Education: Theories on the role of education

Question 1

Outline functionalist view on education

Answer 1

Functionalists have a positive view of education.
They argue it performs several functions through which it helps maintain social solidarity thus benefiting both individuals and society.

Question 2

Functionalist Durkhiem two functions of education

Answer 2

1. Promotes social solidarity
   Social solidarity means social cohesion (unity) and sharing of norms and values, a feeling of belonging.
   Education creates social solidarity by transmitting society’s culture, norms and values to new generations.
   Schools are ‘society in miniature’ – preparing children for life in the wider world – we learn to cooperate with others, follow instructions, punctuality.
2. Passes on specialist skills
   Education teaches individuals the specialist knowledge and skills needed by employers due to the complex division of labour, e.g. vocational courses

Criticism:
Marxist criticism – the education system does not transmit society’s shared values, rather it transmits the ruling class ideology.

Question 3

Functionalist Parson’s 2 role of education

Answer 3

1. Bridge between the family and wider society
   In the family individuals are judged by particularistic standards (everyone is treated differently) and hold ascribed status.
   In the wider society, status is achieved, we’re judged on universalistic standards (everyone is treated the same) because society is meritocratic – rewards are based on effort and ability.
   Through education, children get used to being judged on meritocratic and universalistic standards which prepares them for life in the wider society.
2. Secondary socialisation
   Education is the main socialising agency after the family, it passes on society’s norms and values to younger generations.

Criticisms:
Education system is not meritocratic. There is evidence that factors such as class, ethnicity and gender can affect achievement.
Students don’t always passively accept the values taught by schools.

Question 4

functionalist Davies and Moore

Answer 4

Role allocation
The most important roles in society should be filled by the most talented people.
Those fulfilling the more important roles should be highly rewarded. Would doctors bother with years of difficult training if there was no reward at the end of it?
This will create competition for the top jobs and ensure they go to the best people.
The function of education is to sift and sort (select and allocate) individuals to their future roles.
Through education individuals show the level of their ability as the most able get the highest qualifications.

Criticism:
The New Right claim that state education fails to prepare students for work because there is too much interference from the government.

Question 5

New right on how schools should be run

Answer 5

The education system should meet the needs of each individual child.

Discipline and order are paramount.

Improve reading skills.

Open up the supply of education – churches, voluntary bodies, parents and charities to run schools to improve standards.

Question 6

Similarities between NR and Functionalism

Answer 6

Some individuals are naturally more talented than others and should therefore get the best jobs.

The education system should be meritocratic and prepare students for the world of work.

Education is the main agency of secondary socialisation as it transmits shared values to younger generations.

Question 7

NR criticism of the education system

Answer 7

The education system is failing to fulfil its purpose - prepare students for the world of work and carry out secondary socialisation - because it is run by the state (government).

The state takes the ‘one size fits all’ approach, ignoring the needs and wishes of the local consumers (parents and students) who use the schools.

The education system is inefficient – it wastes resources, maintains low standards of education, creates a labour force that isn’t prepared for the world of work. All of these contribute to damaging the economy.

Question 8

NR Chubb and Moe on how edu system should be run

Answer 8

Chubb and Moe argue that opening the education system to market forces will create competition between schools and give choice to consumers (parents, students).

Each family should be given vouchers with which they would pay for their children’s education. This would be the schools’ only source of income and would make schools responsive to parents’ wishes.

For schools to get more money, they would need to attract the most students. For this they need to have excellent results. This would increase competition between schools and raise standards.

Question 9

The role the state should have according to the New Right

Answer 9

The state should have two main roles in education. Firstly, it should provide a framework within which schools compete against each other such as the publication of exam results and Ofsted inspections.

Secondly, the state should ensure that schools transmit shared values by imposing the National Curriculum on all schools, e.g. teaching of History should emphasise Britain’s role in world events, there should be a daily act of Christian worship in all schools. This will integrate pupils into the same set of values

Question 10

Criticism of NR

Answer 10

Competition and parental choice benefits only the middle class who can use cultural and economic capital to get their children into the best schools.

It’s not the state control of education that leads to low educational standards, it is social inequality.

Marxists argue that education passes on the ruling class ideology, not shared values.

Question 11

Marxist view on education

Answer 11

According to Marxists, education system is a part of the superstructure and, as such, it exists solely to serve the needs to capitalism and protect the ruling class power.
It does so by creating the ruling class ideology in order to maintain false class consciousness.

Question 12

Marxist Althusser view on education

Answer 12

The education system serves the interests of the ruling class. This is because it is a part of the ideological state apparatus – a part of the superstructure which control people’s ideas through the family, education, religion, mass media.

Question 13

Althusser on education and how it benefits r/c

Answer 13

The education system serves the interests of the ruling class. This is because it is a part of the ideological state apparatus – a part of the superstructure which control people’s ideas through the family, education, religion, mass media.

Question 14

Criticism of Althusser

Answer 14

Over-emphasises the influence of class and ignores other factors which lead to social inequality in education such as gender, ethnicity and sexuality. 
Deterministic - assumes students passively follow the ruling class ideology created by the education system when, in fact, students have free will and can see through the ideology.

Question 15

Marxist Bowles and Gintis

Answer 15

Legitimation of class inequality – by producing ideas which justify the inequality. Education is a ‘myth making machine’. The biggest myth it creates is the myth of meritocracy. For Bowles and Gintis there is no such thing as meritocracy. Those who succeed do so due to their middle class background, but the system makes it look as if the reason for their success is their hard work and natural ability. Also, it makes it look as if the working class are poor because they were not smart enough to do well at school. Thus the blame is placed on the individual, not on capitalism. This prevents the working class from rebelling

Question 16

Criticism of Bowles and Gintis

Answer 16

Their theory is deterministic - Bowles and Gintis assume that students passively accept the ruling class ideology.
Not all subjects indoctrinate students, e.g. Sociology opens their minds to social inequality!
Postmodernists argue that today’s post-Fordist economy needs skilled, adaptable workforce.
Feminists criticise Marxists for ignoring other social inequalities reinforced by the education system, e.g. gender inequality.

Question 17

Marxist Willis

Answer 17

Willis also sees the role of education as reproducing and legitimating class inequalities by creating an obedient workforce.
However, his work is less deterministic than Bowles and Gintis as he does acknowledge the free will of students.   
Working class pupils can resist the indoctrination they are subjected to at school. However, the resistance to indoctrination slots them into labour force that meets the needs of capitalism. 
Willis studied 12 white working class lads and their attitudes to school.
They had a counter-school subculture opposed to the school. The lads were scornful of those students who did obey school rules and held sexist attitudes. The lads found school boring and meaningless and broke the school rules by smoking and drinking. They didn’t believe that hard work at school would lead to middle class jobs. 
By holding an anti school attitudes, the boys fail their exams, thus only being able to get low paid manual jobs.

Question 18

Criticism of Willis

Answer 18

Romanticises the lads – turns them into working class heroes despite their anti-social and sexist behaviour. 
Focuses on class inequality, thus ignoring gender and ethnic inequalities.

Question 19

Fordism

Answer 19

Fordism is a name given to assembly line production.
It takes its name from the early 20th century Ford motor car industry where goods (cars) were mass produced.
Workers were trained in a particular skill and then gained jobs either on a production line or with a particular way of working. Work was fragmented into particular tasks, each performed by a different worker

Question 20

postmodernism

Answer 20

Is a theory that says that we have become so advanced that we no longer live in modern times, but rather in postmodern times.
This move to post-modernity has been caused by increasing globalisation, technological advances and IT development.
Postmodernity is characterised by greater diversity due to rapid economic, social and technological changes.
These bring with them greater uncertainty.
Postmodernism also brings with it a move from Fordist production to post-Fordist production.

Question 21

Fordism and Postfordist econ

Answer 21

Fordism: Assembly line production.
Mass production of standardised goods for mass market (Henry Ford: ‘You can have any colour car you want as long as its black.’).
Low skilled workforce, doing boring, repetitive work.
Workers are closely supervised and motivated by extrinsic rewards (wages)
Post fordism: Flexible specialisation.
Customised production for smaller, niche markets.
Highly skilled, adaptable workforce with transferable skills.
Workers self-supervise and are motivated by job satisfaction as well as by pay.

Question 22

Education in the 21st century

Answer 22

Education today encourages self-motivation, self-supervision and creativity in order to meet the needs of ever-changing economy. It provides life long training because rapid technological change and global economic competition constantly render existing skills obsolete, e.g. ever-changing IT skills.

However, some aspects of education also encourage self-improvement, e.g. yoga classes, pottery classes, language classes.

Question 23

Bowles and Gintis Correspondent principle

Answer 23

Hierarchy: HT and Students -> CEO and janitor
Alienation: Ground rules -> contract
Extrinsic rewards
divide and rule

Question 24

Feminists view on the role of education

Answer 24

Have a negative view Feminists argue that the role of education is to maintain patriarchy and gender inequality for the benefit of men (boys) and at the disadvantage of women (girls).

Question 25

5 ways in which education is patriarchal

Answer 25

Textbooks  
Teacher interactions with students
Student interactions with each other 
Curriculum 
Subject choice

Question 26

How do textbooks maintain gender inequality

Answer 26

Language used in textbooks – textbooks tend to use gendered language (he, him, his, man) when referring to a person. This downgrades women and makes them seem invisible thus being a part of gender socialisation of girls into being passive.

Images used in textbooks – tend to present men and women in traditional gender roles, e.g. doctor = male, nurse = female

Question 27

How does teachers interaction with students disadvantage girls

Answer 27

Research has shown that teachers show more interest in boys than girls during lessons, asking them more questions and giving them more help.

Teachers also have higher expectation of boys’ achievement and future careers than of girls

Question 28

How does students interactions with each other in schools cause gender inequalities

Answer 28

Students can perpetrate gender stereotypes through interaction with each other. For example, a girl who likes sport can be called a tomboy, while boys who show ‘feminine’ characteristics such as crying or caring about someone may be teased and called names.

Question 29

How is the curriculum patriarchal

Answer 29

In terms of what is taught in different subjects, women tend to be missing from the content of subjects or are in the background, e.g. in History students learn about Henry VIII and his six wives or why Elizabeth I never got married, in English they study the works of male authors, the Feminist theory on the role of education has been missed out of your textbook, etc.

Question 30

How does subject choice disadvantage girls

Answer 30

Girls tend to choose ‘feminine’ subjects such as English, Health and Social Care, while boys tend to chose ‘masculine’ subjects such as Maths, Science, Business, IT. These choices can affect their future careers.

Question 31

Feminist sociologists on textbooks

Bottigheimer, Lobban, Kelly, Culley

Answer 31

Bottigheimer’s- view of schoolbooks is that they reinforce a view of females as passive and dependent upon men. Particular focus has been placed upon fairy tales and messages about gender roles that they contain in their imagery and language.

Lobban claims that early reading schemes reinforce gender stereotypes found in the wider society. From a study of 179, she found that only 35 stories had heroines compared to 71 heroes.

Kelly argues that there is a masculine bias in science texts, in which women are either passive or invisible. Thus examples used in these texts tend to utilise male images and ignore famous female scientists.

Culley argues that computing textbooks tend to show men in decision making positions and females carrying out deskilled tasks such as inputting data.

Question 32

Feminist sociologist on teachers interactions with students Stanworth, Wolpe, Spender, Platt and Whyld

Answer 32

Stanworth found that attitudes displayed by teachers impede the educational achievements of girls. Teachers found it more difficult to remember girls’ names than boys. Teachers held stereotypical views about what girls would be doing in the future.

Wolpe argues that the examples that are used by teachers in an effort to make subjects relevant to everyday life all too often relate mathematical as well as scientific technique to activities which boys can more readily identify than girls.

Spender argues that girls get less attention than boys in the classroom and argues that this is a reflection of the domination that men have in society as a whole. Those without power are always the most vulnerable and tend to play a submissive role.
Spender argues that girls have to wait longer for what attention they do receive in the classroom.

Platt and Whyld found that boys are asked to move furniture by teachers, while girls are asked to tidy up.

Question 33

Sociologist on student interactions with eachother Kelly and culley and Spender

Answer 33

Kelly argues that boys take control of science and technology lessons, for example by monopolising equipment for experiments. This limits the female students’ abilities to participate fully in science lessons. Culley noticed the same process in computing lessons, where male domination of the computers created an uncomfortable social space for those female students who wished to participate.

Spender argues that females are usually treated dismissively by the males present. Boys often insult girls, yet teachers fail to tell them off for doing this.

Question 34

Sociologists on Curriculum being patriarchal Kelly

Answer 34

Kelly suggests that boys and girls come to share the view that certain branches of science - chemistry, physics, electronics - are more suitable for men. Language can very easily convey the idea that men are the initiators, the creators, the active agents. The effect of word usage such as the term ‘man’ to mean humans is to filter out the recognition of women’s participation in major areas of life.

Question 35

Sociologist on subject choices leading to gender inequalities Ridell

Answer 35

Riddell claims that free choice in relation to subjects studied tends to reinforce gender stereotypes. In other words, when given free choice of the subjects to study, girls stir away from high status subjects such as Science as a result of gender scripts proscribed by the wider society.

Question 36

Criticism of the feminist theory

Answer 36

Feminists tend to ignore the improvements made to the education system since the 1960s which have decreased gender inequalities.