EDUCATION: Functionalism and Education Flashcards
Who were the 3 main FUNCTIONALIST sociologists
Durkheim, Parsons, Davis and Moore
What did Durkheims theory state about socity and education
- SOCIAL SOLIDARITY AND SPECIALIST SKILLS
- Solidarity
Everyone must play a role In society and the education system transmits societies CULTURES onto the next generation - Skills
Education system teaches people the specialist knowledge they need to play their part in the social division of labour
What does social solidarity mean
All individuals must be part of a single “body” / community
What does specialist skills mean
Wherein individuals must have necessary specialist knowledge and skills to perform their role to help the wider society
What did Parsons theory state about education (bridge)
- SECONDARY SOCIALISATION ?/ MERITOCRACY
“Education acts as a bridge between home and work”
Because family and society teach children ways of living in different principles, school prepares you from the family to the wider society.
In families, child is judged by particularistic standards (interests in ones own group)
In school, children are judged by universalistic and impersonal standards (values that apply to the whole of society)
THUS, because school and society are based on meritocratic principles, it serves as preparation from the home
Meritocracy gives everyone an EQUAL opportunity, it just depends on wether you work hard to not.
What does Davis and Moores theory state about education
- What is the role of the education system?
- ROLE ALLOCATION
Inequality = competition = means society can choose the most talented people
Education shows what individuals can do and ‘SIFTS AND SORTS’ us according to our ability
The most able gain the highest qualifications, thus higher positions - heavily based on achieved status
Give a modern contemporary supporting argument to Durkheims theory of social solidarity
Ofsted wanting all schools to teach British values shows social solidarity because its being passed down generations - gives everyone a sense of community
What is formal education
Education delivered by agencies specifically designed for teaching and learning E.g, school
What Is informal education
Education that comes from other informal channels e.g. family (like recipes)
What is official curriculum
What is taught in state schools according to stated aims of education systems - ‘subject knowledge’
What in unofficial curriculum
Ways of behaving that are valued by society and are not ‘subject knowledge’
What is functionalism based around
Consensus. Everyone workers together to benefit society and themselves.
organic analogy about the human body functioning in the same way functionalists believe
What type of theory is functionalism
A consensus structural (macro) theory
What are some sociological evaluations of Functionalism
- Marxism
- Interactionism
Marxists - "Myth of meritocracy", education's purpose is to transmit ideologies of the ruling class not teach societies shared values, Interactionalists - Pupils are not passive, they can rebel
What does American sociologist Tumin criticise about Functionalism (David and Moore in particular)
Tumin says ‘what determines the degree of importance of a job’
- E.G why a media personality with little talent becomes famous compared to one with a lot of talent
- Also countered David and Moore role allocation in particular:
- He believed SOCIAL STRATIFICATION prevented QUALIFIED PEOPLE from attempting to fill roles
- For example, an underprivileged youth has less chance of becoming a scientist, no matter how smart she is, because of the relative lack of opportunity available to her
- D and M thesis also does not explain gender inequities or race inequalities within education
What are some sociological evaluations of Functionalism theorist Durkheim
- New right
- Wolf review
- Marxism
- New Right - the system fails to prepare children for work, going against Durkheims SPECIALIST SKILLS reason because of too much state intervention
- Wolf review - The education system doesn’t teach SPECIALIST SKILLS because a review on vocational education claims high quality apprenticeships are rare and up to 1/3 of 16-19 year olds are on courses that don’t lead to high education
- Marxism - SOCIAL SOLIDARITY is not transmitting societies cultures onto each generation, because in Marxism kids are taught the ideologies of the ruling class instead
Define free will
We are able to have choice in how we act and assumes we are free to choose our own behaviour
Durkheims Organic analogy
- States society is like a human body
- Society is made up of institutions (organs)
- Organs all need to function and work together for the body to work = all aspects of society needs to come to a consensus to help society function properly
Define social cohesion
The extent to which people in society are bound together in common purpose
Define social control
The extent to which people are prevented from behaving in an anti-social manner
Strengths
Weaknesses
of functionalism
Strengths
- mentions the importance of all institutions
- says everyone benefit from society
Weaknesses
- fails to consider individual differences - not all societies or people act the same (some rebel and are deviant)
- Unrealistically deterministic - humans are being viewed as puppet
- The cause of most consequences of social action (deviance) is not due to institutions
