This document provides an overview of the key topics and concepts that will be covered in a sociology unit on the sociology of education. The unit will examine 1) the role and purpose of education, 2) differential achievement across social groups, 3) relationships and processes within schools, 4) educational policy, and 5) applying sociological research methods to the study of education. It outlines some of the major theoretical perspectives that will be analyzed, including Marxism, feminism, symbolic interactionism, functionalism, and postmodernism. It also summarizes the content that will be covered on differential attainment across class, gender, and ethnicity. Additionally, it lists some of the key developments that will be analyzed in the development of the

1. Introduction
• You have 180
seconds to define
‘education’.
What is
education?

2. A/s Sociology
Unit II
The Sociology of Education with
research methods

3. “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit
is sweet”.

4. Collins New English Dictionary
• Education (n) ~ Instruction & training, as imparted in
schools, colleges & universities: the theory & practise of
teaching.

5. Oxford Dictionary of Sociology
• • Education: Sociological
concept donating
ideologies, curricula &
pedagogical techniques of
the inculcation &
management of knowledge&
the social reproduction of
personalities & cultures.

6. Unit 2 breakdown pt1
EDUCATION
1. The role & propose of
education.
2. Differential achievement.
3. Relationships & processes
within schools.
4. Educational policy
5. Application of sociological
research methods to the
study of education.
• These themes will form
the basis of your Unit 2
exam questions.
• This unit links
education with
research methods.
• Exam Tip: Establishing
‘links’ between the
themes will score AO2
points in the exam.

7. Unit 2 breakdown pt2
Research Methods
1. Quantitative & Qualitative
methods of research
2. Sources of data ~
questionnaires, interviews
etc…
3. Distinction between primary
& secondary data
4. Positivism, interpretivism &
methods
5. Practical, ethical theoretical
& sensitivity (PETS) issues in
research
You need to apply these
issues to the ‘research
studies’ you will cover in
this unit.

8. 1. Theoretical Perspectives
Key
Perspectives
Marxism(s) Feminisms
Symbolic
Interactionism
(AKA
Interpretive
Sociology)
Functionalism
The New Right
Post
Modernism

9. 2. Differential Attainment
• Sociological
explanations of why
some social groups
underachieve in
education.
• Focus on
1. Class
2. Gender
3. Ethnicity

10. 3. Development of the education system
• Social policy & the impact on
education in the UK
Focus on:
• 1870 Educ. Act
• 1944 Educ. Act & the Tripartite
System
• The Comprehensive Ideal
• Thatcher & the 1988 ERA
(Education Reform Act)
• 1997 & New Labour ~ Curriculum
2000 & beyond.
• Various other plans from
government or individual schools.

11. 4. Relationships & processes within schools
• What actually ‘goes on’
within a school?
• Teacher ~ pupil
relationships &
labelling.
• Pupil sub-cultures
• The hidden curriculum.
• How teaching & learning
is organised.

12. Is education just about school?
What do the following quotes mean to you?
• An educated person is one who has learned that information almost always turns
out to be at best incomplete and very often false, misleading, fictitious,
mendacious - just dead wrong. ~ Russell Baker
• Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to
another. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton
• Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths pure theatre. ~ Gail
Godwin
• He who opens a school door, closes a prison. Victor Hugo
• The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.
Sydney J. Harris
•
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is
the greatest accomplishment. Ralph Waldo Emerson