Education Flashcards
Give 3 purposes of education:
- to get qualifications
- socialisation
- a form of childcare and keeping kids off the streets
Explain the Consensus approach to Education:
- they emphasise the positive role of education and are supportive of it. Believe it has 2 main functions:
- secondary socialisation
- provides skills in prep for paid employment
Who would have a Consensus approach to Education?
- functionalist
- postmodernist
- new right
Explain the Conflict Approaches to Education:
- they believe that the education system reproduced inequalities in society. (e.g. gender, age)
- take a critical and negative view to the education system.
Who would take a Conflict approach to Education?
- marxists
- feminists
- interactionism
Functionalist seek to…
Discover the functions education performs.
What does Durkheim think about education? (His outlook on it)
He says society can only survive and flourish if there is a strong degree of social solidarity.
Educating helps to establish this by transmitting norms, benefits and values to all people.
Durkheim believes that the education system helps to integrate people more closely into society by… (2)
- following a standardised curriculum so all students are exposed to the same knowledge (promotes consensus) despite people coming from different backgrounds.
- in school, children recognise that they are part of a larger community therefore this develops a sense of community e.g. form friendship groups, form groups etc
How does education regulate its members according to Functionalists? (2)
- it prepares people for interaction with members of society in terms of its general rule and standards.
- in respecting school rules, pupils respect the rules of society in general - contributing to social order and stability.
What else does Durkheim say about the benefits of education?
The education system acts as a vehicle for developing the Human Resources of a nation - provides trained people.
What does Parsons think about education and schools? (In general)
He sees schools as a vital secondary source of socialisation that acts as a bridge between the family and society as a whole.
What does Parsons say about what secondary socialisation in school teaches you?
- at home, children are judged by particularistic standards, not by a formal standard. Also, status is ascribed to them.
- in wider society (school), individuals are judged by universalistic standards and they have to achieve their status - school prepares individuals for meritocratic principles.
What does Davis and Moore say about education in school?
It is also preparation for work but also as a selective agency allocating people to roles according to ability. E.g. doctors etc
What does Davis and Moore say about inequalities in education?
It’s needed to ensure that the most important roles in society are filled by the most talented people - not everyone can do the same jobs.
How does Education encourage everyone to compete for top positions in society according to Davis and Moore?
Because it sifts, soughts and grades individuals based on their talents and abilities - provides them with a curriculum which will ensure that they gain their qualifications.
What do Blau and Duncan say about education in schools?
They say that a modern economy depends for its prosperity on using its workers skills - a meritocratic system ensures each person is allocated to the job best suited to their abilities.
How can Durkheim be ciriticised?
- doesn’t take into account that not all schools encourage stability as there can be hectic schools.
- schools can squash individualism by forcing a uniform etc
- bullying? A school is apparently meant to be united.
How can Parsons be criticised?
- speaks about universalistic standards but people can be limited based on gender
- not all pupils are open to diversity
- there are other routes in life - not just Education.
How can Davis and Moore be criticised?
- doctors are still not the highest earners - footballers make more in a week.
- teachers may not be motivating pupils who are seen as “less smart” making them give up.
- separated sets so higher sets may be pressurised to do medicine etc
Who does the Neoliberalism perspective come from?
From the New Right - a conservative political view.
What do Neoliberals believe?
That the state should not provide services such as education, health and welfare etc. They don’t want a “nanny state”
What are the two important roles for the state according to the New Right:
1) schools have to compete with league tables and published foster roles to keep parents informed.
2) a shared culture must be transmitted - this can be shown through the standard national curriculum.
Neoliberals believe that the value of education lies in…
How well it enables the country to compete in the global marketplace - they have economic concerns & want schools to follow a business model.
Give 2 critiques of the Neoliberal perspective on Education:
- problems in education aren’t because they’re state controlled but maybe cause of a lack of funding.
- ball and gerwitz say that the competition between schools only benefits the middle class parents who can actually afford to choose.
Marxists see society as based on…
Class division and capitalist exploitation. They believe that education functions to prevent a revolution and to maintain capitalism.
According to Althusser, what are the two essential elements which the state has to keep the bourgeoise in power?
- the repressive state apparatuses
- the ideological state apparatuses
Describe the repressive state apparatuses:
- they maintain the rule of the bourgeoise by force or threat - e.g. police, courts and army.
Describe the ideological state apparatuses:
- they maintain the rule of the bourgeoisie by controlling people’s ideas and values - this includes mass media and the education system.
In Althusser’s view, education is an important I….
Ideological state apparatus.
What 2 functions does education perform according to Althusser:
- reproduces class inequalities by transmitting it from generation to generation.
- legitimises class inequities = teaches people to know that there will always be a hierarchy in society and it teaches them to be passive.
According to Bowles and Gintes, what does education perpetuate?
Relationships of domination and subordination in work and society as a whole.
What kind of workforce does Capitalism require?
Workers with attitudes and behaviour which allows them to be easily exploited and alienated.
Marxists believe there is a Hidden Curriculum, what’s that?
All of the lessons that are learnt in school without being directly taught but is taught through the everyday experience of being in school.
What is the Correspondence Principle?
All the ways in which the relationships and structures found in education mirror those at work.
The Correspondence Principle
Describe:
Relationships of authority & control
Schools have a hierarchy - students abide teachers, teachers abide head teachers. Same thing in a workplace - workers abide managers, managers abide boss.
Students experience lack of authority just like workers do.
The Correspondence Principle
Describe:
Relationships of domination and subordination
Lower years = pupils have close supervision and few choices while higher years are trusted to get on with self directed study.
Reflects the different level of workers and how at work, employees with different status are given more authority.
The Correspondence Principle
Describe:
Fragmentation of Knowledge
Subjects are divided which reflects how work is divided into small tasks.
The Correspondence Principle
Describe:
Motivation by external rewards
Pupils are motivated by rewards like grades, merits rather than love for a subject just like how workers are motivated by wages and money rather than the love for their job.
How does school prepare working class pupils for their role as a worker?
By teaching them to work towards something without being too questionative - just do as your told.
What do critics of Bowles and Gintis (and their idea of the Corresponde Principle) say? (2)
- critics reject the idea that education shapes personalities - many pupils disregard rules and don’t care.
- they have been criticsed for ignoring the formal curriculum where liberal humanities are favoured to vocational courses.
What has happened which has supported Bowles and Gintes theories? (2)
1988 national curriculum introduced - government decided what subjects were to be taught and teachers had less freedom.
New right policies like New Vocationilsm have made education more explicitly designed to meet the needs of employers.
How do Postmodernists respond to the Marxist perspective?
They claim that it is outdated and society has entered a new phase - totally different from the society that Marxists and Functionalists have written about.
