Ed 6: Talcott Parsons

Question 1

D: What type of sociologist is TP?

E: Which country was he writing in?

C: When was this study published?

Answer 1

D: A functionalist

E: America

C: 1961

Question 2

D: What are the two types of socialisation?

E: Which institutions are responsible for the two types of socialisation?

C: What type of relationships are students practising in schools?

Answer 2

D: Primary (learning basic norms and values) and secondary (learning more complex norms and values)

E: Primary- the family.
Secondary- TP calls education a ‘focal socialising agency’.

C: Instrumental

Question 3

D: How does TP describe the way that schools connect with society?

E: Schools reward fairly based on talent and hard work (not social class, gender, ethnicity). What is the name for this system?

C: What status and standards are valued in schools?

Answer 3

D: A bridge between the home and society,

E: A meritocracy

C: Achieved status treated by universalistic standards.

Question 4

D: How do schools sort pupils into their future jobs?

E: What is this function called?

C: What value did TP think schools should teach children?

Answer 4

C: setting, option choices, careers lessons, exam results.

E: ‘Role allocation’

C: The value of achievement.

Question 5

D: What evidence suggests that schools aren’t fair? (meritocratic)

E: How would Marxists criticise TP?

C: How would feminists criticise TP?

Answer 5

D: Working class students do less well than middle class students- this isn’t meritocratic. Black students are more likely to be excluded from schools.

E: Meritocracy is a myth (Bowles and Gintis)

C: TP argues that the instrumental and expressive roles are natural and good for society. Feminists criticise this and suggest that education is part of the patriarchy, socialising girls into a future role where they are submissive to men.