PAPER 1: Education 4 and 6 mark questions
Outline three policies that may help to explain changes in girls' educational achievement in the last 40 years.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS INCLUDE: • GIST (Girls into Science and Technology) (1 mark) has promoted career development opportunities and role models which motivate girls (+1 mark) • abolition of the 11+ exam (1 mark), which imposed a higher pass mark for girls to get into grammar school (+1 mark) • Discover Science Saturday clubs (1 mark) give girls access to tasters in STEM subjects to gauge their aptitude and help them choose appropriate subject options (+1 mark) • marketisation (1 mark); Slee found it encourages successful schools to select girls (+1 mark) • expansion of higher education (1 mark) has benefited girls disproportionately. Most undergraduates today are female (+1 mark) • introduction of coursework (1 mark); girls do better because they are more organised (+1 mark)
Outline three government policies that may have reduced social class differences in educational achievement.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS INCLUDE: • Sure Start/Operation headstart(1 mark) aim to intervene in the early socialisation and intellectual development that some working class miss (+1 mark) • comprehensive schooling (1 mark) all students attend the same school to reduce class inequality (+1 mark) • the tripartite system/eleven-plus (1 mark) based on meritocracy all students have same opportunity (+1 mark) • Education Maintenance Allowance (1 mark) w/c student money to study A-levels (+1 mark) • maintenance/fees grants for higher education (1 mark) w/c go to university (+1 mark)
Outline three examples of ways in which government policies may have reduced social inequalities in educational achievement.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS INCLUDE: • abolition of the tripartite system (1 mark) meant all pupils would go to the same type of secondary school, rather than middle-class pupils taking most of the places in the grammar schools (+1 mark) • Education Maintenance Allowances (1 mark) provided financial support to enable poorer students to continue in post-16 education (+1 mark) • the Pupil Premium (1 mark) earmarks funds for schools to spend on meeting the needs of disadvantaged pupils (+1 mark) • Education Action Zones (1 mark) targeted funds on schools in socially deprived areas to raise achievement (+1 mark) • grants for higher education (1 mark) make it easier for poorer students to attend university (+1 mark).
Outline three reasons why some working-class parents fail to attend parents' evenings at their children's school.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS INCLUDE: • feelings of social inferiority (1 mark) habitus is seen as inferior by the education system (+1 mark) • they place a low value on/lack interest in education (1 mark) refuse to attend (+1 mark) • a lack of education/inability to understand the schoolwork (1 mark) embarrassed to attend (+1 mark) • cannot afford the costs of attending (1 mark) transport may not be able to afford (+1 mark) • more likely to be shift workers (1 mark) have to work longer hours to make a living wage (+ 1 mark)
Outline three ways in which school may mirror work in capitalist society.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS INCLUDE: • hierarchical structure (1 mark); in schools head teacher at the top and students low down, in work boss at the top workers low down (+1 mark) • rewards (1 mark); grades in school, pay in work (+1 mark) • fragmentation (1 mark); school divided into unconnected subjects, work divided into unconnected tasks (+1 mark) • degree of autonomy (1 mark); senior pupils/those in higher streams have more autonomy, managers/skilled workers have more autonomy (+1 mark) • monotony (1 mark); having boring lessons, carrying out repetitive tasks at work (+1 mark) • dress code (1 mark); in school you wear uniform to represent the school and in the workplace you wear uniform to represent the company/brand (+1 mark) • legitimation (1 mark); in school pupils are taught that exams are fair and in work promotional opportunities are portrayed as fair (+1 mark)
Outline three reasons why government education policies aimed at raising educational achievement among disadvantaged groups may not always succeed.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS INCLUDE: • it is difficult to implement policies (1 mark), for example if they involve intervening in pupils' home life to change how parents socialise/motivate children (+1 mark) • educational policies alone cannot overcome poverty as a cause of underachievement (1 mark). This requires far-reaching redistributive economic policies to tackle it (+1 mark) • means tested educational policies such as free school meals (1 mark) may have low uptake by targeted groups because of the stigma attached to them (+1 mark) • schools or local authorities may fail to carry out the policies properly (1 mark), for example they may misuse the funds provided for their implementation, eg the Pupil Premium (Ofsted 2012) (+1 mark) • privileged groups may take advantage of such policies (1 mark), which may exclude disadvantaged groups, eg the assisted places scheme largely benefited middle-class pupils (+1 mark).
Outline three factors that may affect boys achievement.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS INCLUDE: • lack of male teacher (1 mark) boys lack a male role model (+ 1 mark) • feminisation of assessment (1 mark) education is associated with female qualities and not males, leading to underachievement of boys. (+1 mark) • boys' poorer literacy ( 1 mark) parents spend less time reading with their sons (+1 mark) • laddish subcultures ( 1 mark) peer groups discourage boys from academic work, e.g. homophobic abuse (+1 mark) • decline of traditional 'male' jobs (1 mark) leading to low aspiration of careers (+1 mark)
Outline two cultural factors that may affect ethnic differences in educational achievement.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS INCLUDE: • language (1 mark); for some pupils English may be a second language and so they may have difficulty in understanding class work (+1 mark) • parental attitudes to education (1 mark); Indian and Chinese parents are more likely to be pro-school and encourage their children to be successful in education (+1 mark) • pupil subcultures (1 mark); black pupils are more likely to be subjected to anti-educational peer group pressure, leading to them rejecting school (+1 mark) • ethnocentric curriculum (1 mark); the school curriculum reflects the dominant culture and this benefits White British students (+1 mark)Outline three ways in which factors within schools may shape gender differences in subject choice.
Outline two material factors that may affect social class differences in educational achievement.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS INCLUDE: • overcrowding at home (1 mark) means not having private space in which to study (+1 mark) • inadequate nutrition (1 mark) affects concentration in school/leads to illness and absence from school (+1 mark) • inability to afford proper uniform or fashionable clothing/trainers (1 mark) leads to bullying and disaffection from school (+1 mark) • high family income (1 mark) means parents can pay for private tuition to help with schoolwork (+1 mark) • parents having to work long hours to make ends meet (1 mark) means they are less able to help children with their homework (+1 mark).
Outline three ways in which factors within schools may shape gender differences in subject choice.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS INCLUDE: • peer group pressure (1 mark); leads to girls and boys choosing subjects which reflect stereotypical gender identities (+1 mark) • career advice (1 mark); for example, girls are more likely to choose childcare courses, because childcare jobs are seen as female (+1 mark) • subject counselling (1 mark); teachers may channel boys and girls into different subject choices in relation to their own gender stereotypes (+1 mark) • learning resources may include gender stereotypes (1 mark); for example, science may be represented as a mainly male activity • gender of teachers (1 mark); for example, males may pick science as a subject because the teachers are more likely to be men (+1 mark).
Outline three ways in which school is organised that may be ethnocentric that disadvantage ethnic minority students
POSSIBLE ANSWERS INCLUDE: • school dress/uniform requirements may conflict with cultural ones (1 mark) • not providing Halal food • assemblies that focus on one faith (1 mark) lead to lower self esteem (+ 1 mark) • timing of holidays (1 mark) Fasting during Ramadan during exam times (+ 1 mark) • arrangements for PE/games (showers, changing etc) may conflict with cultural requirements (1 mark) mean students avoid participating (+ 1 mark) • history taught from a British perspective (1 mark) black history of slaves may lower self esteem (+ 1 mark)
Outline three criticisms that other sociologists may make of the functionalist view of the education system.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS INCLUDE: • the education system is not meritocratic (1 mark) equal opportunity to achieve does not exist (+1 mark) • education's role allocation function is not meritocratic (1 mark) many jobs are allocated on the basis of class background, not educational achievement (+1 mark) • the education system does not instill shared values (1 mark) it instills ruling-class ideology (+1 mark) • the education system fails to prepare young people adequately for work (1 mark) many students leave school with no skilled qualifications (+1 mark) • functionalists ignore the fact that many pupils reject the school's values (1 mark) pupils do not always passively accept what they are taught and some are anti-school (+1 mark)
Outline three educational policies that may have contributed to social class differences in achievement.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS INCLUDE: • the tripartite system/ the eleven-plus exam/Butler Act/1944 Act (1 mark) middle class more likely to pass and receive a grammar education (+1 mark). • marketisation policy (1 mark) working class lack the cultural capital to choose the better schools. • private schooling (1 mark) middle class have the economic capital to pay fees for private schooling (+1 mark) • fees for higher education (1 mark) as working class are debt adverse (+1 mark) • League tables (1 mark) m/c can afford to move to where the better schools are. (+1 mark)
Outline two cultural factors that may cause social class differences in educational achievement.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS INCLUDE: • working-class pupils' restricted code (1 mark) means they are less able to communicate in ways that the school values (+1 mark) • middle-class parents have a more positive attitude to education (1 mark), so they are more supportive of their child's education (+1 mark) • middle-class parents are more likely to socialise children in ways that foster intellectual development (1 mark), eg by reading to them or providing educational toys (+1 mark) • fatalistic working-class values (1 mark) do not prepare children for school, which is achievement-oriented (+1 mark).
Outline two ways in which housing may affect working class achievement.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS INCLUDE: • Overcrowding (1 mark) sharing bedroom with siblings mean no place to study/homework (+1 mark) • Damp (1 mark) lead to illness/ breathing problems meaning miss school (+1 mark) • poor area/locality (1 mark) poor quality school (+1 mark) • Small house, e.g. no room for dining table (1 mark) no place to do homework (+1 mark)
Outline two ways in which speech code my impact educational achievement.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS INCLUDE: • Restricted code (1 mark) may not understand the teacher, textbook, or exam papers (+1 mark) • context bound (1 mark) assumes the reader shares the same experience which means answers may be short and undeveloped (+1 mark) • elaborate code (1 mark) spoken by the teachers so M/c understand more (+1 mark)
