Intelligence tests

Intelligence tests Could you have passed the eleven plus examination?

Arithmetic • 1 A man left home at 11.30 a.m. and cycled 5 miles to a railway station at the rate of 12 miles an hour. He waited 10 minutes at the station and then travelled by train a distance of 36 miles at the rate of 24 miles an hour. At what time did he reach his destination? • 2 There were 9,975 spectators at a football match. This is 5 per cent more than were present at the preceding match. How many attended the previous match?

Arithmetic answers • 1. 1.35 p.m. • 2. 9,500 spectators

English • Write out the following passage again, including only the one correct word from each bracket: The boy (who, whom, what) we met at the baths and (who, whom, what) spoke to (you, I, me) and (you, I, me) is Harry Baines; he (use, used) to live near me and he often (come, came, went) to my house to play with me. He had a good stamp collection; the total number of his stamps (are, was, were) more than three thousand. (He, Him, Me) and (I, him, me) (was, am, were) great friends. • 2 Make adjectives from these nouns: beauty, slope, glass, friend, doubt, expense, delight, sleep, danger, sport.

English answers • 1. The boy whom we met at the baths and who spoke to you and me is Harry Baines; he used to live near me and he often came to my house to play with me. He had a good stamp collection; the total number of his stamps was more than three thousand. He and I were great friends. • 2. beautiful, sloping, glassy, friendly, doubting, expensive, delightful, sleeping, dangerous, sporting/sporty

General intelligence • The leader of a Guide patrol is named Mary Jenkins; so her surname is Jenkins, her Christian name is Mary, and her initials are M.J. There are 6 other girls in her patrol; each has 2 initials. Surnames: Brown, Smith, Evans, Clark, Jones. Christian names: Molly, Celia, Gwen, Ruth, Sally. Two girls have surname and Christian names beginning with the same letter; two others are named Ruth. One of the twins has the same initials as the leader, and the other has the same Christian name as Evans. Write down each girl's full name.

General intelligence answer • Celia Clark • Sally Smith • Molly Jones • Ruth Jones • Ruth Evans • Gwen Brown

Is the education system meritocratic? Evaluating the extent to which children have equality of opportunity in British schools

Sociological Targets • To understand that children have very different experiences of education. • To understand that many factors can affect how well children do in school; many of these are social and not intellectual. • To identify some of the social characteristics that predispose children to failure or success.

What is meritocracy? • One of the main understandings of the functionalist view of the education system is that it acts as a ladder of opportunity for people to achieve the best that they can, according to their ability. • The best people will then go on to gain the best jobs and become the leaders of their society. • This belief is known as meritocracy.

Current social debate The education system in Britain since World War 2 has operated under the principle of providing equal opportunity for all pupils. • Do all children in Britain have an equal chance to do well? • Is Britain a meritocracy?

A H Halsey Equality of Opportunity Every one has equal access to the institutions of society Equality of Outcome People appear in social institutions in the proportions in which they appear in our society

ONS Social Class Scheme- • Class 1- Higher managerial and professional • Class 2- Lower managerial/ professional • Class 3- Intermediate (clerical workers) • Class 4- Small business owners/ self-employed • Class 5- Supervisors, craft and related • Class 6- Semi routine (hairdressers/ cooks) • Class 7- Routine • Class 8- Unemployed

Attainment of five or more GCSE grades A* to C: by parental NS-SEC, 2002, England & Wales

Understanding • What is the relationship between social class and educational attainment? Does this inequality of educational attainment really matter? Look at the next slide for an answer

Employment rates and gross weekly earnings for full-time employees of working age: by highest qualification, spring 2003, UK

Important Research Study • Reay et al 2005 • Investigated influence of class on choices at Higher Education. • Used questionnaires to 502 students and 120 in-depth interviews and focus groups with colleges around London. • Found upper/middle class students had more confidence to apply for prestigious universitites. • Evaluation ?? See handout !

Who is unequal? • Social class • Gender • Ethnicity • Locality and type of school attended.

Summary of key points • Equality of opportunity is when people have the same rights and opportunities. • British society does offer equality of opportunity, with some exceptions. • Equality of outcome is when people actually do as well or as badly in the proportion in which they appear in the population. • British society does not have equality of outcome, and in many cases, inequalities are widening. • The main areas of inequality are social class, gender, ethnicity and locality.

Assessment Is the British education system meritocratic? • You will need to summarise the key points of the lesson, briefly and succinctly. • Show AO1 skills of knowledge.

Independent study Look at the following BBC News pages http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4185697.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3148375.stm Add good notes to your folder on these stories

Intelligence tests