sociology marketisation 30 mark essay

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Sociology- educaition 30 marker (marketisation)

Sixth form (a levels), mulberry stepney green mathematics and computing college - london.

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Applying material from Item B and your knowledge, evaluate the view that marketisation policies have increased diversity and choice in the education system. Marketisation policies are aimed at making schools act like businesses, driving up standards through competition between schools. Whilst new right sociologists would argue that marketisation is built upon meritocracy and therefore increases diversity, Marxist sociologists would disagree and see the policies to legitimize inequality within education. Firstly, an explanation for how marketisation policies increase choice in education is the new right argument on parentocracy. This is argued by David who says that marketisation shifts the power from producers (schools) to consumers (parents). Therefore, an increase in choice can clearly be seen as parents now have the increased ability to choose the educational career of their children who are now seen to be clients who receive the services of the school, whereas before marketisation policies students would have little to no choice in terms of their education. The item supports this argument when it states, “every parent is free to choose the best school for their child”, which shows how the education system is now seen as a market where the most attractive businesses would receive the most attention. Whilst this is a convincing argument, opposing viewpoints such as the one held by Marxists dispute the claim that marketization increases diversity and freedom of choice. They would argue for the Myth of Parentocracy and see marketisation policies to increase inequality which is contrary to the claim for freedom of choice. This is argued by Gerwitz who differentiates between privileged skill choosers, who are middle class parents who have the cultural and financial capital to fully utilize the opportunities given by schools, and disconnected

local choosers, who are working class parents who are inhibited by educational policy. This divide highlights how marketisation policies only suit the needs of the middle class by only being able to be fully utilized with middle-class cultural capital, putting working class students at a disadvantage. Nevertheless, this argument is easily critiqued, with new right sociologists arguing that the meritocratic nature of education allows for an equal playing ground for students to achieve. This argument is supported by educational policy which arguably increases choice in the education system. Furthermore, educational marketisation policies show how education is tailored to create increased choice for students. The 1944 education Act highlights this, as the distinction between Grammar schools and secondary modern shows how education is treated as a business which provides a wide range of services to their consumers (parents and students). This separation allowed for a more tailored experience for pupils who would either be steered towards practical or intellectual career paths depending on their 11+ results, meaning there was increased choice for pupils to choose from rather than being grouped in an education system that operates under a one-size- fits-all policy. Whist this is supported by the item which states, “competition has grown between increased number of schools”, Marxist critics would argue that the policy recreates inequality by steering working-class students to lower paying practical jobs as they are not able to score high in their 11+ due to the lack of cultural capital. This argument is supported by the Marxist argument that league tables reproduce inequality. The Marxist argument that marketisation reproduces inequality is shown through the funding formula. Ball argues that the way schools are funded, which is determined by how many students they attract, increases inequality as schools in working class areas would be able to attract as many students as schools in areas with more financial capital. This shows how marketisation policies increase inequality as it discriminates against working class pupils who would be provided with less funding due to their ascribed status rather than their achieved status, disproving the argument that the education system is meritocratic. This is supported by the item when it states, “Marketisation policies reinforce existing inequalities in educational achievement”, which is reference to the existing inequality between classes and their ability to fully utilize the education system. Thus, this argument provides a rebuttal against the New Right arguments for the meritocracy of schools.

Multiple Choice

Subject : Sociology

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A level sociology revision – education, families, research methods, crime and deviance and more!

A Level Sociology Essays – How to Write Them

Use the Point – Explain – Expand – Criticise method (PEEC), demonstrate knowledge, application and evaluation skills, and use the item to make your points!

Table of Contents

Last Updated on November 10, 2022 by

This post offers some advice on how you might plan and write essays in the A level sociology exams.

Essays will either be 20 or 30 marks depending on the paper but the general advice for answering them remains the same:

Use the PEEC method for the main paragraphs: POINT – EXPLAIN – EXPAND – CRITICISE
Use the overall structure below – PEEC (3 to 5 times) framed by an introduction, then overall evaluations and conclusion towards the end.
Use the item provided – this must form the basis of your main points!

How to write an A-level sociology essay

Allow yourself enough time – 1.5 minutes per mark = 45 minutes for a 30 mark essay.
Read the Question and the item, what is it asking you to do?
Do a rough plan (5-10 mins) – initially this should be ‘arguments and evidence’ for and ‘against’ the views in the question, and a few thoughts on overall evaluations/ a conclusion. If you are being asked to look at two things, you’ll have to do this twice/ your conclusion should bring the two aspects of the essay together.
Write the essay (35 mins)– aim to make 3-5 points in total (depending on the essay, either 3 deep points, or 5 (or more) shallower points). Try to make one point at least stem from the item, ideally the first point.
Try to stick to the following structure in the picture above!
Overall evaluations – don’t repeat yourself, and don’t overdo this, but it’s useful t tag this in before a conclusion.
Conclusion (allow 2 mins minimum) – an easy way to do this is to refer to the item – do you agree with the view or not, or say which of the points you’ve made is the strongest/ weakest and on balance is the view in the question sensible or not?

Skills in the A Level Sociology Exam

The AQA wants you to demonstrate 3 sets of skills in the exam – below are a few suggestions about how you can do this in sociology essays.

AO1: Knowledge and Understanding

You can demonstrate these by:

Using sociological concepts
Using sociological perspectives
Using research studies
Showing knowledge of contemporary trends and news events
Knowledge can also be synoptic, or be taken from other topics.
NB – knowledge has to be relevant to the question to get marks!

AO2: Application

You can demonstrate application by…

Using the item – refer to the item!!!
Clearly showing how the material you have selected is relevant to the question, by using the words in the question
Making sure knowledge selected is relevant to the question.

AO3: Analysis and Evaluation

NB ‘Assess’ is basically the same as Evaluation

You can demonstrate analysis by….

Considering an argument from a range of perspectives – showing how one perspective might interpret the same evidence in a different way, for example.
Developing points – by showing why perspectives argue what they do, for example.
Comparing and contrasting ideas to show their differences and similarities
You can show how points relate to other points in the essay.

You can demonstrate evaluation by…

Discussing the strengths and limitations of a theory/ perspective or research method.
You should evaluate each point, but you can also do overall evaluations from other perspectives before your conclusion.
NB – Most people focus on weaknesses, but you should also focus on strengths.
Weighing up which points are the most useful in a conclusion.

Use the item

Every 30 mark question will ask you to refer to an ‘item’. This will be a very short piece of writing, consisting of about 8 lines of text. The item will typically refer to one aspect of the knowledge side of the question and one evaluation point. For example, if the question is asking you to ‘assess the Functionalist view of education’, the item is likely to refer to one point Functionalists make about education – such as role allocation, and one criticism.

All you need to do to use the item effectively is to make sure at least one of your points stems from the knowledge in the item, and develop it. It’s a good idea to make this your first point. To use the evaluation point from the item (there is usually some evaluation in there), then simply flag it up when you use it during the essay.

Signposting

For more exams advice please see my exams and essay advice page

To return to the homepage – revisesociology.com

Seven examples of sociology essays, and more advice…

For more information on ‘how to write sociology essays for the A level exam’ why not refer to my handy ‘how to write sociology essays guide’.

The contents are as follows:

Introductory Section

A quick look at the three sociology exam papers
A pared-down mark scheme for A Level sociology essays
Knowledge, application, analysis, evaluation, what are they, how to demonstrate them.
How to write sociology essays – the basics:

These appear first in template form, then with answers, with the skills employed shown in colour. Answers are ‘overkill’ versions designed to get full marks in the exam.

Assess the Functionalist View of the Role of Education in Society (30) – Quick plan
Assess the Marxist view of the role of education in society (30) – Detailed full essay
Assess the extent to which it is home background that is the main cause of differential education achievement by social class (30) – Detailed full essay
Assess the view that education policies since 1988 have improved equality of educational opportunity (30) – Quick plan
Assess the view that the main aim of education policies since 1988 has been to raise overall standards in education.’ (30) – Quick plan
Assess the claim that ‘ethnic difference in educational achievement are primarily the result of school factors’ (30) – Detailed full essay
Assess the view that in school processes, rather than external factors, are the most important in explaining differences in educational achievement (30) – detailed essay – Quick plan.