Sociology · May / June 2022 · Paper 21 · Question 2
0495
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According to patterns and trends in educational achievement, not all pupils have an equal chance to succeed. Some sociologists believe that schools encourage social mobility and both the formal 2 and hidden curriculum discourage immediate gratification. Other sociologists believe the type of school a pupil attends and teachers’ expectations also affect educational achievement.
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2(a)[2]
What is meant by the ‘immediate gratification’? One mark for a partial definition, e.g. not wanting to wait for rewards. Two marks for a clear definition, e.g. having short term aims and goals and wanting rewards straight away.
2(b)[4]
Describe two different types of school. Possible answers:
state – schools that are run, directly or indirectly, by the Government and are funded through systems such as taxation;comprehensive – non-selective secondary schools, accepting all children of that age and of all abilities in a local area;private – a school that is not run or controlled by the Government and is funded privately through tuition fees;single-sex – schools that are made up of students all of the same sex e.g. an all boys or an all girls school;faith – schools that are controlled by a religious organisation and are partly selective as they can give priority to children who share and are members of the school’s faith and ethos;primary – schools that are responsible for the first years of compulsory formal education;secondary – schools that continue a child’s formal education after the primary stage and are where external assessments, e.g. IGCSE’s, A Levels and IB’s, are sat;any other reasonable response. One mark for each point correctly identified (up to maximum of two). One mark for each point that is developed (up to a maximum of two).2(c)[6]
Explain how students can be influenced by the hidden curriculum. Possible answers:
punctuality – a key feature of the hidden curriculum and a main way that students can be influenced to realise the importance placed on being on time;deference to authority – students are taught to accept what those in authority tell them to do without question and understand that they will be punished if they don’t do so;gender roles – feminism – teachers often stereotype boys and girls, e.g. asking the boys to carry heavy boxes and the girls to tidy up – this reinforces what the students have learnt about traditional gender roles and expectations;socialisation – the hidden curriculum is a part of the secondary socialisation process found in schools whereby acceptable norms, values and behaviours are learnt and reinforced without students even realising;social control – students learn very quickly that they can be sanctioned and rewarded for their actions, not just formally but also informally and this encourages their conformity;social expectations – the hidden curriculum teaches and reinforces what society sees as acceptable and expected of its members – this could be to do with status, position, gender, age etc.;ideological control – Marxism – students are taught to be passive and submissive, to accept capitalism and their place within the system unquestioningly;ethnocentrism – the hidden curriculum is often said to promote (alongside the formal curriculum) the idea of ethnocentrism, that the majority culture is somehow more valued and important than that of minorities;preparation for the world of work – the hidden curriculum, according to Marxists, effectively prepares students for the world of work, ensuring they are efficient ‘wage slaves’ of the capitalist system;any other reasonable response. Band 0 [0 marks] No creditworthy response. Band 1 [1–3 marks] Answers in this band will show only a limited awareness of the question. Responses may be short and un/underdeveloped. At the bottom of the band (1 mark), expect one weak point. Higher in the band (2–3 marks), candidates may offer more than one weak point, but there may be a tendency towards simplistic answers, engaging with sociological ideas without using sociological language. Band 2 [4–6 marks] Answers in this band will have clear and accurate explanation, showing good sociological knowledge and understanding. Sociological terms and concepts should be expected and explained. At the bottom of the band, the range of points covered may be narrow or lack detail. Higher in the band, answers will cover more than one point in a well-developed way or cover several points in less detail.2(d)[8]
Explain why education is important for social mobility. Possible answers:
equality of opportunity – functionalists believe that all students have the same opportunities and chances of success in the education system which enables people to move up the social ladder;meritocracy – all students can reach the level they deserve and have worked for as it is based on merit not ascribed status – this allows people to attain highly paid and high status jobs if they work hard;scholarships – these exist to support under-privileged students in obtaining the best education possible and allowing them to leave their roots behind as they may attend elite universities and enter elite professions whereby their social networks are strengthened further still which can result in upward social mobility;positive discrimination – upward social mobility is supported by compensatory education initiatives within education that bridge the gap between students from different social backgrounds and/or lower entry requirements – they lift the aspirations and life chances of those typically at the bottom of the social hierarchy;feminism – through education and qualifications females can lift their social position and access higher education, better jobs etc.;universal standards – all students are judged in the same way based on the same criteria within education and thus background, social factors and ascribed status become irrelevant – meaning those at the bottom of the social ladder can more easily climb to the top;self-negating prophecy – despite teacher labels and stereotypes students can refuse to accept these effectively ‘proving their teacher wrong’, and climbing the social ladder and defying expectations;any other reasonable response. Band 0 [0 marks] No creditworthy response. Band 1 [1–3 marks] Answers in this band will show only a limited awareness of the question. A tendency to description is likely. Responses may be short and undeveloped and points stated without explanation. Sociological terms and concepts are unlikely to be used. At the bottom of the band (1 mark), expect one weak point. Higher in the band (2–3 marks), candidates may offer more than one weak point. Band 2 [4–6 marks] Answers in this band will have clear and accurate explanation, showing good sociological knowledge and understanding. Sociological terms and concepts should be expected and explained. At the bottom of the band, the range of points covered may be narrow or lack detail. Higher in the band, answers will cover more than one point in a well-developed way or cover several points in less detail. Band 3 [7–8 marks] Answers in this band will show good sociological knowledge and understanding and will be well-developed and explained. Sociological terms and concepts will be used accurately overall. Answers will be well-focused on the question and there will be a range of points presented. At the top of the band explanations will be clear throughout.2(e)[15]
To what extent is educational achievement influenced by schools? Possible answers: Arguments for:
type of school attended – statistics show that students who are able to attend a private or selective school are more likely to do better in their education than those who attend state or non-selective schools;the teacher – e.g. Rutter’s research – this shows that some teachers are more effective than others in terms of helping their students to make good progress e.g. through their organisation, ability to engage students, clarity, feedback etc.;single-sex education – this has been proven to benefit both males and females and to lead to better examination results;ethnocentric curriculum – if schools run these, perhaps combined with institutional racism, then differences in educational achievement for ethnic groups would seem to be down to the school and the teacher stereotypes;Becker’s labelling theory – he found that teachers judge pupils on non- academic factors such as appearance, manners and speech codes and judge them on how closely they match the ‘ideal student’ stereotype – this can then affect teacher expectations and setting/streaming and so impact upon educational achievement;self-fulfilling prophecy – Rosenthal and Jacobson – students begin to act in a way that matches what their teachers think about and expect of them which will then either negatively or positively (halo effect) impact upon educational achievement;gender – female role models are noticeably missing from many high status positions in schools and certain subject areas (e.g. physics, economics) within schools which sends out the message that gender roles are very different – educational achievement can then be affected e.g. girls aspirations are lowered;Marxism – school systems and structures are thought to be based on middle class values e.g. the focus on elaborated code (Bernstein) and accepting authority, which teach students their place, both within school and in wider society. If working class students believe they are destined for manual low-paid jobs then they are unlikely to try hard at school so impacting upon their educational achievement;any other reasonable response. Arguments against:social class and material factors – economic capital (Marxism) is said to be crucial in determining educational achievement e.g. ability to afford ICT, private tutoring, extra-curricular activities, a quiet place to study, resources etc. – not the school;ethnicity – patterns of educational achievement show that there are considerable variations between different ethnic groups suggesting that ethnicity (culture, language, diet, gender expectations, customs, religion etc.) may be more important than school;gender – a student’s gender may be more significant when it comes to educational achievement e.g. the laddish culture of boys makes it difficult to be academic and to study hard for fear of being ridiculed (Messerschmidt);home and community factors – support of parents, community norms and values, location of the school etc. may all be more important in determining educational achievement than the school itself;cultural factors – the amount of cultural capital (Bourdieu) a student has may be a better explanation of their educational achievement than school factors e.g. access to libraries, museum and theatre trips, visits to art galleries, reading at home etc.;individual effort – schools and teachers do not determine educational achievement as within a meritocratic system (functionalism) it is down to the work ethic and efforts of the individual;peer group – the peer group that the student belongs to may be more influential in determining educational achievement e.g. anti-school vs pro-school sub-cultures, Willis’s research etc.;linguistic factors – research by Bernstein shows that whether the student uses an elaborated or restricted code of language is likely to influence their educational achievement;too deterministic – whilst school and teachers may influence the educational achievement of students they are unlikely to determine it;multiple factors – school and teachers are likely to be influential on many students but they are also likely to work in conjunction with a range of other factors (e.g. parental support, economic capital etc.) rather than in isolation;any other reasonable response. Band 0 [0 marks] No creditworthy response. Band 1 [1–4 marks] Answers in this band may be vague and largely based on common sense showing limited knowledge of the debate. Use of sociological terms or concepts is very unlikely. Responses may be short, undeveloped and one- sided. Lower in the band (1–2 marks), expect one or two weak points. Higher in the band (3–4 marks) candidates may offer more than two points and provide a weak definition of key terms in the question. Band 2 [5–8 marks] In this band candidates will show some basic knowledge of the debate. Alternatively, they may offer an answer which is list-like in nature but there will be no real attempt to assess the issues raised by the question. There may be limited/some use of sociological terms or concepts. Responses may be underdeveloped and lack range. Answers may be simplistic and two- sided or only cover one side of the debate. Lower in the band, the response may be rather narrow in the points covered and there may be some development. Higher in the band, more points are likely to be covered with some development. Alternatively, a list-like answer with some development covering both sides of the argument may score up to 8 marks. A one-sided answer cannot score higher than 8 marks. Band 3 [9–12 marks] Answers in this band will show good sociological knowledge and understanding of the debate. Sociological terms and concepts will be used with greater accuracy and/or frequency. For the most part, answers will be well-developed, focused on the question and there will be a range of points presented. There will be a two-sided response, but it may lack range on one side. At the bottom of the band, candidates may provide a narrower range of developed points. At the top of the band, expect a wider range of developed points and clear focus on the question. Band 4 [13–15 marks] Answers in this band will show excellent knowledge and understanding of the debate. There will be a strong grasp of the arguments as well as accurate and frequent use of sociological terms and concepts. Answers will be well-developed, clearly focused on the question and discuss a wide range of points. Responses will be two-sided and have a range of points on each side. At the bottom of the band (13 marks), the answer may lack a specific conclusion. Higher in the band, there will be a clear attempt to offer an assessment of the ‘To what extent?’ part of the question through a focused conclusion.
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