Role Of Education Flashcards
Functionalism
Durkheim->
Purpose of education is to build social solidarity and maintain value consensus.
Social solidarity
Individuals must feel themselves to be apart of a single ‘body’ or community. Without social solidarity individuals would pursue their own selfish desires
How does education achieve this ?
Education system helps create social solidarity by transmitting its shared beliefs and values.
What does Durkheim refer to school as?
School is a miniature society. Prepares us for life in a widersociety.
What does Parsons believe ?
School is the ‘focal socialising agency’; the purpose of education is to bridge particularistic and universalistic values together. The family and wider society
How ?
- Both the school and wider society judge us of all by the same universalists standards.
Society - the law
School - exams - meritocracy : status is achieved not ascribed
Work - promotion or fire
School- pass or fail
What does Durkheim argue ?
Education teaches individuals the specialist knowledge and skills they need to play their part in the social division of labour.
What does Davis and Moore say?
School performs the function of selecting and allocating pupils to future work roles. They do this by assessing their abilities. They argue inequality is necessary to ensure that the most important roles are filled with the most talented individuals.
What does Duncan et al state ?
Human capital:
The modern economy depends for is prosperity on using human capital. They argue that a meritocratic education system does this best since it enables each person to be allocated to the job that best suits their abilities. Thus maximising their productivity
Evaluation:
Marists argue that education in a capitalist society only transmits the ideology of the ruling class.
Wrong argues that functionalists have an overly socialised view of society. And wrongly assume that students would passively accept all they are taught with light challenging.
New right/ Neo-liberalism:
Privatisation and Marketisation of education
Similarities between functionalism and new right ?
- Both believe that some people are more naturally talented than others
- Favour an education system that runs on meritocratic principles of open competition and one that serves the needs of the economy.
- Both believed that education should socialise pupils into shared value and instils a sense of national identity
Problem:
Education system takes a “one size fit all” approach improving uniformity and disregarding local needs. State education systems are therefore unresponsive and inefficient. Lower standards of achievement for pupils a less qualified workforce and a less prosperous economic.
Solution:
Marketisation of education - creating an ‘education market’. Competition between schools and empowering consumers will bring
