist in some parts of the and comprehension, especially in societies with a diverse
country and 11-plus IQ tests are used to control entry to range of ethnicities, make cultural assumptions that
these schools. In the USA, entrance to higher education disadvantage children from ethnic minorities. For example,
is partly controlled through Scholastic Aptitude Tests certain questions might assume that something is common
(SATs) that cover the skills of critical reading, essay- knowledge, whereas it may not be known to those from
writing and mathematics. minority cultures.
Although IQ tests are just one of a range of tests used Another criticism of IQ tests relates to differences in
in education systems, they are important because they cultural learning between those born and raised within the
claim to be objective tests of innate intelligence: they not same society, but who are separated by differences in class
only reliably and validly measure 'intelligence', they do so and ethnicity. Dove (1971), for example, demonstrated that
independently of cultural influences such as class, gender, IQ tests assume particular kinds of cultural knowledge
age or ethnicity. Those who support IQ tests believe that that bias them towards particular (in this instance, white
are an important tool for revealing the natural variations American) ethnic groups. One consequence of this bias is
in intelligence within and between different individuals that those familiar with the cultural assumptions contained
and populations. This is based on the theory that people in the tests have higher measured IQ scores. Dove also
are born with a certain level of intelligence, inherited from showed how, by reversing these assumptions in favour of
their parents, which does not vary greatly throughout their minority, culturally different and disadvantaged groups,
lifetime. levels of measured intelligence could be reversed.
Kaplan (1998) claims that 'how well a person does
on an IQ test depends on a variety of factors besides

I Ethnicity: expression of the cultural background of

different groups, which includes factors such as religious
intelligence'. These include:

■ education
affiliations, country of birth and residence, cultu ral beliefs, ■ reading habits
traditions and customs. ■ experience with and attitudes towards taking tests
■ cultural upbringing
■ mental and physical health.
These ideas have significant implications for the
relationship between intelligence and educational He concludes: 'Count me among those who regard
achievement. If an education system is meritocratic, any the study of intelligence as more pseudo-science than
differences in achievement can be explained by natural science.'
variation in intelligence. External evaluation: External criticisms ofIQ testing
Internal evaluation: Internal criticisms of intelligence relate to wider ideas about the validity of such tests. These
testing focus on the construction and application of the criticisms take a number of forms relating to both the
tests themselves, mainly about their claim to be 'culture- nature of 'intelligence' and what, if anything, IQ tests
free' or 'culture-neutral'. The argument here is that rather actually measure. Burden (2004), for example, argues that
than being a measure of 'natural intelligence', IQ tests the concept of 'intelligence' is both problematic - it is too
actually measure cultural learning. complex to be reduced to simple forms of 'intelligence
Where IQ tests are timed, for example, students testing' - and context dependent: 'It's a hypothetical
who are familiar with the question formats are likely construct psychologists have used to describe how people
to perform better than those who are not. In other behave. How I would behave in the Amazon jungle is a lot
words, students who practise answering IQ tests have less intelligently than I would in my job as a psychology
an advantage, because to answer a question, the student professor. And if something goes wrong with my car
first needs to understand what it is asking. Those who I open the bonnet and hope someone will come and
have to spend time thinking about how to answer a help me.'
question have less time in which to actually answer it. Other types of criticism focus on the construct validity
Murray (2013) argues that the ability to pay for private ofIQ tests. Flynn (1987), argues that 'psychologists should
test tuition gives children 'from more affiuent families stop saying IQ tests measure intelligence. They should
 - -

Chapter 6: Education

say that IQ tests measure abstract problem-solving ability testing is that it takes place under artificial conditions -
(APSA), a term that accurately conveys our ignorance'. not just those of the test itself but also, as Flynn argues, the
In other words, while IQ tests used in education systems premises on which such intelligence testing is based: 'We
claim to measure something called ' intelligence', what they know that people solve problems on IQ tests; we suspect
actually measure are two possible types of intelligence - that those problems are so detached, or so abstracted
those that involve linguistic and logical-mathematical from reality, that the ability to solve them can diverge
abilities. over time from the real-world problem solving ability
This is significant in the context of understanding called intelligence; thus far we know little else'. To put
the relationship between intelligence and educational this another way, what IQ tests measure is the ability to
achievement because it suggests that out of all the possible complete IQ tests.
measures that could be used, decisions have been made
about which are considered valid. This implies that what
counts as 'intelligence' and how it relates to ed ucational
achievement are culturally loaded constructs. Any List the pros and cons of using IQ tests to measure
relationship between the two is biased in favour of those intelligence in education.
social groups who have the power to both define how
intelligence is measured and how it is realised or expressed
in terms of educational achievement. Intelligence and educational achievement
What IQ tests measure, therefore, is at best a subset of Keeping in mind that definitions of both intelligence and
' intelligence'. This raises important questions about why achievement may be socially constructed, explanations
they are designed to measure some abilities but not others. for their relationship generally take three forms: agnostic,
One explanation is that they measure those abilities most positive and negative.
valued by powerful social groups (what Marxists call the Agnostic: This explanation argues that we do not know
'ruling class'). IQ testing is part of a process of cultural if there is a real relationship between intelligence and
reproduction in which the power to define and objectively achievement for two reasons:
measure intelligence is a valuable social resource, for two
reasons: 1 There is no generally agreed definition of intelligence so
we do not know what is being measured.
1 Intelligence is defined in ways that reflect the particular 2 Even if we select a quantifiable subset of intelligence,
class, gender or ethnic interests of powerful groups. there is no general consensus about how it can be
2 If subordinate social groups accept , or are unable to reliably and validly measured.
challenge, this definition it both cements their lower
position (they are 'less intelligent') and justifies any
Further problems arise if intelligence is conceptualised
differential treatment they receive. Children of the upper
as a relationship. This means it is seen as something fluid
and dynamic, created by individuals as they go about
and middle classes, for example, achieve more not
their lives and expressed in different ways and contexts,
because of their privileged position but because they
are simply 'more intelligent' and so more deserving.
rather than as a permanent quality. This position suggests
It similarly serves as a justification for both social and
that intelligence develops through cultural practices and
ways oflearning, rather than being something we are
academic segregation because it is based on 'objective'
born with. As Kaplan argues: 'Intelligence is difficult
criteria.
to define precisely, but we can all agree that it refers to
From this perspective, IQ tests and the concepts of intellectual ability as opposed to intellectual achievement.'
intelligence they embody are part of the ideological state People can be intelligent without necessarily being able to
apparatus. Convincing people that natural intelligence demonstrate their intelligence by passing exams.
differences exist and can be objectively measured, is a Positive: This explanation argues that we can assume
powerful form of social control. Gardner, for example, calls IQ tests measure significant aspects of intelligence in the
this 'the IQ way of thinking: that people are either smart or form cognitive skills. These include the ability to solve
not, that there's nothing much you can do about it, and that mathematical problems or understand logical arguments.
tests can tell you if you are one of the smart ones'. Since these skills are very similar to those valued in both
Additional criticisms of the cultural biases ofIQ tests education and the workplace, it makes sense to test the
focus on their ecological validity. One problem with IQ relationship between intelligence and achievement in this
 Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology

way. From this perspective, IQ clearly correlates positively means that middle-class children will, on average, always
with educational achievement: be more intelligent than working-class children.
Negative: Explanations here generally follow two lines
■ Deary et al. (2007) found a 0.8 correlation (1 = a
of reasoning:
very strong, possibly causal relationship and 0 = no
relationship) between 'cognitive ability tests taken at 11 1 It would be surprising if there was no positive correlation
and national school examinations taken at 16'. Their main between IQ test scores and educational achievement,
finding was 'the large contribution of general mental mainly because the skills valued and taught in schools
ability to educational achievement'. and tested in public examinations are those measured in
■ Mackintosh (2002) notes that 'schoolchildren's IQ scores IQ tests.
correlate in the range 0.5 to 0.7 with their current and 2 Educational achievement is not related to intelligence;
subsequent educational attainment: the correlation rather, it is related to a range of cultural factors inside
between 11-year-olds' IQ scores and their GCSE grades at and outside the education system that allow some pupils
age 16 is over 0.5'. to do well, while severely Ii miti ng the ability of others
to do the same. This achievement is simply validated by
Although this evidence of a positive relationship is
higher measured levels of IQ. In other words, cultural
significant, it should be noted that the difference between
factors relating to class, gender and ethnicity explain
0.5 and 0.8 is actually very large.
higher IQ and achievement levels. As Goleman (1995)
In general, this approach makes a positive connection
argues: 'The vast majority of one's ultimate niche in
between social selection on the basis of educational
society is determined by non-IQ factors, ranging from
t1ualilicaliuns an<l intelligence. In lhe USA, fur example,
social class to luck'.
Murray and Herrnstein (1994) argue that race is linked to
intelligence (roughly running from black at the bottom,
white in the middle to Asian at the top) and this explains

I why black Americans achieve less than their white or

Asian peers.
In the UK, Saunders (2002) argues that intelligence,
Social class: the individual's position in a class-based
system of social stratification, conventionally defined by
occupation.
while not determined at birth, differs between social
classes. Social and developmental factors mean middle-
class children are, on average, significantly more Petty (2011) argues that a defining feature ofIQ tests is that
intelligent than their working-class peers. Social selection they 'reflect the social order' because 'the people who make
based on class differences in intelligence, therefore, up the IQ tests are from the educated middle class. What
operates in two ways: they are saying to others who score high on IQ tests is, 'You
must be intelligent, you think just like me'. TI1e values that
1 Middle-class parents in professional employment have are reflected in IQ tests are those of the middle class.'
demonstrated their higher levels of intelligence. They
u.::-.:=\--r--;-----:~-- - -... •
have achieved high employment status by competing -j-~..--

ACTIVl;TY .
with their working-class peers.
2 The knowledge and experience parents gain through Discussion: If intelligence, attainment and
this social process gives their children an advantage. employment are closely related (the brightest achieve
This is partly because they have more to lose by the most and get the best jobs), why are there so few
educational failure (downward social mobility) and partly women in higher-income professional work?
because middle-class parents instil in their children the
importance of educational qualifications, because this is
how they achieved their current social status.
The relationship between education and
According to Saunders, social selection ensures that those social mobility
who are the most academically able rise to the top of the The relationship between education and social mobiJity
class structure. Intelligent working-class children are is a complex one. To begin with, it is important to
educationally successful and rise into the middle class. understand what 'social mobility' means and how it is
Middle-class children who fail to capitalise on their social measured. Aldridge (2001) suggests that the concept
advantages fall back into the working class. This process 'describes the movement or opportunities for movement
 Chapter 6: Education

between different social groups'. In late-modern industrial 2 Upward mobility is earned through demonstrations of
societies this involves two ideas: individual merit. In modern societies, which contain
a wide variety of occupations, from unskilled workers
1 social classes and how they are ranked in a system of such as road sweepers at the bottom, to highly skilled
stratification that allows people to move up or down the professionals such as doctors and accountants at the
class structure top, people must fill these positions on the basis of their
2 how social class can be tested or measured using various knowledge and skills.
indicators, usually a person's occupation.
Meritocracy: It is inevitable that mass education systems
develop in modern industrial societies, because their
primary fw1ction is differentiation - allowing individuals
Social mobility: the ability to move up or down the class to 'demonstrate their differences' in objective ways. For
structure. education systems to perform this role effectively, they
must be meritocratic. Rewards such as well-paid, high-
status occupations are earned and allocated through
Social mobility can be defined in different ways, but for individual abilities and efforts in the education system.
our purposes it is most helpful to think in terms of relative Such systems are, by definition, competitive. However,
mobility which, for Aldridge, 'is concerned with the chances competition must be based on equal opportunities. If
people from different backgrounds have of attaining different some people are disadvantaged - because of their sex, race
social positions'. This means that is a measure of how or social class, for example - then society cannot be sure
movement varies according to someone's starting position that 'the best people' will end up in the most important
in the class structure. It is an appropriate definition to use in or prestigious adult roles. Meritocratic systems involve,
the context of education because we can relate individuals to therefore, inequalities of outcome. Parsons (1959a)
educational qualifications and different occupations - and summarises this idea as follows: 'It is fair to give differential
therefore to upward or downward social mobility. There are rewards for different levels of achievement, so long as there
two main ways to measure relative social mobility: has been fair access to opportunity, and fair that these
rewards lead on to higher-order opportunities for the
1 Inter-generational mobility refers to movement between
generations, such as the difference between a parent and successful:
Schools develop inequalities of outcome through testing
their adult child's occupational position.
and examinations. In a meritocratic system, these must
2 Intra-generational measures refer to an individual's
be objective tests that everyone has an equal opportunity
mobility over the course of their life, comparing the
to take and pass. This is because role allocation is a
position of someone's starting occupation with their
mechanism through which those who are intellectually
occupation on retirement, for example.
most able and talented achieve work roles that offer the
Underlying all this is the idea that contemporary highest rewards in terms of income, power and status. As
industrial societies are broadly based on achieved social Davis and Moore argue: 'Education is the proving ground
status and mobility. The individual's position in society for ability and hence the selective agency for placing people
is not fixed (or ascribed) by characteristics such as age, in different statuses according to their abilities:
gender or ethnicity; rather, it is earned or achieved on the Harris (2005b) suggests that for traditional
basis of factors such as educational qualifications. functionalism, social mobility develops out of the way
people are encouraged to perform different roles, some of
which are more important, skilled and difficult to learn than
Consensus approaches
others. The promise of higher levels of status, income and
Functionalism: Functionalist arguments about the
job satisfaction by working for educational qualifications,
relationship between education and social mobility focus
therefore, represents necessary motivations and rewards.
on how education systems represent a bridge between the
These rewards lead to the development of social
family and the economy:
hierarchies - some jobs are more important than others
1 Social mobility is functionally necessary: people must and this creates functionally necessary social inequalities.
be allowed to move up - or fall down - the occupational For Davis and Moore, the inequalities that flow through
and social structure. This ensures that important social social mobility represent 'an unconsciously evolved device
positions are filled by those who are most qualified. by which societies ensure the most important positions are
 Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology

conscientiously filled by the most qualified people'. Lenski's over their working-class peers, such as the ability to buy
(1994) analysis of 'Marxist social systems' such as China and high-quality, high-status private education. Their progress
North Korea supports this position. It argues that social from school to high-paid, high-status employment is
inequality is inevitable, necessary and functional because effectively sponsored by their parents' class background.
'incentive systems' are required to motivate and reward the Breen and Goldthorpe (1999) have demonstrated that social
best-qualified people for occupying the most important mobility is not as great in modern societies as it should be if
positions within a social system. it were based on merit alone. In this respect, social class is a
variable that promotes or hinders social mobility.
In addition, although a meritocracy involves open
competition for social resources such as educational
Social inequality: unequal and unfair distribution of
qualifications or adult employment, Breen (1997) argues
resources in any system such as education. Inequality of
educational opportunity, for example, refers to the way that this only occurs at the lower levels of society. The
some children are treated unfairly in the education system higher social levels are marked by social closure - they are
on the basis of subjective criteria such as class, gender and closed to the vast majority and no real competition takes
ethnicity. place within these levels. Social closure is related to high
levels of social capital - the networks and connections
built through membership of elite private schools, such as
Winchester and Eton in the UK or the Lawrence School,
Sanawar, in India and universities such as Oxford and
Cambridge in the UK or Harvard and Yale in the USA.

I Social capital: extent to which people are connected to

social networks (who you know) and how this can be used
to the individual's advantage.

Poor children share textbooks at a monastery school in Burma Why do functionalists believe that education systems
(Myanmar). Is education entirely meritocratic? must be meritocratic?

Evaluation: As we have seen, inequalities of educational

outcome that affect social mobility are justified by Neo-functionalism/new right: This .ipproach to education
meritocratic competition. However, it can be argued and mobility combines the concept of meritocracy with
that education systems in modern industrial societies individual life choices. If societies provide the same
are not meritocratic. Some groups, such as the working opportunities to their members through a meritocratic
class and some ethnic minorities, experience systematic schooling system, then educational success or failure
d isadvantage. Paterson and Iannelli (2005), for example, results from the different choices people make.
argue that in Scotland: 'Many studies have shown Saunders (1996), for example, argues that social
education and the acquisition of educational qualifications mobility is related to education in the sense that it reflects
are important means through which middle-class families the life choices made by different individuals and groups.
pass on their social and economic advantage to their In any competitive system there must be 'winners and
children. In these circumstances, education, rather than losers'. Some people will have more of the 'good things
promoting greater social mobility, may in fact reduce it'. in life' than others. Who these winners and losers turn
While meritocratic systems should involve contest out to be in modern, meritocratic societies is determined
mobility, nee-Marxists such as Bowles and Gintis argue by the choices they make, not by factors such as class,
that modern education systems are characterised by gender or ethnicity. Saunders argues that middle-class
'sponsored mobility'. By this they mean that upper-and parents invest heavily in their children's education and
middle-class children enjoy a range of cultural advantages this 'investment choice' combined with hard work by the
 Chapter 6: Education

children themselves, is rewarded by higher educational the right type of school and on the right type of course for
qualifications. This does not guarantee that such children their particular needs.
will be upwardly mobile, but it usually guards against ■ It selects children objectively on the basis of their natural
downward mobility. talents and benefits those lower down the social scale
Murphy (1990) argues that in an education system because it promotes social mobility through competition.
that provides equality of opportunity, differences in
achievement are the result of unsuccessful students Meritocratic forms of selection are preferable to the covert
choosing not to participate. Where individuals end up methods that take place in 'non-selective' education
in the class structure is also the outcome of their life systems. The very rich, for example, self-select their children
choices - for example, the difference between choosing to by paying for private education. Those from the middle class
work consistently in school to gain qualifications or leaving self-select by making sure their children attend the schools
school at 16, getting pregnant and becoming a single parent. with the best academic reputation. Intelligent working-class
pupils who lack the economic, family, social and cultural
capital available to other classes are left to attend schools
that fail to recognise their talents. As a result they are
Equality of opportunity: the absence of discrimination consigned to academic failure and a lack of mobility.
within institutions such as schools.

More generally, neo-functionalist/new-right approaches

Cultural capital: anything in the individual's cultural
argue that where individual choices are the key to mobility background that gives them advantages over others;
through education, schools should be privately owned higher educational qualifications, fo r example, are a form
rather than state controlled. This would ensure that of cultural capital the individual tries to exchange for
consumers (parents and their children) have the widest advantages in the workplace, such as high-pay,
possible choice. This idea is related to marketisatiou high-skill jobs.
and follows from the idea that private companies are
consumer-capture organisations; they must respond
to consumer demand by continually innovating and Eval uation: The focus on schools as selective agencies
improving their service to attract and retain customers. has been questioned, in particular the assumption
that school diversity means more choice and greater
opportunities for social mobility. The argument here is
that neo-functionalist/new-right approaches confuse
Marketisation: process whereby the supply and social selection, where schools choose parents, with
consumption of educational goods and services are opened consumer choice, where only those with substantial
up to private and public competition. economic resources can choose private education.
In the UK, Shepherd and Rogers (2012) carried out an
This approach sees consumer choice as being limited analysis of Christian faith schools, which are allowed to
by 'producer capture'. This limits a child's chances of select students on the basis of parental faith. The results
mobility, especially children from the lower levels of showed that these schools take a lower proportion of
society who cannot afford to pay for an alternative working-class children than their catchment area suggests
education to that offered by the state. Pateman (1991) they should: 'England's faith state schools are on average
notes: 'Teachers have set their own agendas for schools failing to mirror their local communities by shunning
when it should be parents who set agendas for teachers.' the poorest pupils in their area.' In this respect, consumer
From neo-functionalist/new-right perspectives, one way to choice is only really available to those who have the money
increase social mobility is through selection by ability: and resources to make such choices. Where schools select
their pupils through interviews and tests, it is largely
■ It identifies those most suited to different types of middle-class parents, those with the cultural capital to
education - academic for those who want to pursue a play the selection game successfully, who benefit at the
professional route into work, vocational for those whose expense of the working class.
talents lie elsewhere. This requires rigorous selection The evidence for 'bright working-class children'
processes to ensure that individual pupils are placed in benefiting from objective forms of selection is hotly
 Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology

debated. While critics argue that IQ testing brings little or are recruited into high-level professional occupations
no benefits to working-class children, supporters such as such as dentistry or accountancy.
Saunders (1996) claim that to see 'middle-class children Aldridge argues that social closure does not merely
outperforming working-class children' in objective tests limit upward intra-generational social mobility, 'from
and to 'deduce from this that the system itself was unfair manual occupations to higher status professional and
and needed changing' misses the point. Middle-class technical occupations', it actually causes it to decline.
children are, he argues, simply more intelligent. A tightening of entry requirements across 'higher-status
occupations' means they are 'closed from below'. This
means that it is impossible to enter these occupations
Conflict approaches
without having been through a particular educational
Marxism: While consensus approaches generally see
process, from A levels, through undergraduate and
open, competitive and meritocratic education systems as
postgraduate qualifications to professional entrance
the most important source of social mobility in modern
exams. Where outside entry is not possible, long-range
industrial societies, conflict approaches take the opposite
intra-generational mobility across the class structure is
view. Education is not a source of social mobility but
curtailed, as are certain forms of short-range mobility
rather the means through which a bourgeois class is able to
from within the middle classes, since transfers from
cement its privileged social position. It does so by ensuring
lower-status to higher-status professions are similarly
that social inequality is reproduced through a system that
difficult.
appears to be fair but which is really biased in their favour.
For Marxists, the main role and purpose of education
is cultural reproduction. Althusser, for example, argues
that the reproduction of capitalism involves each new
1 What does the term 'cultural reproduction' mean?
generation being taught the skills, knowledge and ideas
2 What evidence might be used to show that cultural
required in the workplace. Schools do not just select,

I allocate and differentiate children in the interests of

society as a whole. They role is to help the children of the
ruling class to achieve the levels of education required to
reproduction exists?

The argument here is that education is not a particularly

follow in their parents' footsteps. For Marxists, therefore,
strong source of social mobility because as a population
the role of education is to educate most people 'just
becomes 'more educated', powerful groups simply raise
enough' to be useful employees and a small number
the entry requirements for elite occupations. Thus,
'more than enough' to take up high-powered elite
while children may gain more and better educational
working roles.
qualifications than their grandparents, the economic
Aldridge (2004) argues that a key feature of modern
value of these qualifications declines. Occupations such
industrial societies is a lack of occupational mobility for
as nursing that once required a relatively low level of
those lower down the class structure. To understand how
educational qualification (such as GCSEs) now require
and why this is the case, Marxists argue that what happens
much higher levels (such as an undergraduate degree).
in the education system cannot be separated from the
For Althusser, the formal curriculum taught in schools
demands of the economy. Education is a way of reproducing
is the main way in which education restricts social
the social inequalities found in the capitalist workplace.
mobility and enhances elite class reproduction. This
Powell (2002) sees social closure in terms of
involves the following.
'restrictions placed on people's ability to engage in
certain occupational endeavours' that are reflected by ■ Access to different types of knowledge, academic and
'criteria restricting entry into the practice of all but the vocational, being restricted through elite control of
most menial and unrewarding of occupations'. This the formal curriculum. The higher a child goes in the
results in 'collective entry requirements for practising education system, the greater their access to the forms of
various occupations and professions that effectively knowledge required for professional occupations.
work to limit social mobility'. In other words, social ■ Restricting the ambitions and expectations of different
mobility is restricted because certain occupational social classes by structuring knowledge. Academic
groups can close off entry to 'outsiders' - those (theoretical) knowledge is valued more than practical
lower down the social scale. The well-connected and (vocational) knowledge because the former is most useful
influential social classes can ensure that their offspring for professional workers.
 Chapter 6: Education

■ Children learning to accept authority because this is game, to understand what is expected of you' and this is
a valued workplace skill. The higher children go in the something middle-class children, equipped with higher
education system, the looser the social controls on their levels of cultural capital, understand more easily.
behaviour. After the age of 16, for example, they can be
trusted to 'do the right things'. Those who 'cannot be
trusted' have already been excluded, either through
failing to reach the required educational level or through Inequality: any situation that lacks equality; this may be
self-selection - leaving school at the earliest opportunity. due to natural differences, such as inequalities of height, or
social differences (see social inequality).

Hegemonic (ruling-class) control also explains why some

working-class pupils are successful. By overcoming the
barriers systematically placed in their way, they prove
• ~ I
that they are willing to accept the values on which elite
hegemony is based. These pupils who succeed 'against the
odds' also help to maintain the 'myth of meritocracy'.
•\

' '
-
,,
Evaluation: The correspondence between education

/'
~'"' \ and work in contemporary societies is methodologically
weak. It is based on superficial similarities; almost
_/ anything that happens in the workplace can be made to
,.(_, /;,r/' correspond to school processes.

- I '
I
The role of education as an institution charged with
creating well-socialised, docile, future workers is also
How are some occupations closed to lower-class pupils? questioned by Willis's study of working-class 'lads'. This
research suggests that some pupils are well aware of the
Neo -Marxism: Traditional Marxists such as Althusser limitations of education and work. They 'see through'
see education as a tool used by a ruling class to maintain the system, for example, and consciously rebel against
its domination and control. Nee-Marxists claim that the it. TI1e main question when evaluating this view is how
relationship between education and cultural reproduction far the experience of education socialises pupils into
is based on legitimate leadership with the 'consent' of the an acceptance of capitalist ideology. Where traditional
led. As Strinati (1995) puts it: 'Dominant groups in society Marxism casts teachers in the role of 'agents of ideological
maintain their dominance by securing the 'spontaneous transmission and control' - directly responsible for
consent' of subordinate groups'. This is achieved, for shaping the perceptions of pupils - an alternative
example, through their control of the media. If people can interpretation is that many pupils realise they are destined
be made to believe that education is meritocratic, with for low-status work and see little point in learning the
achievement based on individual intelligence and hard lessons offered by the education system. Chien and
work, then the system cannot be blamed. TI1e individual is Wallace (2004) also suggest that teachers are not entirely
responsible for their own failure. to blame because their 'entire upbringing and experiences
For Bowles and Gintis (1976, 2002), cultural have subtly shaped their opinions about how students
reproduction is secured through the correspondence should be taught and what type of knowledge is valuable
between workplace and educational inequality. Education and should be taught in schools'.
systems play a gate-keeping role in society, allowing
those with the 'right' orientations and attitudes through
and excluding those with the 'wrong' orientation to
work. Education is not so much a test of ability as a Use the internet to research the educational
test of conformity. Those who 'play the game' progress background of the top politicians, business people and
through its various levels, while those who do not are celebrities in your society. What does your research
systematically eliminated. Macdonald and J6nsd6ttir tell you about the relationship between education and
(2008) further suggest that playing the game successfully social mobility?
involves 'the necessary understanding of the rules of the
 Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology

Debates about the links between social Bernstein (1971) argued that working-class restricted

inequality (class, gender, ethnicity) and speech codes clashed with the elaborated speech
codes of middle-class teachers. This, in turn, influenced
educational opportunity and achievement
teachers' assessments: middle-class students, able to
In this section, we will consider in more detail the
express themselves in 'the language of education', were
sociological explanations for differential educational
consequently over-represented in top streams, set s and
achievement - how and why children of different
bands (see below).
classes, genders and ethnicities achieve different
2 Wider economic pressures on family life result in
levels of qualifications. We will also look at possible
working-class children leaving school at the earliest
interrelationships between these factors.
opportunity. Parental attitudes and economic pressures

Functionalism combine to create a tendency towards immediate

gratification. This has traditionally involved males
Traditional functionalist approaches generally assume
moving into full-time manual work and females into
that modern educational systems are meritocratic. As
part-time work and having a family of their own. In
such, explanations for differential achievement focus on
contrast, middle-class families are future orientated and
family and economic processes. Since meritocracies are,
their children tended towards deferred gratification.
by definition, competitive, education systems are not
They see education as a 'means to an end' of higher-
designed to eliminate social disadvantages. Their function
status employment. Goodman and Gregg (2010) found
is to efficiently sort people into different economic
that around 80% of the most affluent mothers assumed
positions based on their individual merits.
their child would go to university, while around 40%
Class: Explanations for working-class
of the least affluent mothers 'hoped' their child would
underachievement focus on cultural deprivation
go to university. They also found that children from
and the idea that working-class family life lacks the
poorer families believed they were 'less academic' and
attributes that contribute to middle-class success.

I Douglas (1964), for example, notes the impact on

educational attainment of variables such as:
were consequently less concerned about doing well
academically than their middle-class peers.

■ parental attitudes, expressed in terms of levels of

encouragement and interest in a child's education
■ family size - larger working-class families mean fewer Restricted and e laborated speech codes: Bernstein
parental resources for each child argues that elaborated codes involve complex vocabulary
and ideas and subtle meanings that can be used and
■ position within the family- older children achieve more
understood in a wide range of different situations.
than younger members of large families Restricted codes use simple language t o convey direct
■ deficient care of babies in large families w ith fewer meanings. They are predictable, express relatively simple,
social and economic resources to devote to their care straightforward ideas and are directed towards an audience
and upbringing. Desforges (2003) also argues that the that already understands most of what is being expressed.
weight of evidence supports the claim that 'at-home good Language: communication system that, in humans,
parenting' has a positive effect on achievement. involves both verbal and non-verbal cues.
Immediate/deferred gratification: deferred gratification
involves not taking something immediately in the hope that
by waiting you will receive something better. Immediate
gratification involves taking something as soon as it is
Cultural deprivation: as a cause of educational
offered. In education, fo r example, leaving school at the
underachievement, cultural deprivation suggests a
earliest opportunity may bring immediate gratification in
lack o f important cultural resources, such as pa rental
the sense of being able t o earn money sooner; however, by
encouragement.
staying in school to earn higher qualifications the individual's
long-term earning power is likely to be much greater.

Cultural deprivation has two main applications in terms of

achievement:
Contemporary ideas about cultural deprivation have
1 Working-class children encounter difficulties adjusting focused on ways of compensating working-class children
to the middle-class norms and values found in schools. for their dysfunctional family life to give them an equal
 Chapter 6: Education

opportunity to compete with their culturally advantaged ■ the high number of female-headed single-parent families
middle-class peers. In the UK, examples of compensatory that fail to provide role models for male children
education have included: ■ the development of 'anti-education' sub-cultures and the
effects of large-scale unemployment, Ball et al. (2012)
■ Education Action Zones, involving clusters of primary
report that with black unemployment currently running
and secondary schools joining forces with parents,
at 50% in the UK, there is little chance of boys getting
councils and local businesses to improve educational
paid work as adults so they see little point to educational
services.
qualifications.
■ Sure Start programmes, introduced in 2000, designed to
improve services to the poorest pre-school cihildren and Sewell (2010) summarises this general argument when he
families to prevent truancy and increase achievement. suggests that black children's educational performance is
Additional schemes were aimed at pregnant teenagers to undermined by:
help them back to education or t raining.
■ Extended schools that offer services, such as creches, a poor parenting
s upport for parents and leisure opportunities for pupils ■ 'anti-school' peer-group pressure

outside the traditional school timetable, designed to ■ an inability to take responsibility for their own 'anti-
engage parents in their child's education. Wilkin et al. school' behaviour.
(2002), for example, found a positive impact on lower-
class 'attainment, attendance and behaviour' when Asian and Indian pupils in the UK achieve more highly.
schools offered activities that increased 'engagement This is explained in terms of cultural and family values
and motivation'. of educational success and extended family structures
that support children throughout their schooling. Chua
(2011) also suggests that the higher achievements of
Chinese pupils can be partly explained by 'tiger mothers',
Compensatory education: supplementary educational who push their children relentlessly towards educational
programmes designed to compensate children for their success.
deprived home background. Neo-functionalist/new-right arguments suggest that
the 'disproportionate representation' of ethnic m inorities
in the underclass is related to failures in their cultural
Neo-functionalist/new-right underclass theories argue organisation. Some black ethnic minorities 'disadvantage
that a combination of material and cultural factors are themselves' through dysfunctional family structures that
the cause of educational failure among those increasingly correlate with differential educational achievement. Black
disconnected from mainstream society. For Murray and Caribbean families, for example, have the highest rates
Phillips (2001), the underclass involves 'people at the of single parenthood and the lowest rates of educational
margins of society, unsocialised and often violent .. . achievement.
parents who cannot provide for themselves, whose High levels of Indian and Asian achievement are
children are the despair of the teachers'. In this respect, explained by close, stable and supportive extended
'the socially excluded are no longer just poor but the families. In this respect, Saunders (1990) argues that
victims of anti-education, anti-marriage policies which underclass life, both black and white, is characterised by
have undermined personal responsibility'. dependency cultures involving a passive acceptance oflow
The argument here is that the underclass is responsible status. This creates a cycle of deprivation that carries from
for its own underachievement Parents fail to take moral parents to children in the form oflow educational and
responsibility for childcare and socialisation, and their work expectations.
children socially select themselves out of education through Gender: This perspective suggests that cultural
truancy, m isbehaviour and 'anti-education' beliefs. deprivation explains differences in female educational
Ethnicity: Notions of cultural advantage and achievement between classes. Middle-class boys achieve
disadvantage focused on the family are also used to more than working-class girls, for example. Differences
explain differences in achievement within minority within classes, where working-class girls generally
ethnic groups. The relat ive failure of Black Caribbean outperform boys, can be explained by linking social and
working-class boys in the UK, for example, has been economic change to gender socialisation. Wilkinson
variously related to: (1994), for example, argues that the gradual change from
 Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology

manufacturing to service industries has given rise to a

'knowledge-based' economy that 'values brains more
than it does brawn'. The skills women have traditionally
demonstrated in the home, such as conflict resolution and
interpersonal communication, are increasingly valued in
the workplace.
Economic change, with a large increase in the
proportion of women working both full and part time, has
resulted in a slow but steady change in parental attitudes
towards female education. Whereas in the past, most
girls would expect to spend most of their life outside paid
employment, the reverse is increasingly true. Higher levels
of female educational achievement reflect the greater need
for qualifications to take into the workplace.
One of the main neo-functionalist/new-right
educational concerns is male underachievement resulting Many educational theorists believe we need to differentiate
from social and economic changes that have tipped the between male and fema le learning styles to get the best out of
educational balance unfairly in girls' favour. Francis and every individual
Skelton (2005) note that male underachievement is often
explained by natural differences between boys and girls. should recognise 'cultural difference', not deprivation.
For example, curriculum changes have been characterised If working-class culture was recognised and valued by
by a move away from testing 'more difficult' male teachers, working-class pupils would have a better chance
subjects and forms of knowledge towards 'softer'
of achieving educational success.

I feminine subjects. These developments have progressively

disadvantaged boys. The feminisation of schooling also
favours girls. This refers to factors such as the lack of
Hanafin and Lynch (2002) suggest that the idea of
deficiency, in the form of ethnic-minority or working-
class parents not valuing education, is both misplaced
male role models in primary schools, 'female-friendly' and misdirected. They argue that many working-class
teaching practices, curricula and assessment criteria, parents, both black and white, take a keen interest
such as coursework rather than final exams. Feminisation in their children's education, but 'felt excluded from
also expresses itself in the classroom by, for example, participation in decision-making' within schools. In
punishing natural exuberant male behaviour. This may contrast, the middle-class women in Reay's (2000)
result in the development of'anti-pupil' sub-cultures
study were better positioned to involve themselves
and behaviours, such as truancy, that damage boys' in school decision-making. Mirza (2001) also cites
educational chances. These arguments about gendered
the development of 'Saturday Schools' among Black
differential achievement come together around three Caribbean communities as evidence for a commitment
main points: to education going unrecognised within the state school
11 Male underachievement results from the 'feminisation of system.
school and work'. Underclass explanations have also been criticised
■ Teaching and testing regimes favour female ways of for their ideological bias. MacDonald and Marsh (2005)
thinking and working. found 'no evidence of a distinct, deviant, underclass
culture' in their research in Middlesbrough, England.
■ Male underachievement results from the school's failure
What they found was a complicated picture of
to develop ways to engage boys effectively and actively.
'marginalised youth' struggling to come to terms with
Evaluation: Nell Keddie (1971) criticises the concept of their low status and social exclusion. Mac an Ghaill (1996)
cultural deprivation because it implies that the culture
of working-class pupils is in some way deficient. Keddie
argues that it is actually the education system that often
discriminates against working-class pupils. Schools are Social exclusion: being excluded from participation in
run by the middle class, which rejects any cultural views social institutions such as education or employment.
that differ from its own. Keddie argues that schools
 Chapter 6: Education

also argues that working-class underachievement is not 111 For the middle class, educational qualifications
explained by the culture of working-class boys but by are an important way of reproducing individual class
changes in the labour market. For example, the decline in positions.
manufacturing jobs have effectively excluded such boys ci For the working class, the work-based route to money
from their traditional forms of industrial employment and and status has always been more important.
left them as a relatively marginalised group within the
education system. Class sub-culture theory takes this a step further by arguing
that education systems are dominated by middle-class
norms, values, beliefs and ideologies. While some working-
class sub-cultural groups succeed by adapting successfully
Give two examples of cultural deprivation. to this environment, others do not. Underachievement,
therefore, is a by-product of rejecting school values
through things like truancy and exclusion.
Marxism
Marxist explanations for differential achievement
have generally focused on two main areas: material
deprivation and cultural capital. Suggest two ways in which material deprivation may
disadvantage working class pupils.

Material deprivation: as a cause of educational An alternative explanation involves situational constraints.

underachievement, material deprivation refers to factors Working-class children find it more difficult to translate
such as poverty, a lack of physical resources and so forth. values into social behaviour and, by extension, educational
qualifications. As Westergaard and Resler ( 1976) argue,
while working-class parents 'have a high and increasing
Class: Traditional Marxist approaches favour materialist interest in their children's education they lack the means
explanations, with poverty and deprivation as the main to translate that interest into effective influence on their
source of differential achievement. Material deprivation, children's behalf'. This idea can be linked to neo-Marxist
for example, involves a combination of factors that give concepts of class reproduction, which argue that the
working-class pupils a disadvantage in education: underlying purpose of education is to ensure the continued
hegemony of a ruling class.
■ poor diet/nutrition
While Willis talks about how 'working-class kids get
■ the lack of private study facilities and resources
working-class jobs', the opposite is also true: upper-class
■ the need to work to supplement family income. kids are destined to get upper-class jobs. Mac an Ghaill,
While these forms of deprivation are significant in regions for example, argues that a person's class origins are the best
such as Europe and North America, Ramachandran predictor of educational success or failure, while Demack
argues that, in India, material deprivation is more acute: et al. (1998) suggest that 'Social class differences are still
the largest differences of all and the children of professional
■ 50% of schools have a leaking roof or no water supply parents have the largest advantage of all: One reason for
■ 35% have no blackboard or furniture this is the heavy investment made by middle- and upper-
■ 90% have no functioning toilets. class parents in their children's education:

She further argues: 'Malnutrition, hunger and poor ■ Economic investment involves things like buying private
health remain core problems, which comprehensively education or tuition.
affect attendance and performance in classes. 1he added ■ Emotional investment involves middle-class parents
burden of home chores and child labour influence a being able to influence the focus and direction of a child's
large number of children, especially girls, to drop out education decisively. Mothers, in particular, invest time
of school'. and effort in their children's education. This emotional
The development of different class cultures built labour includes not just help with homework but also
around different norms, values, beliefs and attitudes, flows making sure that the school is providing appropriate
from material advantages and disadvantages. levels of support, teaching and testing.
 Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology

(Pakistani and Bangladeshi) minorities are relatively

over-represented in the lower social classes, and there
is widespread evidence of their lower educational
attainment. However, one exception to this is the
educational performance of Indian children who make
up one of the most educationally successful groups.
Explanations for Black and South Asian
underachievement focus on material deprivation. Blair
et al. (2003), for example, note how within the same
How does material ethnic groups, higher levels of poverty and deprivation are
deprivation affect consistently associated with lower educational achievement.
an individual's Gillborn and Gipps (1996) also argue that those from
education?
the higher social classes achieve more, regardless of their
gender or ethnic background.
Gender: Marxists generally frame gender differences
Various forms of racism, from overt to cultural and
in achievement in terms of social class. Murphy and
institutional have also been cited as factors in black
Elwood, for example, note how historical improvements
underachievement. Mac an Ghaill argues that the
in female achievement are 'not shared by girls from low
popularity of'Saturday Schools' amongst Black Caribbean
socio-economic backgrounds'. Gorard et al. (2001) also
communities suggests there is a general dissatisfaction
note that:
with 'white institutions' that regularly fail black children.
111 there is little measurable difference in male/female Evaluation: Douglas argues that material
attainment in maths and science deprivation is too broad an explanation for all forms of
■ there is no significant gender difference at the lowest underachievement, because some materially deprived

I ■
attainment levels for all other curriculum subjects
girls do better than boys among 'mid-to-high-
achievers', and that there is a closer correlation
children manage to succeed. Working-class attainment
also tends to fall throughout a child's education.
This implies that school processes, such as labelling,
stereotyping and low teacher/pupil expectations are
between achievement and class than there is between
potentially significant explanations. Gazeley and Dunne
achievement and gender.
(2005) suggest that schools can make a difference;
Neo-Marxists argue that questions of underachievement levels of working-class achievement can be raised, but
should be reframed in terms of working-class lboys and the behaviour and expectations of teachers can also
changing male identities: compound the levels of material and cultural disadvantage
many working-class children bring to the school.
l:!I Jones and Myhill (2004} argue that male identities
that emphasise physical strength, sexual virmty and
aggressiveness are not conducive to educational
achievement. Such masculinities create problems for
Labelling: a process that involves naming something
teachers in the classroom and downplay the value of and, by so doing, associating it with a specific set of social
educational qualifications. characteristics.
■ Changes in both female identities and the workplace
mean that some working-class boys consider education to
be irrelevant to their future as, Epstein et al. (1998) argue, While Lupton (2003) concludes that 'neighbourhood poverty'
they lose control of both their unique identities and lives. and 'poor schooling' are inextricably linked, the question is
■ Platten (1999) takes issues of identity further by arguing which comes first: are schools 'poor' because the ability of
that boys are increasingly victims of negative gender their students is low or do schools fail to inspire and educate
stereotyping, which translates into lower teacher working-class pupils?
expectations and educational underachievement.
Feminism
Ethnicity: Demack et al. argue that class is a good general Over the past 50 years, there has been a shift in emphasis in
predictor of educational attainment across all ethnic feminist education research. It has moved away from female
groups. In the UK, for example, Black and South Asian underachievement in modern industrial societies and now
 Chapter 6: Education

focuses more explaining how girls learn to cope with and career choices. In most industrial societies, engineering
overcome a range of school and workplace disadvantages. is male-dominated while nursing or secretarial work is
Eichler (1980), for example, highlights how gendered female-dominated. These patterns point towards the idea of
socialisation helps to construct different gender identities underlying social and educational processes that push males
expectations about the role girls will play as adults. and females into different career paths.
In the past, schools contributed to how women saw Explanations for increasing levels of female educational
their primary adult role, as mothers and housewives, achievement in contemporary societies relate closely to
by placing more importance on male education. Female 'concerns' about male underachievement. Francis and
horizons have widened, but traditional assumptions about Skelton, for example, note how explanations for female
masculinity and femininity continue to influence both achievement are frequently discussed in terms of male
family and work relationships, especially for working-class underachievement focused around three main ideas:
girls. One aspect of this idea is how the choice of subjects
■ Natural differences, such as differences in brain
studied after the age of 16 is broadly gendered. (Table 6.1).
functions between boys and girls, explain differences
in achievement.
Subject % Males %Females'
■ The feminisation of schooling gives girls distinct
Physics 76 24 advantages over boys. Ideas here range from the lack of
male role models to 'female-friendly' teaching practices,
Computer Studies 73 27
curricula and assessment criteria that reflect a form of
Economics 70 30 positive discrimination in favour of girls.
Design and Technology 65 35 ■ Gender constructions and interpretations 'produce
Mathematics different behaviours that impact on achievement'. This
60 40
includes both teacher expectations (assuming girls will be
Biology 38 62 better behaved) and interpretations - girls are increasing
English Literature 30 70 seen as likely to achieve more than boys.

Social Studies 30 70
Modern Languages 30 70
Drama 30 70 Positive discrimination: preferential treatme nt based on
the individual's class, gender, ethnicity a nd so forth.
Art and Design 30 70
Home Economics 06 94
A further problem for feminists is the idea that where
Table 6.1 UK A Level or equivalent entries for young people
female educational achievement is generally rising this
Source: Babb et al. (2006) applies to all girls, regardless of class and ethnicity.
Jones and Myhill, for example, argue 'educational
There is also evidence of changes in female primary underachievement' is defined by teachers in ways that are
socialisation. Carter and Wojtkiewicz (2000), for example, increasingly likely to identify boys - particularly white and
found that parents are getting much more involved in their black working-class boys - as 'potential underachievers'.
daughters' education than they have in the past. In te1ms of Ideas about what counts as 'underachievement' also vary
how socialisation influences concepts of femininity, Crespi in terms of gender. For example, female underachievement
(2003) argues that there is now a range of gender identities among working-class and minority ethnic-group girls
available to adolescent girls, whereas previously these roles is often overlooked in the rush to identify and explain
had been largely restricted to part-time or domestic work. male underachievement. In addition, teachers rationalise
Girls have more opportunities to express a range of different achievement differences in terms of their perceptions of
'femininities: including ones that involve a careelf. In addition, the nature of male and female abilities:
workplace changes reflect back onto family socialisation
processes. For example, parents, change their perception ■ Female achievements are characterised in terms of
of their children's future adult roles and, consequently, the 'performance': understanding what an examiner wants
relative importance they place on male and female educational and delivering it.
achievement. Educational choices are further reflected in ■ Male achievements are characterised in terms of 'ability'.
 Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology

These differences embody cultural beliefs about boys being

Percentages 2008 2002 1989
'naturally more intelJigent' than girls, who compensate for
this deficiency through their ability to learn the mechanics Higher professional 81 77 52
of passing exams. We can also note that, in many societies, Lower professional 75 - -
patriarchal beliefs about the abilities, aptitudes and roles
Intermediate/skilled manual 61 52 21
of males and females favour male education over female
education. Lower supervisory 47 - -
Evaluation: A major criticism is that arguments about Routine manual 43 - -
female achievement are based on the misconception that
Other/not classified 37 32 12
because girls as a group achieve more than boys, all girls
do better than all boys. Warrington and Younger found Table 6.2 Five or more GCSE grades A*- C or equivalent at age 16
little difference between the percentage of boys and girls Source: Hughes and Church (2010)
who leave school with no qualifications, and there are
clear class and ethnic differences in achievement. At the
very least, upper- and middle-class girls do better than Evidence for this interpretation is based on comparing
both working-class boys and working-class girls. differences in gender and ethnic attainment within the same
Gillborn and Mirza (2000) also argue that gender classes. Taking the UK as an example, among those at the
differences in achievement are negligible compared to lower end of the class scale, there is no decisive evidence
class differences in achievement. Underachievement by that girls outperform boys within this group. The picture is
working-class and minority ethnic girls is frequently broadly similar across all class groupings; although in the
ignored by feminists and non-feminists alike. 7-14 age range there are substantial differences between girls
and boys in English (averaging around 10%) the same is not
r. • • -

true for maths and science (an average 2% difference).

~~:··
,.,: T . . .. ·
- ES"r'VbURSELF-
-. . .

I
-

In terms of ethnicity, Asians and Indians achieve

Which curriculum subjects are most and least popular higher-than-average educational qualifications when
with boys? compared to most other ethnic groups. However, this
group also has higher-than-average levels of educational
underachievement, which again suggests that social class is
The interrelationship between class, gender and a more significant determinant of achievement.
ethnicity Overall, Gillborn and Mirza argue that of'these
Although, for the sake of illustration, we have looked at three best known dimensions of inequality', in terms of
explanations for differential achievement in terms of class, disparity in achievement:
gender and ethnicity as separate categories, in reality all
these factors are combined in every individual. There is ■ gender is the narrowest
necessarily an interplay between them and each category ■ ethnidty is in the middle
is affected by the others. There are, however, important ■ class is the highest.
arguments about their relative significance - that is,
whether we should see them in combination or as separate They caution, however, against 'the trap of simply arguing
categories. between various inequalities': how and why inequalities
Combination: Combination approaches are combine and are compounded is more significant than
particularly associated with Marxist perspective. They simple class or gender or ethnic differences.
argue that class is the primary source of educational Separation: The main argument here is not that gender
disadvantage, with gender and ethnicity as secondary and ethnicity are necessarily more significant than class
sources that appear within classes: in determining educational achievement; rather, gender
and ethnicity are important dimensions of inequality that
■ Claire (2004) notes 'a strong direct association between must be considered as factors in their own right. Evidence
class background and success in education: the higher a to support this argument comes from holding social class
child's class, the greater their attainments'. constant and measuring achievement differences in terms
■ Mac an Ghaill argues that social class origins remain the of gender and ethnicity. From this perspective, there are
single best predictor of educational success or failure, using small but consistent gender differences in attainment across
parental occupation as an indicator of class (Table 6.2). all social classes.
 Chapter 6: Education

Cultural institutions such as education, the media and

ACTIVITY
religion are seen as instruments of class oppression and
Select two students, one tall, one short. Their domination through the power they have over what people
educational future rests on a single target - whoever learn and how they learn it. Our view of the world is
reaches highest wins. conditioned by what we learn in school in a range of ways:

I Is this test fair? If not, why not? ■ Through formal learning: children must learn the skills
2 Should the smaller pupil be compensated for their and knowledge needed in the workplace.
'lack ofheight'? ■ Access to knowledge is restricted through control of the
3 Should the taller pupil be penalised for being 'too tall'? curriculum. The higher an individual goes in the education
system, the greater their access to knowledge.
■ Preparing children for the differing levels of knowledge
in the workplace means creating different levels of
Structures and processes within knowledge in the school. This is reinforced through
schools rigorous and periodic testing.
■ Academic (theoretical) knowledge has more value than
The social construction of knowledge and
practical (vocational) knowledge because it is more useful
learning; power and social control as factors to the professional middle classes - those who control
influencing the structure, content and both what is taught and how it is taught.
development of the curriculum ■ Some forms of knowledge are more valid than others.
Weber (1922) argues that all societies develop beliefs In the UK curriculum, for example, English, maths and
about what 'is worthy of being known'. This suggests that science have a special status.
knowledge is not something that is simply 'out there', ■ Children must learn to accept 'authority' because this is
waiting to be discovered, taught and learnt. One context important in the workplace.
for understanding this idea is to look at how knowledge
■ Commodification is the idea that knowledge must have
is socially constructed in education systems: what kinds
an economic value so it can be bought and sold. This is
of knowledge should be taught, to whom and for what
achieved through educational qualifications.
purpose. This involves examining ideas relating to
power and control through the structure, content and Young (1971) further argues that what counts as educational
development of the school curriculum. One way to do this knowledge always has an ideological dimension. Knowledge
is by locating the development of education systems in the is socially constructed from a particular viewpoint and for
contexts of modernity and postmodernity. a particular purpose. How schools are organised reflects the
idea that knowledge can be:
Modernity
One aspect of debates surrounding how both education ■ Categorised in terms of 'subjects' that have their own
and knowledge are socially constructed is the idea of unique body of knowledge. This implies that one subject
schools as modern institutions that originally developed is not relevant to another. The ability to categorise
to meet the needs and requirements of modern industrial knowledge in terms of both subjects and subject content
societies. is a powerful ideological tool. It allows control over
From traditional Marxists perspectives, schools what is being learnt, how it is learnt and how pupils can
are places where particular relations of power and validate their learning.
control flow from the nature of economic relationships ■ Presented in particular ways through a formal
in capitalist societies. As we have noted, for Ahhusser, curriculum. Knowledge is conceptualised as
cultural reproduction involves the ability of a ruling class something to be given, not discovered. It is protected
to pass on its political and economic domination from by gatekeepers, such as teachers, exam boards and
one generation to the next. Education, characterised politicians, and learning is a process of gradual
as an ideological state apparatus (ISA), is an important revelation. Teachers not only choose when to reveal
institutional mechanism for social learning. Teachers certain types of knowledge, they also choose which
are agents of ideological control, who 'transform pupil pupils will receive that knowledge.
consciousness' by trying to get them to accept 'the realities ■ Validated through examinations. Knowledge must be
of life' and their likely future social positions. continually assessed and evaluated to ensure that pupils
 Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology

reach approved levels. This leads to 'credentialism' - Bernstein add~ a further dimension to this argument, by
knowledge is only valid if it can be quantified in the form stating that how knowledge is organised ('classified and
of qualifications. It also leads to the idea that certain framed') (Table 6.3) affects the messages pupils receive
types of knowledge have greater validity than others. about the nature and purpose of education.

Suggest one way in which knowledge is categorised in

schools.

~Ch~raaeristic~_~f . Characteristics of weakly

strongly classified classified and weakly
:" and strongly framed framed knowledge
-. knowledge
:h• _- . -

There are right answers There are no right answers.

that are already known. Education is a process of
explanation and argument.
Why do schools validate knowledge through written tests? Personal experience is The personal experiences of
largely irrelevant, unless pupils are always important.
specifically requested as
For Young, therefore, the ideological construction of
an example and then it
knowledge is part of a wider hegemonic process. The will be right or wrong.
ability of powerful groups to manufacture or impose a

I consensus about what knowledge is and how it can be

validated means that pupils can be assessed against their
knowledge and understanding in ways that appear:
Knowledge is divided
into subjects. When one
is being studied, other
subjects are irrelevant.
Subject boundaries are
artificial. Pupils should link
various forms of knowledge.

■ objective: since there is agreement about what Education is what Education happens
happens in school. everywhere.
constitutes knowledge, testing can be measured against
known standards of competence Teachers determine the The pace of learning is
time and pace of lessons. determined by the pupil and
11 fair: pupils can be evaluated in terms of whether they
their interests.
reach certain standards, for example, general literacy and
numeracy or exams such as A levels Education involves Education is a process of
matching the individual persona( development,
■ meritocratic: success or failure in reaching 'agreed performance of pupils unique to each individual
standards' can be expressed in terms of individual against fixed standards. learner.
characteristics; if standards exist and children have an
equal opportunity to achieve them, success or failure is Table 6.3 The classification and framing of educational knowledge
down to their individual merits. Source: Bernstein (1971)

Young goes on to argue that the formal school curriculum Bernstein suggests that most types of education are
reflects the interests of a ruling class in capitalist societies characterised by the strong classification and framing of
in the way knowledge is: knowledge, because it reflects wider social themes of power
and control. Steiner schools, based on the educational
■ selected: involving decisions about which subjects
philosophy of Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), are an example
appear on the curriculum and the content of each subject
of weak classification and framing that produces a 'different
■ stratified within the classroom, school and society: kind of message' about education. In Steiner schools:
this involves questioning things like why theoretical
knowledge is considered superior to practical knowledge, ■ the curriculum reflects the needs of the child at each
the division between vocational and academic subjects stage of their development
and why subjects are separated rather than integrated ■ children enter classes according to their age rather than
within the curriculum. academic ability
 Chapter6: Education

■ subject material is presented in an individual way that ignores the fact that people are routinely 'made ill' by the
aims to interest the learner medical profession through the use of ineffective, toxic
■ children are encouraged to discover and learn for and unsafe treatments.
themselves In a similar way schools exist for the benefit and
■ learning involves the development of 'practical, advancement of teaching professionals rather than those
emotional and thinking capacities'. they teach. Teachers protect their interests by using
qualifications to allow only certain groups access to
Reactions to modernity: deschooling particular professions. This is also significant in terms of
Illich (1973) is similarly concerned with how and why control over knowledge; profesional teachers decide what
education systems developed in modern societies. counts as legitimate knowledge and how it can be validly
However, he approached these questions from a different expressed. Institutionalism and professionalism also give
perspective. His view is a reaction to modernity that is both particular groups the power to control how legitimate
radical - the need for the 'deschooling' of societies - and knowledge can be acquired - by attending school.
conservative (many of his ideas refer to idealised notions 3 Commodification: both institutionalism and
of childhood, education and the destructive processes of professionalism have as their objective the
modernisation). Illich's basic ideas about power and control commodification of learning. This means turning
can organised into there broad categories: something abstract such as 'knowledge' into something
concrete such as qualifications, which have a wider
cultural currency in terms of buying entry into
professional occupations.
Deschooling: alternative fo rm of education proposed by
Illich based on the, abolition of formal schools. For Illich, this process of commodification was the real
meaning and purpose of education. It echoed Dewey's
(1916) distinction between education and training:
1 Institutionalisation: modern education systems destroy
■ Education should be transformative, focusing on
individual creativity and, though qualifications, allow
individuals and their social, psychological and moral
education to become a commodity. Education systems
development as people in ways that enable them to
were modern institutions that developed to control access
achieve their 'full potential'.
to knowledge and the behaviours of children in industrial
■ Training is the mechanical and repetitive 'learning' of
societies. They also validated the power and control of the
a narrow range of 'undisputed facts'.
professional middle classes (as teachers) and their effective
sponsors, the upper classes, who had a significant interest Illich believes that modern schools are simply places where
in controlling people's views of the world. students 'learn how to pass exams' rather than being
Illich linked the institutional development of schools taught how to create things, think problems through or
with the development of new, different and destructive develop their human potential.
concepts of childhood: ' If there were no age-specific and
obligatory learning institution, 'childhood' would go out
of production.' It was, in his view 'only by segregating
human beings in the category of childhood could we ever Briefly explain what is meant by 'the commodification
of learning'. Also suggest two weaknesses with the idea
get them to submit to the authority of a schoolteacher.'
that learning has been corn modified.
2 Professionalism: the criticism of modern education
systems relates in partto his general criticism of the
professional middle classes and their ability to shape the Cultural capital
structure, content and development of the curriculum Where traditional Marxists saw ownership of economic
in their own image and for their own needs. Criticism capital as the key to understanding both social and
of the role of teaching professionals in the organisation economic inequality, nee-Marxists such as Bourdieu
of teaching and learning is similar to his criticism of (1973) argue that in late/postmodern societies, the
professional doctors. For example, Illich argues that mechanisms of cultural reproduction a re more varied and
t he general assumption that medicine involves an more subtle. Bourdieu's concept of cultural capital, for
inevitable progression from ignorance about disease to example, provides a significant mechanism for cultural
enlightenment about the nature and causes of illness reproduction that is carried out by the education system.
 Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology

'Cultural capital' refers to the different advantages and a different way - in terms of the relationship and tension
disadvantages conferred by people's cultural histories. It between two competing, increasingly opposed, processes.
was initially developed to explain differences in educational First, institutions such as schools grew out of the
achievement in terms of a range of non-economic factors that development of modern society. As such, they exist to serve
help or hinder individual life chances. These include family purposes which, for Foucault (1977), are based on power.
history and status, and the extent to which family members The power principle here relates to how the modern state
invest time and effort in their children's social and educational tries to exert social control over a population through
development. From this perspective, cultural reproduction institutions such as education.
works 'in the background' of the education system. It is not Second, we should note the increasing resistance of
its main or its only purpose, but it is a significant purpose for students and teachers to the centralising tendencies of
those who understand and exploit the system. modernist education systems. Teachers and pupils are
Otsuka (2005) illustrates this idea in terms of 'cultural questioning their roles and demanding greater control.
differences between values, beliefs and practices' that affect The tension between these two processes has important
educational achievement among Indo- and ethnic Fijians. implications for both the social construction of knowledge
lndo-Fijian culture places a high value on education as and learning, and how power and control are exercised
'the only way to success'. In this respect, their cultural and experienced. For example, postmodernists argue that
orientation is individualistic, meaning that parents control operates on two levels:
interpret their role as one of helping and encouraging their Mental control involves how people think and act in
children to achieve qualifications. several ways:
In contrast, ethnic Fijian culture has a greater ■ The school curriculum specifies which subjects and
communal orientation. Parents think it is more important knowledge are worthy of being known, and its content is
to encourage children to 'become good members of their
controlled down to the finest detail.
community ... somewhat at the expense of their children's
■ Knowledge is also controlled in terms of what pupils are

I education'. Otsuka concludes that one consequence of this

different parental orientation is that 'Indo-Fijian students
generally become better educational performers than their
taught within specific subjects. English literature, for
example, involves learning ' high culture' texts, such as
Shakespeare, and largely excludes popular culture - the
ethnic Fijian counterparts.'
books and magazines most people actually read, the
Bourdieu is critical of the idea that schools operate along
computer games they play and the films they watch.
meritocratic lines, because differences in cultural capital
■ A general form of cultural control also operates. Schools
influence both the relative starting points of students as
are not simply organised for 'education', but also for
they enter the education system and their relative progress
institutionalising the culture of powerful groups. They
through that system. n1e cultural capital that middle- and
distribute and legitimise particular forms of what Provenzo
upper-class children bring to their education gives them
(2002) identifies as language, practices, values, ways of
a distinct advantage. Just as Crozier et al. (2004) noted
talking and acting, moving, dressing and socialising.
how middle-class parents were able and willing to invest
more time, money and effort in their children's education Physical control involves control over things such as the
than their working-class peers, Mariaye (2008) found a following:
similar process operating in countries such as Mauritius.
■ Bodies, which relates to what pupils and teachers can
There, middle-class parents exploited their knowledge and
and cannot do. This involves ideas such as compulsory
understanding of how the higher levels of the education
attendance and where pupils should be at certain times.
system worked to ensure their offspring were better
Once in those lessons, students are restricted in when they
prepared, both financially and culturally, for its demands.
can speak, who they can speak to and how they speak to
Postmodernity them. There are also movement restrictions on where pupils
The explanations previously outlined all emphasise the can sit and when they can legitimately leave the classroom.
idea of education systems acting upon individuals in ■ Space: many schools use closed-circuit television (both
various ways to produce different outcomes. They give inside and outside the classroom) to patrol and control
little or no consideration to how those within the system, space; who is allowed to be in certain spaces, such as
both teachers and pupils, recognise the various processes classrooms, corridors and staffrooms, when they are
involved and act in ways that challenge or negate their allowed to be there and what they are allowed to do
influence and operation. Postmodernists see education in once there.
 Chapter 6: Education

■ Consumers who are becoming more independent and

() ') individualistic. Postmodern pupils are increasingly
v heterogeneous; they have a wide mix of differences.

□
Elkins (1998) suggests that students increasingly want to

r be recognised and treated as individuals rather than as

groups defined in terms of class, gender, age or ethnicity:
'Whereas modern childhood was defined in terms of
differences between age groups, postmodern childhood is
identified with differences within age groups.'

The significant economic, political and cultural changes

presented by globalisation mean that, for Young (1999), the
form and content of the school curriculum must change
How do schools control bodies and space? (Table 6.4). It must move away from that 'of the past', and
towards one 'of the future' that keeps pace with changes
More generally, Sizer (1984) argues that the structure, occurring both nationally and globally.
content and development of the school curriculum is
based on principles of:
~-C~r~~~lu~--~f th~ pa;f '
i.;... • - '.. • ,, • , -. •. •.
-. :. 'Curricul1:1m of th-e f~ture
• 'I•" • - • --.

■ uniformity: the emphasis is on a narrow definition of

Knowledge and learning 'for Knowledge and learning
achievement - how many tests are successfully passed - its own sake' 'for a purpose'
rather than the quality of learning and understanding
Concerned with transmitting Focus on creation of new
11 quantification: the value of a school, its teachers and its existing knowledge knowledge
students is assessed only in ways that can be quantified;
target s are set for both individual and whole-school Little value placed on The interdependence of
relationships between subjects knowledge areas
exam passes
11 fragmentation: the school day is rigidly divided into Boundary between school Link between school and
unconnected lesson segments, and what is taught is not and everyday knowledge everyday knowledge
open to negotiation Table 6.4 Curriculum characteristics
■ control: individual responsibility is limited, learning is Source: Young (1999)
controlled by the demands of the curriculum and testing
regimes; there is little scope for individual development
ACTIVITY
or expression, and pupils are expected to learn similar
things, at similar times, in similar ways.
Imagine three people (one French, one Indian and
The other side of this centralising process is changes in one English) go into a shop in France (the 'dominant
people's behaviour prompted by globalising processes such culture', in this respect, would be French). 1he French
as cross-cultural contacts and exchanges. Taylor (2004), person speaks the language, the Indian person knows a
for example, argues that students all over the world are little French, the English person knows no French.
increasingly active consumers rather than passive recipients The objective is to buy 7 oranges, 1 kilo offlour and
of education. Their general outlook on education is 1 litre ofcooking oil.
increasingly consumer-oriented, wanting instant gratification, l Write a briefexplanation (100-200 words)
adaptable to new situations, sceptical and cynical. explaining how cultural capital advantages or
These characteristics embody the tension between: disadvantages each person in this situation.
■ Producers: education is increasingly a tightly controlled, 2 Imagine the French person is like an upper-class
patrolled and policed system that specifies what, how, child, the Indian a middle-class child and the
when and by whom something should be learned. English a working-class child. Write a further brief
Modern education systems are homogenised - one size explanation (200+ words) explaining how their
fits all. Hanafin and Lynch argue that this type of system cultural capital advantages or disadvantages them
is disabling; the main objective is to progressively within the school environment.
measure, fail and exclude.
 Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology

Language, deprivation and knowledge ■ exclusive: meanings do not need to be elaborated

We can extend and refine ideas about power and control because language is directed towards an audience that
within education by thinking about different aspects of already understands most of what is being expressed.
the 'language of education'. We can consider th is both Bernstein argues that restricted codes are used by all
literally, in the sense of different types of language use social classes. When conversing within families, for
conferring educational advantages and disadvantages, and example, no one would say 'Greetings to you, that
metaphorically, in the idea that middle- and working-class individual of the female sex to whom I am directly related
pupils not only 'speak different cultural languages' but by ties of kinship and personal affection' when they could
also that educational achievement is based on the ability to just say 'Hello, Mum'. However, elaborated codes are
'speak the language of education' itself. more likely to be used by the middle classes, and this is
significant because education systems are based on the use
of both restricted and elaborated codes. As such, middle-
class children have a significant educational advantage
Briefly explain the difference between cultural
because education involves:
deprivation and material deprivation.
a the development of new knowledge
■ new, higher, levels of understanding
Language codes
■ abstract thinking and reasoning
Bernstein was one of the first to investigate how the use
■ moving away from simple shared meanings
oflanguage gave students certain cultural advantages
and disadvantages. He argued that education systems 11 a requirement to use elaborated codes.
were based on a particular language code that needed to This is significant for two reasons:
be either used or learnt if pupils were to succeed in the
1 Working-class pupils must first learn the elaborated code
terms set by modern educational systems. In this respect,

I Bemstein argued there are two basic language codes -

restricted and elaborated - that, while not class-specific, are
2
of the school before they can learn the knowledge being
taught.
The restricted codes of working-class speech clash with
used in different situations and for different purposes.
the elaborated codes of middle-class teachers. A good,
Elaborated codes are:
if literal, example here is Mauritius, where teaching
■ complex in their use of vocabulary and the expression may involve a mix of languages - English, French and
of ideas Creole. Middle-class pupils who are more fluent in
■ subtle in terms of the range of meanings they express English and French (the elaborated codes of the school)
and convey have an advantage because of their familiarity with
■ abstract in terms of their ability to grasp and express these languages. Middle-class pupils, able to express
meanings themselves in 'the language of education', are less likely
■ individual in the sense of clearly 'spelling out' meaning. to find themselves placed in the lowest streams, sets and
They are context independent and can be used and bands through teacher assessments.
understood in a wide range of different situations Evaluation: Although Bernstein's analysis moves the
■ inclusive by elaborating meaning in situations where debate away working-class 'deficiencies' and deprivations,
something has to be clearly explained. it does raise a number of questions.
Restricted codes are: While the kind of'class-based speech differences'
Bernstein isolated were, at the time, a relatively important
■ simple in their use of language to convey direct meanings feature oflife in the UK, the same is not necessarily true
■ predictable because an audience already understands in the 21st century. Working- and middle-class speech
the meaning patterns have arguably flattened, and middle-class youth
■ concrete in their expression of relatively simple, in particular now use restricted forms of speech that were
straightforward, ideas once used mainly by the working class.
■ collective in the sense that ideas do not need to be More significantly, Edwards questions whether
explained openly; an audience already understands the 'classrooms are normally predicated upon elaborated codes'.
general meaning, they are context dependent because He argues that the normal mode of classroom interaction
meaning is restricted to the specific situation in which involves a system of restricted codes. The aim of these codes
they are used is simply to convey as clearly as possible sets of received
 Chapter 6: Education

knowledge to children. There is little or no opportunity for This evidence links into a wider debate about 'the language
students to question or evaluate this knowledge. of education', the extent to which schools are 'middle-
class institutions' and whether this confers hidden
The language of education advantages to middle-class children. Bourdieu (1986), for
Bernstein acknowledged that his research only showed example, argues that education reproduces the power and
differences between working- and middle-class language domination of ruling social classes through a combination
codes. It leaves open the question of how to explain of habit us and cultural capital.
class-based achievement differences. They could be
interpreted as cultural deprivation: a failure by working- TEST YOURSELF
class children to integrate fully into the education
system. Or they could be explained by schools failing Suggest two t hings that studies of pupils with the same
to develop a truly meritocratic system. This is not an measured IQ tell us about the relationship between
intelligence and educational achievement.
easy question to answer, but investigating what happens
in schools and classrooms can help explain differential
achievement.
Habitus
Labov's 'long-term participant-observation with a
number of black adolescent peer groups' in the USA Habitus is similar to the idea of a habitat, the
suggested that, contrary to the idea that 'black children environment in which a group lives and flourishes.
from the ghetto area receive little verbal stimulation, Bourdieu (1973) believes that schools are the 'natural
hear very little well-formed language, and as a result are habitat' of the middle and upper classes. The working-
impoverished in their means of verbal expression', the class child entering a middle-class institution is
reverse was true. While Labov noted that working-class immediately disadvantaged because their interests,
black children 'spoke a different dialect' (Black English beliefs, values and norms are not only different but
Vernacular), he concluded 'they have the same basic actively conflict with those of both teachers and the
vocabulary, possess the same capacity for conceptual education system. This not only leads to their eventual
learning, and use the same logic as anyone else who learns relative failure in academic terms, but the failure appears
to speak and understand English'. Their language codes to be their own fault, not the fault of an education system
were different but equal to the codes used by their middle- that neither represents nor favours this class. Middle-class
class peers. children, however, are immediately advantaged because
In addition, longitudinal studies that hold the their cultural beliefs, norms and values are similar to
measured IQ of a particular child cohort constant at those of the teachers and the general ethos of the school.
the start of their educational career and exami ne their Beran and Farkas (2001) found that linguistic differences
achievement levels at the end of their schooling suggest a disadvantaged working-class and black children because
significant 'school effect': they did not 'speak the middle-class language' of schools
and teachers.
■ The Robbins' Report (1963) argued that social class was Just as different classes have different access to
a significant factor in achievement: of UK st udents with a financial resources they also have differential access to
similar IQ - more than twice as many middle-class pupils cultural resources in the shape of cultural capital. Light
went on to study at degree level than their working-class (2013) defines this as 'fluency in a society's elite culture'
peers. or 'high cultural knowledge that ultimately redounds to
■ Duckworth and Seligman's (2005) study of 13-14-year- the owner's financial and social advantage'. Knowledge is
old pupils with similar IQ levels but different levels of instrumental in cultural reproduction, but this refers more
measured self-discipline - how they applied themselves to to knowledge acquired about schooling than knowledge
their studies - achieved at different levels. acquired in schools. In other words, it is about knowing
■ Murayama et al.'s (2012) German study of mathematical how to 'play' the education system successfully.
achievement found that IQ was only important in the Cultural capital takes numerous forms but is acquired,
initial development of mathematical competence. In the Light argues, 'in the family and in formal schooling'. In this
long term, measured intelligence showed no relationship respect, 'When the school curriculum reinforces the home
to mathematical achievement. One conclusion was that curriculum, as it routinely does for children of the affluent,
'students' competencies to learn in math involve factors, students obtain additional access to their own culture in
such as motivation and study skills, that can be nurtured school. Conversely, when the school curriculwn contradicts
by education'. or subverts the home culture, as it does for poor, immigrant,
 Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology

Elaborated language codes are like a 'secret language'

that must be decoded if they are to be understood. Try
decoding the following phrases taken from some well-
known films:
The Terminator: l'llway ebay ackbay!
Star Wars: Aymay ethay orcefay ebay ithway ouyay!
Forrest Gump: Ifelay isway ikelay away oxbay ofway
ocolateschay. Ouyay evernay owknay atwhay ou'reyay
onnagay etgay.
Star Wars: Aay onglay imetay goay, niay aay alaxygay
a1fay arfay wayay...
How does extreme wealth shape a child's cultura l capital, and
how does this differ from that of a poor family? Want to know the secret?
If the word begins with a vowel, add 'way' to the
or ethnic-minority children, students have to master a word, otherwise move the first consonant(s) to the end
foreign culture at school while mastering their own at home'. of the word and add 'ay'.
Different forms of capital, both economic and cultural, How might a pupil's understanding ofthe 'language
are contingent. For neo-Marxists such as Poulantzas of schools' give them an educational advantage?
(1978), possession of economic capital is always the most
significant factor. The greater the individual's ability
which pupils 'switch on' or conform to particular teaching
to draw on economic capital, the higher their levels of
I cultural capital. Cultural reproduction involves the
conversion of cultural capital into economic capital
styles. How information is delivered is an important part
of the teacher-pupil relationship. It also has consequences
for pupil orientations to both education and their personal
through the education system in the shape of educational
experience of schooling. We can note four basic teaching
qualifications. Shapiro (2004) how economic and cultural
styles, each of which relates to Bernstein's notion of power
capital are linked: 'racial inequality is passed down from
and control in the classroom - from strong controls and
generation to generation through the use of private family
knowledge framing at one extreme, to weaker controls and
wealth' in the USA, with the white upper and middle
knowledge framing at the other:
classes in the best position to provide their children with
the social, economic and educational support that gives 11 teacher-centred, where the teacher directs and informs
them a range of advantages over other ethnic groups. the class
■ demonstrator, where although the class is teacher-centred
Teacher- pupil relationships: streaming, and controlled, there is an emphasis on demonstrating
labelling, hidden curriculum, the gendered ideas and encouraging students to experiment
curriculum ■ student-centred, where the role of the teacher is defined
Previous sections have focused on how schools relate as helping (or facilitating) the student to learn by giving
to other institutions and the impact this has on aspects them responsibility for their own learning
of teaching and learning. This section takes a different ■ delegation styles, in which students work independently
perspective, examining what happens inside schools and on teacher-designed tasks, at their own pace.
using school processes to explain differential achievement.
Teaching styles are not particularly related to academic
Teacher-pupil relationships achievement - no single style is necessarily superior to
There are several aspects to the relationship between any other. However, Cano-Garcia and Hughes argue that
teachers and pupils, from labelling to the hidden and the most academically successful students are those who
gendered curriculum. However, we can begin by noting can work independently of the teacher within a fairly
pupil orientations to different types of teaching. rigid set of teacher-controlled guidelines and procedures.
Cano-Garcia and Hughes (2000) argue that the teacher- Successful pupils understand what the teacher wants and
pupil relationship is significant in terms of the extent to develop 'teacher-pleasing behaviours' to provide it.
 ChapterG:Education

The reverse of this idea is what Barrett (1999) calls The hidden curriculum
'switching off'; where pupils fail to see what they are 1bese aspects of the teacher-pupil relationship are one
learning as 'useful now, as well as in the future', it turns a part of the informal or hidden curriculum. This is a
large number off the idea oflearning. Switching off also concept that Jackson (1968) defines as the things children
occurs when pupils feel they lack the power to influence the learn from the experience of attending school. Skelton
scope, extent and purpose of their studies. This is something (1997) suggests that informal education involves a 'set of
that may be influenced by different teaching styles and their implicit messages relating to knowledge, values, norms of
related teacher-pupil relationships. Seaton (2004) suggests behaviour and attitudes that learners experience in and
that pupil orientations to both teaching styles and academic through educational processes'. The hidden curriculum,
learning are reflected in two types of response: therefore, refers to the idea that schools transmit certain
value-laden messages to pupils. Paechter (1999) suggests
1 Learned dependence, where the educationally successful
that these messages have two dimensions:
pupils are those who quickly learn to work in accordance
with whatever the teacher demands. ■ Intended consequences are the things that teachers
2 Experienced alienation relates to pupils who see the 'actively and consciously pursue as learning goals'. These
school, teachers and even the concept of 'education' include encouraging particular values, such as politeness,
itself as something alien and strange, simultaneously the importance of order and obedience to authority,
both irrelevant and threatening. while discouraging others, from bullying and sexism,
through questioning the role and authority of the teacher
Although for Seaton these responses have their origins
to a lack of effort or attendance.
outside the school, in the norms and values of different
■ Unintended consequences include the messages pupils
home lives, they are expressed inside the school through
receive through the teaching and learning process. This
teacher-pupil relationhips. He argues that 'studies show
includes status messages, such as whether boys appear
that, through their experiences of schooling, many students
to be more valued than girls, and messages relating
'learn' to see their role not as thinking, but 'doing what is
to beliefs about ability: whether teachers believe it is
expected and working hard". This involves 'learning':
'natural' or the product of 'hard work', for example.
■ that good grades go to students who follow rules
■ to allow others to make decisions for them
■ obedience to authority. Hidden curriculum: the things pupils learn through the
process of attending school. These may be both positive,
These ideas suggest that the main message pupils are
such as how to make a nd keep friends, and negative, such
sent is an instrumental one. Educational success is not as learning the consequences of disobeying adult authority.
simply a question of 'intelligence' but also depends on how
Informal education: the things children learn through
successfully the pupil can adapt to the educational process. the experience of attending school that are not pc1rt of the
It could be argued that middle-class children gain no more formal curriculum. These include ideas about the value of
or less satisfaction from their schooling than working- learning, norms of behaviour within the school, attitudes to
class children. Barrett, however, suggests that middle-class authority a nd so forth.
children are more likely to tacitly agree with teachers that
the purpose of education is to gain qualifications. Such
students are also more inclined to display teacher-pleasing
In genel'al, the messages transmitted within schools as part
of a hidden curriculum fall into two broad categories.
behaviour. Working-class pupils are more likely to break
this tacit agreement. At its most extreme, this can be seen
Socialisation messages relate to what is required
from pupils if they are to succeed in education. Some
in the higher numbers of working-class pupils, particularly
ideas refer explicitly to how pupils should behave. These
boys, who are expelled or suspended from school for
include various classroom processes that involve order
assaults on teachers and fellow pupils.
and control, such as attendance and punctuality. Others
relate to the things pupils must demonstrate in order
to 'learn how to learn'. In part this involves learning
Identify two things that pupils informally learn 'from the conformity to formal school rules. However, it also means
experience of attending school'. understanding the informal rules, beliefs and attitudes
perpetuated through the socialisation process, such as
 Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology

recognising the teacher's authority and not questioning ■ pupils' self-perceptions developed through processes
what is being taught. Children also learn ideas about: such as streaming, banding and setting.

■ individualism - learning is a process that should not, Labelling processes have two distinctive features.
ultimately, be shared First, Brimi (2005) suggests that they involve cultural
■ competition - the objective is to demonstrate you capital. A student's home and family background has a
are better than your peers through various types of significant impact on their experience of education and
testing; assessment is also an integral part of the hidden how successfully or otherwise they negotiate the various
curriculum because it suggests knowledge is only useful barriers to success, such as exams or negative labelling.
if it can be quantified Second, Nash (1972) suggests that 'success' or 'failure',
111 knowledge - to pass exams the pupil must conform to in exams, is not simply a matter of a person's background
what the teacher presents as valid knowledge, realised or how wealthy there parents are. There are more subtle
and tested through formal written examinations. processes at work in the classroom, relating to how
teachers and students manage their impressions of each
Status messages relate to the ideas that pupils develop other. If a student can employ sufficient cultural capital
about their 'worth'. to conform to the teacher's perception of a 'good pupil',
■ The type of school a child attends influences the they may be able to overcome particular disadvantages in
individual's self-image and sense of self-worth. In some their home background. This explains why some pupils
societies, for example, a small band of private, fee-paying from disadvantaged social backgrounds succeed in the
schools have the highest social status. More generally, education system. We can illustrate these ideas by looking
schools are given a status as 'good' or 'bad' based on at how labelling processes operate within schools.
their exam results.
Streaming
■ Practices such as segregating children in different
This practice, once very common in the UK but increasingly

I streams, bands and sets (see below) affect pupil

self-perceptions in terms of membership of high-
achieving or low-achieving academic groups.
discarded in favour of setting and banding (see below),
involves allocating children to different year groups or
streams within the school on the basis of'academic ability'.
■ The idea that academic (higher) and vocational (lower)
The streams are ranked hierarchically and pupils are
subjects have different statuses in the curriculum and
normally tested at the end of each academic year and
school. Hill and Cole (2001) argue that the hidden
re-assigned to the same or different streams. The evidence
curriculum excludes particular groups, especially
suggests that streaming not only has significant consequences
working-class children, but also such groups as the
for the individual pupil, but it can also reinforce educational
mentally and physically disabled. Gillborn (1992) also
inequalities and differential achievements.
argues that the hidden curriculum affects ethnic, as
Hargreaves' (1967) study ofLumley School noted
well as gender and class identities through citizenship
that boys were streamed on the basis of 'academic ability'.
teaching. Here, the subject content - ideas about
After the first year at secondary school, it was almost
democracy or racial equality for example - frequently
impossible for a boy allocated to the bottom stream to
clashes with the 'learned experiences' of black pupils.
later move into the top stream. While Hargreaves found a
Labelling close correlation between social class and streaming, with
A further dimension to the hidden curriculum is positive middle-class children in the top and working-class children
and negative labelling. This refers to the way in which in the bottom streams, he also found the experience of
teachers classify and stereotype students, which affects streaming made each child feel they were a 'success' or
pupil self-perceptions. Padfield (1997), for example, a 'failure'. The lack of movement between streams also
explores how 'informal reputations', such as being labelled encouraged the development of pupil sub-cultures. This
a 'swot' (a very hard-working student) or 'naughty child', led not only to conflicts between teachers and pupils but
gained within the school influenced official definitions of also to 'inter-stream', pupil-to-pupil, conflicts. Hallam et al.
pupils. Labelling theory examines how school processes (2001) also highlight how high- and low-stream pupils
shape meanings, in terms of ideas such as: attracted different stigmatising labels, such as 'thick' /'dumb'
(stupid) and 'boffin'/'clever clogs' (intelligent).
■ the purpose of education Keddie (1971) found that the academic label attached
■ roles and relationships within schools to a pupil followed them through their schooling and was
 Chapter 6: Education

a crucial influence on how they were perceived by new

teachers. Their behaviour and ability was interpreted in
the light of the label pupils brought to the classroom rather Briefly explain the difference between streaming
than simply assessed anew. and setting.

Banding and setting

Two common variations on streaming involve banding, Self-fulfilling prophecies
and setting. In banding, pupils are allocated different School processes such as streaming, setting and banding
'bands' when they enter secondary school on the basis of are a significant source of positive and negative labelling.
reports from teachers in their primary schools. In setting, This is, in itself, an important part of the process of a pupil's
pupils are streamed on a subject-by-subject basis. For self-perception based on reference groups - the people we
example, a pupil may be in the top set for physics, a middle compare ourselves to in whatever role we are playing.
set for biology and the bottom set for French. Teachers are an important part of a pupil's reference
group. Their opinions are always significant because they
have the power to create and impose labels that relate
directly to individual self-perceptions. Teachers are not
Setting: process by which pupils are streamed ,on a
subject-by-subject basis. alone in this role. Fellow pupils are also part of the school
reference group and may have a significant impact on
how the role of education is defined through pro- and
Setting, in particular, avoids some of the more common anti-pupil sub-cultures. The educational significance
social consequences of streaming. For example, it tends to of teacher labelling is partly expressed in terms of self-
avoid the development of strong sub-cultural relationships fulfilling prophecies: a prediction about something, such
and groups. Hallam et al. note that it has both benefits, as 'ability' that, by being made, causes it to occur.
and drawbacks. Benefits include minimising disruptive
behaviour. Drawbacks include stigmatising lower-set
pupils as 'academic failures' and the long-term association
■ Nash studied how teacher's beliefs about 'good' and 'bad'
pupils were transmitted to students through teacher
I
attitudes and behaviour. He concluded that teacher
between lower sets and unemployment, higher sets and
expectations are a determining factor in a student's
good exam grades. Keddie also notes how teachers give
educational success or failure. 'Certainly children of
'more creative work and privileges to higher set students
low social origin do poorly at school because they lack
while restricting lower sets to tedious, routine tasks'.
encouragement at home, because they use language in a
Power et al. (2003) argue that setting created the belief,
different way from their teachers, because they have their
even among relatively successful grammar school pupils,
own attitudes to learning and so on. But also because of
that those in the lowest sets were failures. Lupton's
the expectations their teachers have of them'. Teachers
(2004) study confirmed this idea when she noted how
made conscious and subconscious 'predictions' about
one head teacher abandoned banding 'principally to
the ability of their pupils that affected the behaviour of
counter problems oflow self-esteem among pupils in the
those students. Where they associated working-class
lower band'.
pupils with low levels of attainment, they reinforced this
While streaming, setting and banding are part of
cultural stereotype through their lowered expectations.
a social process that heightens or diminishes a child's
■ Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) tested the effects of
expectation of educational success or failure, this is not the
teacher labelling and expectations on pupil's academic
whole story. Associated with such practices are attitudes,
performance by telling teachers they could predict which
perceptions and beliefs that teachers have about children
children in a class would develop academically; the pupils
that are transmitted, consciously and unconsciously,
they identified showed greater academic achievement
through classroom interaction. As Keddie argues, this
than their classmates. However, they had simply identified
creates a situation where those in the top streams, set or
bands come to understand 'the nature and boundaries
of what is to count as knowledge. It would seem to be the
failure of high-ability pupils to question what they are Self-fulfilling prophecy: prediction that, by being made,
taught in schools that contributes in large measure to their causes it to come true.
educational achievement.'
 Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology

'potential high achievers' randomly and the changes they While labelling is generally directed at individuals
observed were the result of a self-fulfilling prophecy; the and groups, whole schools may also find themselves
teachers consciously and subconsciously communicated positively or negatively labelled. In many countries the
positive and negative beliefs about individual pupils, who most expensive private schools generally attract positive
picked up on these ideas and eventually saw themselves labels while comprehensive schools, especially those in
in terms of the labels they were given. poor inner-city areas, often attract negative labelling.
Gewirtz (1998) argues that the type of school attended
can create a self-fulfilling prophecy of success or failure
even before a pupil enters the classroom. Top-performing
schools, whether private or state-maintained, create a
climate of expectation that pushes pupils into higher levels
of achievement.

Using an example to illustrate your answer, explain what

is meant by a 'self-fulfilling prophecy'.

Evaluation: A major methodological problem with labelling

explanations is that they are both a cause and a consequence
What assumptions do teachers make about their pupils?
of differential achievement. This follows because:
The idea of a self-fulfilling prophecy also applies to whole ■ for teachers to label working-class boys as
classes of students, who may find themselves negatively 'underachievers', they must already be aware of

I labelled through practices such as streaming, setting,

banding or through processes such as class, gender and
ethnic stereotyping. Willis (1977) and Ball (1981), for
■
differences in educational achievement
if differential achievement causes teacher labelling,
such labelling cannot be an initial cause of differential
example, documented the effects of negative labelling achievement, although it may subsequently contribute
on the educational achievement of working-class pupils, to it.
while both Wright (1992) and Troyna and Hatcher (1992)
studied similar effects on ethnic-minority children. Concepts such as labelling and self-fulfilling prophecies are
Explanations for gender differences in achievement also criticised for being too deterministic as explanations
that focus on labelling and stereotyping suggest that girls for underachievement. They suggest general processes that,
increasingly experience positive labelling as high achievers once set in motion, are almost impossible to reverse. These
who work hard and have least behavioural problems. concepts are also infinitely adaptable as explanations:
Boys are increasingly negatively labelled in terms of ■ In the past, female underachievement in the UK was the
underachievement, laziness and behavioural problems. result of negative labelling.
Jones and Myhill suggest that teachers identify boys as
■ In the present, female overachievement results from
'potential underachievers' and redefine and re-evaluate
positive labelling.
their role in terms of how to stimulate boys' 'natural'
interests and abilities. One frequent consequence of this While interactionist approaches reintroduce the notion
is that working-class and minority ethnic girls start to of human agency to the role of education by looking at
underachieve. relationships within the school, they both over-determine
Francis (2000) argues that changes within the school the importance of labelling and underplay the influence
and wider society have altered the way in which girls of wider social processes on educational achievement.
construct femininity (they no longer see it mainly in Micro school processes, such as teacher labelling, tell us a
terms of ' husband and home'), whereas concepts of great deal about how and why individual pupils 'succeed'
masculinity have remained largely unchanged. This shift or 'fail'. However, social processes, relating to areas such
is significant in the context of economic changes such as the economic relationships that create the situation in
as a rapid decline in male-dominated manufacturing which concepts like success and failure are constructed in
industries and a rise in female-friendly service industries. the first place, are marginalised.
 Chapter 6: Education

While interactionists consider power to be a significant automatically see their primary role as one of caring for
variable, it is seen in the context of individuals - for their family, work roles continue to be framed around the
example, teachers who have the power to impose labels on idea of different male and female capabilities, both mental
pupils; pupils who have the power to reject. There is little and physical. This can result in gendered subject choices.
sense of power being located in wider economic, political Bamford (1989), for example, notes how certain subjects
and ideological relationships which Marxists, for example, attract gendered labels - sciences such as physics and
argue determine the role of education systems. chemistry were seen as masculine, while social sciences
were seen as feminine. These gendered perceptions may
The gendered cu rriculum explain lower levels of female participation and general
The hidden curriculum and labelling processes are both achievement in science subjects.
expressed through the subjects that individuals choose Abbot and Wallace (1996) also suggest that concepts
to study. Males and females make different subject of masculinity and femininity are influenced by factors
choices. Self and Zealey, for example, note that among such as academic hierarchies - how schools are vertically
undergraduates 'a higher proportion of women than men stratified, with men normally occupying the higher-status
studied subjects allied to medicine [such as nursing], positions. Mahony (1985) argues that staffing structures
while a greater proportion of men studied business and reflected male importance in the workplace; the highest-
administrative services. Higher proportions of men status teaching jobs were and remain occupied by men.
also studied engineering and technology subjects and As Mirza et al. (2005) note: 'Women make up 53% of
computer sciences.' the secondary teaching population, but are still under-
Explanations: We can outline a selection of different represented in secondary school senior management
explanations for the gendered curriculum. positions, particularly headships'; around 30% of
Eichler emphasises how different socialisation secondary heads are women. In the nursery/primary
experiences and social expectations about males and sector, although only 16% of teachers are male, 34% of
females help to construct different gender identities and head teachers are male.
expectations about adult roles. In the past, for example,
the education system contributed to the way women saw ACTIVITY
their primary adult role in the private sphere of the family,
as mother and housewife. Although female horizons Draw a picture ofan iceberg; the top quarter should be
have widened over the past 25 years, feminists argue that above sea level, the rest is submerged. To the top part,
traditional assumptions about masculinity and femininity add the things you think pupils are supposed to learn
continue to influence both family and work relationships in school (the formal curriculum); to the submerged
in areas such as the following: part, add the things you think pupils learn from 'the
experience ofattending school' (the hidden curriculum).
■ Textbooks and gender stereotyping: males appear more
Share and discuss your ideas with the class.
frequently and are more likely to be shown in active
('doing and demonstrating'), rather than passive, roles. Which part of the iceberg is most influential on
Best (1992). for example, demonstrated how pre-school
children, in your opinion, and why?
texts designed to develop reading skills remain populated
by sexist assumptions and stereotypes.
■ Subject hierarchies: both teachers and pupils quickly Pupil sub-cultures and attitudes to
appreciate that some subjects are more important education
than others, both within the formal curriculum, such as As we have seen, the experience of many young people
English, maths and science, and outside the curriculum; in education is shaped by a range of school processes.
subjects not considered worthy of inclusion and hence This section explores how these experiences lead to a
knowing. The argument here is that gender hierarchies range of pro- and anti-pupil sub-cultural responses.
reflect these subject hierarchies, with males opting for
higher-status subjects in far greater numbers. Pro- and anti-pupil sub-cultures
Woods (1976) argues that there is a range of sub-cultural
Norman et al. (1988) argue that teacher expectations, responses or adaptations to school culture, with ingratiators
especially in early-years schooling, emphasise female roles at one extreme - the most positive adaptation that involves
related to the mother/carer. While this may no longer pupils who try to earn the favour of teachers - and rebels
 Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology

at the other - those who explicitly reject the culture of the to challenge ideas and practices, particuarly those they
school and may even develop a counter-school culture. saw as patriarchal and sexist.
■ Mod boys were similarly ambivalent, walking a fine line
between deviance and conformity. These boys were
generally anti-school but pro-education; they wanted
Counter-school culture: cultural grouping that explicitly academic qualifications but did not particularly value
rejects the norms and values propagated through their schooling.
traditional types of schooling.
Sewell (2000) examined how black youth adapted to the
experience of schooling in terms of four main responses:
The sub-cultural responses in Mac an Ghaill's study were
■ Passive accepters were those African-Caribbean boys who
a more subtle outcome of a complex interplay of class, race
and sexuality: unconsciously accepted the white cultural values of the
school. They were generally pro-school and accepted the
■ Although macho lads eagerly loo ked forward to leaving conventional wisdom that it was ' black kids' who gave
school at the earliest opportunity and entering paid the school a bad name.
work, in reality this type of work had all but disappeared, ■ Active acceptors 'acted white' in the school. Sewell
creating what Mac an Ghaill called 'a crisis of masculinity'. found this to be the most common pro-school strategic
■ White working-class males clung to an outdated response.
mode of masculinity focused on traditional forms of ■ Passive resistors developed innovative ways of
manua l waged labour that no longer existed. They maintaining a delicate balancing act between satisfying
frequent ly employed racist explanations ('the blacks the demands of their peer group, through minor acts of
have taken our jobs'} to explain and rationalise this deviance, while simultaneously avoiding direct and open
situation. confrontation with teachers. This type was particularly

I In contrast, pro-school youth took the form of:

characteristic of black girls and was neither pro- nor anti-
school.
■ Academic achievers, similar to Willis's conforming 11 Active resistors used what they saw as the racist
'ea roles'. These pupils had a strong school and work ethic assumptions of the school to rebel against their teachers.
and looked to academic qualifications as a route to social
mobility.
■ New enterprisers, who rejected the academic route to
mobility. They focused instead on developing practical Peer group: group of a pproximately the same age who are
skills, particularly in business and IT, that they hoped assumed to share similar interests.
would be rewarded in the changing labour market.

Blackman (1995) also captured how tensions within the Shain (2003) examined the sub-cultural responses of
school contribute to sub-cultural development: Asian girls:

■ Boffin boys were generally conformist and pro-school, ■ The Gang were generally anti-school. They adopted an
with a group identity based on working hard and aspiring 'Us and Them' approach that involved a positive assertion
to social mobility. of Asian identity. They generally opposed the dominant
a Boffin girls worked hard and were pro-school, although culture of the school, which they saw as white and racist.
their conformity was occasionally instrumental; if what ■ The Survivors were pro-education and pro-school. They
they saw as poor teaching, for example, clashed with were generally seen as 'ideal pupils', who worked hard
their academic aspirat ions, the latter took priority. to achieve success, avoided confrontation and were
11 New Wave girls shared this instrumental approach, but positively labelled by teachers as 'nice girls' and 'good
had a more ambivalent attitude to the school. While workers'. This group played up to the stereotype of Asian
Boffin girls 'specialised in academic superiority', New girls as shy and timid, while being act ively engaged in a
Wave girls had wider interests and tastes. They generally strategy of self-advancement through education.
conformed academically but unlike Boffin girls, they ■ The Rebels were generally pro-school and their rebellion
were sexually active a nd more confident in their ability was against their own cult ural background. They adopted
 Chapter 6: Education

Western modes of dress and distanced themselves from A number of studies have also found young people who
other Asian girl groups. Their survival strategy was one of are pro-education but anti-school:
academic success, and they equated school with positive
■ Mac an Ghaill identified what he called 'Real Englishmen',
experiences that they did not find in their home life.
a group of middle-class pupils who aspired to university
■ Faith girls developed their identities around religion
and the professional careers enjoyed by their parents.
rather than ethnicity. They were pro-education in the
This group played an elaborate game of ridiculing school
sense of fostering positive relations with staff and
values while simultaneously working hard, mainly in
students and pursuing academic success. They were,
private outside school. They believed that this was
however, aware of racism in the school as a major source
achieving success on their own terms.
of oppression and this made some of them anti-school.
■ Power et al. examined how some groups of middle-class
children who found themselves in lower sets and streams
were pro-education but still did not value their school
Suggest two ways in which pupil sub-cultures influence experience.
attitudes to education. ■ Fuller (1984) found that the black girls she studied were
strongly pro-education, but were still anti-school. They
valued qualifications but resented the negative labelling
by some teachers. This made them work harder to
'disprove the label'.

Pupil sub-cultures: groups that develop within schools

around similar interests, beliefs and behaviours.

Briefly explain the difference between pro-school and

pro-education sub-cultures.
How are attitudes to education shaped by pupil sub-cultures?

Pro- and anti-education sub-cultures Influences on educational performance

While pupil sub-cultures focus on orientations to schools While these studies provide general evidence of a
as institutions, some sub-cultures develop around relationship between pupil sub-cultures and
orientations to the idea of education itself. Lees (1993), for educational performance, it is useful to look more
example, described: specifically at the impact of both school and pupil-
teacher relationships across categories of class, gender
■ Pro-school girls, who valued school as an enjoyable place and ethnicity.
for socialising with friends, but who were generally anti- Class: Permanent exclusion from school is a major
education; qualifications were not particularly important. influence on educational performance. Hughes and
■ Pro-education girls, who fell into two main groups: those Church, for example, note that there are currently around
who valued education as enjoyable and worthwhile and 8,000 permanent exclusions from UK schools each year.
those who took a more instrumental approach to their The majority of excluded pupils are working-class. Around
studies; qualifications were a necessary means towards 50,000 pupils each day take unauthorised absence from
a desired end. They did not value school 'for its own sake'. school; again, the majority are working-class and these
■ Anti-education girls, who were anti-school and anti- pupils are, according to Babb et al., highly likely to leave
education; school was a waste of time, a disagreeable school with no qualifications at all.
and uncomfortable period in their life that they had to A more subtle form of exclusion involves 'ability
get through before escaping into t he adult world of work grouping'. This involves practices such as streaming,
and family. setting and banding. As seen above, Hallam et al. noted
 Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology

how some pupils were stigmatised as 'thick' - by both ■ An ethnocentric curriculum that involves teaching
teachers and peers - through the association between practices and expectations based on cultural norms,
lower sets and unemployment and higher sets and good histories and general cultural references unfamiliar to
exam grades. Teachers also gave 'more creative work and many ethnic-minority pupils.
privileges to higher set students while restricting lower sets ■ Role models: Blair et al. point to a lack of role models
to tedious, routine tasks'. within schools for ethnic-minority pupils. Ross (2001)
Teacher labelling also affects educational performance. estimates that 5% of teachers are drawn from ethnic
Gazeley and Dunne (2005) argue that 'teachers and minorities, while around 15% of UK school pupils have
trainee teachers often hold stereotypical ideas about an ethnic-minority background.
pupils and parents according to their social class'. 'Ihe
'class expectations' some teachers hold - working-class
pupils as low-achievers, middle-class pupils as high
Ethnocentric curriculum: school curriculum based on
achievers - translate into classroom practices that 'located
the cultural norms, values, beliefs and history of a single
the source of a pupil's underachievement within the pupil
ethnic group. In cl multiculturc1I society, on ethnocentric
or the home'. curriculum is likely to favour the majority ethnicity.
This research also found that some teachers held
fatalistic views about the ability of working-class children.
These children were thought to be 'destined to fail' In terms of teacher-pupil relationships, the Runnymede
because of their class and family backgrounds, regardless Trust (1998) claims that a range of hidden processes
of the teacher's efforts. Not all teachers held these views, occur within schools that 'deny equal opportunities' and
however. As Gazeley and Dunne put it: 'I believe there is negatively affect the educational performance of ethnic-
a danger in setting low expectations of a child. If a child minority pupils. These processes include high levels of
already does not expect to do well the last thing a teacher control and criticism from teachers, as well as stereotypes

I should be doing is reinforcing that view.'

Gazely and Dunne also discovered that 'middle-class
pupils and parents were viewed more positively' and
of cultural differences, communities and speech that
betray negative and patronising attitudes.
A significant feature of the educational experience
'teachers had higher expectations and aspirations for the of Black Caribbean boys in the UK is that as they move
future for middle-class pupils than for working-class through school, achievement seems to fall until, at GCSE,
pupils'. These ideas are particularly interesting in the they have the worst academic performance of all children.
context of the observation that 'pupils identified Reasons here include:
positive relationships with teachers as crucial to their
■ Masculinity defined in terms of rebellion against 'white'
learning'.
schooling and teachers. Foster et al. (1996) suggest that
Ethnicity: The hidden curriculum affects the
the over-representation of Black Caribbean boys in
experience of education for ethnic-minority groups in a
low-status sets and bands is the result of 'unacceptable
range of ways. Low post-16 participation rates in the UK
behaviour' rather than any particular lack of academic
suggest that racism plays some part in the black experience
ability.
of schooling in two ways:
■ Discipline: Hinsliff (2002) has argued that 'a failure by
1 Overt racism: Aymer and Okitikpi (2001) argue that Black teachers to challenge disruptive behaviour leads to an
Caribbean boys are more likely to report negative abuse escalating situation which results in black boys being
and harassment from their peers. Kerr et al. (2002) found excluded from school. Black Caribbean boys are more
that British students had less positive attitudes towards frequently excluded than any other ethnic group'.
immigrants than many other countries. This, they
■ Family structure: children from single-parent families
argued, shaped peer-group interaction and black pupils'
generally have the worst educational experiences across
experiences of education. Mirza sees the development all ethnic groups; Black Caribbean families have the
of Supplementary (Saturday) Schools as evidence of
highest rates of single parenthood and the lowest rates of
a general dissatisfaction, among black parents and
educational achievement.
children, with 'white institutions' and teachers that seem
regularly to fail them. The various forms of subtle labelling and stereotyping
2 Cultural racism (ethnocentrism) is a more subtle form do seem to influence ethnic experiences of education.
expressed in areas such as the following: Generally positive teacher attitudes to Indian pupils,
 Chapter 6: Education

based on knowledge of their high levels of attainment, ■ Females have more opportunities to express a range
may be offset by negative beliefs about Black Caribbean of different 'femininities', including those that involve
pupils. Figueroa (1991) suggests that teachers frequently a career, rather than just part-time work and family
limit ethnic-minority opportunities through the use responsibilities.
of culturally biased forms of assessment, such as how ■ Workplace changes reflect back onto family socialisation
students are expected to speak and write, and by processes. Parents, for example, change their perception
consigning pupils to lower bands and sets on the basis of their children's future adult roles and, consequently,
of teacher assessment. Teachers also have lower opinions the relative importance they place on male and female
of the abilities of some ethnic-minority groups, which educational experiences.
results in a self-fulfilling prophecy or vicious circle of
underachievement. The low expectations of teachers Francis argues that changes within the school and wider
transmits to pupils, who come to see themselves as society have altered the way girls construct femininity;
having little talent or ability. These students stop trying they no longer see it mainly in terms of the home.
to achieve because they believe there is no point if their Concepts of masculinity have, however, remained largely
teachers have already given up on them. The s ubsequent unchanged. Walker (1996) similarly identifies changing
failure to achieve simply confirms the initial teacher conceptions of masculinity, in terms of 'finding a role in a
assessment. fast-changing world' as a challenge many young men are
However, Gillborn (2002) argues that schools are unable to resolve in the education system. In this respect,
institutionally racist, especially terms of curriculum hypennasculinity is an exaggerated form of masculinity
developments 'based on approaches known to ('lauuishness') Lhal emphasises anu values Lhings such as
disadvantage black pupils': physical strength and sexual virility. Such ideas are at odds
with educational achievement. Hughes and Church note
■ Selection by setting- black pupils are routinely assigned that boys make up 75% of permanent exclusions.
to the lowest sets. Finally, in terms of labelling and stereotyping, it has
■ Schemes for 'gifted and talented' pupils where white been suggested that educational experiences have changed,
pupils are over-represented. with a reversal of traditional forms of gender labelling:
■ Vocational schemes for 'non-academic' pupils where
■ girls are increasingly positively labelled as high achievers
black pupils are over-represented.
who work hard and have least behavioural problems
Gillborn claims that teachers 'generally underrate the ■ boys are increasingly negatively labelled in terms of
abilities of black youngsters' based on outmoded racial underachievement, laziness and behavioural problems.
stereotypes about ability, intelligence and effort (young
black males characterised as 'lazy', for example). This ACTIVITY
results in them being assigned to low-ability groups, a
restricted curriculum and entry for lower-level exams. Use your experience of education to identify pupil sub-
Gender: The influence of gender identities on cultures you have encountered or know about. Make
educational performance has been documented in a range a list of the general social characteristics of each group
of ways. Epstein et al. argue that the 'feminisation of (such as their gender, class and ethnicity), whether
school and work' involves the idea that wider changes in they are associated with different streams, sets or
the workplace and female behaviour have caused young bands and the types of behaviour they display. In your
males to control of their unique identities and their lives. opinion, are these groups pro- or anti-school, pro- or
As a result, some boys now see education as irrelevant to anti-education?
their future for two main reasons:
 Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology

Exam-style questions
1 a Explain why the educational
The relationship bet ween The social construction of
education and the economy has knowledge involves two main performance of girls has improved
been t heorised from a number approaches: compared with that of boys in many
of different perspectives: modern industrial societies in
■ Modernist: how knowledge is:
■ functionalist - categorised recent years. (9)
■ neo-functionalist/new right - presented
social democratic
b Assess the view that the main
■ - validated
■ Marxist - weakly and strongly framed
factor influencing educational
■ femi nist. and classified. achievement is the social class

• There is no consensus about how

the concept of 'intelligence' is:
■ Postmodernist and forms of
control:
- mental
2
background of the pupil.

a Explain the processes w ithin

(16)

■ defined education through which pupils are

- physical.
■ measured. encouraged to accept the core
The relationship bet ween
intelligence and achievement
• Deprivation can be related
to ideas about language and
knowledge:
values of society.

b Assess the view that the main role

(9)

can be summari sed in three

w ays: ■ language codes of education is to promote social
-elaborate equality. [16)
■ positive
- restricted.
■ negative 3 a Explain how teachers may
■ habitus
■ agnostic. discriminate against some pupils. [9)
■ cultural capital.

• The relationship between

education and the economy
can be examined through two
The teaching and learning
process invo lves conside ring:
b Assess the usefulness of new-right
t heories in understanding
a pproaches: individual relationships:
educational inequality. [16)
■

•■
consensus
conflict.
- teacher- pupil interaction
- labelling
4 a Explain how the labels teachers
attach to students are an important
- self-fuifilling prophecies.
Debates about t he links factor in determining educational
■ school processes:
bet ween inequality, success. [9)
- hidden curriculum
educational opportunity and
- streaming, setting and b 'Those who shape the curriculum
achievement can be considered
banding
from three main perspectives: also determine which pupils will
- gendered curriculum.
■ functionalism and cultural succeed and which fail.' Assess
deprivation
■ Marxism and material
deprivation/cultural
• Pupil sub-cultures and
attitudes to educat ion can be
expressed in t wo main ways:
this claim. (16)

Total available marks 100

reproduct ion attitudes to the school
■
■ feminism and differential attended:
socialisation. - pro-school sub-cultures
- anti-school sub-cultures.
• The interrelationship between
class, gender and ethnicity
can be considered in two main
• attitudes to education:
- pro-education sub-cultures
ways: - anti-education sub-cultures.

■ combination approaches Pupils can be 'pro-school' but

■ separation approaches. 'anti-education', and vice versa.