The role of education (perspectives)

Question 1

Who are the 3 functionalists in eduction and what were their studies?

Answer 1

Parson - meritocracy, Davis and Moore - role allocation, Durkheim - social solidarity and specialist skills

Question 2

What is meritocracy? (Parsons)

Answer 2

Where all pupils are given equal opportunity to achieve in education and individuals achieve rewards through their own ability.

Question 3

What does Parsons view the school as?

Answer 3

Parsons views the school as the ‘focal socialising agency’ that acts as a bridge between the family and wider society.

Question 4

What type of standards are children judged by in the home and what is their status? (Parsons)

Answer 4

Particularistic standards - these are rules that apply to that particular child. The child’s status is acsribed in the family.

Question 5

What type of standards are children judged by in the school and wider society and what is their status? (Parsons)

Answer 5

Univeralistic standards - these are rules that are impersonal to them and are applied to everyone. For example, government laws and the exam pass marks are the same for everyone. Their status is achieved in school and wider society. Eg, through a promotion at work, and you either pass or fail exams due to your own efforts.

Question 6

What is role allocation? (Davis and Moore)

Answer 6

Where schools select and allocate pupils to their future work roles - it ‘sorts and shifts’ pupils. They help match pupils to a job that best suits them by assessing individuals aptitudes and abilities.

Question 7

What does role allocation encourage students to do in education? (Davis and Moore)

Answer 7

Role allocation encourages students to gain qualifications to be rewarded with higher jobs.

Question 8

Why do Davis and Moore argue that inequality is necessary in schools?

Answer 8

Davis and Moore argue that inequality is necessary in schools to ensure that the most important roles in wider society are filled with the best people.

Question 9

What is social solidarity? (Durkheim)

Answer 9

Social solidarity is where individual members must feel themselves to be part of a community/’one body’.

Question 10

What does Durkheim argue will happen if society doesn’t have social solidarity?

Answer 10

Durkheim argues that without social solidarity, social life and cooperation would be impossible as individuals would fulfill their own needs and desires.

Question 11

What do schools act like according to Durkheim?

Answer 11

Schools act like a ‘society in miniature’ that is preparing us for wider society.

Question 12

How does the education system create social solidarity according to Durkheim + what subject demonstrates this and how?

Answer 12

The education system creates social solidarity by transmitting societies culture and shared beliefs and values to each generation. For example, the teaching of history instils a sense of self-heritage in a child.

Question 13

What is the importance of having specialist skills? (Durkheim)

Answer 13

Specialist skills are important as modern industrial economies have a complex division of labour, where the production of something involves cooperation of many different specialists.

Question 14

How do specialist skills promote social solidarity? (Durkheim)

Answer 14

Specialist skills promotes social solidarity as pupils must have the necessary specialist knowledge and skills to perform their role.

Question 15

What does Durkheim argue about schools teaching specialist skills?

Answer 15

Durkheim argues that schools/education teaches individuals the specialist skills that they need to play their role in the social division of labour.

Question 16

What is three evaluation points of the functionalist perspective?

Answer 16

• they have a rose tinted view and only look at society possitively (ignore class, gender and ethnic differences).
• Tumin argues that Davis and Moore put forward a circular argument. Eg, How do we know that job is important? Answer = because it’s highly rewarding. Why are some jobs highly rewarding? Answer = becuase they are important.
• The Myth of Meritocracy (Bowles and Gintis) they describe the education system as a ‘myth making machine’ and the system is based on many inequalities.

Question 17

Who are the 3 Marxists in education and what were their studies?

Answer 17

Bowles and Gintis - the correspondance principle and the hidden curriculum, Althusser - the ideological state apparatus, Willis - learning to labour.

Question 18

What is the correspondance principle? (Bowles and Gintis)

Answer 18

The correspondance principle is the parallels between school and the workplace, this is were relationships and structures in the education system mirrors those of work. It operates through the hidden curriculum.

Question 19

What are 3 examples of the correspondance principle?

Answer 19

• hierarchy between teachers = hierarchy of authority in the workplace.
• alienation through students lack of control over education = alienation through workers lack of control of production.
• competition and divisions among students = among workforce, eg. pay.

Question 20

What is the hidden curriculum and two examples? (Bowles and Gintis)

Answer 20

The hidden curriculum is the ‘lessons’ that are learnt in school without being directly taught. For example, hierarchy and competition.

Question 21

What does school essentially prepare working class students for in wider society?

Answer 21

It prepared w/c pupils for their further role as the exploited workers of the future. This reproduces the workforce that capitalism needs and maintains class inequality from generation to generation.

Question 22

What are the 2 elements that serves to keep capitalism in power according to Althusser?

Answer 22

The ideological state apparatus and the repressive state apparatus.

Question 23

What is the ideological state apparatus including examples? (Althusser).

Answer 23

The ISA maintains the rule of the bourgeoisie by controlling people’s ideas, values and beliefs. Through the education system, the media and religion.

Question 24

What is the repressive state apparatus including examples? (Althusser).

Answer 24

The RSA maintains the role of the bourgeoisie through force and the threat of capitalism. Through the police, courts and the army.

Question 25

What did Willis’ learning to labour focus on?

Answer 25

His study shows that w/c pupils can resist the education systems attempts to indoctrinate them.

Question 26

Who were the 12 boys in Willis’ study and what did they do?

Answer 26

They are scornful of the conformsit boys (ear’oles - listen to what teachers tell them) and they have their own brand of humour - intimidating. The ‘take the piss’ out of ear’oles and girls.

Question 27

How do the w/c boys resist the school? (Willis)

Answer 27

They find school boring and meaningless and they flout the schools rules and values by drinking, smoking and truanting.

Question 28

What are the w/c boys destined to do in wider society? (Willis)

Answer 28

They are destined for the unskilled work that capitalism needs someone to perform.

Question 29

What are 3 evaluation points for Marxism?

Answer 29

• modernists criticise Marxists for taking a ‘class first’ approach that sees class and the key inequality and ignores other kinds.
• critics argue that Willis romantices the lads, portraying them as heros despite their anti-social behaviour and sexist attitudes.
• Bowles and Gintis hold a deterministic view that fails to explain why many pupils reject the schools values.

Question 30

Who is the New Right perspective and what is their study?

Answer 30

Chubb and Moe - consumer choice.

Question 31

What is consumer choice? (Chubb and Moe)

Answer 31

Because of their findings in the US of state education failing, they introduced a ‘market system’ in state education that would put the control in the hands of consumers/parents.

Question 32

How did Chubb and Moe instill a market system’?

Answer 32

They did this by proposing a voucher system where parents were able to spend this on buying education from a school of their choice. This allowed schools to become more responsive to parents’ wishes.

Question 33

What are 3 evaluation points for Chubb and Moe?

Answer 33

• Gewitz and Ball argue that competition between schools benefits the m/c who can use their cultural and economic capital to gain access to more desireable schools.
• critics argue that the real cause of low educational standards is due to inequality not the control of the state. - the solution to this is meritocracy.
• Marxists argue that greater educational diversity imposes the culture of the ruling class and devaluates the w/c