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Education is a collective term that refers to social institutions where children of all ages learn academic and practical skills and the social and cultural values and norms of their wider society.
Education is one of the most important research topics in sociology. Sociologists of different perspectives have discussed education widely, and each holds unique views on education’s function, structure, organisation and meaning in society.
We will briefly key concepts and theories of education in sociology. For more detailed explanations, please visit the separate articles on each topic.
Role of education in sociology
First, let's look at the views on education’s role and function in society.
Sociologists agree that education performs two main functions in society; it has economic and selective roles.
Economic roles:
Functionalists believe that the economic role of education is to teach skills (such as literacy, numeracy etc.) that will be useful for employment later on. They see education as a beneficial system for this.
Marxists, however, argue that education teaches specific roles to people of different classes, thus reinforcing the class system. According to Marxists, working-class children are taught skills and qualifications to prepare them for lower-class jobs. In contrast, middle and upper-class children learn things that qualify them for higher status positions in the job market.
Selective roles:
The selective role of education is to pick the most talented, skilled and hard-working people for the most important jobs. According to functionalists, this selection is based on merit since they believe that everyone has equal opportunities in education. Functionalists claim that people all have a chance to achieve social mobility (acquiring a higher status than the one they were born into) through educational achievement.
On the other hand, Marxists claim that people of different social classes have different opportunities available to them through education. They argue that meritocracy is a myth because status is usually not acquired based on merit.
Further functions of education:
Sociologists see schools as important agents of secondary socialisation, where children learn society's values, beliefs, and rules outside of their close families. They also learn about authority through formal and informal education, so schools are also seen as agents of social control. Functionalists view this positively, while Marxists see it in a critical light. According to sociologists, the political role of education is to create social cohesion by teaching children how to behave like proper, productive members of society.
Education in sociology
Students have formal and informal learning and official and hidden curricula.
The hidden curriculum refers to the unwritten rules and values of the school that teach students about the school hierarchy and gender roles.
The hidden curriculum also promotes competition and helps to keep social control. Many sociologists criticise the hidden curriculum and other forms of informal schooling as biased, ethnocentric and damaging to many pupils’ experiences in school.
Sociological perspectives of education
The two opposing sociological perspectives on education are functionalism and Marxism.
The functionalist perspective on education
Functionalists view society as an organism where everything and everyone has their role and function in the smooth working of the whole. Let's look at what two prominent functionalist theorists, Emile Durkheim and Talcott Parsons, had to say about education.
Émile Durkheim:
Durkheim suggested that education has a significant role in creating social solidarity. It helps children learn about the ‘right’ behaviour traits, beliefs, and values of their society. Furthermore, education prepares individuals for ‘real life by creating a miniature society and teaching skills for employment. In summary, Durkheim believed that education prepares children to be useful adult members of society.
Talcott Parsons:
Parsons argued that schools introduce children to universalistic standards and teach them that status can and will be achieved through hard work and skill (as opposed to assigned status) in wider society. He believed that the education system was meritocratic and all children were allocated a role through school based on their qualifications. Parsons' strong belief in what he considered key educational values - the importance of achievement and equality of opportunity - was criticised by Marxists.
The Marxist perspective on education
Marxists have always had a critical view of all social institutions, including schools. They argued that the education system transmitted the values of and the rules acting in favour of the ruling class at the expense of the lower classes. Two American Marxists, Bowles and Gintis, claimed that the rules and values taught in schools corresponded to those expected in the workplace. Consequently, economics and the capitalist system were very influential on education. They called this the correspondence principle.
Furthermore, Bowles and Gintis stated that the idea of the education system being meritocratic is a complete myth. They asserted that the people with the best skills and work ethic aren't guaranteed high incomes and social status because social class determines opportunities for people as early as primary school. This theory was criticised for being deterministic and ignoring individuals’ free will.
Education in the UK
In 1944, the Butler Education Act introduced the tripartite system, which meant that children were allocated into three school types (secondary modern, secondary technical and grammar schools) according to the 11 Plus Exam they all had to take at age 11.
The comprehensive system of today was introduced in 1965. All students have to attend the same type of school now, regardless of academic ability. These schools are called comprehensive schools.
Contemporary education in the UK is organised into pre-schools, primary schools and secondary schools. At the age of 16, after they finish high school, students can decide whether or not to enrol in various forms of further and higher education.
Children also have the opportunity to take part in homeschooling or go to vocational education later on, where the teaching focuses on practical skills.
Education and the State
There are state schools and independent schools in the UK, and scholars and government officials have debated whether the state should be solely responsible for operating schools. In the independent sector, schools charge fees, which make some sociologists argue that these schools are exclusively for the wealthy students.
Educational policies in sociology
The 1988 Education Act introduced the National Curriculum and standardised testing. Since this, there has been a marketisation of education as the competition between schools grew and as parents started to pay more attention to the choice of their children’s schools.
After 1997 the New Labour government raised standards and greatly emphasised reducing inequality and promoting diversity and choice. They also introduced academies and free schools, which are also accessible to working-class students.
Educational Achievement
Sociologists have noticed certain patterns in educational achievement. They were particularly interested in the relationship between educational achievement and social class, gender, and ethnicity.
Social class and education
Researchers found that working-class pupils tend to do worse in school than their middle-class peers. The nature versus nurture debate tries to pinpoint whether it is the genetics and nature of an individual that determines their academic success or their social environment.
Halsey, Heath and Ridge (1980) did extensive research on how social class affects children's educational development. They found that pupils who come from the upper class are 11 times more likely to go to university than their working-class peers, who tend to leave school at the earliest possibility.
Gender and education
Girls have equal access to education as boys in the West, thanks to the feminist movement, legal changes, and increased job opportunities. However, girls are still associated with humanities and arts more than science subjects due to the continuing presence of stereotypes and even teacher attitudes.
There are still many places worldwide where girls are not allowed to have a proper education due to family pressures and traditional customs.
Ethnicity and education
Statistics show that pupils of Asian heritage do the best in their studies, while Black pupils often underachieve academically. Sociologists assign this partly to different parental expectations, to the hidden curriculum, teacher labelling and school subcultures.
In-School Processes Affecting Achievement
Teacher-labelling:
Interactionists found that teachers labelling students as either good or bad greatly influences their future academic development. If a student is labelled as smart and driven and has high expectations, they will do better later in school. If a student with the same skills is labelled unintelligent and bad-behaving, they’ll do badly. This is what we refer to as the self-fulfilling prophecy.
Banding, streaming, setting:
Stephen Ball found that banding, streaming and setting students into different groups according to academic ability can negatively affect those put in the lower streams. Teachers have low expectations of them, and they will experience a self-fulfilling prophecy and do even worse.
- Setting divides pupils into groups in particular subjects based on their ability.
- Streamingdivides pupils into ability groups across all subjects, rather than just one.
- Banding isa process where pupils in similar streams or sets are taught together on an academic basis.
School subcultures:
Pro-school subcultures ascribe to the rules and values of the institution. Students belonging to pro-school subcultures generally see educational achievement as a success.
Counter-school subcultures are the ones which resist school rules and values. Paul Willis’s research on a counter school subculture, the ‘lads’, showed that working-class boys prepare to take on working-class jobs where they would not need the skills and values school was teaching them. So, they acted out against these values and rules.
Sociological perspectives on in-school processes:
Interactionism
Interactionist sociologists study small-scale interactions between individuals. Instead of creating an argument on the function of education in society, they try to understand the relationship between teachers and students and its effects on educational achievement. They have noticed that teacher labelling, often motivated by the pressure to appear in a high position on league tables as an institution, can have negative effects on working-class students as they are often labelled as 'less able'.
Functionalism
Functionalists believe that in-school processes are equal for everyone, regardless of class, ethnicity or gender. They think that the schools' rules and values have been created to serve students' learning and development and their smooth entry into wider society. Thus, all students must conform to these rules and values and not challenge the authority of teachers.
Marxism
Marxist sociologists of education have argued that in-school processes benefit only middle- and upper-class pupils. Working class students suffer from being labelled as 'difficult' and 'less able', which makes them less motivated to achieve academic success. The hidden curriculum was also designed to suit White, middle-class pupils. Consequently, ethnic minority students and lower class individuals don't feel like their cultures are being represented and their voices are being heard. Marxists claim this is all in order to keep the status quo of the wider capitalist society.
Feminism
While the 20th-century feminist movements have achieved a lot in terms of girls' education, there still exist certain gender stereotypes in schools which restrict the equal development of boys and girls, claim contemporary feminist sociologists. Science subjects for example are still mainly associated with boys. Furthermore, girls tend to be quieter in the classroom and if they do act out against school authority they are punished more severely. Liberal feminists argue that changes can be made by implementing more policies. Radical feminists, on the other hand, argue, that the patriarchal system of schools can not be changed simply by policies, more radical acts have to be made in wider society to affect the education system too.
Sociology of Education - Key takeaways
- Sociologists agree that education performs two main functions in society; it has economic and selective roles.
- Functionalists (Durkheim, Parsons) believed that education benefited society as it taught children the rules and values of wider society and allowed them to find the role best suited for them based on their skills and qualifications.
- Marxists are critical of educational institutions. They argued that the education system transmitted the values of and the rules acting in favour of the ruling class at the expense of the lower classes.
- Contemporary education in the UK is organised into pre-schools, primary schools and secondary schools. At the age of 16, after they finish high school, students can decide whether or not to enrol in further and higher education. The 1988 Education Act introduced the National Curriculum and standardised testing.
- Sociologists have noticed certain patterns in educational achievement. They are particularly interested in the relationship between educational achievement and social class, gender and ethnicity.
Frequently Asked Questions about Sociology of Education
Education is a collective term that refers to social institutions where children of all ages learn academic and practical skills and the social and cultural values and norms of their wider society.
Sociologists agree that education performs two main functions in society; it has economic and selective roles. Functionalists believe that the economic role of education is to teach skills (such as literacy, numeracy etc.) that will be useful for employment later on. Marxists, however, argue that education teaches specific roles to people of different classes, thus reinforcing the class system. The selective role of education is to pick the most talented, skilled and hard-working people for the most important jobs.
Education is one of the most important research topics in sociology. Sociologists of different perspectives have discussed education widely, and each holds unique views on education’s function, structure, organisation and meaning in society.
Sociologists of different perspectives have discussed education widely in order to find out what its function in society is, and how it is structured and organised.
The 'new sociology of education' refers to the interpretivist and symbolic interactionist approach to education, which focuses especially on the in-school processes and teacher-student relationships within the education system.
Final Sociology of Education Quiz
Answer
Education is a collective term that refers to social institutions where children of all ages learn academic and practical skills and the social and cultural values and norms of their wider society.
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What are the two main roles of education in society?
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Sociologists agree that education performs two main functions in society; it has economic and selective roles.
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Marxists argue that education teaches specific roles to people of different classes, thus reinforcing the class system.
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Marxists believe that education is a truly meritocratic system.
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The two key roles of education are the economic and selective roles. Give three examples of further roles of education.
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- Agents of secondary socialisation
- Agents of social control
- Political role: Creating social cohesion
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What is the hidden curriculum?
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The hidden curriculum refers to the unwritten rules and values of the school that teach students about the school hierarchy and gender roles.
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Bowles and Gintis suggested that education has a significant role in creating social solidarity.
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What did Talcott Parsons think about the operation and the role of education in society?
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Parsons argued that schools introduce children to universalistic standards and teach them that status can and will be achieved through hard work and skill (as opposed to assigned status) in wider society. He believed that the education system was meritocratic and all children were allocated a role through school based on their qualifications.
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What is the correspondence principle?
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The argument that the rules and values taught in schools correspond to those expected in the workplace.
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What is the tripartite system and when was it introduced?
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In 1944, the Butler Education Act introduced the tripartite system, which meant that children were allocated into three school types (secondary modern, secondary technical and grammar schools) according to the 11 Plus Exam they all had to take at age 11.
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Since when does the UK have comprehensive schools?
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The comprehensive system of today's Britain was introduced in 1965.
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All sociologists are against independent schools because they charge large fees which makes it impossible for parents of lower-class professions to send their children there.
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Researchers found that working-class pupils tend to do worse in school than their middle-class peers.
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What is the nature vs. nurture debate about?
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Answer
The nature versus nurture debate tries to pinpoint whether it is the genetics and nature of an individual that determines their academic success or their social environment.
Show question
Question
Girls have equal access to education as boys all over the world, thanks to the feminist movement, legal changes, and increased job opportunities.
Show answer
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Which sociological perspective studies small-scale interactions between individuals in education with the aim of understanding the relationship between teachers and students and its effects on educational achievement?
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What is the difference between banding, streaming and setting?
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Answer
- Setting divides pupils into groups in particular subjects based on their ability.
- Streaming divides pupils into ability groups across all subjects, rather than just one.
- Banding is a process where pupils in similar streams or sets are taught together on an academic basis.
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What did Paul Willis's study on 'the lads' show?
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Paul Willis’s research on a counter school subculture, the ‘lads’, showed that working-class boys prepare to take on working-class jobs where they would not need the skills and values school was teaching them. So, they acted out against these values and rules.
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Radical feminists argue that changes in gender role allocation in schools can be made by implementing social policies.
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Boys are underrepresented in science subjects.
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Which debate is relevant to a sociological explanation of educational achievement?
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The nature versus nurture debate.
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What is the relationship between social class and educational achievement?
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Students from higher social classes are more likely to achieve well in their education.
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What are two key factors related to social class which impact educational achievement?
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Material deprivation and parental attitudes.
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Girls outperform boys in every subject at GCSE and A-Level. True or false?
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What are two key initiatives that the feminist movement has pushed for, that have resulted in better educational prospects for girls?
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The Sex Discrimination Act and the National Curriculum.
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Ethnic background does not impact educational achievement. True or false?
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Why can't 'cultural differences' fully explain differential educational achievement by ethnicity in the UK?
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This is because the highest performing ethnic group in the UK is made up of Chinese students, while Pakistani and Black Caribbean students tend to underperform. Cultural differences might explain differential educational achievement by ethnicity if White, British students were the top achieving group.
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There is a significant interaction between ___________ and _________ backgrounds, which can explain differential achievement in education.
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Ethnic and social class background.
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Which theory seeks to explain the impact of teacher-student relationships on educational achievement?
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The labelling theory, proposed by symbolic interactionists.
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Oftentimes, students adopt and "lean into" the labels that they have been given by their teachers. What is this process called?
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This process is called a "self-fulfilling prophecy".
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Fill in the blanks:
1. ________ places students in the same ability group across all subjects.
2. ________ places students in groups based on differential abilities across different subjects.
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1. Streaming places students in the same ability group across all subjects.
2. Setting places students in groups based on differential abilities across different subjects.
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Students in lower sets or streams sometimes reject educational and behavioural goals by forming...
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... anti-school subcultures, or counter-cultures.
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What is the "hidden curriculum"?
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The "hidden curriculum" refers to covert biases or stereotypes that may appear in educational materials such as textbooks.
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What term can be used to describe a curriculum which focuses only on White, European representations and narratives?
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An ethnocentric curriculum.
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Women in the UK are _____ likely to attend and graduate from university than men.
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Education is free in the UK up until the age of...
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What year was the 'Education Reform Act' introduced?
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What was the main feature that the tripartite system introduced into the UK?
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The tripartite system introduce the 11 plus exam into the UK.
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What three types of schools did the tripartite system introduce?
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The tripartite system introduced:
- Grammar schools
- Secondary Moderns
- Technical schools
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What year was 'comprehensivisation' introduced in the UK?
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What did 'comprehensivisation' aim to achieve?
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It aimed to merge grammar schools and secondary modern schools to form a more mixed ability set of students. Comprehensive schools aimed to provide free education for all, regardless of ability.
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What was the main criticism of comprehensive schools?
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It limited parental choice, as pupils don't take the 11 plus exam to choose which school to attend. They must choose from the comprehensive schools, not grammar.
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Which is the correct order for the UK education system?
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Early years, primary, secondary, further education and higher education.
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'Infant schools are ages 5-8 and the junior school follows at 8-11.' True or False?
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Give an example of early years education.
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Day nurseries and playgroups.
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'Education is compulsory in England up to the age of 18.' True or false?
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What is higher education?
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Higher education in the UK refers to education after further education. Many students go on to attend University to gain a bachelor's degree and some even go on to achieve a master's degree.
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Home-schooling is an alternative type of education in the UK. It involves pupils being taught at home by parents, guardians or tutors.
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Why are the government concerned about the achievement of homeschooled pupils?
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There is worry about the standard of this teaching in relation to exams. The government tries to implement a legal structure so that pupils being homeschooled aren't at a social disadvantage over those who attend school.
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What is a private school?
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Private schools refer to schools that charge students fees to gain access to their education.
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