Sociology · May / June 2024 · Paper 22 · Question 2
0495
As printed in the paper
The question as text
Girls and boys often study different subjects in schools. Educational achievement is not the same for everyone and many sociologists argue that this is because of linguistic factors. Vocationalism 2 is now an important feature of most education systems. Many countries have laws that ensure equality of opportunities in education.
Read automatically from the paper; the printed page above is exact.
Show the answer and mark scheme
2(a)[2]
What is meant by the term ‘vocationalism’? One mark for partial definition e.g. work experience. Two marks for clear definition e.g. vocational education prepares people for work or trains them for particular jobs or careers.
2(b)[4]
Describe two examples of equal opportunities in education. Possible answers:
meritocracy – you will be setted/get results based on your effort and ability;national curriculum – all students must follow the same curriculum for core subjects which is fair and equal;free education – in many societies education is free to all, regardless of background e.g. state schools;subject choice – all students in a school have the same choice of subjects, regardless of social factors;social mobility – upward and downward mobility is a feature of life for everybody, based on educational success;comprehensive schools – these were set up to offer equality of education to all students in a local area;compensatory education – many schools use schemes such as bursaries and/or scholarships in order to ensure all social groups get equal opportunities for success (positive discrimination);co-ed teaching/schools – offering girls and boys the same educational opportunities and curriculum;any other reasonable response. One mark for each point correctly identified (up to a maximum of two). One mark for each point that is developed (up to a maximum of two).2(c)[6]
Explain how rewards are used by schools to socially control students. Possible answers:
praise, stickers, badges – can all be used to encourage socially approved behaviours and values in schools;socialisation – rewards in schools socialise students into their social expectations e.g. to use good manners will result in something positive happening/being said;being positively labelled at school – encourages social conformity as the student desires further rewards (the halo effect);manipulation – rewards allow schools to influence and control the thoughts and actions of children into believing the status quo/not rebelling (ideological control)treat trips – students can be rewarded by being allowed to go on trips if they are good/achieve certain marks;setting – if students work hard and follow the rules, they may be rewarded by moving up to a higher set or gaining better results;assemblies – these may be used to publicly congratulate and reward students who have exceeded targets/been good citizens etc. thus producing a culture whereby rewards are seen to be desirable;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 girls often study different subjects to boys? Possible answers:
feminism – girls are prepared for their traditional gender role as nurturer through subjects such as cooking and sewing, boys are prepared for their instrumental role through ‘harder’ subjects such as physics and economics;gendered role models – in schools head teachers and senior staff are often male which may encourage boys to choose subjects to study that could be equated with leadership and authority in the future e.g. those subjects perceived as ‘academic’ or ‘difficult’ – the reverse may be seen for girls;teacher expectations – teachers may have higher expectations of boys and encourage them to aim for a career through their subject choices whereas they may assume the future for girls is marriage and motherhood and thus be less inclined to encourage study of the more academic subjects;careers advice – careers advice may be based on traditional gender stereotypes;thus girls may be pushed into different subjects than boys to match these careers;
home factors – parental pressure and attitudes are likely to affect the subjects that boys and girls choose to study at school;gendered socialisation – Ann Oakley – processes such as canalisation and manipulation begin at home and may affect the aspirations and future goals of boys and girls, e.g. girls encouraged to be nurturing and feminine so choose health and social care, boys encouraged to be active and adventurous so choose PE;cultural factors – the pupil’s cultural norms and values are likely to affect subject choice at school e.g. cultures where girls are seen as having careers and being independent are likely to socialise girls differently than those where marriage and motherhood is the norm;single-sex schools – single-sex schools may offer a curriculum based upon the perceived needs of the gender they are catering for e.g. girls schools may be more likely to offer needlework, textiles and childcare and boys schools engineering, woodwork and economics;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 show basic sociological knowledge and understanding. Responses may be underdeveloped and lacking in range. At the bottom of the band, candidates are unlikely to use sociological terms and concepts accurately. Higher in the band, candidates may be beginning to use sociological terms and concepts with greater accuracy. However, some aspects of the answer may only be partially developed/explained. 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 do linguistic factors have the most influence on a student’s educational achievement? Possible answers: Arguments for:
social class – Bernstein’s restricted code – informal, everyday language with limited vocab spoken widely by the lower social classes that is discouraged in schools – this could negatively influence opportunities for working class educational achievement as this is not the language of education;social class – Bernstein’s elaborated code – expresses complex and abstract ideas, a formal style of language used in schools by teachers and found in textbooks. This is the common language code of the higher classes and so advantages them when it comes to educational achievement as they are more familiar with these codes;minority ethnic groups – may be taught in a language that is not their home language e.g. in international schools, which may lead to problems of understanding and communication thus explaining lower educational achievement;bilingualism – research indicates that those students able to speak and use more than one recognised language may have an advantage in learning in schools and thus may do better;ethnocentrism in language – some languages may be thought of by teachers as ungrammatical and incorrect e.g. patois/creole – thus teachers did not recognise when children speaking or using these languages were in fact expressing complex and abstract ideas (Labov);immigration – students recently arrived in a country and with little understanding of the official language are likely to be disadvantaged in their opportunities to succeed at school due to an inability to access the curriculum;any other reasonable response. Arguments against:linguistic influences on educational achievement are thought to be significant but this does not mean that they have the most influence on a pupil’s educational achievement, a range of factors are likely to intersect with one another;cultural influences – social class – the working class have been linked with cultural deprivation that encourages immediate rather than deferred gratification, an absence of successful well educated role models and a culture of fatalism – this may explain their educational lack of success;cultural influences – ethnicity – different ethnicities value education differently and this is likely to influence a pupil’s educational achievement e.g. Archer’s research into why Chinese students do well in education;cultural influences – gender – socialisation into gender roles starts in the primary stage and this is likely to influence aspirations – so, for example, girls may feel that qualifications are not needed if their primary role is to be a mother;material influences – social class – children living in poverty are less likely to succeed at school because of factors such as lack of supporting resources, having part-time jobs, lack of a quiet place to study, inadequate diet etc.;material influences – ethnicity – some ethnic minority groups have high numbers of their members also in the working class so they are likely to suffer from material deprivation more than the majority ethnic group which may explain their lack of educational success;material influences – gender – when a family has limited resources to spend on education, in some cultures a girl’s education may be seen as less important than that of boys;schools and teachers – teacher labelling and the setting/streaming process may be the biggest influence on how well a pupil succeeds in education;the peer group – peer pressure maybe the most important influence on educational achievement, especially for boys e.g. Willis ‘the lads’ (anti- school subcultures;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 commonsense 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 questions 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.
Make a free account to save your answers and see your weak topics and ask the AI why a wrong answer is wrong.