Sociology homework - by Saturday 14 March

Daisy, Chee and Elvira:

Blog about:

The application of sociological research methods to the study of education

Quantitative and qualitative data in education
The dominance of statistics (eg examresults, league tables)
Positivist and interpretivist approaches as applied to education
Issues, strengths and limitations and examples of the application to the study of education of the main sources of data studied
Questionnaireso interviews (formal/structured; informal/unstructured)
Participant and non-participant observationo experiments
Use of documents, official statistics and other secondary data
The theoretical, practical and ethical considerations influencing choice of topic,choice of method(s) and the conduct of research on education.

Homework for Mary, Chee, Maria and Elvira

Blog about:

The significance of educational policies, including selection,comprehensivisation and marketisation, for an understanding of the structure,role, impact and experience of education

Independent schools
Selection; the tripartite system: reasons for its introduction, forms of selection,entrance exams
Comprehensivisation: reasons for its introduction, debates as to its success
Marketisation: the 1988 reforms – competition and choice; new types of schools(CTCs, academies, specialist schools, growth of faith schools)
Recent policies in relation to the curriculum, testing and exam reforms, leaguetables, selection, Special Educational Needs (SEN), etc
Recent policies and trends in pre-school education and higher education.

Cheeeeee, Wendy, Elvira

Blog about:

Relationships and processes within schools, with particular reference toteacher/pupil relationships, pupil subcultures, the hidden curriculum, and theorganisation of teaching and learning

School processes and the organisation of teaching and learning: school ethos;streaming and setting; mixed ability teaching; the curriculum; overt and hidden

The ‘ideal pupil’; labelling; self-fulfilling prophecy

School subcultures (eg as described by Willis, Mac an Ghaill) related to class,gender and ethnicity

Teachers and the teaching hierarchy; teaching styles

The curriculum, including student choice.

Mary, Daisy, Elvira

Please blog about:


Differential educational achievement of social groups by social class, genderand ethnicity in contemporary society

Statistics on educational achievement by class, gender and ethnicity; trends overtime

Social class and educational achievement: home environment; cultural capital,material deprivation; language (Bernstein); school factors, relationship betweenachievement by class in education and social mobility

Gender and educational achievement: feminist accounts of gender-biasedschooling; the concern over boys’ ‘underachievement’ and suggested reasons;subject choice; gender identities and schooling

Ethnicity and educational achievement: patterns; reasons for variations;multicultural and anti-racist education; experience of minorities in different types ofschools

The relationship between class, gender and ethnicity

The effects of changes on differential achievement by social class, gender and ethnicity.

Finally, Mary, Chee, Maria and Elvira...

Please blog about:

The role and purpose of education, including vocational education and training,in contemporary society

Functionalist and New Right views of the role and purpose of education:transmission of values, training workforce

Marxist and other conflict views of the role and purpose of education: social control,ideology, hegemony; ‘deschoolers’ (Illich, Friere): socialisation into conformity bycoercion

Vocational education and training: the relationship between school and work:human capital, training schemes, correspondence theory.

Good!