The Role And Functions Of The Education System Flashcards
Durkheim 2 main functions of education
-creating social solidarity
-teaching specialist skills
Function: creating social solidarity (Durkheim)
-Education brings about social solidarity, where individual members of society feel that they belong to a community, created by a shared sense of norms and values, which are transmitted through education (value consensus). For example, subjects like history, languages and religion link children to society, giving them a sense of belonging.
This prepares us for life in wider society when we have to be more independent (society in miniature) and unites members of a society
Function: teaching Specialist skills
-Education is essential for preparing individuals to meet the needs of post industrial society.
-As society has become more complex, there is a high demand for workers with more specialised skills. Education teaches these specialist skills needed for specific jobs, ensuring that individuals can effectively contribute to both the economy and society by matching individuals to appropriate roles based on their abilities and training. This ensures that the most important jobs are filled by the most qualified.
E.G an aeroplane engineer.
As a result, the needs of post industrial society are fulfilled.
Criticism of Durkheims functions- Marxism
E.G Althusser
-Educational institutions tend to transmit a dominant culture, which serves the interests of the ruling class rather than those of a society as a whole. This reinforces the idea that the culture of the WC is inferior, putting poorer students at a disadvantage
Criticisms of Durkheims functions- Studies of Willis and Hargreaves
-Willis and Hargreaves’s studies demonstrate that the transmission of norms and values is not always successful as some students openly reject the values it the school and form anti school subcultures. For example, the ‘lads’ in Willis’s study openly rejected the values of the school, instead engaging in rebellious activities
criticisms of Durkheims functions- feminist
-The school passes on patriarchal values and disadvantages girls and women. E.G gendered subject images, curriculum
Parsons- two functions of education
-Socialisation
-Meritocracy
Parsons: function of socialisation
-Through the process of socialisation, school acts as a bridge between the family and wider society
-During primary socialisation, children are taught to behave according to particularistic standards- those that only apply to them, which tend to be based around your ascribed status in the family. E.G elder son and a younger daughter may be given different rights or duties because of age differences and sex
-However, the education system judges individuals based on universalistic standards - those that apply to everyone, where students are assessed by the same criteria, such as grades. This transition helps children to learn to function in society based on merit, rather than relying on family connections, promoting fairness and social cohesion. (Creates value consensus)
Parsons: function of meritocracy
-Schools provide a system where individuals are rewarded based on their abilities and achievements rather than their social background. For example, those who work the hardest will get the best grades, teaching individuals the importance of hard work and effort as achievements are linked to performance. This allows for social mobility and also creates fairness and equality.
-This prepares individuals to take on roles in society based on their talents and contributions.
Criticisms of Parsons socialisation function (interactionist POV)
-Wrong argues that functionalists like Parsons have an ‘over socialised view’ of people as puppets of society, suggesting that pupils are passive recipients of schools values, who never reject them. This is shown in Willis study
Critics of parsons meritocracy function
-Schools are not entirely meritocratic. for example, factors such as material and cultural deprivation can significantly limit a students achievement and ability for academic and social mobility, particularly for lower classes, suggesting that schools do not always perform this function
Davis and Moore- Role allocation (functionalism)
-The education system ‘sifts and sorts’ people according to their abilities into the most suited pathways through exams and qualifications.
-The most talented gain high qualifications/ grades, which lead to the most functionally important jobs that require more skilled workers. Those with the lowest qualifications end up in lower skilled jobs.
-Ultimately role allocation ensures a more efficient economy.
(The most talented need to be persuaded to make the sacrafice of staying in education rather than earning a wage, through incentives.
E.G higher salaries, status etc)
criticisms of Davis and Moore’s function of role allocation- Marxist
-Bowls and Ginitis reject the view that capitalist societies are meritocratic as regardless of talent, the children of the more wealthy gain the highest qualifications and well rewarded jobs. Therefore, meritocracy in education is a myth.
-For example, Bourdieu (Marxist )argues that MC studies possess more social and cultural capital that help them to maintain their position on the hierarchy. The WC do not have this and so tend to remain at the bottom
Althusser- The Ideological state apparatus
-Education system is part of the ideological state apparatus, where WC are controlled by the RC.
-It passes on the dominant ideology, that of the RC, socialising students into accepting the values of capitalist society, limiting critical thinking to maintain the status quo.This prepares them to accept their roles in the capitalist system when they enter the workplace, where they must be obedient and conform (not challenge authority/ their exploitation). Therefore, education socialises individuals into the false class consciousness.
two main functions of education- Marxist perspective
-Reproduces inequality
-Legitimises (justifies) inequalities
Bowles and Ginitis- The Correspondence Theory
-Schooling takes place in the ‘long shadow of work’ . They prepare students to enter the workforce by creating a parallel between (mirroring) aspects of the workforce and those of the school. These are transmitted through the hidden curriculum.
-For example, the hidden curriculum encourages the acceptance of the hierarchy with headteachers at the top making decisions and orders, and pupils at the bottom, corresponding with bosses at the top nd employees at the botttom in the workplace.
-Furthermore, the school system creates a subservient workforce by rewarding good behaviour and punishing bad behaviour, reinforcing social control that would be found in the workforce.
Bowles and Ginitis- The myth of meritocracy
-Meritocracy does not exist within schools, the concept is only put forward to disguise the main factors is determining achievement, such as social class, gender and ethnicity.
-Furthermore it is used to justify the inequality between the WC and MC by blaming their underachievement on them for not working hard enough. (E.G the poor are dumb theory- ‘I’m poor because I wasn’t clever enough’). This way the class structure is maintained
Illich(1995)- De schooling
-Schools repress pupils into passive acceptance of existing inequalities, not allowing for them to being creative and think for themselves themselves by rewarding those that conform to the school standards with qualifications and excluding those who do not. The solution to this is to abolish schools altogether -‘de schooling’, arguing that pupils would learn more if they could learn what they wanted in their own community
Example of deschooling
Summerhill school
-established in 1921 and offers a progressive and democratic education based on students own ideas. Students are not forced to do anything- including attending lessons.
-Students run school meetings and decide the day to day running of the schools. Staff and students vote to decide school policy. Everyone is an equal, no one has more authority than anyone
Bourdieu - Capital
-School reproduces class based inequalities by favouring the habitus of the dominant class. This gives the MC an advantage as they have already been socialised into the dominant culture and so they possess more cultural capital, helping them to succeed in education. On the other hand the WC do not possess the habitus of the dominant class and so failure is almost inevitable for them and so the class structure is maintained.
Evaluation of Marxism-
-Neo Marxists-E.G Willis. Hidden curriculum is not always accepted. Students often have little regard for teacher authority and often reject it .E.G he identified an anti subculture called the ‘lads’ who rejected the values and expectations of schools.Furthermore, the history of trade unionism and industrial action in the Uk does not support the idea of worker conformity
-Brown et al- much work now requires teamwork rather than obedience of authority
-Reynolds- Ignores influences of the formal curriculum e.g education encourages critical thinking thinking such as sociology. This does not seem to be designed to promote the ideal employee for capitalism .
-Bowles and Ginitis work was conducted in 1976 in the USA- may not be applicable to Britain in the 21st century.
-Feminist- Macdonald - schools not only reproduce class based inequalities but also patriarchy.
How do Bowles and Ginitis criticise the specialised skills function
-Education creates a surplus of skilled labour by teaching children more than they need to know for most jobs. This maintains a high rate of unemployment. As a result, workers or more willing to tolerate low ages and less likely to challenge authority as it is easier for employers to sack and replace them. This means the RC are more able to control workers and they are groomed into being a passive obedient worker.
