The Role of Education Flashcards
What are the Roles of Education for Functionalists ?
• Durkheim - Social solidarity / transmitting society’s culture to the next generation / ‘society in miniature’ / Specialist skills
• Parsons - Meritocratic / all pupils have equal chance to succeed through talent & abilities regardless of class, gender, race etc… / Agent of socialisation / ‘bridge between family & wider society’
• Davis & Moore - Allocation / assessing individual ability to help them match a future job their best suited to
What are the Roles of Education for Marxists ?
• Althusser - 2 functions
1) Reproduction - reproduces class inequality by failing WC pupils
2) Legitimation - attempts to convince that inequality is inevitable / failure is the fault of the individual, not the capitalist system
• Bowles & Gintis - ‘Myth of Meritocracy’ / success is based on class background, not ability or educational achievement / Hidden curriculum, used to serve the capitalist system by teaching certain things in school environments, e.g, pupils accept hierarchy
• Willis ( Neo-Marxism ) - Pupils can see through the ruling class ideology and resist attempts to indoctrinate it in school. Male WC pulls formed a distinct counterculture that flouted school rules -> ACTS as a evaluation for other Marxists
What are the Roles of Education for Feminists ?
• Liberal feminism - there has been a steady improvement in girls experience and achievement in school
• Radical feminism - Maintain gender inequality / gendered language and stereotypes presented in textbooks, e.g, women presented as housewives or caring
What are the Roles of Education for The New Right ?
• School should be centred around competition & choice / this is done through marketisation / ‘education market’ / schools are forced to respond to the needs of pupils,parents and teachers
• Chubb & Moe - ‘One size fits all’
1) State education fails to create equal opportunity
2) Parents & communities can’t do anything about failing schools when they’re controlled by the state
3) Private schools deliver higher quality education because they’re answerable to paying consumers ( parents )
