the role of education

Question 1

Durkheim (functionalism)

Answer 1

identifies two main functions of education:
- social solidarity of specialist skills - the education system helps to create social solidarity by transmitting society’s culture from one generation to the next
- schools also act as a ‘society in miniature’ preparing us for life in wider society

Question 2

Parsons (functionalism)

Answer 2

schools are meritocratic. this is the belief that all pupils have an equal chance to succeed through talent and abilities, irrespective of class, gender, ethnicity etc.

sees the school as an agent of socialisation, acting as a bridge between the family and wider society

Question 3

Davis and Moore (functionalism)

Answer 3

believe schools perform the function of selecting and allocating pupils to their future work roles by assessing individuals aptitudes and abilities, schools help to match them to the job they are best suited to

Question 4

Althusser (marxism)

Answer 4

the education system performs two functions for the ideological state apparatus:
- reproduction: the education system reproduces class inequality by failing each generation of working-class pupils
- legitimation: the education system tries to convince people that inequality is inevitable and failure is ht fault of the individuals, not the capitalist system

Question 5

Bowles and Gintis (marxism)

Answer 5

schools create the new generation of workers to serve the capitalist system. there is a hidden curriculum in schools (lessons that are ‘learned’ but not taught), which is used to serve the capitalist system (e.g. pupils accept hierarchy, competition, alienation). the functionalist idea of meritocracy is a myth; success is based on class background, not ability or educational achievement

Question 6

Willis (neo-marxism)

Answer 6

Pupils can see through the ruling class ideology and resist attempts to indoctrinate it in school. male working class pupils formed a distinct counterculture that flouted school rules

Question 7

liberal feminism

Answer 7

there has been as steady improvement in girls experience of school and girls achievement

Question 8

radical feminism

Answer 8

radical feminists believe that one of the primary roles of education is to maintain gender inequality:
- gendered language: used by school teachers and textbooks
- gendered roles: textbooks present traditional gendered roles (e.g. women as housewives)
- gendered stereotypes: textbooks and teachers tend to stereotype males and females (e.g. girls are presented as more caring)

Question 9

the new right

Answer 9

believe schools should be centred around competition and choice, this is mainly done through marketisation. by creating an ‘education market’, schools are forced to respond in the needs of teachers, parents and pupils

Question 10

Chubb and Moe (the new right)

Answer 10

state education has failed to create equal opportunity because it does not have to respond to pupil’s needs. Parent and communities cannot do anything about failing school when the schools are controlled by the state. private schools deliver higher quality education because they are answerable to paying consumers (parents)