Sociology · Oct / Nov 2025 · Paper 21 · Question 2
0495
As printed in the paper
Show the answer and mark scheme
2(a)(i)[2]
Define the term homeschooling. Award one mark for a partial definition, e.g. parents as teachers. Award two marks for a clear definition, e.g. education of school-aged children in the home, rather than at school. Accept any other reasonable response.
2(a)(ii)[2]
Define the term formal education. Award one mark for a partial definition, e.g. education in schools. Award two marks for a clear definition, e.g. education that takes place in classrooms, with professional teachers and set content to be taught and learnt. Accept any other reasonable response.
2(b)[2]
Give two examples of gender hierarchy in schools. Award one mark for each correct example (up to a maximum of two). Possible responses:
gendered curriculum – content of lessons may emphasise male achievements and accomplishments e.g. male leaders in History;teaching of subjects – staff allocated to teach particular subjects may reflect inherent gender stereotypes in schools about the importance of particular subjects, e.g. male science teachers (high status), female cooking teachers (lower status);organisation of schools – activities for males may attract more status than those for girls, e.g. a focus on male football/cricket/rugby teams and their sporting success;positions of power – these may be more likely to be held by men within a school, e.g. headteacher, heads of faculty;classroom dynamics – male students may be allowed to dominate classroom space e.g. through sitting in the teachers eyeline, dominating classroom talk, use of equipment etc (Spender);equipment – male students tend to dominate the use of equipment within practical lessons, e.g. STEM and design technology/woodwork;teacher expectations – teachers may assume male students are more intelligent than females and so focus attention more on them;any other reasonable response.2(c)[6]
Describe three features of progressive schooling. Award one mark for each point correctly identified (up to a maximum of three). Award one mark for each point that is developed (up to a maximum of three). Possible responses:
learning by doing – activities and active learning replace books, teacher instruction and reading;critical thinking – this style of learning along with problem solving replace memorising information and rote learning;collaborative learning – working together, group tasks and developing social skills are highly valued and replace the focus on individual work and learning;autonomy – individuals must take accountability for their own decisions, expectations of responsibility replace following what someone else tells you to do;community focus – helping others, being an active part of a community are highly valued, replacing the traditional focus on academia;democratic organisation – e.g. Summerhill school – students choose which lessons they attend, students have as much power as teachers etc;self-directed activities – e.g. Montessori schools – students lead the learning collaboratively with their peers, rather than being reliant on their teachers for instruction and information;any other reasonable response.2(d)[6]
Explain three ways schools prepare students for the workplace. Award one mark for each point correctly identified (up to a maximum of three). Award one mark for each point that is developed (up to a maximum of three). Possible responses:
competition – sports, tests and exams are all competitive – students learn that they must beat others if they are to be successful – this mimics the skills required to obtain promotion and success in the workplace;vocationalism – students learn skills necessary for a particular area of work instead of the usual focus on academic learning which has little direct relevance to the workplace, e.g. training to be an electrician or a hairdresser;role allocation – functionalism – ‘sifting and sorting’ – schools ensure that learners’ abilities match the requirements of particular occupations by testing children through exams. Thus, education guides them on the most appropriate career paths, e.g. students with high grades will be best suited to the highly paid and ‘important’ jobs in society;digital literacy – schools have a bigger focus on ICT and digital skills than ever before, ensuring that students are as prepared for the global/digital world of work as possible;progressive schooling – these types of schools focus on the student making decisions and thinking critically which are valuable skills needed for the workplace;importance of punctuality – schools follow a timetable and learners have to be at particular places at a particular time or there are consequences – this prepares them for the workplace where, if they are late, they will face negative sanctions;status – learners know they are at the bottom of the status structure, being told what to do by others in schools – this prepares them for their future employee roles in the workplace where they will have to do what a boss tells them to and submit to authority;following the rules – students are socially controlled at school and receive positive and negative sanctions to ensure their conformity which is an essential skill for the workplace;functionalism – skills and attitudes – essential skills are learnt in schools to ensure competent workers in the workplace, e.g. literacy, numeracy, teamwork, ICT etc;Marxism – ideological control – through the hidden curriculum working class children learn not to have high expectations for work – school teaches them their lowly position and that this will be the same in the workplace, so maintaining ruling class control as bosses and employers;feminism – gendered expectations – girls and boys soon learn what jobs and roles are expected of males and females – this can be from teacher comments, textbook content/illustrations and from careers advice – gender stereotypes carry on from school to work, e.g. male mechanics, female nurses;any other reasonable response.2(e)[8]
Discuss why state schools are criticised. Use Table A to mark answers to this question. Possible responses:
examination results – these are not as high as the private sector, which may limit future life chances, university applications and employment possibilities;national curriculum – this gives schools and teachers little flexibility or choice in what they teach meaning that specific needs, interests and contexts cannot be accounted for;class sizes – state schools are known for their large class sizes meaning the individual needs of the student are very difficult to cater for;funding – the state sector has less money to spend on equipment, resources and facilities than the private sector and therefore this may disadvantage its learners;behaviour – state schools can be ill-disciplined with teachers having to devote valuable classroom time to dealing with discipline problems rather than focusing on learning;local area – state schools typically accept students from a local area therefore issues in the community are often brought into schools, e.g. gangs, racism, homophobia etc;teaching to the middle – the brightest students may not be stretched and challenged in the state sector thus limiting their future life chances and the less academic students may struggle to access curriculum content;excessive social control – state schools are often criticised for draconian behaviour management systems, introduced to counter poor student behaviour, that punish students for the slightest misdemeanour, resulting in passive obedience (Marxism);any other reasonable response.2(f)[14]
Evaluate the view that all ethnic groups are given equal opportunities in schools. Use Table B to mark answers to this question. Possible responses for:
comprehensive schools – students from the local area are all accepted into the school resulting in a multicultural educational environment, so offering free and equal opportunities to all students across all ethnic groups;legislation – anti-discrimination and equality laws – these ensure that all ethnic groups receive the same treatment and education within a school. Failure to do so will result in legal action being taken;official/national curriculum – school curriculums have expanded to incorporate a more diverse view of society, recognising minority ethnic achievements and role models and thus increasing ethnic minority representations. This leads to better engagement from formerly disillusioned ethnic minority students who consequently go on to succeed and achieve highly, e.g. History, Politics;value system – the values taught in schools promote ideas of meritocracy and fairness meaning that schools offer the same opportunities to all, regardless of ethnicity. Today’s education system is therefore a fair one;functionalism – the education system is fair as all children follow the same curriculum and sit the same standardised examinations – differing ethnic group outcomes are about ability differences not equality of opportunity;compensatory education – schools have programmes in place to ensure that all ethnic groups have the same opportunities to do well in education, e.g. language support classes, intervention schemes, anti-racism policies;school organisation and hierarchy – schools now have much better representation of ethnic groups as teachers and school leaders within a country, thus offering role models and future aspirations to students from all ethnic groups;any other reasonable response. Possible responses against:ethnocentric curriculum – the culture of the dominant ethnic group may be prioritised or seen as the only important one within education. This can be seen through the teaching of language, literature, religion and history and through the celebrations and festivals that are incorporated into school life. This shows that ethnic groups do not all have the same opportunities within schools;institutional racism – schools have been accused of institutional racism, unconsciously discriminating against people from minority ethnic groups. This means that ethnic groups do not all get the same opportunities in education;lack of role models – the highest positions in schools are still often dominated by the ethnic majority within a country thus offering few aspirational role models for minority ethnic groups. Therefore, learners from minority ethnic groups may limit their ambitions because they believe that they do not have the same opportunities as learners from the majority ethnic group;cultural factors – ethnic minority religion and culture may at times clash with the culture of the school and prevent learners from some ethnic groups to do as well as others, e.g. schools may not accommodate the needs of students who are fasting/who have specific religious dietary requirements, e.g. Halal meat etc. These students do not have the same opportunities as others;labelling theory – Becker – teachers often make assumptions about learners from different ethnic groups and stereotype them accordingly, e.g. in the UK exclusion rates are much higher proportionately for Afro- Caribbean children than any other ethnic group, perhaps because they are labelled as ‘trouble-makers’ by teachers and this becomes a self- fulfilling prophecy. This means opportunities are not equal for all ethnic groups in schools;material factors – minority ethnic groups are often located within the lower social classes in society and so can suffer from poverty. Private schools get the best results because resources and facilities are high quality and classes are smaller – you have to pay to attend which means many minority ethnic groups simply cannot afford to go there. This means they do not have the same opportunities and life chances;linguistic factors – Bernstein discusses the use of elaborated code in schools and examinations, a language code that the white, middle class have grown up with so giving them an advantage in the education system over other ethnic groups whose native language may be devalued within education, e.g. the Afro-Caribbean AAVE;myth of meritocracy – schools reproduce existing ethnic inequalities as success depends not on talent and ability but more on ethnic group background, e.g. many ethnic minority groups do less well in education than the majority ethnic group as statistics regularly demonstrate;setting and streaming – research shows that setting is not determined by ability but by ethnic background which affects teacher perceptions and judgements of students’ abilities, often leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure for some ethnic groups;any other reasonable response.
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