The role and functions of the education system

Question 1

what are the two functions of education and who identified them?

Answer 1

• creating social solidarity
• teaching specialist skills
  Emile Durkheim (1903)

Question 2

what does the term ‘social solidarity’ mean?

Answer 2

the integration of people into society through shared values, common culture and shared understandings and social ties that bind them together.

Question 3

what are ‘specialist skills’?

Answer 3

a set of skills that prepare you for the adult world.

Question 4

what does ‘ascribed status’ mean?

Answer 4

status that is given to you and fixed at birth.

Question 5

what does ‘universalistic standards’ mean?

Answer 5

where individuals are judged by the same standards and status is achieved.

Question 6

who proposed ‘role allocation’ and what is it?

Answer 6

Davis and Moore (1945)

* selecting suitable roles for individuals who are best suited to them.

Question 7

who suggested that social inequality is necessary?

Answer 7

Davis and Moore (1945)

Question 8

who are the ‘Bourgeoisie’?

Answer 8

the capitalist groups who own the big companies.

Question 9

who are the ‘proletariats’?

Answer 9

working class people

Question 10

Durkheim believed that education..

Answer 10

..was a way of getting young people ready for real life.

Question 11

who believe that there is a social glue which prevents society from becoming ‘chaotic’?

Answer 11

functionalists

Question 12

who believe that society revolves around the class system?

Answer 12

Marxist theorists.

Question 13

which approach is seen as having an over-socialised view? why?

Answer 13

functionalists, they think that students are mere puppets of society.

Question 14

what is meant by ‘collective consciousness’?

Answer 14

the set of shared beliefs, ideas and moral attitudes which operate as a unifying force within society.

Question 15

what is meant by ‘instrumental relationships’?

Answer 15

formal relationships which are not goal orientated.

Question 16

suggest at least 2 ways that school influences an individual to think and act in acceptable ways.

Answer 16

• there are rules in place which make students act in a certain manner.
• we are taught that there is always a consequence to our behaviour.

Question 17

what does the term ‘particularistic standards’ mean?

Answer 17

rules and values that give a priority to personal relationships.

Question 18

what does the term ‘achieved status’ mean?

Answer 18

status that is achieved through an individuals efforts.

Question 19

who believes that role allocation is one of the main functions of the educational systems?

Answer 19

Talcott Parsons

Question 20

who believes that the skills required in an industrial work place cannot be taught at home?

Answer 20

Emile Durkheim

Question 21

who believes that it is dangerous to allocate an important role to a less abled person?

Answer 21

Davis and Moore.

Question 22

suggest a few criticisms of the functionalist approach to education.

Answer 22

• education legitimises social inequality

* most occupational skills are learnt ‘on the job’ or training schemes.

Question 23

what are the two main social groups according to marx?

Answer 23

a ruiling class and a subject class.

Question 24

what does the term ‘false consciousness’ mean?

Answer 24

failure by members of a social class to recognise their real interests.

Question 25

what does ideological transmission allow?

Answer 25

the idea of false consciousness to be accepted.

Question 26

who sees education as being an ideological state apparatus?

Answer 26

Althusser

Question 27

sum up Paul Willis’ learning to labour findings.

Answer 27

• schools don’t produce a willing/ obedient workforce.

* the lads consciously developed the anti school attitude due to their backgrounds.

Question 28

what is ideological state apparatus?

Answer 28

groups of agencies that serve to spread the dominant ideology and justify the power of the dominant social class.

Question 29

suggest a few criticisms of the Marxist approach towards education.

Answer 29

• state policies related to compensatory measures in education cannot be explained well by Marxism.
• Madeline Macdonald (1980) claim that schools produce patriarchy as well as capitalism.
• Angel McRobbie (1978) points out that females are absent from Willis’ study.

Question 30

suggest a few positives of the Marxist approach towards education.

Answer 30

• the approach is useful towards exposing the myth if meritocracy.
• there is a clear correspondence between the needs of capitalism and educational institutions.

Question 31

What are the four basic functions of education, identified by Durkheim and Parsons?

Answer 31

1- passing on society’s culture and building social solidarity.
2- school is a ‘society in miniature’ and that students are treated as individuals, so they need to earn there place in society.
3- developing human capital, trained and qualified labour force.
4- selecting and allocating roles in a meritocratic society.

Question 32

What does passing on society’s culture and building social solidarity mean?

Answer 32

Education is an institute that passes on core values and culture to the next generation, this Occurs to avoid anomie and is achieved through curriculum, subject content etc..

Question 33

What does developing a human capital mean?

Answer 33

Refers to the knowledge and skills that a workforce possess enable to become useful to employers and the economy. So much money is invested into education so that skills which can’t be learnt at home, usually are taught within school.

Question 34

What does selecting and role allocation in a meritocratic society mean?

Answer 34

Davis and Moore, the eduction must sift people for different levels in the job market, ensuring that the most qualified are allocated to the most important jobs.