The Role Of Education

Question 1

What are some of the (brief) functionalist perspectives on education?

Answer 1

+ It is a consensus view that sees society as essentially harmonious
+ Education ensures that society survives and that all members of it share the same norms and values, this prevents society from disintegrating by the process of secondary socialisation.
+ It is a conservative perspective one society

Question 2

What does the functionalist Durkheim argue about education?

Answer 2

According to Durkheim education performs two basic functions:
+It promotes social solidarity, without which society would fall apart, education binds people together and enables them to cooperate, it teaches shared history and shared rituals, it also teaches them to follow universalistic rules
+Education prepares people for work, they specialise people into different occupations and adapts to the needs of the economy

Question 3

What is the functionalist parsons views on education?

Answer 3

+Education performs both economic and social functions
+ Secondary socialisation, creates universalistic standard and creates a bridge between school and work
+ Creates meritocracy in society as everyone achieves their status through hard work and provides equal opportunity
+School is like society in miniature which is competitive

Question 4

Davis and Moore what is their functionalist view on education?

Answer 4

For Davis And Moore educations primarily provides role allocation, it provides guidance for people’s future careers, it allows the most talented are allocated to the most talented jobs, A meritocratic education system sorts out who is best suited for which job, they argue that because of the rewards of working hard in a meritocratic society that society is very productive today
- This has many critics who use educational inequalities to conflict with these points

Question 5

What are some of the evaluations of functionalism?

Answer 5

+ Marxists argue that the values transmitted in society aren’t shared but are instead the views of the ruling class
+ Marxists argue that the education system is not meritocratic because schools discriminate against certain groups
+It is sometimes difficult to see a direct link between the subjects studied at school and what is required of workers in their jobs, education doesn’t necessarily equip people for their future roles
+ However positively, it is hard to argue against the benefits of social solidarity of keeping billions of people together

Question 6

What is the New right perspective on education?

Answer 6

+The new right perspective of neo-liberalism believes that the state should not provide education, instead there should be a free market education economy market of education where schools are treat like business and have to compete for pupils and money raising standards
+It has influenced many educational marketisation policies today

Question 7

What are some of the comparisons of Functionalism and New Right?

Answer 7

+ They both believe that some people are naturally more talented than others
+ They both agree that education should be run on the meritocratic principles of open competition
+ They believe that education should socialise pupils into shared values and provide a sense of national identity
+ They believe that older industrial societies such as Britain are in decline as a result of increasing globalisation

Question 8

What do the New-Right argue about state vs market?

Answer 8

+ That in state education it is impossible to meet everyone’s needs, in state education due to monetary constraints they are one size fits all that does not meet the needs of some individuals, or the needs of employers
+ State schools have lower standards because they are not accountable to parents or students so they are inefficient as there is little incentive to improve standards resulting in lower standards

Question 9

What is Marketisation?

Answer 9

The new right argues that the only way to improve school standards is to marketise the education system, this is the introduction of market forces and competition into areas traditionally controlled by the state, they argue that by creating an education market schools are forced to respond to the needs of pupils etc. To survive due to competitors offering better services in education
Link to current marketisation policies and rate the changes

Question 10

What is Chubb and Moe’s New Right perspective on education?

Answer 10

+ Chubb and Moe found that WC pupils did around 5-10% better in private schools than in state schools, this show’s that the education system is not meritocratic , they argue that this shows that state education has failed to create equal opportunities because it doesn’t respond well enough to pupils needs
+ State schools fail because they don’t allow parents and pupils to input on the school whereas private schools are directly responsible answerable to paying parents
+ Their solution is marketisation of education whereby every parent would be given a voucher to buy education at whatever school they wanted they could add personal funds to it if they wanted etc. Giving lots of freedom and flexibility, schools would have to improve standards to attract vouchers without which they would be unable to survive as people spend vouchers at best schools

Question 11

What do the New Right argue the state should have a limited role in education?

Answer 11

The state should create the framework for competition in schools such as setting a curriculum and monitoring league tables and the state should ensure that schools are teaching societies shared culture etc.

Question 12

Evaluation of the New Right?

Answer 12

+ There are some other reason for educational improvement recently rather than marketisation
+ Some argue that low standards in some state school are a result of inadequate funding rather than state control
+ Gewirtz argues that competition between schools only benefits the MC who use parentocracy to get Their kids into better schools
+ Marxists argue that education actually imposes the culture of a ruling class rather than a shared culture

Question 13

What is the Marxist perspective on education?

Answer 13

+ Marxists are conflict Sociologists
+ They argue that as the MC own the factories etc that make their money by exploiting the WC it is hence advantageous that they through their control of education fail WC pupils purposely
+ Education prevents class conflict through the myth of meritocracy, this is made worse by Media and other social institutions who make the WC believe that their lack of success is their own fault when it isn’t

Question 14

What does the Marxists Althusser argue?

Answer 14

Althusser argues that the The MC hold onto their prestigious positions by oppressing the WC in two forms:
+ The repressive state apparatus, when necessary to MC capital interests they use police, army and courts to oppress the WD, reproduces inequalities
+ The ideological state apparatus, controls people ideas, values and beliefs ensuring that they believe that their problems are because of themselves, justifies or legitimates inequalities

Question 15

What do Bowles and Gintis argue?

Answer 15

+ They argue that capitalism needs workers who are obedient and submissive that are willing to accept hard work for low pay and authority
+ They see education as reproducing inequalities and producing armies of WC exploitable workforces who believe their failure is because of themselves
+ And the correspondence principle
+ The hidden curriculum
+ The myth of meritocracy
+ Role allocation

Question 16

What is Bowles and Gintis correspondence principle?

Answer 16

They argue that schooling takes place in the long shadow of work, this is shown as education is mirrored by work and vice versa preparing WC kids for exploitable work
+ School, Alienation, kids lack control over education, Hierarchy of authority, extrinsic satisfaction from rewards rather than satisfaction, Fragmentation of knowledge into unconnected subjects and competition and divisions amongst pupils
+ Work, Alienation through lack of control, Hierarchy of power, Extrinsic rewards rather than job satisfaction, Fragmentation of work into meaningless tasks and competition between workers such as differences in status and pay.

Question 17

What is Bowles and Gintis argument about hidden curriculum?

Answer 17

Bowles and Gintis argue that the correspondence principle operates through the hidden curriculum, all the lessons that are taught actually transmit hierarchy, competition and alienation etc, creating a hidden curriculum where it is a normal way to think for the WC

Question 18

What do Bowles and Gintis argue about the Myth of meritocracy?

Answer 18

They argue that the education system helps to prevent people from recognising their exploited position and rebelling against them, it does this by explaining why inequality is fair and natural and inevitable.
One of the biggest of these explanations is meritocracy advocated by functionalists that is a myth a success is actually based on class background and not hard work, but by promoting this untrue claim it means that workers are persuaded to accept their inequality and their position as legitimate

Question 19

What do Bowles and Gintis argue about role allocation?

Answer 19

They reject the claim by functionalists about education providing role allocation, they argue that education rewards conformists and is not based on individual talent that means that education rewards those who conform to qualities desirable by the ruling class ps rather than supporting role allocation for creative people etc.

Question 20

What does the Marxist Willis argue about education?

Answer 20

In his report called learning to labour, he used qualitative methods he researched 12 WC lads as they made transition from work to school, he rejects Bowles and Gintis correspondence principle showing division amongst Marxists as well as perspectives, he argues that rather than because of WC lads passively accepting ruling class ideologies, he found that they rejected the attempts to indoctrinate them into school, he argues that they could see through the meritocratic ideology that claims WC pupils could do well by working hard, He found that the lads developed a counter school culture, where they resisted school rules and truanted etc, for the lads he found that this was a way of resisting schools authority.
The irony was that the lads in the report who attempted to resist failure through schools indoctrination ended up failing because of the behaviour, this showed that there was no exit from schools inequality for WC pupils

Question 21

Marxists views on marketisation?

Answer 21

+ Marketisation policies such as the privatisation of some educational services , sponsorships of schools etc. Has meant that the MC have more direct control over education creating more WC oppression for their benefit
+ not only does education provide an exploitable workforce but increasingly now creates even more profits by doing so for the MC capitalists

Question 22

Evaluation of Marxism views of education?

Answer 22

+ postmodernists argue that the Marxists view is out of date and is to simplistic for the modern times
+ They also argue that class divisions are no longer important as social mobility is common now, crucially they also argue that where Marxists see inequality there is actually choice and diversity
+ Feminists argue that schools not only produce class inequality but also patriarchy and that Willis report ignores women in his report, but some argue that his report was the trailblazing model of many other similar reports highlighting women’s issues that have changed education.
+ They have been commended for this in depth highlighting of how education ultimately results in class inequality that can be found in many trends in education
+ Willis report has been criticised from romanticising the lads sexist and antisocial behaviour, and his report of 12 WC boys is likely to be unrepresentative

Question 23

What is the Tripartite system?

Answer 23

The Tripartite system was a conservative policy in 1944 that introduced 2 types of secondary schools, Grammar and secondary modern schools that you went to based upon your 11+ results

Question 24

What was the comprehensive system?

Answer 24

Was a system introduced in 1965 by labour, it abolished the 11+ and introduced one size fits all comprehensives which are meritocratic according to functionalists but to Marxists they have done little to combat inequality as streaming and labelling only adding to the myth of meritocracy by making it look like every has Equal opportunity, these comprehensives are also usually one class schools either good MC schools or WC sink schools

Question 25

What are some characteristics of marketisation policy?

Answer 25

Since the 1988 education reform act marketisation such as league tables and formula funding and ofsted, this has increased parentocracy as parents can now make an informed decision on where to send their kids increasing competition for pupils and hence funding

Question 26

How has marketisation lead to a reproduction of inequality?

Answer 26

League tables mean schools with good results can cherry pick the best pupils and secure mainly MC kids and more funding meaning WC kids are sent to sink schools, this means that the best schools get better whereas bad schools suffer a lack of funding and become worse increasing inequalities

Question 27

What does Marxist Gewirtz argue about marketisation?

Answer 27

That it allows MC Parents with economic and cultural capital to secure the best school places and reproduce class inequalities as WC are labelled and are unappealing to competing  schools so go to underfunded and bad schools also due to transport and financial constraints some kids manny not be able to utilise choice 
Marketisation also legitimates inequalities as it appears like all parents have equal choice

Question 28

What are some new-labour policies 1997-2010

Answer 28

New labour introduced education actions zones, surestart, aim higher programs, increased education spending and EMAs for low income 16-18 year olds making education more appealing for WC pupils

Question 29

Evaluation of New-right education policies?

Answer 29

+ They retained some marketisation policies whilst declaring that they wanted to reduce inequality which is contradictory as with all markets there must be inequality as there is winners and losers
+ They left the controversial private school sector untouched
+ although their increased educational spending was popular and had real results, raising standards and results

Question 30

Conservative polices since 2010?

Answer 30

+ Strongly influenced by Neo-liberal ideas
+ introduced more choice through academies and free schools that meant schools were funded by central government and not local government reducing accountability which arguably decreased improvements
+ Free schools have been found to reproduce inequality as they only benefit kids of educated families and take less WC pupils on average
+ They cut education spending drastically, surestart, new schools, the ema, increased tuition fees have all been cut, obviously reducing the amount of successful WC kids

Question 31

What are some conservative privatisation policies?

Answer 31

+ Education is now a source of profit to some capitalists
+ Brands etc, can now be found scattered across schools leading to claims of subliminal advertising from early ages that make more profits for owners also leading to more childhood obesity etc.