Functionalists Role of education

Question 1

Who is the sociologist for Social Solidarity?

Answer 1

Durkheim

Question 2

Explain Social Solidarity

Answer 2

Individual members must feel themselves to be apart of one single body / community

Question 3

How does the education system help to create Social Solidarity?

Answer 3

They transmit shared beliefs and values
E.G: the teaching of a country’s history instils a sense of shared heritage & pride to the wider social group
-history, geography, RSHCE

Question 4

What does school act as?

Answer 4

‘A society in miniature’

Question 5

What does a ‘society in miniature’ mean?

Answer 5

It prepares us for life in wider society
- In school & in the workplace, we have to co-operate with people who aren’t family or friends
We have to interact with them using rules that apply to everyone

Question 6

Who is the sociologist for Specialist Skills?

Answer 6

Durkheim

Question 7

Explain Specialist Skills

Answer 7

Modern societies have complex divisions of labour, needing the co-operation of many different specialists

Question 8

How does the education system help to create Specialist Skills?

Answer 8

Education teaches individuals the specialist knowledge and skills to play their part in their jobs and be successful
- Literacy and Numeracy skills

Question 9

Who is the sociologist for Meritocracy?

Answer 9

Parsons

Question 10

What does Parsons argue for the ‘focal socialising agency’?

Answer 10

He sees school as the bridge between the family and wider society
- family and society operate on diff levels, learning a new way of living is a must to cope with wider society

Question 11

What are particularistic standards?

Answer 11

Rules that only apply to that particular child
Children have an ascribed status that they were given at birth
e.g: an elder son + daughter given different duties baed on age & sex

Question 12

What are universal standards?

Answer 12

Rules that apply to everybody. We are judged by these standards by school and the wider society
e.g: each pupil is judged against the same standards; sitting same exam + having fair markschemes.

Question 13

Explain status

Answer 13

It’s achieved, not ascribed like particularistic standards
e.g: at work, gain promotion through effort, or be fired
e.g: at school, we pass or fail depending on efforts

Question 14

What’s the critique of meritocracy?

Answer 14

Pupils are streamed into low sets based on labelling
- Cultural + Material Deprivation

Question 15

What does Parsons argue for meritocracy?

Answer 15

School prepares us to move from family to wider society, as school and society operate on meritocratic principles.
Everyone is given an equal opportunity, and individuals receive rewards via effort and ability

Question 16

Who are the sociologists for Role Allocation?

Answer 16

Davis and Moore

Question 17

Define Meritocracy

Answer 17

Success is based on hard work, ability and effort

Question 18

What does Davis and Moore argue 1)?

Answer 18

That schools perform the role of selecting and allocating students to their future career roles. They help them match to the best suited job
- setting, streaming, exams, coursework

Question 19

What does Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore argue 2)?

Answer 19

Inequality is necessary to ensure that the most talented people work in the most important jobs
e.g: would be dangerous if a less able person performed surgeon/pilot role

Question 20

How does inequality lead to rewards?

Answer 20

Not everyone is equally talented, so society offers higher rewards for important jobs
- This encourages people to compete for them + society can select the most talented to pursue those positions

Question 21

What’s the importance of the school ‘sifting’ and ‘sorting’?

Answer 21

Education ‘sifts and sorts’ us according to our ability.
The most able gain the highest qualifications -> entry to highly rewarded job positions