Functionalism Perspective Flashcards
What does Durkheim argue?
that society needs a sense of social solidarity
What is social solidarity
its individual members must feel themselves to be apart of a ‘single body’ or community
What does Durkhiem argue would happen without social solidarity within society?
social life and cooperation would be impossible because each individual would pursue their own selfish desires
How does Durkheim argue the education system helps create social solidarity?
by transmitting society’s culture from one generation to the next generation
How does the National Curriculum aid Social Solidarity?
it teaches a country’s history which instils in children a sense of a shared heritage and a commitment to the wider social group
What does Durkheim argue if value consensus broke down?
society would fall into anomie
What is vital for social solidarity?
Functionalist see an ethnocentric curriculum as being vital for social solidarity
Why might postmodernist criticise Durkheim?
Postmodernists might criticise Durkheim for his assumption that society needs shared value as Britain has become much more multicultural in recent decades and the extent to which there is a single British culture is debatable
How does Parson see the school as?
the ‘focal socialising agency’ acting as a bridge between the family and wider society
Why is the bridge needed?
family and society operate on different principles so children need to learn a new way of living if they are to cope with the wider world
What does Parson think the education system is?
meritocratic, so that children learn the importance of hard work
Parson argues that children are judged by particularistic standards which is
rules that only apply to that particular child
In families, the child status is
ascribed, which is fixed by birth
An example of an ascribed status?
An elder son and a younger daughter are given different rights or duties because different age and sex
what does the school and the wider society judge us all by?
the same universalistic and impersonal standards e.g. the same laws apply to everyone and within education each pupil is judged against the same standards as they all sit the same exam and the pass mark is the same for everyone