FED Sociological Foundations of Education 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson's 'Pygmalion in the Classroom' study demonstrated the effect of:
- Reduced class size on achievement
- Teacher expectations on student performance (Correct answer)
- Parental involvement on test scores
- School funding on graduation rates
Correct answer: Teacher expectations on student performance
Their landmark study showed that when teachers were told (falsely) that certain students were 'late bloomers,' those students actually showed greater gains—demonstrating the self-fulfilling prophecy.
Question 2: The process by which schools sort students into different ability groups or tracks is known as:
- Acculturation
- Tracking (ability grouping) (Correct answer)
- Socialization
- Credentialism
Correct answer: Tracking (ability grouping)
Tracking places students into different curricular pathways (college-prep, vocational, remedial) based on perceived ability, with research showing it often reinforces existing social inequalities.
Question 3: Which sociological concept describes schools as institutions that certify individuals' social status through diplomas and degrees regardless of actual skills learned?
- Social mobility
- Credentialism (Correct answer)
- Meritocracy
- Social reproduction
Correct answer: Credentialism
Credentialism refers to the over-reliance on educational credentials (degrees, diplomas) as proxies for competence, used for gatekeeping jobs and social status.
Question 4: Functionalist sociologists view the role of schools as primarily:
- Challenging existing social structures
- Preparing citizens to overthrow capitalism
- Maintaining social stability by socializing students into shared norms (Correct answer)
- Maximizing individual self-expression
Correct answer: Maintaining social stability by socializing students into shared norms
Functionalists like Parsons see schools as performing essential functions—socialization, selection, and allocation—that maintain social order and prepare individuals for their roles.
Question 5: The concept of 'social reproduction' in education theory suggests that:
- Schools successfully eliminate socioeconomic inequalities over generations
- Schools tend to replicate the social class structure of each generation in the next (Correct answer)
- Education policy is driven by scientific research
- Teachers reproduce best practices across schools
Correct answer: Schools tend to replicate the social class structure of each generation in the next
Social reproduction theory, associated with Bourdieu and Passeron, argues that educational systems systematically reproduce existing class structures rather than providing genuine equal opportunity.
Question 6: In the US context, which term describes the educational challenge faced when students from non-dominant cultural backgrounds find their home culture undervalued or absent in the school curriculum?
- Cultural hegemony
- Cultural mismatch (Correct answer)
- Academic tracking
- Social promotion
Correct answer: Cultural mismatch
Cultural mismatch occurs when schools privilege dominant-culture knowledge, language, and norms, creating a disconnect for students from different cultural backgrounds.
FED Sociological Foundations of Education 2
Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson's 'Pygmalion in the Classroom' study demonstrated the effect of: