Theorists for Education Flashcards
social solidarity
Durkheim:
Schools create social solidarity through uniforms, a shared curriculum and assemblies
criticism: Toryna and WIlliams ethnocentric curriculum
teaching specialised skills
Durkheim:
we have a complex division of labour and for that schools need to teach specialised skills like advanced scientific knowledge
criticism: Wolf (New Right) schools dont do a good job of preparing pupils for work
school as a socialising agent
Parsons
schools act as a bridge between the home which operates under particularistic value and wider society which operates under universalistic values (meritocracy)
Critism: Marxists argue the education system is not meritocratic
role allocation
Davis and Moore
Role allocation means that education has the function of sifting and sorting students to allocate them to jobs that they suit. The most important jobs should have the most qualified people and should also receive the highest pay
Criticism: some jobs are overpayed (footballers) some jobs are underpaid (nurses)
How can Willis’ study be used to criticise functionalism?
Functionalists assume students are passive puppets but Willis shows that they can actively reject meritocratic principles
Fordist economy
we no longer work in a fordist economy therefore our workforce requires felxibility, creativity and transferrable skills
Thompson and Usher uniformity
- post modernism has broken free from the oppressive uniformity of the centralised education system
Criticism: Many schools (even academies) still follow the national centralised curriculum
Thompson and Usher diversity
post modern education caters to diverse needs of diverse comunities
critism: the stadardised curriculum still surppresses minority culture - Troyna and Williams
Thompson and Usher class inequality
post modern education no longer legitimises and reproduces class inequality
criticism: working class students still do worse than middle class
education as an ISA
Althusser
Education maintains the power of the bourgeoisie by perpetuating the my of meritocracy. This helps the bourgeoisie to justy their hierarchy
Criticsm: not all working class children underachieve
Bowles and Gintis
the correspondence principle: school mirrors the workplace to reproduce a passive and obedient workforce for capitalism
research: looked at the correlation of grades and behaviour. Found that students who were passive got better grades than those who were independent
criticism: functionalists argue that the informal curriculum teaches students valuable skills
the myth of meritocracy
Bowles and Gintis
giant myth making machine
the myth that everyone could do well if they tried hard enough helps the bourgeoisie justify their status in society because poor and underachieving people blame themselves instead of the system
criticism: not all working class students fail
Paul Willis
study learn to labour:
12 working class boys (white) from Birmingham “the lads” studied in the last 1 and a half years of school and the first half year of work.
Findings /observations: the lads rejected meritocratic principles, ridiculed students who wanted to do well (called them ear oles) and preferred “having a laff” over doing their work.
they ended up in low skill low pay jobs but the skills they learned in school helped them cape with the alienation
critism: small scale study (not representativ), romanticised the lads (homophobic, sexist etc)
similarities between functionalism and new right
- borth agree people should be socialised into shared value
- Davis and Moore
- education is meritocratic
marketisation of education
introduction of market forces into the eudcation system
