1. Education & Society - How fair are educational systems?
- Are they “meritocratic”?
- Does it matter what your social class background is?

2. Why do working class children tend to perform worse than middle class children at school?
2002 – General Household Survey
Social class 1 (higher professionals)
78% have university qualifications
3% have no qualifications
Social class 6 (unskilled working class)
1% have university qualifications
74% have no qualifications

3. History of education (in Britain) Functionalist views of education
LECTURE OUTLINE
What is “education”?
History of education (in Britain)
Functionalist views of education
Critical theories of education
Education and social class
Bowles & Gintis, Willis,
Bernstein, Bourdieu
5. Evaluation

4. WHAT IS “EDUCATION”? 1) Primary Socialisation - Childhood - family
2) Secondary Socialisation
Childhood - outside family
a) Informal: Peer groups, mass media
b) Formal: Education system

5. WHAT IS “EDUCATION”?
Education – “the social institution guiding the transmission of knowledge, job skills, cultural norms and values” (Macionis & Plummer)
Schooling – “formal instruction under the direction of specially trained teachers”
(Macionis & Plummer)

6. WHAT IS EDUCATION?
Modern formal education is specific to modern societies
Pre- and non-modern societies
Informal
Practical skills / non-abstract
Modern formal education
Abstraction & Standardisation
Bureaucracy
Credentialism
Meritocracy

7. HISTORY OF EDUCATION (in Britain)
Prior to mid-19th century:
Only elites receive a
formal education
Gendered:
“Gentlemen”
“Ladies”

8. From mid-19th century onwards:
Development of the
Industrial Revolution
- need more skilled workers
 mass education
basic literacy and numeracy
citizenship skills

9. Into the 20th century
FREE and COMPULSORY primary education for all (up to 11 years old )
THEN
FREE and COMPULSORY primary AND secondary education for all (up to 15 years old)
1972 – School leaving age raised to 16 years old

10. Emile Durkheim; Talcott Parsons
FUNCTIONALIST VIEWS
Emile Durkheim; Talcott Parsons
Each part of a society (a social institution) contributes to the smooth-running operation of the whole society
Each of the parts must work together effectively with all the other parts
Education helps keep the whole society functioning
Education works together with the other social institutions (e.g. economy, political system)

11. a) Education teaches work skills
- Necessary for the economy
b) Education teaches citizenship
Necessary for the political system
c) Education teaches shared ideas, values and morals
Necessary for society as a whole

12. Modern societies are “meritocracies”
NATURAL INTELLIGENCE + EFFORT
= EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS
SUCCESS
= good qualifications
= high-level employment
= wealth & high social status
Social background is irrelevant

13. CRITICAL THEORIES
Education reflects the nature of an unequal and unfair society
Education helps the socially highly privileged retain their wealth & power
Education works such that the less privileged continue to lack wealth & power
4. “Meritocracy” is more myth than reality

14. Education & Social Class
Karl Marx (mid 19th century)
a) Capitalist society is run in the
interests of powerful groups
- Ruling classes / working classes
b) Social institutions - both individually and together - work to:
maintain the power of the powerful
keep the less powerful in their place

15. Education & the economy
- Ensures workforce is passive and compliant
- Workforce accepts being exploited
Education and the political system
- Ensures working classes accept the political system as legitimate (which is controlled by the ruling classes)
- Prevents revolutions and rebellions

16. Education and ideas, values
and morals
Reflect ruling class interests / thoroughly biased
Education enforces ruling class ideas and values among the working classes
Often done in a hidden way:
“Hidden agendas” within school curriculum

17. Education & Society 2 Are education systems “meritocratic”?
YES: functionalist views
NO: critical theories
Marx:
education is a tool of the ruling classes
working classes socialised

18. BOWLES & GINTIS “Hidden curriculum”
Education apparently teaches ideas and skills
Education actually socialises people into certain sorts of attitudes (about themselves and society)
Done subconsciously & unintentionally

19. Upper middle class (ruling class)
(Often in private education)
Think for themselves
Leaders / holding authority
Working classes
Obedience
Teachers as authority figures
Time is managed
Accepting orders
Lower middle class
Obey orders from those above
Give orders to those below

20. Paul Willis “Learning to Labour” (1977)
- How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs
An English secondary school
Two main types of male pupil:
The “Lads” - bad behaviour; academic failures
The “Swots” – good behaviour; academic successes

21. 1) “Bad behaviour” is socially created
“lads” are lower working class (unskilled)
see little point in formal education
see no hope of social advancement
2) “Bad behaviour” is useful for capitalist society
- capitalist economy - unskilled jobs
capitalist system REQUIRES some people to fail
- happens mostly unintentionally

22. BASIL BERNSTEIN WORKING CLASS SPEECH “RESTRICTED CODE” - Simple words
Not fully grammatical
Slang & regional dialect
Strong local accents
MIDDLE CLASS SPEECH
“ELABORATE CODE”
More complicated words
Fully grammatical
Use of “standard English”
Weak local accents

23. Elaborate Code
Used in school
Teachers use it
Courses taught
Essays & exams
Pupils rewarded
Academic success
Restricted code
Pupils punished
Academic failure

24. “SOCIAL REPRODUCTION”
PIERRE BOURDIEU
2 QUESTIONS:
1) HOW DO MIDDLE CLASS PARENTS PASS ON THEIR ADVANTAGES IN LIFE TO THEIR CHILDREN?
(Wealth, good jobs, social status, etc.)
2) HOW DO WORKING CLASS PARENTS PASS ON THEIR DISADVANTAGES IN LIFE TO THEIR CHILDREN?
“SOCIAL REPRODUCTION”

25. SUCCESS OR FAILURE -
“CAPITAL”
WHAT TYPES? HOW MUCH OF EACH?
DEPENDS ON HOW MUCH “CAPITAL” PARENTS PASS ONTO CHILD
Types of “capital”:
1) Economic capital (money)
2) Social capital (social connections and networks)
3) Cultural capital ( a) knowledge of “high culture”; b) refined manners & language)

26. Upper middle class
(e.g. high-level lawyers):
High levels of all 3 types of capital
Lower middle class
(e.g. primary school teachers)
Middling levels of all 3 types of capital
Working class
(e.g. bus drivers)
Low levels of all 3 types of capital
(Exceptions – e.g. working class people with quite high economic capital but low cultural capital – nouveau riche)

27. Education works in ways that:
a) Retain upper middle class wealth & privilege
b) Preserve working class lack of these
c) Keep lower middle class in the middle

28. EDUCATION IS BIASED TOWARDS FAVOURING UPPER MIDDLE CLASS CHILDREN:
1) Economic capital
Can buy educational success
Private school
“Good” state school
Property prices – school catchment area
2) Social capital
Parents use social connections to get children into school of their choice
Children make useful social connections at school
“Old school tie”

29. 3. Cultural capital
i) High cultural capital:
“well-spoken”
“sophisticated” language
“good manners”
seem “intelligent”
confidence generally and in class
ii) Teachers and exam systems reward pupils with high cultural capital
They penalise those with low cultural capital
iii) Mostly unintentional and done subconsciously

30. Effects: “Self-fulfilling prophecies”
Children with high cultural capital
positively evaluated by teachers
- High self-esteem – “talented”
- Good class and exam performances
b) Children with low cultural capital
negatively evaluated by teachers
- Low self-esteem – not talented
- Poor class and exam performances
SOCIAL CLASS BACKGROUND TRANSFORMED INTO “PERSONAL TALENT”

31. BOURDIEU’S CONCLUSIONS
We do not live in a meritocracy
Education system seriously biased in favour of upper middle class
This is mostly unintentional
Amount and level of qualifications:
- natural intelligence is much less important than social background
5. Some working class children achieve educational success – but it’s a very small minority

32. EVALUATION OF CRITICAL THEORIES
Out-dated? Written in 1970s. Class structure now less static.
Over-emphasise power of upper middle class to retain educational privileges?
Under-emphasise education’s role in allowing social mobility
Enlargement of University sector - rising working-class participation in University education

33. 5. Appearance of more teachers of working class origins
Can’t explain gender differences in educational achievement
- can’t explain why girls OF ALL SOCIAL CLASSES now doing better than boys

34. EVALUATION OF CRITICAL THEORIES
1) Gap between rich and poor widening
- Less social mobility than 30 years ago
2) Universities:
Most entrants to elite universities still from elite schools and upper middle classes
Lower class students tend towards less prestigious universities
Trend towards postgraduate qualifications

35. TO WHAT DEGREE is education meritocratic?
LOOK AT THE STATISTICAL TABLES IN THE BOOKS
EVALUATE the theories in light of EVIDENCE

36. Education & Society 2
Functionalist views: modern education systems are “meritocratic” / class background irrelevant to achievement
Critical theories: modern education systems are very biased in favour of the higher classes