What's covered
Key facts
Howard Becker found teachers judge pupils against an image of the 'ideal pupil' that matches middle-class characteristics, positively labelling middle-class pupils.
Bowles and Gintis set out their Marxist theory of education in their 1976 book Schooling in Capitalist America.
An anti-school (counter-school) subculture rejects the school's values, gaining status from rule-breaking and disruption rather than academic success.
Davis and Moore argue role allocation legitimises inequality: because qualifications appear fairly earned, people accept unequal rewards as deserved.
Basil Bernstein argued working-class pupils use a restricted speech code while schools and teachers use the elaborated code, advantaging middle-class pupils.
School corresponds to work because both are hierarchical: pupils obey teachers just as workers obey managers.
Howard Becker argued teachers judge pupils against an image of the "ideal pupil", and middle-class pupils tend to fit this image and are placed in higher streams.
Davis and Moore argue education performs role allocation, sifting and sorting pupils by ability so that the most able fill the most important and demanding jobs.
Boys' relative underachievement is linked to poorer literacy, anti-school 'laddish' subcultures and lower classroom motivation.
The correspondence principle states there is a close match between the social relationships of school and the social relationships of the workplace.
Sample questions
A taste of the 82 questions in this topic, answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
What does Bourdieu's concept of cultural capital refer to?
- •A pupil's natural intelligence measured by IQ tests
- ✓Middle-class knowledge, language and tastes that schools reward
- •The money working-class families spend on private tutoring
- •The physical resources such as books and computers at home
According to Bowles and Gintis, what is the main function of education in a capitalist society?
- •To encourage creativity and independent critical thinking
- •To promote genuine equality of opportunity for all
- ✓To reproduce an obedient, docile and hardworking workforce
- •To teach pupils specialist skills they freely choose
According to interactionists, teachers most often label pupils based on which of these?
- ✓Appearance, behaviour and social class
- •Attendance records and punctuality
- •Exam results and homework scores
- •Reading age and IQ test data
What does Durkheim mean by 'social solidarity' as a function of education?
- •Rewarding pupils fairly based on effort and talent
- •Sorting pupils into jobs that match their ability
- •Teaching the technical skills needed for specialised work
- ✓Transmitting shared values so members feel part of a community
According to Bernstein, which speech code do schools and teachers mainly use?
- •The deferred code
- ✓The elaborated code
- •The ethnocentric code
- •The restricted code
What does the correspondence principle state?
- •Letters home correspond to a pupil's classroom behaviour
- •School grades correspond exactly to a pupil's true ability
- •School subjects correspond to careers pupils later enter
- ✓School's social relationships closely match the workplace's
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