9 In modern, complex societies it is possible to have differences between the values learned in secondary and primary socialisation.
10 Socialisation takes place throughout life and in specific settings - for example, the workplace. People learn to act according to the way that is normal for those within the work organisation.
11 There are differences in socialisation according to class, gender and ethnic group.
12 Culture is the set of values and ways of acting that mark a particular society.
13 Variations within the culture are known as subcultures.
14 Culture is more powerful than instinct.
15 Culture is learned through the socialisation process.
16 Beliefs are general opinions and understandings about the world.
17 Values underpin how we act by providing the moral framework within which we make decisions.
18 Norms are the accepted patterns of behaviour in a society.
19 Roles are expected patterns of behaviour linked to particular statuses.
20 Role conflict is when two or more roles go against one another.
21 Status is the position of a particular person or social role in society.
22 The school curriculum consists of all the subjects taught at school that prepare the pupil for adulthood.
23 The hidden curriculum consists of all the values and expectations that are taught to the pupil in the informal relationships between teachers and pupils and amongst pupils themselves. These may actually conflict with the official curriculum. Pupils learn expectations regarding social class, gender and race in particular.
24 The education system in Britain has developed mainly as a result of the need for more and better skilled manpower. Recent developments today such as NVQs and YTS all show that education is closely related to skill training.
25 However, it is not just demands for skilled workers that caused the changes in the education system. Political demands by the working class for better schools for their children were also important.
26 There is some dispute about the wisdom of abolishing grammar schools and replacing them with comprehensives. However, comprehensive schools appear to have had some (limited) success in helping the children of the working class to do better in the educational system.
27 There is a division between functionalists and Marxists over the functions of the education system. Functionalists argue that the education system has four functions: the transmission of culture, social control, economic training, and social selection. These all benefit society Marxists disagree; they argue that the education system operates to the benefit of the rich and simply trains an obedient, skilled workforce.
28 Working-class children are less successful in the education system. Sociologists have explained this by the facts that (a) the home background is often not as helpful for educational success as that of the middle class; (b) the neighbourhood may also weaken the chances of the working-class child; and (c) what happens inside the school, particularly the actions of the teachers and the peer group, can help the middle-class child and harm the working-class child.
29 Girls perform differently in the educational system from boys. It has been suggested that this is mainly due to the way society crates gender roles which stress how males and females ought to behave. The result is that girls are directed towards caring and routine white-collar types of courses.
30 The ethnic minorities differ in their educational performances from whites. Although some Asians in particular perform exceptionally well, others, such as those of Afro-Caribbean origin and Bangladeshis, perform poorly. Explanations vary but it is generally agreed that as the majority of people in the ethnic minorities belong to the working class, the same explanations are useful for their failure. In addition, intentional and unintentional racism are important.
31 Britain cannot be said to be a meritocracy as so many of the children of the working class, the ethnic minorities and many girls fail to achieve their full potential from the education system.
