Education - Role and Function of the Education System - 3.1

Question 1

General Functionalist View on Education

Answer 1

> Positive promotes value consensus, social solidarity, teaches key norms & values and focuses on positive functions of education

Question 2

3 key Functionalist theorists

Answer 2

> Durkheim (Socialisation and Social Solidarity)
Parsons (Universal values & Particularistic Values & Meritocracy)
Davis & Moore (Role Allocation)

Question 3

Durkheim (Socialisation & Social Solidarity)

Answer 3

> Education is society in miniature, teaches specialist skills for workplace preparation

> Creates social solidarity e.g. teaching nations shared history instills shared heritage & commitment to wider social group

Question 4

Parsons (Universalistic Values & Particularistic Values & Meritocracy)

Answer 4

> Schools is bridge between family & wider society, e.g. move from PV to universalistic values of wider society.

> Meritocratic allows for social mobility, anything possible with hard wrk, all have an equal chance

• ignores inequality & racism?

Question 5

Davis & Moore (Role Allocation)

Answer 5

> Education is sieve allowing meritocratic selection for job roles

> Identifies more capable students, & allocates them to jobs based on skills and qualifications

> Inequality necessary to motivate hard work HOWEVER ignores power of social contacts

Question 6

A03 Functionalism (Key Studies)

Answer 6

> Wong (Interactionist)
Hargreaves
Interactionists

Question 7

Wolf report- A03 Functionalism

Answer 7

Wolf Report, 2011 found high quality apprenticeships are rare and up to a third of 16-19 year olds are on courses that do not lead to higher education or good jobs

Question 8

Marxists - A03 Functionalism

Answer 8

Marxists would argue they are not shared values but ideology imposed by the minority dominant class.

Question 9

What is the General Outlook of the Marxist Approach on Education?

Answer 9

• Reproduces class inequality.
• Legitimates class inequality.
• Works in the interests of capitalist employers

Question 10

Outline 4 Key Marxist Thinkers/Views and what they advocate?

Answer 10

> Althusser: (Ideological State Apparatus, Reproduction and Legitimation of Inequality)
Bowles and Ginits (Correspondence Principle)
Hidden Curriculum
Willis (Anti-School Subcultures)

Question 11

Define the Marxist idea of the Hidden Curriculum

Answer 11

Things pupils learn informally from going school to instil correct attitudes needed for work in capitalist system

Question 12

What are examples of things learn’t through the Hidden Curriculum at school?

Answer 12

• Respecting Authority
• Punctuality
• Competition
• Having a ‘work ethic’

Question 13

Explain Althusser’s Ideas of Impact of Ideological State Apparatus through Education?

Answer 13

• Schools part of Ideological State Apparatus, brainwash working class into accepting exploitation
• Spreading dominant ideology of capitalism.
• Thus instilling belief it’s normal to prevent revolution.

Question 14

Explain Althusser’s Ideas of the Legitimation of Social Inequality through Education?

Answer 14

• Money decides how good an education you get, but people don’t realize as schools spread the ‘myth of meritocracy.’
• If we fail, we believe it is our own fault, as we feel system is fair when in reality it’s not
• Thus have effect of controlling working class, as kids grow up believing they had fair chance they’re less likely to rebel and create a revolution.

Question 15

How does Education reproduce inequality?

Answer 15

Fails each generation of working class pupils, ensuring they end up in same position as parents.

Question 16

Explain Bowles and Ginits ideas on the Correspondence Principle

Answer 16

• Belief education mirrors workplace in a capitalist society, to prepare working class for manual jobs.

Question 17

Briefly outline four Examples of how School corresponds to exploitative nature of the workplace

Answer 17

• Passive subservience of pupils to teachers is the same as Passive subservience of workers to managers.
• Alienation: Pupils lack control over education in the same way that workers lack control over production.
• Motivation by external rewards (grades not learning) is the same as being motivated by wages not joy of the job
• Fragmentation

Question 18

Explain the idea of Fragmentation in relation to the Correspondence Principle

Answer 18

> Only teach you a little bit of everything at school - same as the workplace

> Where employees only taught a little bit about company as employers fearful if they tell them too much, they’ll take advantage and set up competition against them.

Question 19

Explain Paul Willis’s Study of the Lads Anti-School Subcultures

Answer 19

> Consist of students who rebel against school.

> Develop delinquent attitudes against academic aims, of a school.

> Desired manual work, believed it was proper work.

> Jobs earholes would get were all same and pointless.

Question 20

What values did the Lads in Willis Study have?

Answer 20

• Lads felt superior to teachers and other pupils
• Didn’t care about work, more to ‘having a laff’
• Tried to bunk as many lessons as possible to get status in the group

Question 21

How is Willis Study of the Lads’ attitudes Ironic?

Answer 21

Irony is by resisting school’s ideology, being part of an anti-school subculture guarantees they’ll fail, ending up in manual work, working in favour of capitalism.

Question 22

How does the Postmodernist undermine Marxist Theories of Education (AO3)

Answer 22

Marxism is outdated, correspondence principles no longer operates, where Marxist see inequality, there’s really diversity and choice.

Question 23

How does the Post-Fordism undermine Marxist Theories of Education (AO3)

Answer 23

• Believes correspondence principle no longer operates.
• Education’s responsive to the needs of individuals, workplace no longer needs passive workers.
• It needs creative workforce able to use technology.

Question 24

How does Radical Feminism undermine Marxist Theories of Education (AO3)

Answer 24

Reproduces patriarchy.

Question 25

How does Interactionist undermine Marxist Theories of Education (AO3)

Answer 25

Say they’re too deterministic, pupils don’t passively accept values, some reject and rebel against them

Question 26

Outline a Key New Right Thinker and what they advocate?

Answer 26

> Chubb and Moe (Voucher System)

Question 27

What is the problem with the state running of Education according to the New Right?

Answer 27

> State can’t meet people’s needs.

> Education inevitably ends up as ‘1 size fits all’ not meeting individual and community needs, or need for employers to have skilled workers.

> State Run - Schools with bad results aren’t answerable to consumers, result is lower standards and unqualified workforce.

Question 28

Define Marketisation of Education

Answer 28

Process of introducing market forces of consumer choice and competition into education system.

Question 29

What happens in Marketisation of Education?

Answer 29

> Schools run like business, competing for pupils.

> Rather than pupils going school in local catchment area.

> Schools that get most pupils will get extra funding.

Question 30

What are the Benefits of Marketisation of Education?

Answer 30

> Schools are answerable to parents, as they have to be more efficient as they’re competing with other schools.

> Introduction of League Table and Ofsted Report give parents more info to choose right school and provides incentive, for schools to work harder.

Question 31

What were Chubb and Moe’s findings in relation to Education?

Answer 31

> Stats show children from working class families do better in private schools, so state education, not meritocratic.

> Parents can’t do anything about failing schools, controlled by state.

> Private Schools have better quality education as they’re answerable to paying customers.

Question 32

What did Chubb and Moe propose the intro of?

Answer 32

> So they proposed intro of a voucher system, giving control to parents, where each family will be given voucher to buy education from school of their choice.

Question 33

What is the benefits of the Voucher System?

Answer 33

Vouchers are the school’s only source of income, incentivising them to provide quality education.

Question 34

How do Functionalist and New Right views on Education compare?

Answer 34

> Believe some people are naturally more talented than others

> Agree education should be run on meritocratic principles of open competition.

> And education should socialise pupils into shared values and provide a sense of national identity.

Question 35

Outline the Criticisms of the New Right view of Education?

Answer 35

> Gewirtz: Restrictions on Parental Choice

> Low Educational Standards, due to inadequate funding of state school, not state running

> Marxist argue education, imposes values of ruling class, not shared national identity

> National Curriculum too ethnocentric and restrictive on teachers and schools

Question 36

The New Right AO3 of Functionalists

Answer 36

the state education systems fails to properly prepare young people for work.

Question 37

Postmodernists argue society is characeterised by what?

Answer 37

chaotic, fragmented and diverse

Question 38

Postmodernists argue there has been an increase in…

Answer 38

individualism

Question 39

Postmodernists discuss the impact of globalisation in education…

Answer 39

• more focus on individual programmes
• customised schools
• increase in adult learners

Question 40

AO3 of Postmodern thinkers

Answer 40

exaggerate the changes in education, e.g. there is greater centralisation in education in some areas, particularly the national curriculum rather than greater diversity and choice.

Question 41

AO3 of postmodernism

Answer 41

Marxists would argue that rather than education being shaped by individual choice it is actually shaped by big businesses (capitalism) and postmodernists are ignoring the greater issue of inequality