Role of Education Flashcards
describe the basic functionalist theory
- society has basic needs eg social order so social solidarity /value consensus needed to achieve needs
- social institutions function to socialise helpful members of society to sustain social solidarity
how do functionalists tend to view schools
positively
who are the 3 main functionalist theorists for the role of education
- Durkheim
- Parsons
- Davis and Moore
what does Durkeik think are the two main roles for education
creating social solidarity
teaching specialist skills
describe Durkheims view in how the role of education is to create social solidarity
- school transmits society’s norms and values into new generation as it is necessary to produce social solidarity
- this is done through overt and hidden curriculum
- school is society in miniature so society learns to interact with the community and follow rules —> initiation into social duty
summarise Durkheims views on social solidarity into 3 main phrases / concepts
- social solidarity
- overt / hidden curriculum
- society in miniature
describe Durkheims theory on the role of education in teaching specialist skills
- pupils must be taught specialist skills to take place in complex division of labour
- production often involves cooperation of many specialists which promotes social solidarity
- to get this social solidarity each person must have a specialist skill and role which is gained via education
give 2 critiques of Durkheims social solidarity theory (using two studies)
- Marxists ; dominant culture transmitted which serves ruling class not society
- Willis and Hargreaves; transmission not always successful eg anti school subcultures actively resisting
give 2 critiques of Durkheims teaching specialist skills theory
- Wolf Review of Vocational Education claims high quality apprenticeships are rare and many vocational courses don’t lead to higher education or good jobs
- many occupational skills learnt on the job or by company courses
what is Parsons analogy /theory for the role of education
-school is a focal socialising agent that acts as a bridge between family and wider society
what are the ways Parsons believes school acts as a bridge
- through socialisation
- through transmitting values
how does Parsons describe socialisation to be the role of education
-with family children are judged by particularistic standards that only apply to them and stays is ascribed
-with wider society individuals judged with universalistic standards and status is achieved based off meritocratic
principles eg hard work in exams
-education helps ease childrens transitions eg meritocratic exams and uniforms promoting equality
describe how Parsons believes transmission of values is a role of education
-school transmits two major values :
value of achievement / meritocracy
value of equality of opportunity
-also argues it is society in miniature
give 2 criticisms of Parsons theory using one study
- Wrong; functionalists have over socialised view of people and assume students passively accept values
- assumes western education systems are meritocratic and existence if private education and inequalities linked to class gender etc challenge this
describe Davis and Moores theory on the role of education
- education system sifts and sorts ppl according to their abilities ; role allocation
- society offers the talented few incentives to stay in education such as higher salaries
give 3 critiques of Davis and Moores theory on role allocation (using 2 studies)
- achievement closely tied to class/gender/ethnicity eg Bordieu argues m/c have more cultural and social capital which advantages them and allows them to gain better qualifications than w/c
- Bowles and Gintis; m/c pupils gain better qualifications regardless of abilities and role allocation legitimises inequality in society
- footballers wages high despite lack of qualifications
give a basic overview of the New Rights ideas
- some are more naturally talented than others
- education should be meritocratic and competitive
- school should socialise studies to share values and provide sense of national identity
what is the KEY new right belief
the state cannot run an efficient education system; there us too much state control which results in inefficiency national economic decline and a culture of welfare dependency
give 2 reasons why the New Right dont believe the state can run an efficient education system
- state run education is one size fits all and doesn’t meet individual /community or employer needs
- state run schools not accountable for those who use them; schools with poor results don’t change as they aren’t answerable to consumers so there are low standards and a less qualified work forces
what do the New Right believe is the solution to state run schools inefficiency
- schools become more responsive to consumers via marketisation
- education market forces schools to respond to demands of consumers
what New Right theorists argue marketisation as the solution to state run schools inefficiency
-Chubb and Moe; introduce market system to state education via a voucher system so each family would get a voucher to spend on buying education from a school of their choice
what is Chubb and Moes study
- compared achievement of 60,000 students from low income families in 1000+ state and private US schools
- suggested education was not meritocratic and state education failed to create equal opportunity as private schools had higher quality education
evaluate the New Rights view in the role of education using 2 theorists (3)
- low quality of education to do with lack of funding not state control
- Gerwitz ; competition benefits m/c who can get children into more restorable schools
- Marxists ; education transmits ruling. class culture not shared national identity
give a basic overview of marxist beliefs
- bourgeoise who own means of production exploit proletariats labour
- social institutions reproduce and legitimise inequality so proletariat don’t revolt
what is the basic marxist view on the role of education
-to reproduce and legitimise class inequalities and socialise w/c into culture of failure so they willingly take up full routine work
give the 3 main marxist theorists
- Althusser
- Bowles and Gintis
- Willis
describes Althussers theory on the role of education
-school = ISA that reproduces class inequality by teaching capitalism is common sense and natural and to keep w/c as w/c
how does Althusser believes school performs two functions as an ISA
- reproduces inequality by transmitting it to each generation and failing each generation of w/c
- legitimises class inequality through ideology to persuade w/c that inequality is inevitable so they don’t revolt
give 2 studies that support Althussers theory on the role of education
- Reay; evident that schools reproduces inequality as m/c do better due to cultural capital
- Conner et al ; w/c children less likely to go to uni due to fear of debt
give 2 critiques of Althussers theory on the role of education using one study
- Giroux; too deterministic, w/c pupils aren’t passive puppets eg Willis study of the anti school lads
- education harms the bourgeoise as many left wing marxist activists are university educated
what is Bowles and Gintis theory on the role of education
- meritocracy is a myth
-correspondence principle operates through hidden curriculum so school acts as/ prepare w/c for work force
describe Bowles and Gintis ideas of the correspondence principle
- hidden curriculum encourages acceptance of hierarchy
- produces docile workers
- pupils motivated via external rewards not love of education itself
- subjects are fragmented like the work routine
give 3 studies that critique Bowles and Gintis theory on the role of education
- Giroux
- Brown et al
- Willis
how does Giroux critique Bowles and Gintis theory on the role of education
-w/c resist hidden curriculum and history of trade unionism in UK doesn’t support ideas of worker conformity
how does Brown et al critique Bowles and Gintis theory in the role of education
-they exaggerate correspondence principle eg modern work requires team work and exams still stress individual competition
how does Willis critique Bowles and Gintis theory on the role of education
-study of anti school subcultures show that students don’t accept hidden curriculum at school and many have little respect for education
give 2 things that support Bowles and Gintis theory on the role of education
- teachers freedom limited via National Curriculum
- education designed to meet employers needs eg BTECs, work experience ,skills courses
what theorist directly criticises Bowles and Gintis
Willis
describe Willis theory on the role of education
- w/c lads see myth of meritocracy and create anti school culture that challenges dominant views
- however this behaviour guarantees dead end jobs
what is Willis study (overview)
- 12 w/c lads studied using unstructured group interview and observation
- they had anti school culture and opposed education
- lads scornful at conformist boys, found school boring and meaningless, disregarded rules and rejected values
what did Willis find out in his study regarding the boys boredom in school
- lads anti school culture got them accustomed to boredom in school and didn’t expect satisfaction from work so they could deal with tedious labour
- acts of rebellion ensured they got less qualifications and unskilled jobs
what jobs did the boys in Willis study want and why
lads chose to fail to get manual labour jobs with friends and little responsibility ; saw intellectual work as inferiors and effeminate
summarise Willis study and theory on the role of education
-w/c not passive ; many reject school but due to their rebellion and how they are accustomed to boring work they still end up in dead end jobs
evaluate Willis theory on the role of education using a study
-Blackledge and Hunt; his sample is inadequate and too small to generalise and he also ignores the range of school subcultures
give 2 overall criticisms of marxist theories in education
- not intersectional ; ignore things such as gender and ethnicity
- w/c viewed sympathetically or as heroes what if Willis lads are just badly behaved kids making bad decisions
how would feminists critique theory’s on the role of education
school does reproduce /transmit ideas but patriarchal ideas
how would post modernists critique theory’s on the role of education
marxism and correspondence principle is out of date and we live in a post class society
