SOCIOLOGY-DIVERSITY

Change is hard, but change is good. Henry Rollins

A Level

EDUCATION -12 and 26 - MARKS – PARTICE QUESTIONS

1. To what extent is there equality of opportunity for male and female students in
education?

Candidates should show an awareness of the various types of equality of opportunity available
to individuals in education – this may include consideration of schools, teachers, curriculum,
subjects, policies, expectations and subject choice.

Possible answers:
For:
• The students that do best in education are the ones that work and try the hardest; a
meritocracy (functionalist ideas), nothing to do with gender;
• National curriculum ensures that all students, no matter what gender, have the options to
study the same subjects;
• Anti-discrimination policies and legislation;
• Feminist movement – has raised the aspirations and rights of females, thus giving them equal
opportunities in education;
• Teachers are both male and female, offering potential role models to both genders;
• Single sex schools exist for both male and female students;
• Teachers treat all students equally or else will face sanctions;
• Positive discrimination and educational policies have been introduced to ensure equality of
opportunity for male and female students;
• Other reasonable response.

Against:
• Girls do better than boys now in many systems of education;
• Teachers still have different expectations of girls and boys;
• Extra resources in deprived areas, i.e. educational action zones, rebuilding projects
• Girls and boys may study different subjects, i.e. boys dominate maths, engineering and science
and girls in communication, caring and creative subjects which leads to inequalities in later life
(perceived as higher prestige subjects, etc.)
• Girls and boys may not get the same opportunities when it comes to sports;
• Despite doing better in education, in employment girls are still typically not as successful as
boys – patriarchy, vertical/horizontal segregation, glass ceiling, etc.
• Boys are more likely to be seen in schools as problems – higher exclusion rates, etc. – meaning
negative teacher labelling is more likely and a self-fulfilling prophecy possible;
• In some cultures boys still have more status than girls;
• Teaching is a female dominated profession in many countries yet within schools position of –
power and high status are still dominated by males. This affects the role modelling process;
• Teachers do not always challenge the physical domination of space often seen by boys in
classrooms;
• Laddish culture/culture of masculinity may hold male pupils back academically;
• Boys are more likely to form anti-school subcultures than girls;

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• Boys and girls may be sanctioned differently within schools;
• Girls don’t always get the same opportunity to go to school
• Other reasonable response.

2. To what extent do setting and streaming affect a child’s educational achievement?

Candidates should show an awareness of what is meant by setting and streaming and how these
may affect a child’s educational achievement. Candidates may talk generically about both of
these elements or deal with each one separately. Either way is fine to credit.
Candidates may also talk about setting and streaming as advantaging students or as
disadvantaging them – again both are acceptable approaches.

Possible answers:
For:
• Those who are put into top sets/streams will become confident, high achievers whereas those
in lower sets/streams will see themselves as failures;
• Teachers may treat pupils in different sets/streams differently, having very little expectation
of those found in the lower sets/streams, for example;
• Teacher labelling of pupils based on the set/stream they are in may result in a self-fulfilling
prophecy that will affect the students work ethic and attitude to school and learning either
negatively or positively;
• Weaker teachers may be asked to teach the lower sets/streams as they are perceived to be
less important than the higher sets/streams;
• Setting/streaming is not always based on intelligence but also on behaviour meaning that in
the lower sets/streams there may be a culture of bad behaviour that prevents students from
working hard – the opposite in the higher sets;
• School subcultures may form based on the setting/streaming process and affect educational
achievement accordingly, i.e. anti-school subcultures in the lower sets/streams and pro-school
subcultures in the higher sets/streams;
• Other reasonable response.

Against:
• It is gender not setting/streaming that determines educational achievement;
• It is social class not setting/streaming that determines educational achievement;
• It is ethnicity not setting/streaming that determines educational achievement;
• Too deterministic – not everyone conforms to the expectations of their school in terms of
setting and streaming;
• Material deprivation not setting/streaming determines educational achievement;
• Cultural deprivation not setting/streaming determines educational achievement;
• Home factors may be more influential than setting and/or streaming;
• Type of school attended may be more influential than setting/streaming in determining
educational achievement;
• Other reasonable response.

3. To what extent are the functions of education positive?

Candidates should show an awareness of the various functions of education and whether these
are positive for individuals and/or society. It is likely that students will engage with the
Functionalist/Marxist (consensus/conflict) debate, although they need not use these terms
explicitly.

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Possible answers:
For
• Functionalist points and approaches are likely to be seen here in terms of the role that
education plays in ensuring the smooth running of society and well balanced individuals
• The economic role – schools teach students the skills and knowledge needed to develop into
productive workers and contribute positively to society
• The socialisation role – schools teach students expected norms and values resulting in social
integration (belonging)
• The selective role – schools help to sort out which people should be doing which jobs, ensuring
the best for society and the individual. This is done through such processes as examinations,
setting and streaming
• The social control role – schools teach students to obey the rules allowing them to fit smoothly
into society knowing that to succeed they need to conform
• Other reasonable response.

Against
• Marxist points and approaches are likely to be seen here in terms of the key functions of
education being negative for individuals and society
• The economic role – the existence of private schools, high performing schools, sets and
different choices of subjects means that all students are not being taught the same in schools.
This means that not everyone has the same opportunities to learn skills and knowledge
preparing them for very different jobs
• The socialisation role – schools remove individuality from students and use the secondary
socialisation process to control and ‘brainwash’ them
• The selective role – students do not get equal opportunities in schools, opportunities depend
upon gender, social class, ethnicity and income. Regardless of their abilities and talents some
students are likely to do better than others in education
• The social control role – the sanctions system used in schools encourages children to accept
what others in authority tell them without question. This enables the powerful people to
continue making decisions that benefit them
• The hidden curriculum – gender roles are reinforced in education and are often stereotypical
resulting in different opportunities and life chances for males and females.
This may be as a result of teacher labels and subject choices
• Other reasonable response.

4. To what extent does material deprivation determine the educational achievement of

students from different social classes?

Candidates should show an awareness of how material deprivation can determine the
educational achievement of students from different social classes. The against arguments may
consider how cultural factors are also important and/or the role of the teacher in determining
educational achievement.

Possible answers:
For
• Not having a quiet place to work because the home is small or over-crowded;
• Inadequate diet can be argued to lead to problems of concentration and tiredness;
• Private schooling (typically available to those in the higher social classes) leads to better
educational qualifications and achievement than state education;
• Being unable to afford extra-curricular activities, trips, tutors and revision materials may lead
to lower educational achievement;
• Having to work part-time as a student means there will be less time available for study which
may negatively affect educational achievement;

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• Coming from a family that is not able to financially support a child through Higher education
may limit the child’s educational aspirations;
• Students in the lower social classes typically attend poorer and less successful schools;
• Other reasonable response.

Against
• Cultural deprivation – some parts of the attitude and values of the home prevent some
children from achieving well in education;
• Immediate gratification (rather than deferred) means the long-term gains of staying in
education cannot be seen;
• For boys, a liking for thrill seeking behaviour and excitement may get them into trouble;
• Parents may have had negative experiences of education themselves and so may not value it
which will be passed onto their children;
• A lack of successful role models in the community and the home may limit educational
achievement;
• Cultural capital – Not being brought up around books, literature, theatre etc. may be
detrimental to educational achievement;
• Schools are often referred to as middle class institutions which are alienating and
unwelcoming for lower class students;
• Speech codes are typically different for different social classes meaning that the higher classes
find it easier to engage with, understand and use the elaborate codes found in education and
examinations;
• Labelling theory – teacher labelling (either positive or negative) may be more influential than
material deprivation in terms of affecting educational achievement i.e. through the self-fulfilling
prophecy;
• Peer group pressure – it may be the peer group that determines educational success – either
negatively or positively;
• Setting and streaming – the set or stream a student is placed into may be the crucial factor in
determining educational success;
• Many policies and strategies are now in place to counter the effects of poverty on educational
achievement today i.e. scholarships/bursaries etc.;
• Other reasonable response.

5. To what extent does the education system help the ruling class maintain their power in
society?

Candidates should show an awareness of the various ways the education system helps the
ruling class maintain their power in society. It is likely that students will engage with the
functionalist/Marxist (consensus/conflict) debate, although they need not use these terms
explicitly within their answers.

Possible answers:
For
• Marxists believe that education instils the ideology of the ruling class into students and thus
this becomes the norm (false class consciousness);
• Working class children are taught a set of values that will ensure they become good workers
for the capitalist system, conforming not rebelling;
• The hidden curriculum ensures children learn to do as they are told, accept boredom and
conform to authority – ensuring they are ready for work in the capitalist system;
• The children of the ruling class typically attend different schools to the lower classes, they are
privately educated which makes it easier to gain places at the top universities and then the best
paying, elite jobs;

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• Old boy networks and networks of privilege can be passed down through the social closure
operated by many elite schools and businesses (Bourdieu social capital);
• Private education allows wealthy parents to buy their children success and privilege
(Bourdieu economic and cultural capital);
• Setting and streaming often reflects class differences;
• Teacher labelling – working class students may be thought of and treated differently to
middle/upper class children, thus affecting future positions in society – this may lead to a self-
fulfilling prophecy;
• Working class students may be more likely to follow a vocational programme of study,
whereas the higher classes have a more academic path;
• Other reasonable response.

Against
• Feminists believe that education inculcates patriarchal values rather than capitalist ones;
• Functionalists believe that education performs vital functions for individuals and society, such
as socialisation and social control; it does not indoctrinate pupils;
• Education is meritocratic, based on principles of equality that ensure that all students have the
same chances to succeed, e.g. through the comprehensive system;
• Education allows for social mobility and therefore people from all social groups, regardless of
background, can be successful in life;
• Positive discrimination, compensatory education and scholarship systems all exist in order to
support pupils from less privileged backgrounds to do well in education;
• Different types of education exist for different people, allowing all to be successful, e.g.
academic and vocational;
• Students may reject negative teacher labels through a self-negating prophecy and thus the
education system will not help the ruling class to maintain power;
• In contemporary modern industrial societies it is achieved status that is more important than
ascribed status in terms of achieving power, therefore the education system itself does not help
the ruling class to maintain their power;
• Other reasonable response.

6. To what extent is the peer group the most influential factor in determining educational
achievement?

Candidates should show an awareness of the various influences on educational achievement

such as the peer group, home factors and school factors.

Possible answers:
For
• Some students develop an anti-school subculture which provides students with a means to
improve their own self esteem by giving them status within their peer group.
• A culture of masculinity may form in counter-school cultures which causes these peers to
disrupt the smooth running and learning of the school.
• Peer pressure – young people want to fit in and thus the pressure from their peers (either
positive or negative) may well determine how well they achieve at school, i.e. attitudes to
homework, discipline, attendance.
• Imitation – some children may copy their peers in order to conform and this can be either
negative or positive: this is likely to affect educational achievement.
• Sometimes pupils from ethnic minority groups are labelled as failures and placed in low sets
and streams. These peer groups may then develop a shared set of values and develop a self-
fulfilling prophecy.
• Girls’ peer groups are more likely than those of boys to conform to school values and so to be
successful in education.

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• Peer groups outside school may influence educational achievement e.g. gang culture.
• Other reasonable response.

Against
• Gender, not peer group, may be the most important factor in determining educational success.
• Ethnicity, not peer group, may be the most important factor in determining educational
success.
• Social class, not peer group, may be the most important factor in determining educational
success.
• Home factors may be more important than the peer group, i.e. material/cultural deprivation /
parental values and expectations.
• School factors may be more important than the peer group, i.e. teacher stereotyping and
labelling/setting and streaming/type of school attended.
• Marxists would argue that educational success will always be more likely to be achieved by the
higher social classes, as education simply reinforces the inequalities seen in society.
• Linguistic codes – Bernstein argues that schools operate with an elaborate code which is also
shared by the higher social classes.
This makes educational achievement more likely for the higher social classes than the lower
classes, who use a restricted code.
• Functionalists would argue that the education system is fair and based on meritocracy,
allowing all who work hard to be successful – only individuals, therefore, can be responsible for
their own educational success or failure.
• Other reasonable response.

7. To what extent is social mobility affected by the type of school an individual attends?

Possible answers:
For:
• the upper classes have typically attended elite private schools allowing them access to the top
universities;
• single sex schools often get good examination results which can lead to positions of power and
privilege in society;
• private schools are dominated by those in positions of power and attendance at this type of
school allows these privileged positions to be maintained;
• private schools encourage the continuation of the old boys network meaning that certain types
of people continue to occupy the high status positions in society;
• private schools provide individuals with cultural capital, thus giving them huge benefits in
society and allowing them to access and maintain their privileged positions;
• comprehensive schools are equally open to all therefore allowing opportunities for social
mobility;
• the hidden curriculum in schools encourages students to accept their position in society and to
maintain the status quo
(Marxism);
• some schools offer compensatory education which can positively affect social mobility;
• other reasonable response.

Against:
• functionalists believe that the education system is meritocratic and that anyone who works
hard will be successful in the qualifications they gain and the position
they achieve in society;
• feminists believe that it is the patriarchy in the education system that determines a person's
position on the social ladder, not the school they attend;
• people can be successful in society regardless of the type of school attended;

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• not everybody who attends private school are from the upper classes, scholarships and
bursaries exist to support all students in the pursuit of educational success encouraging and
allowing social mobility;
• setting and streaming may be more influential for opportunities of social mobility than the
type of school attended;
• teacher labelling and stereotyping may be more important in determining social mobility
opportunities than the type of school attended;
• the peer group a person belongs to is thought to play a huge part in determining their level of
achievement in education and thus their social position in society;
• the comprehensive system encourages students of all social backgrounds to mix and study
together, decreasing rigid class-based social stratification and allowing for social mobility;
• other reasonable response.

8. To what extent are teachers responsible for an individual’s educational achievement?

Possible answers: For:

• teachers act as role models to their students;
• teacher labelling may lead to self-fulfilling prophecies for some students;
• teachers may cause the halo effect through their positive attitudes towards some students;
• Becker claims that teachers judge students on factors such as speech, personality, dress,
behaviour and attitude to work;
• students from lower class backgrounds may be seen as disruptive and lacking in motivation;
• teachers may make assumptions about students from different ethnic groups;
• teacher assessment of students may influence the sets and streams they are placed into;
• other reasonable response.

Against:
• students are not passive but instead can reject or negotiate any labels that are placed upon
them;
• schools as institutions may be more influential than teachers e.g. the type of school attended;
• schools are still seen as patriarchal institutions that see males in the majority of positions of
power;
• home factors may be more important – money, crowded spaces, poor diet etc.;
• attitudes to education may be the most important factor in determining educational success –
from students and parents;
• factors such as social class, gender and ethnicity may be the most important factors in
determining educational achievement;
• the peer group that the student is in may be a very important factor
• e.g. anti-school subcultures;
• language codes may be a very important factor e.g. different languages, elaborate and
restricted codes;
• material deprivation and poverty may be the most important factor in determining an
individual’s educational success;
• Cultural factors such as values, attitude to education and levels of cultural capital may
determine an individual's educational success;
• other reasonable response.

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9. To what extent do social factors, such as gender, determine an individual’s educational
achievement?

Possible answers:
FOR:
• Gender – in some developing countries and in some cultures boys may be more likely to attend
school than girls and so achieve better;
• In most industrial societies girls perform better than boys in their examinations – the culture
of masculinity and pressure to be a ‘lad’ may be a reason to explain this;
• Boys are more likely to join an anti-school subculture than girls which may negatively affect
their achievement;
• Negative peer pressure is thought to affect boys more than girls and the fear of informal
sanctions from their peers discourages boys from studying and working hard;
• More positive role models in education for girls may be one of the reasons for their improved
performance;
• Positive discrimination policies regarding gender e.g. girls into STEM can affect achievement;
• Pupils from ethnic minorities tend to do less well in education – cultural factors such as
language barriers may be one reason for this;
• Prejudice, discrimination and racism may explain why some ethnic minorities do not do well
in education;
• The ethnocentric curriculum may be a factor to explain why ethnic minorities do not do well in
education;
• Some ethnic groups e.g. Chinese, do well in education due to parental expectations and the
value placed on educational success;
• Higher class students are more likely to attend private schools and so are more likely to do
well in education;
• Bourdieu – lack of capital (e.g. cultural) may be a reason to explain different attainment levels
by students from different social classes;
• Material deprivation is more likely to be relevant for those in the lower social classes and may
affect how well an individual does in education;
• Immediate gratification may be a cultural norm for the lower social classes, whereas deferred
gratification is linked with those from the higher social groups;
• Teacher labelling (either positive or negative) regarding gender/class/ethnicity may lead to a
self-fulfilling prophecy and thus affect educational achievement;
• Other reasonable response.

AGAINST:
• Nothing to do with social factors but with genetic differences in intelligence;
• This approach is too deterministic – every individual is different, you cannot generalise about
all members of a social group being the same in terms of educational achievement;
• Functionalism – educational success depends upon how hard you work and the efforts you
make;
• Education today is based on equal opportunities (functionalism and meritocracy) therefore
social factors are no longer relevant;
• Educational success is not determined by your social group but by school factors e.g. culture of
learning/setting/teacher labelling/curriculum options/fee paying schools, etc.;
• Educational success is not determined by your social group but by the value placed upon
education in the home and how much parental encouragement a child receives;
• Educational success is closely linked to location (this could be on a global, national or local
scale) and funding not on social factors;
• Educational success is determined by the teacher and the school structures and expectations,
not on social factors;

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• Peer group factors – it is the peer group that the student associates with that determines
educational achievement, not social factors;
• Positive discrimination and equal rights legislation means that previous barriers faced by
some social groups in education are no longer relevant;
• Other reasonable response.

10. To what extent is the functionalist view of education correct?

Possible answers:
FOR:
• education contributes to the smooth running of society and therefore helps to maintain social
order;
• schools transmit norms and values to individuals and continue the socialisation that has begun
in the family;
• schools act as an agency of social control, using sanctions and rewards to reinforce right and
wrong and to ensure conformity in pupils;
• children are socialised into a shared set of values and therefore they feel a sense of belonging
through shared interests and beliefs;
• education can promote key values such as patriotism through history and literature lessons,
the learning and singing of the national anthem and prominence of national symbols;
• education teaches children the importance of achievement, it encourages them to work hard
and to set goals, everyone is judged in the same way, it is meritocratic;
• education produces individuals with the skills and knowledge necessary to promote economic
growth and stability;
• role allocation – education ensures the most talented and able children go into the top jobs –
examination results ensure that individuals take different career paths suited to their needs and
abilities – ‘sifting and sorting’;
• functionalists believe that educational success leads to social mobility and greater life chances;
• other reasonable response.

AGAINST:
• many sociologists believe that there isn’t a shared set of values in society to be passed on
through education anymore because of the diverse and multicultural society we live in;
• Marxists believe education passes on the dominant ideology and therefore ensures that the
status quo is maintained in society;
• feminists believe that patriarchal values are transmitted through education in, for example,
the perpetuation of traditional and stereotypical gender roles;
• some sociologists believe that education is ethnocentric and presents a very narrow view of
the world which alienates ethnic minority students;
• education is a tool used by the ruling class, according to Marxists, to legitimise and normalise
capitalism – competition is promoted in readiness for society and students are indoctrinated
into capitalist ideologies;
• Marxists believe there is a hidden curriculum in education that serves to promote dominant
norms and values that benefit those in positions of power in society e.g. students are trained in
dealing with boredom to prepare them for their routine, dull jobs in later life;
• education can be unfair – those that pay for an education through private schooling, for
example, are likely to gain better examination results than those that attend state schools
leading to better jobs in society – this is not meritocratic;
• feminists believe there is still gendered subject choice in schools and that this limits the power
and status women can have in the labour market in society;
• girls are socialised into nurturing and caring roles through education whereas boys are taught
to be independent and aggressive – feminism;

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• functionalist view may be correct for some individuals but may not be the case for everybody –
it perhaps depends upon the school itself, the subject choices, the individuals and the type of
school;
• other reasonable response.

11. To what extent are material factors the most important influence on educational
achievement?

Candidates may discuss general points about material factors which may link to home and/or
school. Cultural factors may also be considered. They may also choose to focus on specific social
groups (such as ethnic minorities, different social classes) linking their educational success or
failure to material factors.

Possible answers:
FOR

• those with money can afford private education where results are good, those without
cannot;
• some schools do not have adequate funds to buy important resources;
• those with more money can afford private tutoring/additional resources to aid study,
those less well-off cannot;
• material factors will determine where a person lives – attending a disadvantaged school
in a poor area may not offer as good an education as that in a more wealthy
environment;
• many ethnic minority pupils are from a working class/rural/poor background and so
may lack the quiet space needed at home to study;
• poorer families are unlikely to be able to provide children with a healthy diet full of
fresh food, this is thought to affect educational achievement;
• students from poorer backgrounds may have to combine studying withMworking part
time – this can have a detrimental effect on educational achievement;
• having access to money may determine whether a child can or cannot afford to stay in
education e.g. at college, university, etc.;
• other reasonable response.

AGAINST:
• material factors may not determine educational success – it’s how hard a person tries
and the efforts they make (functionalist view);
• cultural factors may be more influential, such as how much education is valued by
parents and how much encouragement there is to achieve;
• Bourdieu and cultural capital (Marxism) – higher class students who have this are
advantaged in education and tend to achieve better as a result;
• a person's gender may be more important than material factors in determining their
educational success i.e. in most Western societies girls outperform boys;
• teacher expectations and labelling may be a big influence on achievement – this may
lead to the self-fulfilling prophecy or the halo effect taking place;
• the set/stream a pupil is placed in at school is thought by many to have a big influence
over educational achievement;

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 • pupil sub-cultures may be very important in determining educational success – whether
a pupil belongs to a pro or anti school one, for example – peer group pressure;
• the ethnocentric curriculum and lack of ethnic minority teacher role models are thought
by many to explain the educational underachievement of many ethnic minorities;
• other reasonable response.

12. To what extent is education a successful agency of social control?

Candidates are likely to discuss both agencies and processes of social control in their answer
although this is not essential. The ability of education to use both informal and formal methods
of control may be discussed.

Possible answers:
FOR:
• negative sanctions e.g. detentions are used ensuring students conform;
• positive sanctions such as rewards and praise are used to encourage students to work and try
hard;
• teachers can use formal measures to control and discipline students – these may be physical or
instructive;
• norms and values conveyed through the hidden curriculum present certain behaviours as
normal and others as wrong – this
socialisation controls both behaviour and thoughts;
• the peer group can be a way of controlling pupils in school i.e. through peer pressure and
sanctions;
• setting and streaming can control students through determining how intelligent they are
thought to be and therefore their access to educational opportunities and stretch and challenge;
• feminism – they see education as a form of patriarchal control e.g. through gendered subject
choice;
• Marxism – education promotes ruling class ideologies and normalises the inequalities in
capitalism as fair and just;
• functionalism – social control is an essential function of the education system, leading to social
order and cohesion;
• other reasonable response.

AGAINST:
• too deterministic – students can reject the core norms and values of school i.e. through an anti-
school subculture;
• schools increasingly encourage critical thinking and freedom of thought through their
coverage of topical and often controversial issues;
• students do not have to live up to teacher labelling – they can also reject it and determine their
own path – a self-negating prophecy;
• now that physical and corporal punishment is outlawed in many countries, the ability of
schools to control their pupils is limited;
• primary agents of social control may be more effective as they spend longer with children and
are with them from an earlier age;
• other agencies of secondary socialisation (e.g. media, workplace) may be more effective or just
as effective as a means of social control;
• other reasonable response.

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13. To what extent does the education system help males to maintain their powerful
position in society?

Possible answers:
For:
• the hidden curriculum reinforces traditional gender roles and stereotypes that may translate
to society;
• the hierarchy of schools is typically male dominated with males occupying the highest status
positions and females dominating the more caring and low status jobs – role modelling/vertical
segregation;
• subject choice – significantly more males than females take maths, technology, engineering
and physics qualifications (STEM subjects) – often a route into the best paid jobs in society;
• representations in textbooks may still be quite stereotypical and subconsciously influence
girls into lowering their aspirations and expectations for life;
• on a global scale, there are far more girls that do not attend schools than boys, particularly in
developing countries, – this is likely to negatively impact upon life chances;
• teacher expectations/labelling of girls and boys can be very different, e.g. with girls being seen
as future housewives and males as the breadwinner, for example;
• feminists believe the education system mirrors the patriarchal structures and norms of wider
society, therefore helping males to maintain their powerful positions;
• male pupils are thought to dominate classroom space and teacher attention in schools, this
helps them to learn their higher status and importance than females which can then also
translate to wider society;
• other reasonable response.

Against:
• girls often achieve higher than boys in education today meaning they are now challenging for
the most powerful positions in society;
• equal opportunities in education means that social mobility is a possibility for many young
women who do well in education;
• positive discrimination has been used in some schools to encourage girls to aim higher,
through STEM (science, technology and engineering) initiatives for example;
• positive female role models are now available for girls, both in education and in society;
• the UN has made the education of girls a worldwide priority and a basic human right, so
encouraging possibilities for female success;
• careers advisors and teachers now encourage girls to be ambitious and to push themselves for
the top jobs in society;
• girls are more likely than boys to be placed in the higher sets and streams and so to have the
best chances of success in society;
• it is not the education system but other agents of social control or socialisation that cause
gender inequalities in society;
• many sociologists would now question whether males do have such powerful positions in
society, e.g. female representation and successes in politics, business, the entertainment
industry, etc.;
• functionalism – education is meritocratic therefore both genders can be successful and
powerful;
• other reasonable response.

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14. To what extent does family background influence educational achievement?

In interpreting ‘family background’, candidates may discuss factors such as ethnicity, religion,
social class, locality, culture etc.
Candidates should show awareness of the ways that family background may influence
educational achievement. This could be culturally and/or materially.
In evaluation, they should consider how these family factors may not influence educational
achievement and discuss how other factors such as school / peer group can be influential
instead.

Possible answers:
For:
• material factors – children living in poverty are likely to be educationally disadvantaged i.e.
over-crowded accommodation, part-time jobs, few resources to support education at home etc;
• cultural factors – members of the working class are thought to want immediate rather than
deferred gratification and therefore value education less than middle class parents;
• there may be an absence of successful role models in the family who have done well in
education and therefore this route is not seen as an option for many children;
• Bourdieu – cultural capital – familiarity with literature, visits to museums and galleries and
knowledge of how the education system works are seen to advantage some children in
education;
• gender roles – girls may be socialised to see their future roles in terms of marriage and
children and not in terms of educational success;
• Bernstein – believes the working class use a restricted code and the higher classes an
elaborated code at home which makes the ‘world’ of education far easier to access and be
successful in;
• minority students may be taught in a language that is not their home language and so may face
problems of understanding and of written / verbal expression;
• other reasonable response.

Against:
• pupil sub-cultures may be influential over educational achievement (pro or anti-school sub-
cultures); the set / stream a pupil is in may be a very important factor in determining
educational achievement;
• teacher expectations may affect educational achievement through labelling and the self-
fulfilling prophecy or the halo effect;
• students in private schools typically achieve better educational qualifications than those in
state schools, perhaps due to smaller class sizes, better resources and better teachers;
• the ethnocentric curriculum may be a reason why ethnic minority students do less well in
education than others;
• schools can be seen as institutions that reinforce traditional gender roles through careers
advice, subject choice etc and this can affect
educational achievement;
• a culture of masculinity is encouraged in many peer groups and this makes it very difficult for
males to be hard working and studious in school;
• government / school policy may influence educational achievement more than family
background e.g. girls aren’t always sent to school / compensatory education etc;
• other reasonable response.

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15. To what extent is education a major factor in improving an individual’s life chances?

Life Chances – the opportunities that individuals have to improve their lives.
Candidates should show awareness of the ways that education can improve a person’s life
chances and should also consider how life chances are already fixed and cannot be changed by
education. Factors to do with ethnicity, gender and social class may be referred to here.

Possible answers:
For:
• functionalists see education as being meritocratic and so by working hard you will be
successful and will improve your life chances;
• educational qualifications are seen in MIS’s as being vital in order to obtain professional and
high status jobs;
• higher education is thought to be a major factor in determining the type and level of job a
person can obtain – this then can be life changing;
• education is thought to lead to social mobility, offering individuals the opportunity to change
their social status and lifestyle;
• education is free for children in many countries and so opens doors for everybody in terms of
increasing life chances;
• education may lead to improved and widened social networks which may heighten job
opportunities and prospects;
• education can lift poor people out of poverty and break the cycle;
• education allows for equality of opportunity regardless of a person’s social characteristics
(gender/ethnicity/social class);
• compensatory education and/or positive discrimination can improve the life chances of
disadvantaged groups;
• the teaching of the hidden curriculum promotes life skills and ensures that students know the
expected norms and values in order to function successfully and so improves life chances;
• other reasonable response.

Against:
• those with more money have better chances of being successful in education than poorer
people e.g. through private education, which then affects life chances;
• despite girls performing better than boys in education in many societies, when it comes to life
chances, males still fare better e.g. the gender pay gap;
• ethnic minorities do not do as well in education as the ethnic majority and therefore do not
have improved life chances;
• Marxists do not believe that education is meritocratic and instead see it as an institution that
maintains social inequalities and thus does not change life chances as it is a tool to keep the
working class in their place;
• feminists believe that patriarchal ideologies are so ingrained in society that educational
performance is irrelevant in determining life chances;
• life chances may be fixed and ascribed by social characteristics and so education cannot affect
life chances (ascribed status);
• other social agents e.g. the peer group may be more influential than education in terms of
improving life chances;
• other reasonable response

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16. To what extent does private education challenge the functionalist view that education
is meritocratic?

Arguments for:
• private education gets better results and is fee paying – this excludes some students from
being able to attend;
• private schools operate the old boys network and so make it easier for some students to access
elite jobs and experiences than others – social capital;
• private schools attract the best paid and best qualified teachers therefore this, alongside small
class sizes, makes private education superior – this is not meritocratic;
• private schools according to Marxists foster a culture of elitism, making those that attend feel
they are superior to others because of their wealth, education and status;
• top universities in the world are dominated by private school students, e.g. Cambridge and
Oxford in the UK which seems to suggest that a private education results in improved life
chances;
• studies show that there is a correlation between a person achieving a well-paid, elite, high
status job in society and their attendance at a private school, this is not meritocratic;
• Marxists believe private schools are a tool of the state that exists in order to ensure that the
higher classes pass on their privileges to their children so resulting in social closure;
• many private schools are single sex and may reflect the gendered culture of the society
meaning that one gender has improved life chances over the other;
• private schools typically operate an interview policy with parents and students as part of the
selection process. Those from the higher classes are more likely to get through this procedure as
they already have the elaborated code and cultural capital (Bourdieu) that is so highly valued by
private schools;
• any other reasonable response.

Arguments against:
• private schools all offer scholarships and bursaries to ensure that those intelligent students
from poorer backgrounds are able to attend;
• curriculum – the (national) curriculum is standardised across different types of school and
therefore what a pupil is taught is the same regardless of which type of school is attended – this
is meritocratic;
• compensatory education schemes and positive discrimination means that in some
circumstances a poorer student has a better chance of being accepted to a private school than a
higher class student regardless of their intelligence or test scores;
• in private schools, teachers do not necessarily have to be qualified and therefore it may well be
that students that attend these types of schools actually receive a worse quality education than
that provided by the state;
• competition exists even within a private school – in order to achieve success hard work and
effort is still required, i.e. meritocracy;
• it is actually meritocratic that the best students are offered the best opportunities for success
in private schools (role allocation or sifting and sorting);
• in a postmodern society characterised by diversity, private schools sit alongside many other
different types of schools as just another option for parents and students – there are educational
institutions to suit everybody today;
• students who work hard at school will do well and be duly rewarded regardless of the type of
school attended;
• it is only a minority of students that receive a private education – most students will be
educated in the state/comprehensive system which is meritocratic as all students can be
admitted;
• any other reasonable response.

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17. To what extent is the feminist view of education accurate?

Candidates should consider feminist views of education in their answer and debate the accuracy
of the claims. In evaluation alternative theories such as
Marxism and functionalism may be considered but this is not essential.
Candidates may look at subjects studied, types of school, teachers, classrooms, curriculum etc.
Local examples may well be used and should be credited.

Possible answers:
FOR
• in some countries, today and in the past, the education of boys is seen to be more important
than the education of girls;
• the gendered curriculum – the content of education has often been different for boys and girls
e.g. through the subjects offered to them;
• feminists believe that schools, like the other agents of socialisation, send out the message to
both boys and girls that boys are superior – they reinforce and maintain patriarchy;
• feminists believe that education sends out the message to girls and boys that girls should
lower their expectations and accept traditional/segregated gender roles in the future;
• gendered subject choice – even in countries where boys and girls have access to the same
subjects, they are pushed towards different choices e.g. girls into cookery and childcare, boys
into sciences, technology etc;
• teachers may have higher expectations of boys and encourage and push them into future
careers whereas girls may be assumed to be heading for marriage and motherhood;
• gender role models in schools – headteachers and senior staff are often male which gives
pupils the impression that men are better suited to leadership roles than women;
• some feminists believe that inside the classroom boys dominate the space and the teacher’s
attention, leaving girls on the ‘sidelines’;
• textbooks – these can be criticised by feminists for the often stereotypical representations of
males and females;
• even when girls do better than boys in education, feminists note that this does not translate
into pay and status in the workplace;
• other reasonable response.

AGAINST
• equal opportunities legislation has changed practices in schools and ensured, through things
such as the national curriculum and positive discrimination, that girls and boys have the same
opportunities;
• many believe the feminist views to be out-dated as girls now outperform boys at every level of
education;
• single sex schools can challenge feminist views as here there is only one sex – results for girls
are typically better than for boys;
• positive female role models around the world have raised female aspirations and girls now
grasp all the opportunities that education offers them to be successful;
• representations of males and females in textbooks have changed to show the more equal
world that we now live in;
• more women are obtaining the highest positions in education, as senior leaders and
headteachers – this motivates females to do well and encourages them to believe they can be
successful;
• school – functionalists say that education is meritocratic therefore anyone can be successful as
long as they work hard, gender is irrelevant;
• social class – this factor may be more important than gender according to Marxists in
determining educational success e.g. elitism, private education, capital;

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• ethnicity – this factor may be more important than gender in determining educational success
e.g. institutional racism, labelling;
• other reasonable response.

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