Education With Theory And Methods Flashcards
What is Structural Functionalism in Education?
The functionalist theory of education focuses on how education serves the needs of society through development of skills, encouraging class cohesion and sorting of students.
According to functionalists, the role of schools is to prepare students for participation in the institutions of society.
What is a manifest function of the education system?
A manifest function is an intended consequence of formal education
What is a latent function of the education system?
A latent function is an unintended, or unanticipated function. These can be beneficial or harmful
Examples of manifest functions in education
- Teaching children basic facts, such as reading, writing and arithmetic
- Socialisation - children learning norms, customs and values of the society (e.g. in the US, kids daily pledge allegiance to USA flag)
- Cultural Transmission - schools transfer cultural knowledge to the next generation
- Social Integration - Taking children from different backgrounds and exposing them to to cultural values and norms in effort to promote shared understanding of the social world
- Creation of new knowledge through innovation and research at universities
- Provision of credentials to students to enable them to get jobs in chosen fields
Examples of latent functions in education
- Learning how to be a good 9 - 5 worker, how to work within a schedule
- Teaches kids to listen to authority figures
- Provides childcare that makes lives easier for working parents
- Help kids form friendships, social networks and romantic relationships
Describe the outcome and impact of The Conservative Education Act 1902
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Introduced radical changes to the education system of England and Wales. Disbanded school boards and moved control to local education authorities. LEAs could set local tax rates.
Describe the Fisher Education Act 1918
This act made secondary education compulsory up to 14 years old and gave responsibility for secondary schools to the state.
Key ideas of Durkheim relating to Education
- A key Function of education is to transmit cultural norms and values to next generation to produce social solidarity and the sense of belonging to a community bigger than themselves
- A key Function of education is to provide kids with the necessary skills to take their working place in society. A highly complex division of labour in which people have to cooperate to produce items.
Key Ideas of Talcott Parsons
- Socialisation - Education acts as a bridge between the family and society. In a family environment, children are judged on values, norms and customs at home. In school they are exposed to a far wider range that exist within the society.
- Parsons stated that education helps ease the transitions and that the exam system judges all people the same, on merit, and school uniforms set rules that apply to all pupils equally.
- Parsons stated that education helps socialise the young into the basic values of society and teach children the value of achievement and that everyone achieves through merit. This is the meritocratic view, where success and failure are based on merit.
What are the downsides of a meritocracy?
(The idea of a. Meritocratic society is that everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed ragrdless of the background, wealth, status in society, gender or race.)
- If we have a society where all people are wholly responsible for their own success, it follows that all people are equally responsible for their own failures.
- Low status comes to be seen as not just regrettable, but deserved. Associated with a sense of shame, in that they had been given all the same chances in life but failed. (The poor own their position to their own stupidity).
- Moving to a meritocracy has moved the old perspective of the ‘unfortunate’ poor, to the contemptible poor who deserve it for not working harder.
- Ignores good and bad luck. Those who do well claim they make their own luck.
- Those who can afford better education, additional tutoring and encouragement believe they have earned their place.
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Key ideas of Davis and Moore (1945)
- Kingsley Davis
- Wilbur Moore
Ideas formed during times against war against communism, and meritocracy was in direct opposition to collective communism approach.
- Education serves function of role allocation
- Argue that society needs a skilled workforce to deal with the increasing demands of 20th century capitalism
- The higher positions in society should be taken by those with the correct attributes to move society forward
- Education prepares students for these future roles, based on their ability
How does education achieve role allocation?
- Sifts and sorts based on ability - e.g. those with aptitudes for science might be sifted down this route. This can be done by placing kids into sets.
- Promotes ideas of social mobility and meritocracy - achieving good grades for hard work and ability. This can be seen in university admissions, with better colleges demanding better grades. Those with lower academic ability are shifted into a vocational course with a lower status. Impacts earning potential.
- Most able pupils end up in higher positions in society, e.g. lawyers, doctors, CEOs
- Lower ability end up in low skilled positions, manual or unskilled labour. Creates wage inequality
Some key criticisms of meritocracy
Marxist - meritocracy is a myth making machine. Designed to reinforce the traditional roles of middle class and working class students. The values are not shared by all of society, but those of the ruling class.
Marxist - Helps to legitimise inequality as it shifts the blame for failure to the individual rather than the education system (i.e. the student with the low status didn’t work hard enough, or weren’t talented enough). Barriers - material deprivation and labelling
Feminists - Argue there is too much emphasis on traditional male professions that lead to gender pay inequality (e.g. STEM). Female dominated industries are given lower status and therefore lower pay even though they require the same level of education.
Old School Tie Network - privately educated students and those with paid tuition are more likely to do better than those living in poverty
Functionalists tend to focus only on the positive aspects and not the negatives.
Evaluate functionalist theory of education
- Schools do perform positive functions for most pupils. In England truancy and exclusion rates are low
- Those with degrees earn 85% more than those with out on average, which supports the theory of role allocation
- There have been policy changes over the years, that education is more skills focused allowing children to access vocational courses
- Although not perfect, it is fairer education system than in the 19th century
What is material deprivation in education?
The inability to afford basic resources that impacts on a child’s educational achievement
