functionalism Flashcards
durkheim - social solidarity- and how does education create this
individual members of society need to feel a sense of social solidarity or belonging.
The education system creates this through transmitting society’s shared culture
Durkheim - Society in miniature
learn to live and work together, learn the impersonal rules which govern out behaviour
Durkheim - specialist skills
school teaches us the complex specialist skills we need so we can play our part in the labour market
Durkheim quote for the division of labour being imperative
not everyone can become doctors or solicitors, cleaners and factory workers are also important
Purposes of the education system
free childcare
prepare children to be workers in society
role allocation
economic benefit - encourages employment
societal norms learnt - social solidarity
Durkheim 1903 - Key concepts
social solidarity
society in miniature
complex division of labour
specialist skills
Parsons 1961 - Key concepts
education as a ‘bridge’
meritocratic principles
particularistic standards
universalistic standards
education as a bridge
bridge between family and wider society
children can learn from universalistic standards and impersonal standards that apply to everyone
meritocratic standards
applies to school and society
we achieve according to our own efforts
universalistic standards
rules or standards that apply to everyone
particularistic standards
where parents judge their children as unique and special, rather than judging them by universalistic standards
Davis and Moore - Key terms 1945
role allocation
‘sifting and sorting’
need for inequality
Davis and Moore - Role allocation
school selects and allocates children to their future work roles
Davis and Moore - need for inequality
is needed to allocate people to the most appropriate role
proselytising
attempts to convert people to a religion
why might governments be concerned about the loss of shared values in contemporary societies
increasingly multicultural society in which cultural differences are replacing shared values
why did the British government introduce the 5 British values
as an attempt to promote shared values
value consensus
when a society has a common set of beliefs and principles to work with and towards
how does british schools teaching religious education contrast with the french approach
the teaching of religion in state funded schools is banned
French Education Minister - pupils must be ‘protected from all forms of religious proselytising’
what is the funcitonalist presumption about the education system
that it is meritocratic
meritocracy
a society in which everyone has an equal chance of success based on their talent and efforts
criticism - in relation to academic performance
lower social classes and ethnic minority groups do not achieve as well as privileged classes
criticism - Dennis Wong - interactionist
argues that students aren’t just passive puppets - they sometimes reject the schools values and norms
criticism - Wolf - specialist skills
specialist skills are not adequately taught in the education system
Wolf report - vocational education - at least 350000 students were getting little to no benefit from the post-16 education system
