Perspectives On Education Flashcards
Social solidarity
Refers to the bonding/integration of people together in society through shared values, and a common culture and understanding.
Durkheim: Solidarity and Skills Teaching
Social Solidarity: Durkheim argues that society needs a sense of solidarity. Without it, social life and cooperation would be impossible because each individual would pursue their own selfish desires. The education system helps to create social solidarity by transmitting society’s culture (shared beliefs and values) from one generation to the next. For example the teaching of a country’s history instils in children a sense of shared heritage and a commitment to a wider social group. This can also be achieved through the hidden curriculum.
Define ‘value consensus’
The need for societies to have a common set of beliefs and principles to work towards.
Meritocratic
Means status or position in society is chosen by your own abilities and efforts, rather than because of your class, ethnicity, gender, the family you were born into or who you know.
What do functionalists argue?
They argue that in order for society to function effectively, there must be social order and stability, otherwise society will collapse.
Why is functionalism seen as a structural theory?
Because it claims that social structures such as religion, family, and school perform a number of ‘positive functions/roles’, both for a society as a whole and for individuals, in order to help maintain social solidarity. They are only interested in the positive functions performed by education.
What are the two key functions?
The socialisation function: the school system helps socialise students into society by teaching individuals about the accepted behaviour and rules of society, which helps achieve social solidarity.
The economic function: the school system plays a key role in slotting people into ‘appropriate’ future occupations in society.
Durkheim: social solidarity
Durkheim claims that the education system teaches students the shared norms and values of society which creates social solidarity.
Parsons: Meritocracy
He believes every individual is given an equal opportunity to achieve their full potential on an individuals talent without being discriminated against on the grounds of social class, gender or ethnicity. Parsons sees school as a ‘miniature’ version of society, as both are meritocratic. In school, individuals succeed or fail depending on their own ability and efforts. This prepares them for life in modern society and its economy, which is competitive and individualistic.
Parsons see schools as an important place for secondary socialisation; acting as the bridge between the family and wider society. This bridge is needed because the family and society operate on different principles, so children need to learn a new way of living if they are to cope in the wider world.
Within the family, the child is judged by particularistic standards (rules that only apply to them). They also have an ascribed status (fixed at birth).
Parsons ideas
he sees education as performing an important role in terms of establishing shared norms and values, school is simply the bridge between the family or primary socialisation and entry to employment. He views the education system as a positive system of placing the best students at the top both in school and eventually the work place.
Role allocation
A system of allocating people the most appropriate jobs for their talents using exams and qualifications.
Davis and Moore see education as a device for selection and role allocation. They argue that inequality is necessary to ensure that the most important roles in society are filled by the most talented people. It would be inefficient and dangerous to have less able people performing roles such as surgeon or airline pilot. Not everyone is equally talented so society has to offer a high reward for these jobs. This will encourage everyone to compete for them and society can then select the most talented individuals for these positions.
Education plays a key part in this process as it acts as a proving ground for ability. The most able gain the highest qualifications which gives them entry to the most important jobs in society.
Ascribed status
A position in society that a person has as a result of their birth or other circumstances over which they have no control.
Achieved status
A position in society that one earns based on efforts, abilities or choices.
Statement: Education sifts and sorts people into their appropriate jobs
An element of this is ascribed: natural ability, talent or intelligence.
Marxists: myth of meritocracy
made up to legitimise the system of unfairness in which the bourgeoisie rule and the proletariat are exploited and are persuaded to believe the rich/powerful reach positions through hard work and natural ability rather that privileged birth. The myth of meritocracy sets up a way of making the working class accept that they are working class.
What does the education system teach
it teaches people the value of making an effort as it’s rewarded, it ensures people end up performing the social roles they’re best suited
Evaluating parsons: false class consciousness
Argue class inequalities are reproduced in next generation and education system plays key role in this, argue myth of meritocracy helps develop a false class consciousness (working class are unaware of the inequality their class faces).
Feminist view of education overall
- Share ideas with functionalists and Marxists
- Feminists see the education system as transmitting patriarchal values
Postmodernist beliefs
1.) People create society as they go along. It is not possible to ‘know’ society: or how society works as it is not a ‘thing’.
2.) Truth is just another opinion.
3.) There are no rules, so people choose to do what pleases them.
4.) Gender and sexuality are a matter of personal choice.
5.) Theories are pointless because they all have weaknesses.
6.) People choose what to believe in a ‘pick and mix’ of different ideas.
7.) People gain satisfaction from buying things which give them an identity, this is consumerism.
8.) Society only change, things do not improve.
9.) Social groups are fragmented, so people choose their gender and class.
Postmodernism means literally ‘after the modern era’. The modern era was a time of certainty and stretched from the 18th century to the late 20th century.
Postmodernists believe that this era was far more predictable than the times we live in today, e.g. jobs were for life and class was a major source of identity.
Since around the 1970’s we have been living in times characterised by risk and diversity. Consequently this has had huge implications for education .
Moor and Hickox 1994
Argue that such policies as the National Curriculum are doomed to failure because they can’t keep up with the increasingly diverse nature of society.
The continual testing, target setting and recording of results is seen as an attempt to keep some kind of order.
Criticisms
Some argue that no such thing as a post-modern world exists and that issues such as social class are just as important today as ever. Postmodernists criticise sociological theories for being ‘meta-narratives’ (large all-embracing explanations). However, in putting forward their views are not postmodernists falling into the same trap?
Modernist beliefs
1.) Society creates order out of chaos; the purpose of sociology is to learn how society works and improve it.
2.) Knowledge produced by science is the truth.
3.) People follow social rules because it makes good sense to do so.
4.) Gender is fixed at birth and based on sex.
5.) Theories can offer the answers to problems in society.
6.) People tend to belong to one particular belief system such as Marxism or Christianity.
7.) People gain satisfaction and value from making things.
8.) Society is constantly improving itself and the world can only get better.
9.) People belong to known social groups such as gender or classes.
Criticising Postmodernism
1.) The work of postmodernism tends to be descriptive as it cannot be used as the basis of sociological research. Identifying social diversity does not explain it.
2.) The theory states that there is no theory. This is a contradiction in itself.
Strengths of postmodernism
1.) It shows the social attitudes are changing as older belief systems have less influence.
2.) People responding to choices helps explain social change.
3.) It highlight the impact of the media and consumerism on modern culture.
Recognising postmodernism
Postmodernists tend to think in terms of choice and uncertainty. They emphasise that change is natural to society and that no particular way of life is correct. They discuss the way that people are individualistic, concerned with image and with consumerism products, especially technology and the media. They agree with interactionists that people interpret the world and then develop that idea to say that people construct the reality that best suits their needs.
Jean Francois lyotard
Lyotard claimed that there are no useful meta-narratives in modern society because all of them are too simplistic. Knowledge is no longer a way in which we can be controlled by the powerful because modern technology means we all can access it. Ideas can now be judged on how useful they are, not on their ‘truth’.
Jean Baudrillard (1929-2007)
Baudrillard was interested in the media. He said that we are swamped by the media images and messages so that all we do is consume. We do not buy products because we like them, we buy them because they give us an identity of some kind. In our society, appearance and image are all we care about because there is no reality to life.