This mini-lesson covers AQA Topic 3.4 — Education: the roles and functions of education, perspectives (functionalism, Marxism), processes inside schools (labelling, the self-fulfilling prophecy, setting), and differences in achievement by class, gender and ethnicity.
Work through each screen, answer the questions as you go and collect ⭐ stars. Some questions are multiple-choice, some are sort-and-match games, and a few use simple research-methods maths (percentages and sample figures). Press Start when you're ready.
Education · functions
What is education for?
Perspectives disagree about the role of education:
Functionalists — education promotes social solidarity (Durkheim), teaches specialist skills, and acts as a meritocracy where the best are selected for the best jobs (Parsons — school as a 'bridge' between family and society; Davis and Moore — role allocation).
Marxists — education reproduces class inequality. Bowles and Gintis argued a 'correspondence principle' links school to work, and a 'hidden curriculum' teaches obedience. Althusser called school part of the ideological state apparatus.
Quick check
Whose idea?
?Which Marxist idea claims the hidden curriculum of school mirrors the discipline and hierarchy of the workplace?
Education · in-school processes
Labelling & the self-fulfilling prophecy
Interactionists look inside schools at how teachers and pupils interact:
Labelling — teachers judge pupils (e.g. as 'bright' or 'troublemaker'), often on stereotypes.
Self-fulfilling prophecy — a label can come true because the pupil lives up (or down) to it. Rosenthal and Jacobson's study suggested teacher expectations affect achievement.
Setting and streaming can create anti-school subcultures among those placed in lower sets.
Key term — self-fulfilling prophecy: a prediction that comes true simply because it was made and acted upon.
Sort it
Sort the explanation
Tap a factor, then whether it is used to explain differences by class, gender or ethnicity.
💷 Social class
⚧ Gender
🌍 Ethnicity
Quick check
In-school factor
?A teacher expects little of a pupil, the pupil is put in a low set, gives up, and underachieves. This is an example of…
Education · achievement
Differences in achievement
AQA expects internal (in-school) and external (home) explanations for gaps in achievement:
Social class — material deprivation (poverty, poor housing) and cultural deprivation (less educational support); Bernstein's elaborated vs restricted speech codes; cultural capital (Bourdieu).
Gender — girls now generally outperform boys; explanations include changing ambitions, feminism, and the 'crisis of masculinity'.
Ethnicity — explanations include labelling, ethnocentric curriculum, and material factors.
Calculate
Your turn — percentage
✎In a survey of 200 pupils, 148 agreed with a statement. What percentage agreed? Give a whole number.
✎The percentage of girls achieving the top grades in a school (index points) rose from 55 to 66 over ten years. Calculate the percentage increase. Give a whole number.