June 07 (a) Explain what is meant by.social solidarity. (Item 1A, line 2). (2 marks)

June 07(a) Explain what is meant by .social

solidarity. (Item 1A, line 2). (2 marks)

AnsTwo marks for an appropriate explanation or

definition, such as: individual members in society feeling part of a wider community, a sense of belonging etc.

(b) Suggest two ways in which schools are .based on meritocratic principles. (Item 1A, line 7) (4 marks)

Two marks for each of two ways suggested, such as:• education is free;• educational success is measured against external

national standards (ie exams);• those that work hard achieve success;• the most intelligent are the most successful;• the education system treats everyone fairly, eg

same rules apply to all;• everyone has the same opportunity to, eg take an

exam, take a subject;• schools reward ability, eg sporting or academic;• teachers are promoted according to their worth.

(c) Suggest three ways in which school prepares pupils for work Item 1A. (6 marks)

Two marks for each of three appropriate ways suggested, such as:

• teaching specific skills;• socialising pupils into appropriate values;• teaching them social skills;• role allocation/social selection;• learn to work in hierarchy;• motivation by extrinsic rewards;• rules and regulations, eg punctuality, dress

code.

(d) Identify and briefly explain two criticisms that may be made of the functionalist view of the role of the education system (Item 1A). (8 marks)

Two marks for each of two appropriate criticisms identified, such as:

• wrongly assumes education instils consensual values;

• deterministic;• equal opportunities do not exist;• education system fails to prepare young

people adequately for work.Continued..............

A further two marks for each of these explained, such as:

• deterministic: many functionalists wrongly assume that pupils passively accept the values they are taught and never reject them;

• equal opportunities do not exist: achievement is greatly influenced by social backgrounds such as class, ethnicity etc;

• education system fails to prepare young people adequately for work: from a New Right perspective

the education system fails to prepare pupils adequately for work because of a failure to teach the appropriate skills/values/attitudes etc.

Jan - 07(a) Explain what is meant by .deferred

gratification. (Item 1A, line 8) (2 marks)

AnsTwo marks for an appropriate explanation or

definition, such as:• the ability to postpone satisfaction;• future-time orientation or similar

(b) Identify two features of .anti-school subcultures. (Item 1A, line 10). (4 marks)

Two marks for each of two appropriate features, such as:

• lack of respect for teachers or the school;• truancy;• habitual rule breaking;• lack of interest in academic work eg failure to do

homework;• poor exam results;• immediate gratification;• collectivism;• likely to be boys;• likely to be working class.

(c) Suggest three ways in which children’s cultural background may fail .to equip them to meet the demands of schooling. (Item 1A, lines 6 . 7). (6 marks)

Two marks for each of three appropriate ways, such as:

• lack of positive role models;• parents may not be supportive;• parents with low levels of education may not be able

to offer help with homework etc;• friends/peers may discourage educational ambitions;• schools/teachers may make negative assumptions

based on cultural background;• fatalism;• lack of cultural capital;• restricted code.

(d) Identify and briefly explain two reasons, apart from those referred to in Item 1A, which might explain why boys .tend to do less well than girls. in school (Item 1A, line 9).

(8 marks)

Two marks for each of two reasons identified, such as:

examination system may favour girls;• the school may not make sufficient

allowance for boys. interests;• girls. performance has improved as more

employment opportunities become available to them;

• family structure.Continued

June 06(a) Explain what is meant by .universalistic

norms. (Item 1B, line 7). (2 marks)

AnsTwo marks for an appropriate explanation or

definition, such as that there is one set of rules for everyone; that everyone is judged by the same standards, or similar.

One mark for an example only, eg all having to wear school uniform, equal opportunity.

Ques(b) Identify two policies that have .aimed

to introduce .market forces. into education. (Item

1A, lines 1 . 2). (4 marks)

Two marks for each of two appropriate policies suggested, such as:

• league tables/SATS/exam results;• formula funding;• diversity of schools; eg faith, specialist, private,

grant maintained etc;• school control of own admissions criteria;• school control of own discipline/exclusions

policies (allows them to get rid of .liability students.);

• schools. promotional activities;• LMS/LMC;• tuition fees;• National Curriculum;• Ofsted.

Ques(c) Suggest three reasons, why boys tend

to under-achieve in school compared with girls (Item 1A, lines 9 . 10). (6 marks)

Two marks for each of three appropriate reasons suggested, such as:

• boys have more behavioural problems;• male anti-school subcultures;• role models at home: many boys come from

female-headed lone parent families;• role models at school: most teachers are female;• decline of men.s jobs/nothing to aspire to;• labelling by schools;• coursework favours girls;• girls. earlier intellectual maturity/greater

concentration span;• girls. greater linguistic ability.

(d) Identify and briefly explain two reasons for ethnic differences in educational achievement, apart from marketisation policies (Item 1A). (8 marks)

AnsTwo marks for each of two appropriate

reasons identified, such as:• ethnocentric curriculum;• teacher racism/stereotyping;• poverty;• cultural deprivation;• English as a second language.Continued..................

A further two marks for each of these explained, such as:

• Ethnocentric curriculum: the curriculum devalues or ignores minority cultures, causing low self-esteem and under-achievement.

• Poverty: Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Afro-Caribbeans are more likely to face material hardships eg than whites and this leads to early leaving, inability to afford educational aids etc.

• Cultural deprivation: some minorities fail to socialise their children appropriately . eg lacking appropriate language skills or achievement orientation needed for educational success.

January 06(a) Explain what is meant by .cultural capital.

(Item 1A, line 8). (2 marks)

Two marks for an appropriate explanation or definition, such as the values, knowledge, attitudes, skills, tastes etc. possessed by the upper/middle class, or the values, knowledge etc. that give one class an educational advantage.

(b) Suggest two criticisms that could be made of Marxist views of education (Item 1A).

(4 marks)

Two marks for each of two appropriate criticisms identified, such as:

• neglects gender inequalities;• neglects ethnic inequalities;• too deterministic;• romanticises working-class pupils

as .revolutionaries.;• doesn.t explain satisfactorily why some

working-class pupils do succeed;• explanations/concepts untestable or

unsupported by evidence (e.g. Halsey on cultural capital).

Ques(c) Identify three features of the restricted

speech code (Item 1A, lines 10-11). (6 marks)

Two marks for each of three appropriate features identified, such as:

• used by the working class;• short/incomplete sentences;• often reduced to gestures;• context-bound/particularistic

meanings/speaker assumes audience shares same frame of reference;

• not used in education;• a product of repetitive, unskilled work;• a product of positional/rigid family

structures.

Ques(d) Identify and briefly describe two ways in

which schooling in capitalist society may mirror

the world of work (Item 1A, line 4). (8 marks)

Two marks for each of two appropriate ways identified, such as that both school and work are

characterised by:• hierarchy of authority;• alienation;• extrinsic satisfaction;• fragmentation/compartmentalisation;• competition and division;• levels of autonomy/supervision vary for

different groups.

Continued......................

A further two marks for each of these satisfactorily described, such as:

• Hierarchy of authority; the schools. hierarchy of head . teachers . pupils etc. mirrors that of work: boss . supervisors . workers etc.

• Alienation: pupils lack control over their education (e.g. timetabling, what to study); workers lack of control over production (e.g. what to produce, how, when, where etc.).

• Extrinsic satisfaction: pupils study to gain grades, not from interest in the subject itself; workers work to gain wages, not for the satisfaction of doing the job itself.

• Fragmentation/compartmentalisation: knowledge is fragmented into apparently unconnected subjects; the division of labour fragments work into small, meaningless, apparently unconnected tasks

Ques(a) Explain what is meant by .streaming.

(Item 1A, line 3). (2 marks)

AnsTwo marks for an appropriate explanation or

definition, such as separating children of different ability into different classes, or teaching pupils of similar ability in the same class etc.

Ques(b) Identify and briefly explain one criticism

made of the labelling theory of educational under-achievement. (4 marks)

Two marks for an appropriate criticism identified, such as that it:

• is deterministic;• assumes no other causes are important;• assumes those labelled are aware of the label;• doesn.t explain origins of labels;• doesn.t explain consistency of labels/groups

labelled;• relies on a flawed methodology.Continued.............................

Ques(c) Suggest three examples of how the

curriculum and/or the ways school is organised may be ethnocentric. (Item 1A, lines 3 . 4). (6 marks)

Two marks for each of three appropriate examples, such as:

• dress/uniform requirements based on western norms;

• not providing halal meals;• religious assemblies based on one religion

only;• holidays based on the Christian calendar;• arrangements for PE/games (showers,

changing etc);• subject content: note that specific features of

different subjects count as separate examples, e.g. from

literature, foreign languages, history, geography, art, music, RE.

Ques(d) Identify and briefly explain two factors

apart from those referred to in Item 1A that may account for the educational under-achievement of boys. (8 marks)

AnsTwo marks for each of two appropriate factors

identified, such as:• lack of male role models in lone parent

families;• education perceived as feminine;• anti-school subcultures;• lack of male job opportunities;• over-confidence in own abilities;• more behavioural problems.Continued............................................

A further two marks for each of these satisfactorily explained, such as:

• Education perceived as feminine: e.g. mothers not fathers read to children; teaching is an increasingly feminised profession, so few educational male role models.

• Anti-school subcultures: boys. subcultures are often macho and anti-school and those who appear to take school seriously may be bullied.

• Lack of male job opportunities: decline of traditional male jobs de-motivates boys who conclude there is nothing to strive for in school.

• More behavioural problems: means boys are more likely to be put in remedial groups, excluded, not favoured by selective/successful schools.

Jan 05(a) Explain what is meant by .material

deprivation. (Item 1A, line 1). (2 marks)

(b) Suggest two reasons why many working-class parents may fail to attend parents evenings, apart from lack of interest (Item 1A, lines 5 . 6). (4 marks)

AnsTwo marks for each of two appropriate reasons

suggested, such as:• feelings of social inferiority to teachers;• lack of education/unable to understand the

schoolwork;• cannot afford childminders for other children;• have to work longer hours to make living wage;• more likely to be shift workers.Note: No marks for parents don.t value

education.

Ques(c) Identify three policies that government

or educational bodies have introduced to overcome children.s cultural deprivation (Item 1A, lines 8 . 9). (6 marks)

AnsTwo marks for each of three appropriate

policies identified, such as:• Headstart;• Sure Start;• EAZs;• parenting classes;• parental basic education provision;• pre-school provision;• educational TV programmes.

Ques(d) Identify and briefly explain two reasons

why girls are .now generally out-performingboys at all levels of schooling. (Item 1A, line 13). (8 marks)

AnsTwo marks for each of two appropriate

reasons identified, such as:• introduction of coursework;• changes in the family;• changes in the labour market;• the impact of feminism;• equal opportunities policies in education.

A further two marks for each of these explained, such as:

• Introduction of coursework: has enabled girls to do better as they are more organised, meticulous, persistent, etc than boys and this is rewarded in coursework.

• Changes in the family: e.g. more divorce has given girls a greater incentive to gain useful qualifications, as they cannot now expect to be full-time housewives permanently provided for by their husbands.

• Changes in the labour market: e.g. greater numbers of women working and opportunities for promotion have given girls the incentive to achieve qualifications with which to pursue a career.

June 04(a) Explain what is meant by the .self-

fulfilling prophecy. (Item A, line 7). (2 marks)

AnsTwo marks for an appropriate explanation or

definition, such as: when a pupil comes to live up to the label given to him/her.

Ques(b) Identify two other factors or processes

within schools, that may negatively affect working-class pupils. achievement. (4 marks)

AnsTwo marks for each of two appropriate

factors/processes, such as:• anti-school pupil subcultures;• streaming/banding;• setting;• truancy;• bullying

Ques(c) Suggest three .material factors. that

may be responsible for working-classunder-achievement in education (Item A, line 9). (6 marks)

Two marks for each of three appropriate factors, such as:• overcrowding;• insecure accommodation (eg B&B);• inadequate diet (illness/absence; hunger/lack of

concentration in class);• cannot afford home learning resources (toys, books,

computer);• having to earn money so cannot study (too tired; early

leaving/university drop-out);• moving house into different catchment areas;• essential for schools . eg geometry sets;• cannot afford private provision;• stigma of free school meals leading to non-attendance etc;• H E fees;• travel costs;• working class parents. lack of time.

Ques(d) Identify and briefly explain two .cultural

differences between the classes. that may explain class differences in achievement (Item A, line 10). (8 marks)

ANSTwo marks for each of two appropriate

differences identified, such as:• language/speech codes;• parental encouragement/attitudes to

education;• cultural capital/parental knowledge of

education;• immediate vs deferred gratification;• present- vs future-time orientation.Continued....................................

A further two marks for each of these satisfactorily explained, such as:• Language/speech codes: middle class use the same

elaborated code as teachers, textbooks, exam papers etc, so are better equipped for success than working class who only have the restricted code.

• Cultural capital/parental knowledge of education: middle class parents, being better educated themselves, have better knowledge/skills with which to negotiate the system/choose more effectively.

• Present- vs future-time orientation: middle class are future-oriented, so more likely to see education as a meaningful part of a long-term career plan, whereas working class or present-oriented (reflecting realities of working-class life), so don.t see education as a stepping stone to the future.