Education- Role of the Education System Flashcards
What are the three functions of education according to functionalists?
- Secondary socialisation
- Sifts and sorts people for appropriate jobs- allocation function
- Teaches skills needed in work and by economy
What did Durkheim say?
Education passes on norms and values in order to integrate individuals into society, and it helps to create social order based on cohesion and value consensus so strengthens social solidarity
What did Parsons say?
School is a bridge between the family and adult roles in society, the family judges children by particularistic views and school judges children by universalistic views, education is meritocratic
What are particularistic views?
Beliefs and rules that only apply to one individual
What are universalistic values?
Beliefs and rules that apply to everyone
What does meritocratic mean in education?
The best students rise to the top
What do Davis and Moore say?
Every society sorts its members into different positions, there are rules for how education does this (‘principles of stratification’), there has to be a system of unequal rewards to motivate people to train for top positions
What does the functionalist perspective state about education?
Education is meritocratic so social rewards are allocated by talent and effort rather than because of a position someone was born into
What are the three functions of education according to Marxists?
- Prepares children for the world of work by giving them skills and values employers need
- Passes on ruling class ideology that supports capitalism
- Legitimises inequality
What do Bowles and Gintis say?
There’s a correspondence principle between pupil experiences of school and adult work
How are pupils prepared for the world of work by the school system?
- Pupils taught to accept hierarchy at school
- Motivated by grades to do boring work
- School day broken into small units
- Subservience is rewarded
What do Marxists claim that education passes on?
Capitalist ideology
What does Althusser say?
- Education is part of the ‘ideological state apparatus’ so a tool of capitalism which legitimises inequality
- Education produces a docile and obedient workforce who will not challenge authority
What does Willis say?
Education doesn’t turn out an obedient workforce as some kids form an anti-school subculture
What did Bourdieu do?
Used the concept of cultural capital to explain how middle-class children generally go on to fill the top jobs in society
How are functionalists and Marxists similar (how they view education)?
They both look at the big picture and ignore social interaction
What is the biggest difference between functionalists and Marxists (how they view education)?
How they see inequality as Marxists say education helps to reproduce and legitimise inequality and functionalists say education passes on the value of meritocracy and lets people better themselves
What are criticisms of the functionalist view of education?
- Evidence of differential achievement (class, gender, ethnicity) suggests that education is not meritocratic
- Allocation function isn’t working properly as ‘who you know’ is still more important than ‘what you know’ in some parts of society
- Education system doesn’t always prepare people adequately for work
- Functionalists don’t explain conflict
What are criticisms of the Marxist view of education?
- Assumes people are passive victims as it exaggerates how much working-class students are socialised into obedience
- Most people are aware of the inequality in education and don’t think it is legitimate
How do feminists view education?
- Hidden curriculum unofficially reinforces gender differences
- Gender stereotyping may still exist
- Girls outperform boys in school generally but boys still demand more attention
- Men dominate top positions in schools
What do liberal feminists want in education?
Equal access to education for both sexes
What do radical feminists want in education?
Men are a bad influence, so they want female-centred education for girls
What do Marxist feminists want in education?
To consider gender inequalities combined with inequalities of class and ethnicity
What do New Right theorists believe in?
The power of individual choice and prefer this to the state intervening in people’s lives
What do New Right theorists claim the role of a school should be?
More like the role of a business as they have to compete with one another to attract consumers and provide those consumers with the products they want and need which forces all businesses to continually improve their standards
What do New Right theorists say about state schools?
They have poor standards as they are run by the state so don’t have to compete for consumers
