Education theories + policies Flashcards
What ideas functionalist theory based on?
Functionalist theory rests of the idea that society is based on social order and stability.
Durkheim and parsons use an organic analogy to explain social order by making a comparison between society and the human body as just like how the human body is composed of different organs which each have a separate function to perform to enable us to operate healthy, the same applies to society.
what do functionalists believe about society in relation to achieving social order and stability
functionalists believe that society is composed of different parts and each performs functions to enable society to achieve social order and stability.
Functionalist theory explains how each part of society such as education contributes to social solidarity, value consensus and equilibrium.
What do consensus approaches such as functionalist, new right and post modernists argue about education
Consensus approaches emphasise the positive role of education and analyse the benefits it offers for individuals and society,
These approaches regard education as having two main functions: (a) secondary socialisation and (b) providing the skills required in preparation for paid employment
consensus approaches include: functionalist, the new right and post modern
what do conflict approaches such as Marxist, feminist and neo-Marxist argue about education?
These argue that the education system reproduces inequalities within society.
They take a more critical and negative view of the education.
conflict approaches include: Marxist, feminist, neo-Marxist
functionalists believes that education performs many functions which are to the benefit of individuals and society.
state the functions that functionalists believe education performs
DURKHEIM:
- education helps to establish social solidarity through transmitting, norms, beliefs and values to all pupils.
- education helps to integrate people into society by socialising children into similar values which makes them feel they are apart of a larger social unit and community
- education regulations members of society through preparing members of society in terms of rules and standards
- education acts as a vehicle for developing the human resources of a nation as it provides an adequate supply of trained people with the skills required to perform specialist roles within the economy
Parsons:
- educations acts a vital secondary source of socialisation that acts as a bridge between the family and society as a whole as in school and society individuals are judged by universalistic standards which applied to all members and based on meritocratic principles
Davis and Moore:
- Davis and Moore argue that education acts a preparation for work as education is a proving ground for ability, a selective agency which allocates people to roles according to ability
Blau and Duncan:
modern economy depends on its ‘human capital’ - its worker skills
education is based on meritocracy which enables each person to be allocated to a job best suited to their abilities.
What functions does Durkheim argue education performs and how does education performs these functions in school
According to Durkheim, society can only survive and flourish if there is a strong degree of social solidarity. He argues that education helps establish this by transmitting norms, beliefs and values to all pupils. Education welds together a mass of individuals into a united whole by fixing into children the essential similarities that collective life demands. This helps to integrate people more closely into society by attaching them to the larger social unit.
Durkheim believes that the education system achieves this via:
Schools follow a standardised curriculum, therefore all pupils regardless of their gender or class or ethnic background are exposed to the same information, knowledge and cultural teachings. The effect of the transmission of the core culture via the education system is to promote a consensus on central norms and values – this ensures a fundamental level of agreement, despite a diversity of individual life experiences and helps to produce a homogeneous society. In schools, children come to see that they are part of something larger than themselves and develop a sense of commitment to the larger social group.
Closely allied to the transmission of culture, is the need for each society to regulate its members. Education achieves this via:
It prepares individuals for interaction with members of society in terms of its general rules and standards. In respecting school rules, pupils learn to respect the rules of society in general. This contributes to social order.
According to Durkheim, modern industrial economies have a complex division of labour and the education system acts a vehicle for developing the human resources of a nation. In doing so it provides an adequate supply of trained people with the skills required to perform specialist roles within the economy.
how does education bring social solidarity
According to Durkheim, society can only survive and flourish if there is a strong degree of social solidarity. He argues that education helps establish this by transmitting norms, beliefs and values to all pupils. Education welds together a mass of individuals into a united whole by fixing into children the essential similarities that collective life demands. This helps to integrate people more closely into society by attaching them to the larger social unit.
Durkheim believes that the education system achieves this via:
Schools follow a standardised curriculum, therefore all pupils regardless of their gender or class or ethnic background are exposed to the same information, knowledge and cultural teachings. The effect of the transmission of the core culture via the education system is to promote a consensus on central norms and values – this ensures a fundamental level of agreement, despite a diversity of individual life experiences and helps to produce a homogeneous society.
In schools, children come to see that they are part of something larger than themselves and develop a sense of commitment to the larger social group.
how does the education system regulate its members according to functionalists like Durkheim
Closely allied to the transmission of culture, is the need for each society to regulate its members. Education achieves this via:
It prepares individuals for interaction with members of society in terms of its general rules and standards. In respecting school rules, pupils learn to respect the rules of society in general. This contributes to social order.
How does the education system act as a vehicle for developing the human resources of nation by preparing workers with the specialist skills
According to Durkheim, modern industrial economies have a complex division of labour and the education system acts a vehicle for developing the human resources of a nation. In doing so it provides an adequate supply of trained people with the skills required to perform specialist roles within the economy.
explain how educations acts as a vital secondary source of socialisation according to Parsons
Parsons (1961) draws on many of Durkheim’s ideas. He sees schools as vital secondary source of socialisation that acts as a bridge between the family and society as a whole. After primary socialisation, the school becomes the focal socialising agency preparing young people for their adult roles and encourages them to be a highly motivated and achievement orientated workforce.
According to Parsons, within the family children are judged by particularistic standards, not by a formal standard. However, in wider society, individuals are judged by universalistic standards which applied to all members. Status is achieved, not ascribed. Therefore, school prepares individuals as success is achieved by meritocratic principles – which reflect how society as a whole operates. This is because school is a meritocracy which is based on the meritocratic principles of society and the workplace
Like Durkheim, Parsons argues that the school represents a miniature society. By reflecting the operation of society as a whole, the school prepares individuals for their adult roles
explain how educations acts as preparation for work according to davis and moore
Davis and Moore (1967) also see education as preparation for work, but link it more directly to the stratification system. They view education as a proving ground for ability – a selective agency allocating people to roles according to ability. They link education to social inequality and argue that inequality is necessary to ensure that the most important roles in society are filled by the most talented people. Not everyone is equally talented, so society has to offer higher rewards for these jobs.
This encourages everyone to compete and then society can select the most talented individuals to fill these positions.
Education plays a key part in this process as it:
Sifts, sorts and grades individuals in terms of their talents and abilities and allocates them to different sets/streams/bands and provides them with a curriculum which will ensure they fulfil their potential. By enabling the most talented to gain more educational qualifications they can be selected for the most highly rewarded positions in society.
what do blau and duncan argue in relation to education allocating people roles based on their ability
Similarly, BLAU and DUNCAN (1978) argue that a modern economy depends for its prosperity on using its ‘human capital’ – its workers’ skills. They argue that a meritocratic education system does this best, since it enables each person to be allocated to the job best suited to their abilities. This will make the most effective use of their talents and skills and maximise their productivity.
evaluate the functionalist perspective on education
- gaps in education reveals the unmeritocratic nature of education with a prominent example being between 2015-2018 where 8 private schools sent 1,310 pupils to Oxbridge while 2,900 state schools sent 1,220 pupils to Oxbridge
- critics of the functional perspective would argue that schools do not always promote social solidarity, unity and integration as many pupils may be bullied, do not like school, do not have many friends or suffer from problems such as bullying or discrimination etc
- there is a vast array of evidence that equal opportunities does not exist in exist in education e.g achievement is greatly influenced by class background which undermines the functionalist view that education is a meritocracy and that qualifications and success is based on achieved status
- interactionist (Wrong) argues that functionalists have an ‘over-socialised view’ of people as puppets of society - pupils do not passively accept all that they are taught, many reject the school values and rebel against school rules or be apart of anti-school subcultures which gives evidence against the idea of stability in school
- Marxists critique the functionalist idea that education instils the shared values of society as a whole, arguing that it transmits the ruling class ideology
- critics argue that the education system does not teach specialised skills adequately. The wolf review (2011) found that up to a third of 16-19 year olds are on courses that do not lead to high education or good jobs
- the new right argue that state education fails to adequately prepare young people for work
- ethnocentric nature of the curriculum devalues the experiences of BAME pupils and contradicts the idea of social solidarity
- functionalists see education as a process that instils the shared values of society as a whole, but Marxists would argue that education in a capitalistic society only transmits the ideology of the ruling class
what is neoliberalism
neoliberalism is an economic philosophy that has had a major influence on education policy. Neoliberals believe that the state should not provide services such as education, health and welfare.
It is based on the idea that the state must not dictate to individuals and should not try to regulate a free-market economy. So governments should encourage competition, privatise state-run businesses and deregulate markets
how has neo-liberal ideas influenced governments?
Neoliberals ideas have influenced all governments since 1979 - whether conservative, labour or coalition but particularly conservative
neoliberals believe that the value of education lies in how well it enables the country to compete in the global marketplace
they argue that this can only be achieved if schools become more like businesses, empowering parents and pupils as consumers and using competition between schools to drive up standards
what is the new right?
the new right is a conservative political view that totally incorporates neoliberal economic ideas
A central principle of new right thinking is the belief that the state cannot meet people’s needs and that people are best left to meet their own needs through the free market
the new right emphasises the importance of market forces in education and believe that there are only TWO important roles of the state.
explain these roles
- the state imposes a framework on schools within which they have to compete, e.g. publishing Ofsted reports and league tables of schools’ results ensure that the state provides parents with information with which to make an informed choice between schools
- the state ensures that a shared culture is transmitted. By imposing a standardised national curriculum it ensures that schools socialise pupils into single cultural heritage
outline features central to the new right view on education which are similar to functionalists
- They believe that some people are naturally more talented than others
- They favour an education system run on meritocratic principles of open competition
- They believe that education should serve the needs of the economy by preparing people for work
- They maintain that education should socialise pupils into shared collective values such as competition and instil a sense of national identity and citizenship.
what is a key difference between the new right and functionalist view on education
a key difference between the NR and functionalism is that when the Conservatives gained power in 1979, they did not believe that the education system was achieving these goals
explain why the new right was critical of state education and explain new vocationalism
First of all, the NR were critical of state education, seeing it as inefficient because it failed to produce pupils with the skills needed for the economy. To address this problem, they introduced a policy in the 1980s that became known as New Vocationalism: this is where a range of vocational education courses were introduced by the Conservative government. These included: (a) GNVQ courses (General National Vocational Qualification) which were taught in schools as an alternative to academic courses. They aimed to prepare students for work by teaching job-specific skills in the classroom and placing students into the workplace for work experience placements. (b) The YTS (Youth Training Scheme) was introduced. This was a one-year training scheme that combined work experience with education for unemployed school leavers - to provide skills and help them become more employable.
explain why the new right critical of state education and how do they reflect this idea in policies
The NR were critical of education because it was run by the state. They believed that private schools delivered higher quality education because, unlike state schools, they are answerable to paying consumers – the parents. A central idea guiding NR thinking is the belief that the state cannot meet people’s needs and that people are best left to meet their own needs through the free market. This is reflected in the notion of:
(a) Marketisation: this creates an ‘education market’ where the NR believed that competition should be created between schools to make education more business-like. They believed that the marketisation of education would force schools to become more responsive to parents’ wishes and like private businesses; schools would have to compete to attract ‘customers’ by improving their ‘product’ which would lead to an increase in educational standards.
(b) Parentocracy: by empowering them as the consumers of education, parents were transformed into customers/clients of the education marketplace. Parents were granted greater power to shape their children’s educational future by giving them the right to choose which school to send their children to (previously, children were allocated to schools in their catchment area by their LEA (local education authority)). The NR believed that this would bring greater diversity, choice and efficiency to schools increasing their ability to meet the needs of pupils, parents and employers.
explain marketisation in relation to new right
Marketisation: this creates an ‘education market’ where the NR believed that competition should be created between schools to make education more business-like. They believed that the marketisation of education would force schools to become more responsive to parents’ wishes and like private businesses; schools would have to compete to attract ‘customers’ by improving their ‘product’ which would lead to an increase in educational standards.
explain parentocracy in relation to new right
Parentocracy: by empowering them as the consumers of education, parents were transformed into customers/clients of the education marketplace. Parents were granted greater power to shape their children’s educational future by giving them the right to choose which school to send their children to (previously, children were allocated to schools in their catchment area by their LEA (local education authority)). The NR believed that this would bring greater diversity, choice and efficiency to schools increasing their ability to meet the needs of pupils, parents and employers.
evaluate the new right perspective on education
- critics of the new right argue that problems in education are not a result of state controlled education but a lack of state funding of it;
Ball (1994) and Gerwitz (1995) both argue that competition between schools is more likely to benefit the middle class who can use their cultural and economic capital to ensure that their children gain access to the most desirable of school;
Marxists argue that education does not impose a shared culture but the culture of the dominant class and devalues the culture of the working class and ethnic minorities.
critics would argue that the real cause of low educational standards is not state control but social inequality and inadequate funding of state schools.
There is a contradiction between the new right support for parental choice on the other hand the state imposing a compulsory national curriculum on all its schools on the other
explain the difference in how functionalists see society and education and Marxists.
Functionalists see society and education as based on a value consensus, Marxists see it as a based on class division and capitalist exploitation. They believe the status quo is maintained because the bourgeoisie control the state and this enables them to maintain their dominant position as the education system functions to prevent a revolution and maintain capitalism.
According to Althusser (1971) the state consists of two essential elements or ‘apparatuses’ both of which serve to keep the bourgeoisie in power.
State these apparatuses
- the repressive state apparatuses (RSAs)
- the ideological state apparatuses (ISAs)
Explain what is meant by the repressive state apparatuses (RSAs)
Repressive state apparatuses maintain the rule of the bourgeoisie by force or threat of it. The RSAs include the police, courts and army. When necessary they use physical coercion/force to repress the working class
Explain what is meant by the ideological state apparatuses (ISAs)
Ideological state apparatuses maintain the rule of the bourgeoisie by controlling people’s ideas, values and beliefs. The ISAs include religion, mass media and the education system.
Althusser (a Marxist) argues that the education system is an important ISA which performs two functions:
- education reproduces class inequality by transmitting it from generation to generation, by failing each successive generation of working class pupils
- education legitimates class inequality by producing ideologies (sets of ideas and beliefs) that disguise its true cause. The function of ideology is to persuade workers to accept that inequality is inevitable and that they deserve their subordinate position in society. If they accept these ideas and develop a false class consciousness they are less likely to challenge of threaten capitalism
What do Bowles and Gintis mean by schools fostering types of personality development compatible with the relationships of domination and subordination in work and society as a whole
According to Bowles and Gintis (1976) the education is best understood as an institution which acts to perpetuate the social relationships which exist in economic life. Schools foster types of personality development compatible with the relationships of domination and subordination in work and society as a whole.
This means that schools teach pupils to follow rules, to be submissive, to be obedient and conforming which puts them in a subordinate position. This prepares them for the hierarchical relationships within work and makes them accept authority and capitalism which requires a workforce with the kind of attitudes, behaviour and personality-type suited to their role as alienated and exploited workers willing to accept hard work, low pay and orders from above.
Bowles and Gintis also argue that the education system operates in a way that allows for Schools to foster types of personality development compatible with the relationships of domination and subordination in work and society as a whole.
How does the education system do this?
Bowles and Gintis argue that the education system operates in a way that allows for Schools to foster types of personality development compatible with the relationships of domination and subordination in work and society as a whole through the use of a hidden curriculum.
A hidden curriculum refers to a curriculum that runs alongside the official curriculum but is an unofficial curriculum where pupils are taught lessons through the everyday experiences of being in school, unofficial/informal learning where pupils learn the rules, expectations, punctuality, attendance and behaviour of the school
Bowles and Gintis argue that the education system reproduces an obedient workforce for capitalism that will accept inequality as inevitable. HOW?
For Bowles and Gintis, the role of the education system in a capitalist society, is to reproduce an obedient workforce that will accept inequality as inevitable. They argue that there are close parallels between schooling and work, as they put it, schooling takes place in ‘the long shadow of work’.
Reflecting this view, they concluded that the relationships and structures found in education mirror or correspond to those of work:
- relationships of authority and control
- relationships of domination and subordination
- fragmentation of knowledge
- motivation by external rewards
state the four functions of the correspondence principle
- relationships of authority and control
- relationships of domination and subordination
- fragmentation of knowledge
- motivation by external rewards
Explain the correspondence principle of relationships of authority and control
. Relationships of authority and control: The relationships of authority and control among teachers and between teachers and students reflects the hierarchy of authority in the workplace. The fact that schools operate on a hierarchical principle of authority prepares individuals for work as it fosters deference to authority and an acceptance of hierarchy. The alienation that students experience through their lack of control in school is mirrored in the alienation through workers’ lack of control over production.
Explain the correspondence principle of domination and subordination
Relationships of domination and subordination: The relationships of domination and subordination differ in relation to type of school and level of schooling - schools do different things to different pupils. In lower streams and year groups there is closer supervision and few choices whereas higher levels are trusted to get on with self-directed study. This reflects the different levels of the occupational structure: at lower levels workers are closely supervised and given orders and the higher levels are trusted to internalise the company’s goals. This is also mirrored in the school itself – schools which cater for pupils largely from working class backgrounds emphasise obedience, conformity and dependability, whereas independence, innovation, initiative and creativity are discouraged.
explain the correspondence principle of fragmentation of knowledge
Fragmentation of knowledge: The fragmentation and compartmentalisation of knowledge into unconnected subjects reflects the fragmentation of work through the division of labour into small, meaningless tasks.
explain the correspondence principle of motivation by external rewards
Motivation by external rewards: Pupils are motivated by extrinsic rewards and satisfaction, rather than from interest in the subjects studied. This reflects and mirrors closely the roles of wages as motivation for the workforce, rather than intrinsic satisfaction from the job itself.
Explain what Bowles and Gintis mean by the education system preventing the poor and working class rebelling against capitalism
Bowles and Gintis (like Althusser) argue that the education system helps to prevent this from happening, by legitimating class inequalities. It does this by producing ideologies that serve to explain and justify why inequality is fair, natural and inevitable.
They claim that the education system is a ‘gigantic myth-making machine’. A key myth that it promotes is the ‘myth of meritocracy’ which serves to justify the privileges of the higher classes, making it appear that they gained them through succeeding in an open and fair competition in school. This helps persuade the working class to accept inequality as legitimate and makes it less likely that they will seek to overthrow capitalism.
The education also justifies poverty by promoting the ‘poor are dumb’ myth. It blames poverty on the individual rather than blaming capitalism. It therefore contributes to reconciling workers to their exploited position, making them less likely to rebel against the system.
evaluation of the Marxist perspective
- Marxist approach is very useful in that it exposes the ‘myth of meritocracy’ and highlights that education reproduces and legitimises class inequality.
- critical such as Morrow and Torres (1998) criticise Marxists for taking a ‘class first’ approach. This means that see class inequality and ignores other kinds. They see non-class inequalities see non-class inequalities, such as ethnicity, gender and sexuality as equally important.
- They argue that sociologists must explain how education reproduces and legitimises all forms of inequality - not just class and how different forms of inequality are inter-related.
- the correspondence principle developed by Bowles and Gintis states that school mirror the workplace. This is because capitalism requires large numbers of low-skilled workers to put up with alienating, repetitive work on mass production assembly lines. This system is referred to as FORDISM because the Ford motor company was the first to introduce it. Bowles and Gintis see the mass education system as preparing pupils to accept this kind of work
- Assumes all students passively accept everything they are taught in school, fails to recognise pupils may rebel against school ideas through anti-school subcultures etc
- fails to explain why anti-school subcultures exist or why pupils may reject the school values
- not all pupils accept the hierarchy
explain the postmodernist perspective
Postmodernists argue that the Marxist view is outdated. They claim that society has entered a new phase and is totally different from the society that Marxists and functionalists have written about.
Postmodernists argue that class divisions are no longer important and society is more fragmented and diverse. They also claim that the economy has shifted away from the assembly-line mass production and is not based on ‘flexible specialisation’ where production is customised for small specialist markets. This post fordist system requires a skilled, adaptable workforce able to use advanced technology and transfer their skills from one specialised task to another.
Post-fordism requires a different kind of education system. Instead of preparing pupils to be low-skilled, low-paid obedient workers, education must encourage self-motivation, self-supervision and creativity.
why do postmodernists argue that education has become more diverse and responsive to the needs of different individuals and groups
Postmodernists argue that education has become more diverse and responsive to the needs of different individuals and groups.
In their view, the correspondence principle no longer operates and they believe that education reproduce diversity, not inequality.
why do Marxists criticise postmodernists on the idea of post-fordism
Marxists critique the arguments put forward by postmodernists and claim that the changes generated by Post-Fordism result in low paid workers being exploited more than ever before. They also claim that the education system still prepares the majority of pupils to defer to authority etc. in the future.
Who is Neo-marxist Paul Willis influenced by?
Neo-Marxist Willis, is influenced by Marxist ideas and believes that education has helped to prop up capitalism by reproducing and legitimising class inequalities. He also supports their idea regarding the ‘myth of meritocracy’.
However, he rejects the idea that pupils are passive to indoctrination. He claims that they can resist such control and this is illustrated in the existence of anti-school subcultures that reject school values and rules
Describe Willis’s research in summary
Willis combined his Marxist ideas with interpretive sociology and conducted detailed qualitative research in schools. (qualitative research methods enable sociologists to conduct small-scale in-depth research and to get ‘up close’ to the social actors they are studying)
Willis studied a small sample of 12 WC boys during the last 18 months in school and he followed them as they made their transition into work. These lads were part of an anti-school subculture and did not passively accept the hierarchical system of schools
What do all marxists agree on in relation to education?
All Marxists agree that capitalism cannot function without a workforce that is willing to accept exploitation. Likewise, all Marxists see education as reproducing and legitimising class inequality. That is, it ensures that working class pupils are slotted into and accept jobs that are poorly paid and alienating. The Marxist approach is therefore useful in exposing the ‘myth of meritocracy’.
How do Marxists differ to Neo-Marxists
Marxists such as Bowles and Gintis see education as a fairly straightforward process of indoctrinating the myth of meritocracy, Paul Willis (1977) study shows that working class pupils are resist such attempts to indoctrinate them. Neo-marxists work such as will’s work helps to explain why pupils reject school values and rules. His work is less deterministic than Bowles and Gintis as he rejects their view that schools ‘brainwash’ pupils into passively accepting their fate
Explain Willi’s interpretive approach
Willis is interested in the way in which schooling serves capitalism. However, he combines this with an interpretive approach that focuses on the meanings that pupils giver to their situation and how these enable to resist indoctrination which contains an extra dimension which may differ to the findings of Bowles and Gintis found.
Additionally. Marxist’s used qualitative research techniques usually associated with interpretive sociology when conducting his research. Therefore, Willis achieved a synthesis between macro and micro analysis, structural and social action theory and his explanation is seen as Neo-Marxist theory on education.
who did Willis do his study on
Willis studied a group of 12 working class boys during their 18 months at school and follow them as they made their transition from school to work. Their school was located in the middle of a large working class housing estate in the west midlands
What did Willis find in his research of 12 lads
He found that this group of 12 lads formed a distinctive friendship group with its own particular attitude which led to the development of a counter-school subculture. This counter-school/anti-school subculture was opposed to the values of the school and Willis found that the lads demonstrated a fierce opposition to authority. They rejected educational success as defined by the school and saw the conformist behaviour of hardworking pupils as a source of amusement and mockery. The boys prioritised having a ‘laff’ to relieve the monotony and boredom of school and at the same time whilst flouting school rules and values helped them overcome the boredom of school, it was also a way to gain the status that school denied them. He found that the lads rejected educational qualifications because they knew that they were not essential for work - they realised that they were destined to work in the same factory as their dads, brothers etc and therefore saw education and qualifications as irrelevant to them.
Willis noted the similarity between anti-school counter culture and what?
Willis notes the similarity between the anti-school counter culture and the ‘shop-floor’ culture of male manual workers. Both cultures see manual work as superior and intellectual work as inferior and effeminate. The lads identify strongly with male manual work and this explains why they see themselves as superior both to girls and to the ‘effeminate’ ear’oles who aspire to non-manual jobs
