education- the role of education in society Flashcards
5 perspectives on education
- marxist
- functionalist
- feminist
- new right
- interactionist
5. the functionalist perspective on education
what is functionalism
the view that society is a system of independant parts held together by a shared culture/value consesus.
5. the functionalist perspective on education
how is education an agency of socialisation
helps to maintain social stability through the development of value consensus, social harmony and social cohesion.
5. the functionalist perspective on education
the 3 main functionalists:
- Durkheim
- parsons
- davis & moore
5. the functionalist perspective on education
what two main functions of education did durkheim identify
- creating social solidarity
- teaching specialist skills
5. the functionalist perspective on education
why is social solidarity so important
prevents chaos as society wouldnt cooperate, everyone would just pursue their selfish desires.
5. the functionalist perspective on society
how does the education system help to create social solidarity
- acts as a society in miniature
- forced to cooperate with people who arent family and friends
- forced to work with people that they may not like
- this is reflected in work, having to maintain a professional working relationship with others
5. the functionalist perspective on education
difference between the hidden and formal curriculum
- hidden- educates on societal needs, teaching values and expectations in order to behave and communicate
- formal- required to teac by national curriculum in order to gain qualifications
5. the functionalist perspective on education
how does durkheim believe education prepare people for their part in the social division of labour
education provides children with the specialist knowledge and skills to perform a specific role
5. the functionalist perspective on education
how does parsons view schools
- as a place of secondary socialisation, taking over from the family as children get older
- provides the bridge between particularistic values and universalistic values of contempory societies based on meritocracy
5. the functionalist perspective on education
parsons believes school provides a bridge between which types of values
- particularistic- rules that apply for that specfic chuild from family
- universalistic- laws that apply to everyone
5. the functionalist perspective on education
what is the belief of meriotocracy
- through education, everyone is given an equal opportunity, intelligence + effort = sucess
5. the functionalist perspective on education
what do davis and moore believe the role of education is
- a device for selection and role allocation
5. the functionalist perspective on education
why do davis and moore believe inequality is necessary
- ensures the most talented and qualified individuals are allocated to the most important jobs
5. the functionalist perspective on education
what is role allocation
- fitting the most suitable people into the hierarchy of unequal positions in society
5. the functionalist perspective on education
why is the development of the human capital necessary?
- to provide a properly trained and qualified labour force to undertake the range of different jobs that arise from the division of labour
5. the functionalist perspective on education
what is social placement?
Education provides one of the major methods for upward social mobility (progressing towards the career you want)
5. the functionalist perspective on education
what are secondary functions and examples
- unintended functions
- e.g sopeaking to crush and building relationship- principle of courting
- opens up social networks, e.g. for jobs later on
- ability to work as a group
5. the functionalist perspective on education
what is the allocation function and what do functionalists believe about it
- classify students based off of acedemic abilities
- highest abilities- higher jobs
- functionalists believe it is fair, they believe in meritocracy
5. criticisms of the functionalist perspective
equal opportunity…
…in education does not exist, other factors e.g gender and race play a part
5. criticisms of the functionalist perspective
marxist argue…
…instead of transmitting shared values as a whole, education in a capitalist society only transmits the ideology of the ruling class
meritocracy promotes individualism and not shared values like functionalists claim
5. criticisms of the functionalist perspective
functionalism has an “over socialized” view of society wrongly impling that…
…pupils passively accept all that they are taught and never reject the schools values
5.criticisms of the functionalist perspective
the new right argue that the education system fails to prepare students for work as…
…education discourages efficiency, competition and choice.
5. criticisms of the functionalist perspective
the education system doesnt…
…teach specialised skills adequately
the marxist perspective on education
what is the difference between functionalists and marxists
- functionalists- see society and education as based on value consensus
- marxist- see society as based on class division and capitalist exploitation
the marxist perspective on education
what to marxists believe to be the role of education
- a means of social control, to conform, accept their social position
- suggests that this is done by giving the impression that those who fail in education do so because of their lack of effort
the marxist perspective on education
how did karl marx divide a capitalist society
- capitalist class/ bourgeosie- minority class who own the means of production
- working class/ proletariat- forced to sell their labour power to the capitalist class, no other source of income
the marxist perspective on education
what does the divide in class create
potential for class conflict, proletariat unite and overthrow capitalists
the marxist perspective on education
althusser: how to create an efficient and obediant labour force
- reproduction of necessary technical skills
- reproduction of ruling class ideology, socialization of workiers to accept this dominant ideology
the marxist perspective on education
althusser: how do the capitalist class persuade the working class to accept ruling class ideology
- ideological state apparatuses (ISAs)-
- family
- media
- law
- religion
- education
the marxist perspective on education
how does the education system act as an ISA according to althusser
- passes on ruling class ideology justifying the capitalist system
- selects people for the different social classesas adults, developing right attitudes and behaviours
the marxist perspective on education
what do bowles and gintis believe to be the role of education
- reproduction of labour power, hardworking, submissive and diciplined workforce
- for people to come to terms with their place within it, reducing opposition to inequality
the marxist perspective on education
how do bowles and gintis argue that the workforce is reproduced
- through the hidden curriculum
- through education legitimizing inequality? the class strcuture
the marxist perspective on education
what main factors do bowles and gentis believed to be key to success in education and the job market
- social class
- ethnicity
- gender
the marxist perspective on education
what do bowles and gentis believe education to actually be
- an confudence trick- hides the fact it maintains and reproduces the existing pattern of social class between generations
the marxist perspective on education
what does willis’s study show
working class pupils resist such attempts to brain wash them
the marxist perspective on education
what approach did willis use when studying pupils
- interactionist:
- participant observation
- unstructured interviews
the marxist perspective on education
willis’s study
- counter school subculture of “the lads”
- 12 working class boys
- as they make the transition from school to work
- acts of defiance- smoking, drinking, disrupting class (their rules and values)
- similarities between counter school culture and shop floor culture (both see manual tasks as superior, intellectual inferior)
the marxist perspective on education
what does bourdieu argue
(what does each social class posses)
its own cultural framework/set of ideas- a habitus
the marxist perspective on education
how generally is a habitus picked up
through socialization in the family
the marxist perspective on education
what does bordieu say the cultural capital is
the advantage of higher classee as the dominant class imposing its habitus on education
the marxist perspective on education
how does bourdieu believe success is achieved in education
possesion of cultural capital/ access to habitus/ culture of the dominant social class
the marxist perspective on education
evaluation: how is the marxist view determinstic
assumes students have no freewill and will passively accept brainwashing (fails to explain why pupils ever reject the schools values)
the marxist perspective on education
evaluation: some critics argue that willis’s view does what…
praise working class boys fr their antisocial behaviour and sexist attitudes
the marxist perspective on education
evaluation: disadvantage of willis’ small scale study
12 boys- unrepresentative, ricky to generalize these findings
the marxist perspective on education
evaluation: what do morrow and torres argue
- society is now more diverse
- see non class inequalities, e.g gender, ethnicity, sexuality as equally important
- believe sociologists must explain why education reproduces all forms of inequality and how they are related, not just class
the marxist perspective on education
evaluation: femenist, mcdonald argues also
that schools reproduce not just capitalism but patriarchy too
the marxist perspective on education
evaluation: why do postmodernists criticise bowles and gintis correspondence principle
todays post-fordism economy requires schools to produce a very different type of labour force from the one described by marxists
they believe education now reproduces diversity, not inequality
the new right perspective on education
marketisation
- schools competing like businesses
the new right perspective on education
parentocracy
- parental choice
the new right perspective on education
what are the new right known for introducing in education
- school league tables
- GCSEs
- OFSTED
- (part of the UK 1988 education reform act)
the new right perspective on education
general principles
- lowering taxation and reducing government spending
- introduction of free market principles in areas usually paid by taxation
- individual freedom responsibility (against the welfare state-e.g benefits)
- strong state where law and order is concerned
- pro-tradition (e.g nuclear family)
the new right perspective on education
influences on education: how is the education market created
- schools are run like businesses
- schools competing with eachother for parents and pupils, rather than just the local catchment area
- lead to the establishment of school league tables
the new right perspective on education
influences on education: what subjects do they believe schools should teach
- subjects that prepare pupils for work
- education should be aiming for economic growth
- known as new vocationalism
the new right perspective on education
influences on education: the framework
transmitting shared values through the national curriculum
the new right perspective on education
an example of new right thinking
chubb and moe argued that private schools in america performed best as they were answerable to paying parents. rest of education system should follow this to better schools
the new right perspective on education
evaluation: advantages and disadvantages of competition between schools
- good for middle + lower classes
- ethnic minorities + rural communities ended up having less choice
the new right perspective on education
evaluation: criticisms of vocational education
- standard was questioned compared to traditional subjects
- dependent on what schools chose to offer
the new right perspective on education
evaluation: problems with imposing a national framework
restricts schools, contradicts being “free to compete”
the feminist perspective on education
what do they see the role of education as
transmitting patriarchal values
the feminist perspective on education
what do Heaton and Lawson believe
the hidden curriculum in schools primarily teaches traditional family structures
the feminist perspective on education
liberal feminism
acknowleges both progress and remaining issues of patriarchy in society
the feminist perspective on education
in the 1940s/1950s what issue did the tripartite system make
girls having lower pass rates
the feminist perspective on education
michelle stanworth (1983) believed what gender disparity existed on the topic of higher education
teachers were more likely to recommend boys to go study higher education, than girlsat the same acedemic level
the feminist perspective on education
radical feminism thought on education system
fundamentally patriarchal and continues to marginalize women
the feminist perspective on education
in education, radical feminists saw that sexual harrassment is…
not taken as seriously as other forms of bullying
the feminist perspective on education
what do black and difference feminists believe
not all girls have the same experience, minority and ethinic girls are often victims of stereotyping and assumptions
the feminist perspective on education
reasons sue sharpe believes there was a shift in girls attitudes from 70s to 90s
- family+marriage to career
- 1970 equal pay act
- 1976 sex discrimination act
