The Role of Education

Question 1

what approach is functionalism on education:

Answer 1

a consensus approach

(Focuses on the idea that society is held together by shared values, norms, and beliefs)

Question 2

what approach is Neoliberalism and the New Righton education:

Answer 2

a conservative, free market approach

Conservative sociology is a preference for the historically inherited rather than the abstract and ideal e.g traditional values.

Free market theory - an economic system in which trade is unregulated and free from government intervention

Question 3

what approach is Marxism on education:

Answer 3

a conflict approach (specifically class)

society is characterized by inequalities

Question 4

what approach is feminism on education:

Answer 4

a conflict approach (specifically patriarchy).

patriarchy- men’s dominance in society.

Question 5

The functionalist perspective on education:

What is functionalism?

Answer 5

Functionalism - the view that society is a system of independent parts that work together held together by a shared culture or value consensus.

Question 6

The functionalist perspective on education:

Who is Durkheim and what does he say

Answer 6

Durkheim (1903), the founder of functionalist sociology

Says that there are two main functions of education: creating social solidarity and teaching specialist skills.

Question 7

The functionalist perspective on education:

What is social solidarity? (use sociologist)

Answer 7

Durkheim argues that society needs a sense of solidarity.

social solidarity - individual members must feel themselves to be part of a community.

He argues that without social solidarity, social life and cooperation would be impossible because each individual would pursue their own selfish desires.

Question 8

The functionalist view of education:

how does the education system promotes social solidarity (use sociologist)

Answer 8

The education system helps to create social solidarity by transmitting society’s culture - its shared beliefs and values.

e.g Durkheim argues that the teaching of a country’s history instils in children a sense of a shared heritage and a commitment to the wider social group.

School also acts as a ‘society in miniature’, preparing us for life in wider society e.g both in school and at work we have to interact with others according to a set of rules that apply to everyone.

Question 9

The functionalist perspective of education?

what are specialist skills (use sociologist)

Answer 9

Specialist Skills - Skills that are needed for working place environment.

Question 10

The functionalist view of education:

how does the education system promote specialist skills (use sociologist)

Answer 10

Durkheim argues that education teaches individuals the specialist knowledge and skills that they need to play their part in the social division of labour e.g learning basic English and maths.

Question 11

The functionalist view on education:

Who is Parsons and what does he say

Answer 11

Parsons (1961) - functionalist sociologist.

Believes that schools act as a bridge between home and society.

Believes that schools prepares us to move from family into society as school is based on meritocratic principles.

Question 12

The functionalist view of education:

How is education a bridge between family and society? (use sociologist)

Answer 12

Parsons (1961) sees the school as being the bridge between the family and wider society.

This bridge is needed because family and society operate on different principles, so children need to learn a new way of living if they are to cope with the wider world.

Both school and wider society judge by the same standards e.g in society, the same laws apply to everyone and in schools the same standards apply to everyone.

Question 13

The functionalist view of education:

How does the education system promote meritocracy (use sociologist)

Answer 13

In school and wider society, a person’s status is largely achieved, not ascribed e.g at work we gain promotion or get the sack on the strength of how good we are at our job, while at school we pass or fail through our own individual efforts.

Parsons sees school being based on meritocratic principles. In meritocracy, everyone is given an equal opportunity and individuals achieve towards through their own effort and ability.

Question 14

The functionalist view of education:

What is role allocation? (use sociologist)

Answer 14

Davis and Moore (1945)

By assessing individuals aptitudes and abilities, schools help to match them to the job they are best suited to.

Question 15

The functionalist view of education:

What is the function of role allocation? (use sociologists)

Answer 15

Davis and Moore (1945) - see education as a device for selection and role allocation.

They argue that inequality is necessary to ensure that the most important roles in society are filled by the most talented people e.g it dangerous for less able people to perform roles such as surgeons or airline pilots. Not everyone is equally talented, so society has to offer higher rewards for these jobs.

This will encourage everyone to compete for them and society can then select the most talented individuals to fill these positions.

Question 16

The functionalist view of education:

How does education play a key part in role allocation? (use sociologists)

Answer 16

Davis and Moore (1945) - see education as a device for selection and role allocation.

Education acts as a proving ground for ability. Education is where individuals show what they can do.

It sifts and sorts us according to our ability. The most able gain the highest qualifications which gives them entry to the most important and highly rewarding jobs.

Question 17

Evaluation of the functionalist perspective on education:

Answer 17

The education system does not teach specialised skills adequately, as Durkheim claims e.g the Wolf review of vocational education (2011) - high-quality apprenticeships are rare and up to a 1/3 of 16-19 year olds are on courses that do not lead to higher education or good jobs.

Functionalists see education as a process that instils the shared values of society as a whole, but Marxists (Althusser 1971) argue that education in capitalist society only transmits the ideology of a minority - the bourgeoisie.

Wrong (1961) - functionalists have an ‘over-socialised view’ of people as mere puppets of society functionalists wrongly imply that pupils passively accept all they are taught and never reject the school’s values e.g Willis (1977)- w/c boys break schools rules e.g smoking and disrupting classes.

Question 18

Neoliberalism perspective on education:

What is Neoliberalism

Answer 18

Neoliberalism is an economic doctrine that has had a major influence on education policy.

Question 19

Neoliberalism perspective on education:

What is idea is Neoliberalism based on

Answer 19

The state must not dictate to individuals how to dispose of their own property, and should not try to regulate a free-market economy.

Governments should encourage competition, privatise state-run businesses and deregulate markets.

Question 20

Neoliberalism perspective on education:

What do Neo-Liberals argue about education.

Answer 20

Neoliberals argue that the value of education lies in how well it enables the country to compete in the global marketplace.

They claim that this can only be achieved if schools become more like businesses using competition between schools to drive up standards.

Question 21

The New Right perspective on education:

What is the New Right

Answer 21

The New Right is a conservative political view that incorporates neoliberal economic ideas.

A central principle of New Right thinking is the belief that the state cannot meet people’s needs and that people are best left to meet their own needs through the free market.

Question 22

The New Right perspective on education:

Similarities between the New Right and functionalists

Answer 22

Both believe that some people are naturally more talented than others

Both favour an education system run on meritocratic principles of open competition, and one that serves the needs of the economy by preparing young people for work.

Both believe that education should socialise pupils into shared values, such as competition, and instil a sense of national identity.

Question 23

The New Right perspective on education:

Differences between functionalists and The New Right

Answer 23

The New Right do not believe that the current education system is achieving these goals. The reason for its failure, in their view, is that it is run by the state.

Question 24

The New Right perspective on education:

What do The New Right argue is wrong with education

Answer 24

The New Right argue that state education systems take a ‘one size fits all’ approach, imposing uniformity and disregarding local needs.

People who use the schools - pupils, parents and employers - have no say.

State education systems are therefore unresponsive and inefficient. Schools that waste money or get poor results are not answerable to their consumers.

This means lower standards of achievement for pupils, a less qualified workforce and a less prosperous economy.

Question 25

The New Right perspective on education:

What is The New Rights solution in order to fix the current education system

Answer 25

the marketisation of education - creating an ‘education market’. T

They believe that competition between schools will bring greater diversity, choice and efficiency to schools and increase schools’ ability to meet the needs of pupils, parents and employers.

Question 26

Neoliberalism and The New Right perspective on education:

How has the education system failed (use sociologists)

Answer 26

Chubb and Moe (1990). They argue that state-run education in the United States has failed because:

It has not created equal opportunity and has failed the needs of disadvantaged groups.

It is inefficient because it fails to produce pupils with the skills needed by the economy.

Private schools deliver higher quality education because they held accountable by the parents who pay for their children’s education.

Question 27

Neoliberalism and The New Right perspective on education:

How does consumer choice improve education (use sociologists)

Answer 27

Chubb and Moe (1990) found that pupils from low-income families by 5% in private than in state schools.

Chubb and Moe call for the introduction of a market system in state education that would put control in the control of parents and local communities.

They argue that this would allow consumers to shape schools to meet their own needs and would improve quality and efficiency.

Chubb and Moe propose a system in which each family would be given a voucher to spend on buying education from a school of their choice. This would force schools to become more responsive to parents’ wishes, since the vouchers would be the school’s main source of income, schools would have to compete to attract ‘customers’ by improving their ‘product’.

In Chubb and Moe’s view, educational standards would be greatly improved by introducing the same market forces into the state sector.

Question 28

Neoliberalism and The New Right perspective on education:

Question 29

Neoliberalism and The New Right perspective on education:

Evaluation of the Neo- Liberalism and New Right on education (use sociologists)

Answer 29

Gewirtz (1995) and (Ball 1994) both argue that the competition between schools benefits the m/c who can use their cultural capital to gain access to more desirable schools.

Marxists argue that education does not impose a shared national culture as the New Right claim but imposes the culture of a dominant minority ruling class and devalues the culture of the w/c and ethnic minorities e.g Althusser (1971) - ISA- Ideological state apparatus.

The function of the ideology is to persuade workers to accept that inequality is inevitable and that they deserve the position that they are in. By the w/c accepting these ideas it means that the w/c are less likely to challenge capitalism.

Question 30

Marxist perspective on education:

How do Marxist see education and education (use sociologist)

Answer 30

Marxists see it as based on class division and capitalist exploitation.

Karl Marx (1818-83) sees capitalism as a two-class system:

Question 31

Marxist perspective on education:

What is the bourgeoisie (use sociologist)

Answer 31

Karl Marx.

The bourgeoisie are the middle class and the upper class.

They are employers who own the means of production (land, factories, machinery, offices which enables them to exploit the labour the proletariat/ working class.

Question 32

Marxist perspective on education:

What is the proletariat (use sociologist)

Answer 32

The proletariat are the w/c are forced to sell their labour power to the capitalists (bourgeoisie) because they own no means of production of their own and so have no other source of income.

As a result, the work that they do under capitalism is poorly paid, alienating, unsatisfying.

Question 33

Marxist perspective on education:

How does the two class system create class conflict (use sociologist)

Answer 33

Karl Marx

The two class system creates class conflict because if workers realise they are being exploited, they may demand higher wages, better working conditions or even the abolition of capitalism itself therefore creating conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.

Question 34

Marxist perspective on education:

What do Marxists believe about education

Answer 34

Marxists see education as functioning to prevent revolution and maintain capitalism and therefore keep the divide between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.

Question 35

Marxist perspective on education:

How does the society allow the middle class to keep their dominant position (use sociologist)

Answer 35

Althusser (1971), the state consists of two elements of ‘apparatuses’ (tools), both of which serve to keep the bourgeoise in power:

The repressive state apparatuses (RSAs), maintain the rule of the bourgeoisie by force or the threat of it. e.g the police, courts and army. All these institutes use physical force to repress the working class from revolting.

The ideological state apparatuses (ISAs) maintain the rule of the bourgeoisie by controlling people’s ideas, values and beliefs e.g religion, the media and the education system. All these institutes use their ideas to repress the working class from revolting

Question 36

Marxist perspective on education:

What functions does the education system produce that repress the w/c (use sociologist)

Answer 36

Althusser (1971) the education system is an important ISA. He argues that it performs two functions:

Education reproduces class inequality by transmitting it from generation to generation and therefore failing each successive generation of working-class pupils. (the self fulfilling prophecy)

Education justifies class inequality by producing ideologies that disguise its true cause.

The function of these ideologies is to persuade workers to accept that inequality is inevitable and that they deserve their subordinate position in society. If they accept these ideas, they are less likely to challenge or threaten capitalism.

Question 37

Marxist perspective on education:

How does the education system reproduce an obedient workforce (use sociologists)

Answer 37

Bowies and Gintis (1976) - argues
that the role of the education system to reproduce an obedient workforce that will accept inequality as inevitable.

Bowles and Gintis (1976) found that schools reward traits that make for a submissive, compliant worker

e.g students who showed independence and creativity tended to gain low grades, while those who showed characteristics linked to obedience and discipline (such as punctuality) tended to gain high grades.

This shows how schooling helps to produce the obedient workers that capitalism needs.

Question 38

Marxist perspective on education:

How does the education system show the correspondence principle (use sociologists)

Answer 38

Bowles and Gintis (1976) argue that there are close parallels between schooling and work in capitalist society. e.g both schools and workplaces are hierarchies with some making orders while others have to obey orders. This is known as the correspondence principle (the parallels between school and work)

Question 39

Marxist perspective on education:

How does the correspondence principle link to the hidden curriculum (use sociologists)

Answer 39

Bowles and Gintis argue that the correspondence principle operates through the hidden curriculum (‘lessons’ that are learnt in school without being directly taught) e.g hierarchy

By doing this, school prepares w/c pupils for their role as the exploited workers reproducing the workforce capitalism needs and continuing to reproduce class inequality

Cohen (1984) - youth training schemes serve capitalism by teaching young workers attitudes and values needed in a subordinate labour force e.g it lowers their aspirations so that they will accept low paid work.

Question 40

Marxist perspective on education:

How does the education system legitimise class inequality (use sociologists)

Answer 40

Bowles and Gintis’ - the education system legitimatises class inequalities by producing ideologies that explain and justify why inequality is fair, natural and inevitable.

One myth of education is that it promotes meritocracy. Bowles and Gintis argue that meritocracy does not in fact exist. The main factor determining whether someone does well in education is their family wealth not their educational ability e.g Department of Education (2012)- 1/3 of pupils eligible for free school meals achieve 5 or more GCSE’s in English and Maths compared to 2/3 who aren’t on free school meals.

The myth of meritocracy justifies the privileges of the m/c making it seem that they gained them through succeeding in open and fair competition at school. This persuades the w/c to accept inequality and makes it less likely that they will cause a revolt.

Question 41

Marxist perspective on education:

How does the education justifies poverty (use sociologist)

Answer 41

Bowles and Gintis - the education system justifies poverty through what Bowles and Gintis call the ‘poor are dumb’ theory of failure. e.g because people are dumb and they don’t try hard enough it means that they become poor. Its the fault of the individual.

By blaming poverty on the individual rather than blaming capitalism it helps to keep workers to keep being exploited making them less likely to rebel against the system.

Question 42

Marxist perspective on education:

How do w/c pupils resist the education system trying to indoctrinate them (use sociologist)

Answer 42

Willis’ (1977) w/c pupils can resist such attempts to indoctrinate them.

The lads form an anti- school culture that opposed school. They are scornful of the conformist boys who they call the ‘ear’oles’.

The lads find school boring and meaningless and disobey its rules and values e.g smoking and drinking and disrupting classes.

For the lads, such acts of defiance are ways of resisting the school. They reject the school’s meritocratic ideology that w/c pupils can achieve m/c jobs through hard work.

The lads identify strongly with male manual work and this explains why they see themselves as superior both to girls and to the ‘effeminate’ ear’oles who aspire to non-manual jobs.

This also shows why the lads’ counter-culture of resistance to school helps them to go into inferior jobs with a lack of skills and pay.

Question 43

Marxist perspective on education:

Evaluation of the Marxist perspective on education

Answer 43

Morrow and Torres (1998) criticise Marxists seeing class inequality as the only key one. They argue that other inequalities, such as ethnicity, gender and sexuality are as equally important and argue that the education system reproduces as well as legitimates these inequalities.

MacDonald (1980) - Bowles and Gintis ignore the fact that schools reproduce not only capitalism, but patriarchy too. This can be seen through the ‘hidden curriculum’ where girls are taught to be obedient and quiet and this is also reinforced through work as well.

Question 44

Marxist perspective on education:

Question 45

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Question 52

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