Functionalist and New Right approach to education Flashcards
According to Durkheim what role does education play?
Describe this!
How does education teach universal norms and values?
What do children learn regarding their role?
-Education performs the role of secondary socialisation.
-It teaches universal norms and values(rather than particular norms and values which are taught by primary socialisation in the family).
-Education instills social solidarity, teaches rules and how to follow them, teaches specialist skills.
-Children learn about their place and in a bigger picture; they learn about punishment and self-discipline; they learn how to play their role in the economy.
In addition to secondary socialisation what other role did parsons identify education playing? Describe this.
What do schools offer students for this system to work to according to Parsons? Explain.
-The function of role allocation. Sifting and sorting people into the most appropriate jobs for adult life.
-Parsons argues education does this meritocratically.
-The education system rewards efforts. Also those who work hard or are most intelligent get the highest qualifications which gets them access to the more responsible jobs they are most suited for.
Who emphasised the importance for a system of unequal rewards? What term did they use to describe this process? How does it work?
-Davis and Moore.
-Social stratification(or inequality) lead to intense competition to get to the top and get the high paid jobs.
-This is the process which facilitates meritocracy and effective sifting and sorting.
Why do marxists criticise the functionalist approach to education? What other criticisms do functionalists face? Tumin?
-Marxists argue that meritocracy is a myth and the education system really reproduced class inequalities.
-Marxists ask where the ‘shared values’ come from(they argue it is bourgeois ideology).
-It is outdated-society and education have both changed since these theories were written.
-It is not always the case that those with the best qualifications get the best paid jobs.
-Tumin argues Davis & Moore have a circular argument.
Who do the New Right agree with about how education should be? But?
Why?
-Functionalists. But argued that by the 1970s it was not functional.
-They argue gov’t policies had focused on equality (of opportunity and outcome) rather than meritocracy.
-They also Left wing councils and teachers were teaching radical values rather than those shared by wider society.
What did the New Right propose as a solution to the issues within education? Who argued that private schools get better results because they were answerable to paying parents?
What values would parents have rather than leftist teachers and councillors?
-They argued that schools should compete against each other and be more accountable to parents(marketisation and parentocracy).
-Chubb and Moe.
-They also argued that parents would have more mainstream values than teacher and ‘loony left’ councillors.
Why is the New Right approach criticised?(Who are the losers?) Do private schools do well just because of markets and parent power? What did the New Right impose that contradicts their minimal state intervention stance?
-Some sociologists worry about the excessive competition in schools as the ‘losers’ are children.
-NO.The reasons for good exam results at private schools are far more complex.
-The New Right imposed the National curriculum which goes aginst their ‘small state’ intervention ideology.
