Functionalists Flashcards
What’s the Functionalist opinion on Education?
Education creates a link between individuals and society and creates social cohesion and transmits specialist skills.
Davis and Moore
Education allocates us our roles in society. It does this through ‘sifting and sorting’ us depending on our ability through tests and putting those in sets which correspond with our ability. This is necessary to enable the more intelligent children to serve in the most important jobs. For example, a doctor.
Durkheim
Education socialises individuals through transmitting values down each generation. This enables us to live in a cohesive society. This is necessary because society needs a sense of solidarity, and education makes individuals feel like they are part of the community. Durkheim states that this is achieved through passing on society’s culture through each generation- for example, History creates a link between the individual and society through a sense of shared heritage.
Parsons
Education acts as a bridge between the family and society is a whole, which is necessary because they operate on different principles. Parsons theorises that education enables youths to be ready for their adult role, for example you are taught the rules of society, and politeness that you may not have learnt within the family. Education causes you to go from a particularistic (specific to the family) view of the world, to a universalistic (widely accepted) view of the world. Ascribed to achieved. Both operate on meritocratic principles.
Durkheim Evaluation
Not all youths who go through education end up working- some end up being part of the ‘Underclass’
indicating Education has not achieved its purpose of transmitting society’s values.
(Marxists critical of Functionalists for assuming education teaches shared values when it only transmits the ideology of the ruling class- Althusser).
Parsons Evaluation
Wyn and White support Parson’s theory- they found that youths are not distinct from their parents at all, and have conventional aspirations for the future, indicating Education has completed its purpose of preparing youths for their adult role.
(Heaton and Lawson). Teaches patriarchal values, not those of everyone and sorts men into the best paid roles and women into low paid caring and domestic work)
Davis and Moore Evaluation
This theory ignores jobs such as teachers and nurses, which are highly important to society but do not attain good rewards and are not highly paid.
(Postmodernists such as Lyotard argue our ed system should no longer attempt to teach any collective values because society has become so fragmented)
