The Role Of Education Flashcards
EMILE DURKHEIM (1903)
The two main functions of education are:
Social solidarity
Teaching specialist skills
parsons (1961)
The School is a Society in Miniature which helps to teach & prepare people for the demands & expectations of wider society.
the home
education
wider society
Davis and Moore 1945
Education acts as a sieve which ‘sorts’ people into roles/positions in society i.e. they are allocated roles.
Some people make it further than others i.e. they are able to gain higher status positions in society whilst others remain in low status positions. Inequality is therefore inevitable.
Wrong 1961
Functionalists have an over- socialised view of people as mere ‘puppets’ of society.
They wrongly assume that all pupils passively accept all they are taught and never reject the school’s values.
The education system does not teach specialised skills…. Instead…
The Wolf Review of vocational education (2011) claims that high quality apprenticeships are rare and up to a third of 16-19yr olds are on courses that do not lead to higher education or good jobs.
There is evidence to suggest that achievement is influenced by class and ethnicity.
Marxist theory of education
The main role of education is to produce an efficient, submissive, obedient workforce to help maintain the unequal capitalist society (structure) i.e. Education benefits the ruling class (R/C).
Education is an ideological tool that controls the working class (W/C.) Education will only be fair once the W/C have instigated a revolution & communism replaces capitalism
Althusser (Marxist) 1970
Althusser takes a theoretical approach to education i.e. his work is not based on research. He argues that the W/C are controlled by the R/C through 2 types of ‘Apparatus’:
repressive state
ideological state
Repressive State Apparatus:
Physical control through institutions such as the justice system & the military
Ideological State Apparatus
Control over the way the W/C think. These apparatus pass on Dominant Ideology (no physical force is used). This is done through institutions such as the family, religion & education. The R/C pass on their ideas & beliefs.
BOWLES & GINTIS (1970) ‘Schooling in Capitalist America’
Bowles & Gintis researched schools in the USA & concluded that the role of education is the reproduction of the workforce.
Education is a ‘Myth Making Machine’ designed to justify inequality by promoting the idea that failure is due to lack of hard work rather than injustices & inequalities within the capitalist society i.e.:
The ‘hidden’ curriculum
This consists of things that pupils learn Informally for their experience of going to school on a day to day basis. The hidden curriculum teaches the W/C the values needed within employment……
CRITICISM OF MARXISM
Willis
Neo Marxist such as Willis believe that it is wrong to assume the hidden curriculum is always accepted. Therefore, not every one is obedient and uncritical at work.
CRITICISM OF MARXISM
Brown et al
Brown et al argue that in reality many more jobs requires team work, then obedience. Therefore, not all we learn in education correspond to work. WE ARE ‘POST-FORDIST’.
CHUBB & MOE (1990): CONSUMER CHOICE
Argue that America’s State Schools have failed in their goals & should therefore be placed in the ‘Free Market’.
State Education has failed disadvantaged groups (W/C, Minorities) & failed to create equality of opportunity
Pupils are not being equipped with the skills needed to work i.e. the economy is thus failing.
EVALUATION OF THE NEW RIGHT PERSPECTIVE
Gerwitz: Marketisation benefits the Middle Class & disadvantages the Working Class.
The New Right ignore wider social inequalities within education & place all blame on the schools themselves.
he New Right want parents to have choice & freedom but at the same time want a strict curriculum in place – Contradictory.
Marxists argue that schools do not transmit a shared culture, only the culture of the R/C - the dominant culture.
