Education (Durkheim)

Question 1

Durkheim is a functionalist who shares views on education and its purposes. What are 2 key features that education enables?

Answer 1

(1) social solidarity- defined as the ties that bind people together within society. education promotes social solidarity by teaching norms and values, and teaching them through subjects like English lit and history
(2) preparing students for work by teaching children specialist skills needed in the complex division of labour

Question 2

What are the 2 forms of social solidarity?

Answer 2

-mechanical solidarity- found in traditional pre-industrial societies where social unity is based on everyone sharing similar lifestyles beliefs, jobs etc (i.e in rural communs)
-organic solidarity- found in modern, industrialised societies, where social unity is based on the interdependence of individuals who have complex jobs (i.e teachers, doctors)

Question 3

How does education achieve Social solidarity?

Answer 3

1.passes on shared heritage- through subjects like history, english etc-therefore leading to students understanding the aspects of their society/able to relate and share common values with peers

2.gatherings- assemblies, celebrating prizes, feel good Fridays- promotes values of community and belonging

3.social cohesion-clubs, activities, points, form activities- sense of unity

Question 4

How is this seen in modern day (contemporary) education ?

Answer 4

-compulsory teaching of core British values within the Uk (democracy, laws, mutual respect for all, etc)

Question 5

What are the criticisms of Durkheim in relation to social solidarity

Answer 5

subjects like history and literature have been criticised for focusing on the achievements of white upper class males - is education inclusive?
British values - may marginalise certain groups within society (e.g the use of the word tolerance, implying that religions other than Christianity are inferior)

Question 6

How does education achieve teaching students specialist skills?

Answer 6

1. core knowledge-national curriculum
2. specialist knowledge (a levels, more in depth teaching)
3. vocational courses-btecs t-levels, apprenticeships

Question 7

How are specialist skills shown in modern day (contemporary) society?

Answer 7

-additional funding support for math students at level 3 (gsce)
-teaching bursaries for shortage subjects (i.e maths)
-standardised assessments (sats) testing for key skills (i.e year 6 sats, gsces, a/as level exams)

Question 8

What are criticisms of Durkheim in relation to specialised skills?

Answer 8

-doesn’t account for why there is a high level of unemployment in young teens in the uk
-skills shortage in the uk in various workforces (science, engineering etc)
-feminists argue that specialised skills create hierarchies of employment, with girls often being discouraged on subjects that are deemed as male dominated