theories of education Flashcards
1
Q
FUNCTIONALISM
A
2
Q
what did Emile Durkheim see as the ‘major function’ of education?
A
the transmission of society’s norms and values, creating social solidarity and teaching specialist skills that students will need in the future to play their part in the social division of labour
3
Q
Durkheim said education meets a ‘functional prerequisite’ what is this?
A
the needs of society
4
Q
what did Durkheim argue created social solidarity?
A
in particular, the teaching of history, provides the link between individuals and society, Durkheim says the American education system is the perfect example of this.
5
Q
how does school act as society ‘in a miniature’
A
e.g both in school and at work we have to cooperate with people who are neither family nor friends – teachers/pupils, colleagues/customers
and, we have to interact according to a set of impersonal rules that apply to everyone..
6
Q
how does Durkheim believe school rules should be enforced?
A
with punishment,
to teach self-discipline = to avoid sanction + understand that their behaviour can affect society
7
Q
criticisms of Durkheim
A
- he assumes that the norms and values promoted in schools are those of society as a whole rather than those of a powerful group ( middle class white males)
- Hargreaves (1982) = most British schools fail to transmit shared values
8
Q
what does Talcott Parsons believe about education?
A
Parson’s sees the school as the ‘focal socialising agency’ in modern society, acting as a bridge between the family and wider society, this bridge is needed because family and society operate on different principles
= children need to learn a new way of living if they are to cope with the wider world.
9
Q
what does Parson’s believe about children within the family unit?
A
- the child is judged by particularistic standards
= rules that apply only to that particular child. - the child has ascribed status : fixed by birth.
e.g. an elder son and a
younger daughter may be given different rights or duties because of differences of age and sex
10
Q
what does Parson’s believe about school and the wider society
A
- everyone is judged by the same universalistic and impersonal standards
e.g the same laws apply to everyone = in school each pupil is judged against the same standards: same exam, pass mark is the same for everyone - achieved status
e.g. at work we gain promotion or get fired on how good we are at our job, and at school we pass or fail through our own individual efforts.
11
Q
Parson sees school as…
A
- preparing us to move from the family to wider society
- and as all other functionalists, a place where young people are taught the basic values of society
12
Q
what does Parson believe are the 2 major values instilled in students by the American education system?
A
- the value of achievement
- the value of equality of opportunity (meritocracy)
13
Q
what is meritocracy?
A
where everyone is given an equal opportunity, and individuals achieve rewards through their own effort and ability
14
Q
what is the difference between ascribed and achieved status?
A
ascribed = the status you are born with
achieved status = the social position you are in based on effort and ability
15
Q
what is role allocation?
A
the school as being a key part in the selection of individuals for their future role in society
16
Q
how does ‘role allocation’ happen?
A
through testing and evaluating students, schools match their talents, skills and capacities to the jobs for which they are best suited
17
Q
how do schools foster the value of achievement?
A
by encouraging achievement and rewarding those who are successful
18
Q
criticisms of Parson’s
A
- Parsons fails to consider the diversity of values in modern societies
- his view that education works on meritocratic principles is open to question
19
Q
what did Davis and Moore support?
A
the arguments put forward by Parson’s
they see the school as being a key part in the selection of individuals for their future role in society e.g through role allocation
20
Q
why do Davis and Moore believe ‘inequality is necessary’?
A
to ensure that the most important roles in society are filled by the most talented people
e.g. it would be inefficient and dangerous to have less able people performing roles such as a surgeon or pilot
21
Q
how does education play a vital role in ensuring the ‘most talented people’ get the most ‘important jobs’
A
through testing and evaluating students, schools match talents, skills and capacities to the jobs for which individuals are best suited
22
Q
criticisms of Davis and Moore
A
- there is only a weak link between education qualifications and income
- intelligence and ability have only a limited influence on educational achievement
23
Q
evaluation of the functionalist perspective
A
- The education system does not teach specialised skills adequately, as Durkheim claims. For example, the Wolf review of vocational education (2011) claims that high-quality apprenticeships are rare and up to a third of 16-19 year olds are on courses that do not lead to higher education or good jobs
- There is ample evidence that equal opportunity in education does not exist (myth of meritocracy) e.g. achievement is greatly influenced by class background rather than ability
- Melvin Tumin (1953) criticises Davis and Moore for putting forward a circular argument: How do we know that a job is important? Answer: because it’s highly rewarded. Why are some jobs more highly rewarded? Answer: because they are more important!
- Functionalists see education as a process that instils the shared values of society as a whole, but Marxists argue that education in capitalist society only transmits the ideology of a minority - the ruling class
- Functionalists wrongly imply that pupils passively accept all they are taught and never reject the school’s values.
- Neoliberals and the New Right argue that the state education system fails to prepare young people adequately for work
24
Q
NEOLIBERALISM AND NEW RIGHT
A
25
what is neoliberalism?
s a pro-capitalist economic theory which believes that the ‘free market’ in capitalist economies is the best basis for organising society
26
what is the 'free market'?
the free market is an economic system based on supply and demand with little or no government control = businesses will provide what people demand
27
what competition does market forces encourage?
production of better product at lower cost = profit
28
how has neoliberalism had major influence on the education policy?
- they argue that the state (local authorities) should not provide services such as education or healthcare = these should be run by private businesses which will encourage competition
- they argue that the value in education lies in how well the country can compete in the global marketplace.
- they claim it can only be achieved if schools become like businesses, empowering parents as consumers and using competition between schools to drive up standards
29
what is the 'new right'?
conservative political perspective that incorporates neoliberal economic ideas
30
what do the new right favour?
the marketisation of education
31
how are the new right similar to functionalists?
- believe that some people are naturally + talented than others
- agree with meritocracy and serving the economy by preparing students for work
- believe education should socialise pupils into shared values such as competition and instil a sense of national identity
32
if education fails, who do the new right believe would be at fault?
the state
33
what do the new right believe is the solution of the education system?
through the marketisation of education
they believe that competition and the laws of supply and demand will empower the consumers (parents, pupils and employers) bringing greater diversity, choice and efficiency to schools
34
what is 'the marketisation of education'?
- publication of exam league tables and Ofsted to inform parents of choices
- business sponsorship e.g. city technology colleges
- open enrolment, allows successful schools to recruit more pupils
- formula funding (same funding per student)
- schools can opt out of LEA control
- competition to attract pupils
- proposal of educational vouchers
35
what do Chubb and Moe criticise?
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, unlike state schools, they are answerable to paying consumers - the parents.
36
what do Chubb and Moe base their arguments on?
a comparison of the achievements of 60,000 pupils from low-income families in 1,015 state and private high schools, their evidence shows that pupils from low-income families consistently do about 5% better in private than in state schools
37
what do Chubb and Moe propose?
they propose a system in which each family would be given a voucher to spend on buying education from a school of their choice :
- force schools to become more responsive to parents' wishes, since the vouchers would be the school's main source of income. - like private businesses, schools would have to compete to attract 'customers' by improving their 'product'
38
what are the 'two roles for the state'
1. The state imposes a framework on schools within which they have to compete:
- ofsted inspection reports, league tables of school exam results = parents can make an informed choice about their child’s education.
2. The state ensures that schools transmit a shared culture
- single National Curriculum = they guarantee that schools socialise pupils into a single national heritage.
39
the new right believe that education should affirm national identity, how would they do this?
for example, the curriculum should emphasise Britain's positive role in history and teach specifically British literature and there should be a Christian act of worship everyday, their aim is to integrate pupils into a single set of cultural values and tradition, they are opposed to multi cultural education that reflects the cultures of different ethnic minority groups in British society
40
evaluation of neoliberalism and the new right
- Gewirtz and Ball argue that competition benefits the m/c who can use their cultural and economic capital to gain access to + desirable schools
- critics argue that the real cause of failure is not state control but social inequality and inadequate funding of state schools
- Marxists argue that education does not impose a shared national culture- but imposes the culture of a dominant minority ruling class. It devalues the culture of the w/c and ethnic minorities
41
MARXISM
42
what do Marxists believe about education?
they believe education is based on class division between the capitalists class/bourgeoisie and the working class/proletariat
43
what are the 'functions of education' for Marxists?
- they are very critical of the education system
- they disagree with the Functionalist idea of meritocracy (believe meritocracy is a myth)
- argue that the education system automatically works against the w/c
44
what does Althusser (1971) believe the state consists of (2 apparatuses) to keep the bourgeoisie in power?
RSA-Repressive State Apparatus : which maintain the rule by force or threat. When necessary, they use physical coercion to repress the w/c.
e.g the police, courts, army.
ISA-Ideological State Apparatus : which rules by controlling people’s ideas, values and beliefs
e.g religion, mass media, the education system
45
Althusser claims that education is a very important ISA, to perform 2 functions, what are these functions?
1. Reproducing class inequality:
- transmitted from gen. to gen.
- w/c students start and leave school w/c. Via processes such as labelling and streaming = they are more likely to fail.
- preparing w/c students for w/c jobs.
- m/c parents use their material and cultural capital to ensure that their children get into the best schools and the top sets = this means that the wealthier pupils tend to get the best education and then go onto to get m/c jobs
2. Legitimising class inequality:
- Marxists argue that money determines how good an education you get, but people do not realise this = ‘myth of meritocracy’
- w/c are persuaded to accept their position because they are made to believe that the system is fair
- they are taught: they fail because they didn’t work hard enough
- they are less likely to challenge this idea = school transmits the ideology of the ruling class = this states that capitalism is just and reasonable.
- schools prepare students for their place in the workforce = they are taught to accept their future exploitation
46
strengths and weaknesses of Althusser
strengths
Althusser did a good job highlighting that education is sometimes made to seem fair when it is not; laws and legislation that promote educational equality are also part of the system that creates these inequalities
weaknesses
the theory is too deterministic, arguably the working class pupils are not entirely moulded by the capitalist system, and do not accept everything that they are taught
47
what do Bowles and Gintis believe is the role of education in a capitalist society?
capitalism needs a workforce with the kind of attitudes, behaviour and personalities that suit their roles as alienated and exploited workers willing to accept hard work, low pay and orders
B&G = role of education is to reproduce an obedient workforce that accepts inequalities as inevitable
48
what is the reproductive theory?
B&G studied 237 New York high school students + used findings of other studies
B&G conclude that schools reward the kind of personality traits that make for a submissive, compliant worker.
e.g. they found that students who showed independence and creativity tended to gain low grades, while those who showed characteristics linked to obedience and discipline (punctuality) tended to gain high grades
= obedience is praised
= ready for obedient workers
49
what is the correspondence principal?
B&G = close parallels between education and work in capitalist society
50
give some examples of the correspondence principal
- both schools and workplaces are hierarchies, with head teachers or bosses at the top making decisions and giving orders, and workers or pupils at the bottom obeying
- schools 'only' rewards = qualifications
work's 'only' rewards = salaries
- students are punished if they are late, much like workers loosing money if they clock in late
- students have to wear a uniform, teachers do not
workers = uniform, managers = better uniform or no uniform
51
what is the hidden curriculum?
not the formal learning that happens in school but is the informal learning of particular values and attitudes THAT MAY REPRODUCE EXISTING CLASS (OR EVEN PATRIARCHAL) IDEAS = obedience, conformity, competitiveness
52
B&G argue that the correspondence principle operates through what?
the hidden curriculum
= all the 'lessons' that are learnt in school without being directly taught.
e.g. through the everyday workings of the school, pupils become used to accepting hierarchy and competition, working for rewards, etc.
53
what do B&G describe the education system as
' a giant myth-making machine'
54
B&G arue that meritocracy does not exist, what do they believe?
that the main factor determining whether or not someone has a high income is their family and class background, not their ability or educational achievement
by disguising this fact, the myth of meritocracy serves to justify the privileges of the higher classes, making it seem that they gained them through succeeding in open and fair competition at school, this helps persuade the working class to accept inequality as legitimate, and makes it less likely that they will seek to overthrow capitalism
55
what is the 'poor are dumb' theory of failure?
the idea that poor people blame themselves due to their achievement in education
56
evaluation of Bowles and Gintis
Accused of exaggerating the correspondence between work and education,
e.g. they argue that much modern work requires team work while the exam system still uses individual revision
- functionalists see education as turning pupils in to model citizens, while Marxists argue that it turns w/c pupils into conformist workers
57
POSTMODERNISTS
58
what do postmodernists argue about education?
they believe that the education system is best suited for a modern economy not a post-modern economy
59
why do postmodernists believe the education system is outdated?
PM society = diverse, fragmented, media saturated and allows individuals much more freedom of choice than in the previous modern society
60
what is a fordist (fordism) society?
large numbers of low-skilled workers willing to put up with alienating, repetitive work on mass production lines
61
what is a post-fordist system?
a system that requires a skilled, adaptable workforce able to use advanced technology and transfer their skills from one specialised task to another
62
schools are more 'consumerist'
with the introduction of marketisation and open-enrolment, parents now have more choice over which school to send their child to
e.g through open evenings
parents = consumers
63
education is more 'individualised'
caters to individuals needs in bigger groups
e.g teachers can use a variety of teaching approaches in their delivery of lessons, to take into account the different 'learning styles' of students
- lessons are more learned centred
- 'learner pathways' so education is tailored to suit their future career aims
64
education is more diverse
- curriculum is widened
= preparing students for a verity of different jobs
- specialist schools
e.g academies, apprenticeships, faith schools
65
increase in fragmentation
for example, home schooling has become more popular over the years
66
education is more 'hyperreal'
schools are making much more use of IT in education
e.g online courses for tuition
