Download Education Revision - Mr G Sociology Corner

What is education?
Aim: To know the difference between informal and formal education
What is education?
The process of gaining knowledge and understanding of the world
and the people in it. As we learn, we are changed by our new
knowledge and understanding.
Formal Education
At the age of 5, children in Britain begin their formal education.
This involves learning particular subjects from trained teachers at
set times.
Informal Education
This means learning through everyday experiences or from others
we come into contact with.
Why am I still at school?
Aim: To know six functions of education
For society
For individuals
Preparation for world of work
 Skills
 Attitudes e.g. hard working
 Picking out the most talented
Secondary Socialisation
 Teaching expected
behaviour in large
groups
 Passing on values
e.g. punctuality
Functions
of school
Social Control
 Controlling behaviour
 Teaching acceptance of rules
 Minding children while adults
are at work
Ambition
 Qualifications
 Good jobs
Self-Development
 Develop new
qualities
 Try new
activities
Compulsion
 The law forces
us to go
d the tripartite system?
Aim: To know what a comprehen
All primary schools in England
20%
11+
exam
75%
5%
Grammar School
Public Exams
University
Technical High
School
Some Public
Exams
Secondary
Modern School
Practical lessons
Manual jobs
What replaced the tripartite system?
Aim: To know what a comprehensive school is
The 11+ test was
unreliable
The 11+ caused
low self esteem
Problems with
the Tripartite
system
Not all the school
types had good
reputations
Age 11 was too
early to label
pupils ‘failures’
Children were
being divided by
social class
idden Curriculum?
Aim: To know how schools teach pupils values
Accepting
inequality
Controlling
boredom
Accept
hierarchy
The Hidden
Curriculum
Punctuality
is important
Accept
powerlessness
Accept
authority
and rules
How does labelling affect how well a pupil does at school?
Aim: To know how labelling influences achievement
Pupils may give up
trying if they are
labelled
as not
Trouble-maker
bright
Teachers may
concentrate on the
Lazy pupils
‘bright’
Consequences
Examples of
labels
of labelling
given by
teachers
pupils
Teacher may not
bother pushing some
pupils very hard to
succeed
Teachers may
dismiss pupils’
attempts to change
their behaviour
Why do girls do better at school?
Aim: To know reasons why girls get better exam results
Differences in behaviour
•Boys are more
energetic and disruptive
•Girls tend to sit quietly
and follow the rules
Differences in attitude
•Boys have ‘masculine’
values – being sporty,
and tough
•Studying hard is not
seen as ‘masculine’
Changes in ambitions
Girls are better
Why do
motivated to learn
•Young women now
girls do
have much higher career
•Possibly because they
better
ambitions
are more closely
at
controlled by their
school?
•So they work harder at
parents than boys
school
Girls mature quicker?
•Some say girls mature
faster than boys
•They approach their
schoolwork in a more
mature way
Has the GCSE improved education?
Aim: To know whether the GCSE has been successful
Successes 
GCSES
Failures 
Coursework reduces
pressure of final exams
Middle class pupils have
unfair advantages in
coursework
Teachers don’t have to
divide pupils at Year 9
The amount of
coursework is being
decreased
All pupils sit the GCSE
Pupils sit different tiers of
papers
Results and grades have
gone up
Employers are only
interested in A*-C grades
Are public schools good for society?
Aim: To know advantages and disadvantages of public schools
Public Schools
Good thing?
Bad thing?
Right to choose
Unfair choice
Well respected
Unfair advantages
Better quality of education
Divisive to society
Are public schools good for society?
Aim: To know advantages and disadvantages of public schools
Task
Answer questions a-c as
you would in the exam
Are public schools good for society?
Aim: To know advantages and disadvantages of public schools
Mini Essay Question
To what extent would sociologists agree that schools
are the main cause of differences in educational
achievement? [9 marks]