Functionalist And New Right Veiws On Education Flashcards
Deffenition of social solidarity
The ties that bind people together in society
How to education achieve social solidarity
Passed and shared heritage (literature, history)- students understand aspects of culture
Communal gatherings (assembly)- promotes values of community
Social cohesion (enrichment, house systems) - sense of achievement
What is the functions of education according to Durkheim
Teaching specialist skills, social solidarity
How does education prepare the next generation for employment
Core knowledge, specialist knowledge (a level), universitys
Critics for Durkheim
Marxists- students are often over qualified and there knowledge is fragmented
High levels of youth unemployment
Skills shortage in areas (nursing and teaching)
Feminists- girls are discouraged from certain subjects
What function does Parsons think education has?
Parsons develops Durkheims ideas and suggests a further function- secondary socialisation
How does education bridge between home and society?
It transforms particularistic (specific to group or individual) to universal values, education transforms ascribed status to achieved status, education promotes individualism
How does education bridge between home and society?
Hidden or informal curriculum, norms and values of school, assessment, competition between students
Contemporary examples of schools bringing home to society
Uniform, discipline, ofsted (cultural capital), social, moral, spiritual and cultural education (hidden curriculum)
Criticisms of parsons
Marxist- hidden curriculum prepares students for exploration (transmits values of capitalism)
Post-modernists: disagree with universal values- fragmented nature of society means socialisation by various agents
Clash of working-class values in education leads to underachievement
What does Davis and Moore think the function of education is
Role allocation- society requires a qualified workforce and education prepares students for these roles based on ability
How does education achieve role allocation
It ‘sifts and sorts’ students based on ability, promotes ideas of social mobility and meritocracy, most able pupils end in higher positions in society
Contemporary examples of role allocation
Setting and streaming, university entrance, subject choice (vocational and academic routes), wage inequality
Criticisms of role allocation
Marxists- meritocracy is a myth making machine (reinforces traditional roles of w/c and m/students) and meritocracy helps legitimises inequality by shifting blame to the student
Feminists- gender pay gap (too much emphasis is based on male based subjects-education is lower status)
Privately educated students are more advantaged
What is new rights view of education
Developed functionalist ideas of social solidarity and specialist skills, additionally parents should be given choice over child’s education, prefer maket approach to schools (LEAs are inefficient)
How to achieve new right concepts within schools
Competition between schools for results, increased choice for parents- open enrolment (enrolled in schools outside locality), increased involvement of privet enterprise in education
What did the 1988 educational reform act introduce
National curriculum, formula funding (given funding depending on how many students they had) , standardised testing (easy comparison between school), parental choice and open enrolment (parents no longer bound by geographical boundaries)
What further developments did the 1988 education reform act have
Introduction of OFSTED, league tables
Contemporary examples of new right concepts
Standardised tests through school life, developed educational markets, increased privatisation of education, wider range of schools
Evaluation of new right
Introduced selection policies that disadvantage certain social groups, Gerwitz et al- middle class advantaged as they can play the system
What did Chubb and moe argue?
Schools would have to compete to attract the most customers, schools should be more accommodating to wishes and needs of parents and carers, state schools impose uniformity (can’t cater to need of pupils) whereas marketing education gives parents stand pupils a choice
