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Summary of, commentary on and analysis of education questions in AEB Sociology papers at A level.
(note - the AEB is now part of AQA and AQA syllabus
and questions commence as from 2001). Please note also that 'AS' used to mean Advanced
Supplementary and now refers to the Advanced Subsidiary syllabus - which is the first half
of the 'A' level. (If you have a copy of the questions that are missing from the table below, please send them to me and I will include them). |
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Summary of the syllabus |
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Key concepts, facts and theories that you need to do well in the exam |
Questions on the sociology of education are only set at "A" level, not "AS" (Advance Supplementary), and they only appear in paper 1. Paper 1 involves the interpretation of and response to stimulus materials. This is designed to test not only knowledge and understanding of aspects of sociology but the ability to interpret and apply ideas as well as to evaluate them. Here I have concentrated on aspects of questions testing knowledge, understanding, application and evaluation skills.
Note that these questions specifically address educational issues. Other A level questions, for example on 'race' or employment, will involve educational issues too (or at least good answers would be expected to do so).
Note that the word 'analyse' has been used here to mean 'critically evaluate' and similar phrases.
The table below and the rest of this page will be completed shortly
| Date | Question (paraphrase) | Comments |
| 1992 Summer | What problems are associated with terms like 'whites'
and 'Asians'? How far are parents important in conditioning pupil achievement? How can the gendered nature of participation in education and training schemes in different countries be explained? Analyse the aims of the 'new vocationalism' |
The first part of this question tests understandings about
race and ethnicity rather than education specifically. The 'parents' question needs an understanding of the other factors conditioning achievement in school. The 'gender' question also requires an understanding of broader gender issues as well as specifically educational ones. By comparison the last question relies on you knowing the details and some of the criticisms of 'new vocationalism' in particular. See my Investigating Education and Training or Education Policy: A Policy Sociology Approach for this. |
| 1992 Winter | Not available from AEB | |
| 1993 Summer | What are the problems with the concept of the self-fulfilling
prophecy? How does the hidden curriculum affect female pupils? How far are schools responsible for differential educational achievements between the social classes? |
The first question is a straightforward one. The second one
asks you to apply what you know about the hidden curriculum to issues of gender in
particular (notions such as 'gender regime' are helpful here). The one about schools draws on the same sort of knowledge base as the 'parents' part of summer 1992 above: the factors conditioning achievement and under-achievement (here by social class). In addition here you need to be familiar with some of the literature about 'the school effect', i.e. how important schools are in mitigating socio-economic deprivation or advantage. |
| 1993 Winter | Not available from AEB | |
| 1994 Summer | Why do some social groups under-achieve? Analyse explanations for minority ethnic group under-achievement? What is the relative importance of teachers' labelling of pupils in this? How far have comprehensive schools increased equal opportunities? |
The first question is a big one, and like summer 1992
and 1993 requires a knowledge of factors implicated in educational under-achievement. The labelling question picks out one factor and asks you to weigh it against the rest: some ability to critically address ideas around interactionism would be helpful here. The comprehensive schools question draws on the some of the same material as summer 1993 about school effectiveness in mitigating socio-economic deprivation or advantage, with the additional issue of comprehensive (as against selective) schooling |
| 1994 Winter | How far do sociologists agree that the vocational function of
education is the main one? Analyse the reasons for female under-achievement. How important are classroom experiences in leading to inequalities between social classes and minority ethnic groups? |
The first question requires fairly specific knowledge
of the arguments about the different 'functions' of education, both from within
functionalism and as perceived from other perspectives (eg Marxism and feminism) The gender questions returns to the issue about the factors conditioning under-achievement, this time as it relates to females (though this is in some ways a dated question as the issue nowadays is more about male under-achievement). Like the summer 1994 question the last one here asks you to discuss one particular factor, though 'classroom experiences' is a broader concept than teacher labelling. Another difference is the requirement to talk about two social groups (classes and minority ethnic groups) so examples need to be drawn from both. |
| 1995 Summer | How has the local administration of education been weakened
since 1970? (Give three ways) How important is the hidden curriculum in schools in terms of the culture of children? Which social groups have their opportunities limited by schools? Analyse the functionalist and Marxist theories of the relationship between education and the economy |
The first question represents a very interesting break in the
pattern of 'A' level questions on education. It links very directly into education policy
for the first time, though the syllabus hasn't changed. This may have been a surprise to
many teachers and students, but is more directly linked to current interests in
educational research, as well as current policy, than most other questions The hidden curriculum question obviously requires knowledge of that concept but asks you to think about other factors influencing children's culture The 'limitation of opportunities' question is subtly asking for some account of the role of schools and so is linked to the last issue about the linkages between education and the economy |
| 1995 Winter | ||
| 1996 Summer | Why is educational achievement usually measured by
examination success? Why is comprehensive education still unpopular in this country? Why do some social groups do better in public examinations than others? (Concentrate on social class) |
Probably a lot of 'seat of pants' answering went on with the
first question. There are practical reasons and more sociologically subtle reasons The item which the 'comprehensives' question relates to suggests factors might include:
However 'sociological' reasons go beyond these rather speculative ideas The final question is an 'A' level standard |
| Jan 1997 | How do teachers stereotype pupils? (Three examples required) How far do school peer groups influence achievement and underachievement? Analyse the contribution of feminist perspectives to our understanding of gender inequalities in education |
The better answers to the first question would give examples
grounded in studies, though this is not required The second question asks you to weigh the peer group factor against other factors conditioning underachievement and to judge their relative importance The last question requires a well-structured account of feminist perspectives (the plural is important - the good candidate makes distinctions between them). You are asked to judge their contribution and so implicitly are required to weigh them against non-feminist perspectives |
| 1997 Summer | Why do pupils play truant from school? (Give two
explanations) Analyse sociological explanations for improvements in the educational achievements of females Analyse the idea that minority ethnic group pupils are discriminated against in the education system |
The truancy question is an interesting and again innovative
(for 'A' level) one. Corrigan's work in Schooling the Smash Street Kids plus other
classics could be applied here The second question sees the 'A' level exam catching up to developments in society and education research. Again candidates will be expected to draw from other areas of sociology than just education, particularly gender The last part requires some careful structuring in the answer to do it well: there is a danger here of concentrating only on one or two issues/studies or of constructing a very general answer which lacks coherence |
| January 1998 |
Analyse the argument that comprehensive education would reduce the disadvantages
suffered by lower socio-economic groups in education Analyse the contribution made by functionalist theory to the our understanding of the notion of meritocracy in education |
Like the summer 1994 question this one on comprehensive education requires you to
address the power of schools in general to mitigate social disadvantage and to consider
whether comprehensive education in particular is capable of doing this, putting the
arguments on each side of the issue and coming to a conclusion The 'functionalism' question is remarkably straightforward - the danger here is of too many similar 'textbook' answers for the examiners. The candidate who shines will add something extra to the run-of-the-mill answer |
| 1998 Summer | ||
| 1999 January |
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| 1999 Summer |
A quote from the Guardian about poverty and educational
disadvantage (particularly in terms of literacy), a quote from the Financial Times about
the literacy hour and a quote from Reid about knowledge and differential access to
it by different social groups precede questions which ask you to: define 'ethnocentric' consider why the 'literacy hour' in schools will not be fully effective in eradicating literacy explain why knowledge is socially situated and so the national curriculum will favour some groups over others evaluate the argument that material deprivation is the most important factor influencing educational underachievement, including looking at the evidence for that view
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This is a much more coherent set of questions than the ones set in the Jan 2000 exam (see below). They are relatively straightforward. The good answer will be able to situate alternative sorts of approaches to the explanation of educational underachievement in the development of sociology: material disadvantage being a very early sort of explanation, cultural deprivation, the new sociology of education (focusing on knowledge), classroom interaction and tending to come into vogue one after another (though none being fully displaced). |
| Jan 2000 | A quote from Bilton about teacher-pupil interaction, a table
from social trends about gender and A level/GCSE results and a quote from the Guardian
about education and the economy precede questions which: ask you to define, give an example of and a criticism of the concept of the 'self-fulfilling prophecy' explain the role of social class in teacher-pupil interaction assess sociological explanations of the gendered nature of achievement in education and discuss the relationship between education and the economy sociologically |
Nothing new here, but rather a strange mix of questions that have tended to come up before and a strange mix of subject matter and levels of analysis - from the micro-social of classroom interaction to the macro level of education and the economy. Thus in the 'same' answer you will be discussing stereotypes about class which influence inter-personal interaction, the factors affecting differential achievement in education by girls and boys and the role of education in the economy, including correspondence theory. The excellent answer could make links between these. |
| 2000 Summer |
A quote from the Guardian about ethnicity and the positive
portrayal of other cultures, a second quote from the Guardian quoting a 9 year old Ghanain
who came to a primary school in England, a quote from Lawson and Garrod about the hidden
curriculum, and a quote from Townroe and Tates about the functions of education
precede questions which ask you to consider the values which schools instil in pupils give reasons why some languages spoken by pupils are given less value than others by teachers describe the nature and impact on girl and boy pupils' behaviour differentially of two aspects of the hidden curriculum assess the notion that in-school processes are the most important factors influencing the different levels of educational achievement of ethnic minority pupils discuss the functions of education in modern industrial societies |
No surprises here - and a more coherent set of questions than the January ones. The source of the quotes indicates that it will reward 'A' level students well to read the Guardian on a regular basis! |
| 2001 Jan |
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| 2001 Summer |
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| At this point the old AEB syllabuses (0638 for 'A' level and 0999 for Advanced Supplementary) are replaced by the new AQA syllabuses (5191 for Advanced Subsidiary and 6191 for Advanced) Sociology of Education questions will appear in unit 2 of the AS syllabus | ||
| Sample AQA question | A quote from STephen Ball about the selective function of
education and a quote from Heaton and Lawson about streaming and classroom interaction as
explanations of differential educational achievement by social classes precede questions
which ask you to define streaming discuss two ways in which the school curriculum is ethnocentric identify three ways in which schools socialise their pupils (and, presumably, teachers) explain two reasons for girls outperforming boys at GCSE level discuss the role of the hidden curriculum in producing social class differences in achievement evaluate functionalist theories about the role of education in society |
The AQA say, in effect, that the old AEB syllabus was not broken so they do not intend to fix it - expect more of the same in a slightly different package. These sample questions certainly appear to confirm that. AQA offer a marking scheme for these questions (pp 40-43 of their 'Specimen Units and Mark Schemes' booklet). Top marks for the bigger questions (the last two) will go to comprehensive, well-balanced answers which have a clear rationale underlying the way the material is organized and presented. There will be an explicit, clear conclusion. |
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Analysis |
Key generic issues identified in the questions discussed in the AEB 'A' level examination are:
The power of schools to mitigate social advantage or disadvantage
(and whether this is in fact their role)
The factors influencing educational achievement and
under-achievement
Selectivism versus comprehensive education
The role of education in society (with specific questions on the
hidden curriculum sometimes)
Key Concepts, Facts and Theories
In addition there is a requirement to have specific knowledge (eg about 'new' vocationalism) and more general knowledge about sociological issues. Concepts that you will need to know about include:
differential educational achievement
socialisation
social stratification
compensatory education
self-fulfilling prophecy
hidden curriculum
institutionalised norms
classroom experiences
peer groups
sub-cultures
correspondence theory
In addition you will need to have knowledge of different perspectives on, for example, the role of schools and the reasons for educational under-achievement among different social groups (for example functionalist, Marxist and feminist perspectives).
Key facts which would help you to do well include:
data about
underachievement among different social groups (this needs to be in an easy-to-remember
form)
some examples
from studies about labelling pupils (with solid details)
some knowledge
of trends in education over the years (for example in girls' achievement, the 'achievement
gap' between the social classes). (this needs to be in an easy-to-remember form)
concrete
examples of the operation of the hidden curriculum from studies
The new AQA syllabus (for 2001-2) is substantively very similar to previous AEB ones as far as the sociology of education is concerned. Full details are available in AQA publications, particularly the GCE specification for Sociology 5191 and 6191. In the AQA scheme generally there is more of a focus on key skills, the European and international dimension, and so on - but these are outside the scope of this web page. The syllabus (or 'specification' - the discoursive change is interesting) asks you to be able to answer the questions below:
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What is the role of the education system (including its role in socialisation) and what different theories are there about this? (Analyse them) |
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Why do social groups have different levels and types of educational achievement? (Social class, gender and ethnic groups are mentioned specifically) |
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What are the important processes and relationships within schools? - for example pupil/teacher interaction, pupil subcultures, the hidden curriculum, the organization of teaching and learning. |
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In what ways are state policies significant in order to understand the role, effects and experience of education? (This is a new emphasis compared to previous syllabuses) |