C9: EDUCATION
C9: EDUCATION
Learning Objectives
1. Understand the concept of the “schooled society” and the growing scope and significance of
education in Canada and around the world.
2. Assess the major functions of education in society, including socialization, selection, and
legitimation and how these functions relate to the classical work of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber.
3. Discuss and assess the role of education in recreating, and potentially alleviating, inequality in
society, with particular attention to the role of social class, gender, and ethnicity.
4. Outline the major changes in educational curriculum over time and assess how these changes
mirror (or inspire) other social change in society.
5. Understand the role of social and cultural capital in the education system.
6. Assess the individual-level consequences of education, such as employment and income
outcomes; and compare the functions of and funding for education around the world.
The “Schooled Society”
“Schooled Society” - Scott Davies and Neil Guppy (2010)
● Outlined 3 major changes that have created the modern “schooled society” we live in:
○ #1 Growth in modern schooling
■ In Canada: large post-secondary enrolment & more than half of graduating high
school seniors attend college or university
○ #2 Schooling has become increasingly integral to modern life
■ Individuals w/ post-secondary degree earn higher incomes & less likely to
experience unemployment
■ Government is more focused on how education improves national productivity
→ focus on development of educated “knowledge workers”
■ Decrease in primary sector (jobs do not require much education) → more
emphasis placed on manual labour and research extraction
○ #3 Forms and functions of education are increasing and diversifying in our modern schooled
society
■ Past: schools focused on reading, writing, and basic math
■ Present: teach above skills & additional subjects (e.g; PE, sex education, etc)
■ Modern schools seen as a way to solve social problems (e.g; French immersion
programs in Canada dealt w/ issues of national integration and supporting new
policies of bilingualism, Mandarin immersion programs in Alberta and BC furthered
national policy of multiculturalism)
Functions of Education
● 2 types of functions of education:
○ Manifest Functions: obvious and intended functions of education (e.g; basic knowledge and
skills).
○ Latent Functions: unintended functions of education (socialisation, selection, legitimation).
● Durkheim, Marx, Weber interested in latent functions of education (integral to society)
● Function of Education in…
○ Socialisation (socialisation of young people)
○ Selection (selection of people into employment)
○ Legitimation (legitimation of certain types of knowledge and divisions in society)
1. Education & Socialisation (Durkheim)
● Interest in education system → fundamental concern w/ the functioning society and what
accounts for its solidarity and cohesion
● Argued that universal education serves the needs of society in a number of ways:
○ Schools teach useful basic knowledge and skills
, C9: EDUCATION
○ Individuals need specialised training for future specific role (argued that education should be
aligned w/ one’s future occupational aspirations e.g; teachers learn to teach, lawyers learn to
practice the law)
● Education socialises children into the mainstream
○ Each society has unique needs & schools provide guidelines that help us fit into that society
○ Education is a social “glue” → helps highly differentiated society remain normatively
coherent
○ Does this by offering a “moral” education (young people learn the norms and values of their
society & importance of following the rules)
■ Moral Education: the means by which society perpetually re-creates the conditions
of its very existence. (Durkheim)
■ Schooling: is about the systematic socialisation of the young generation. (Durkheim)
○ Socialisation occurs when children are rewarded or punished for their behaviours (e.g; gold
stars for following the rules)
○ Socialisation helps unite children from different backgrounds and tying them to one cohesive
society
● Durkheim argued that there are 2 types of societies: mechanical solidarity (everyone is similar) &
organic solidarity (people are dissimilar but interdependent)
○ Structuralist functionalist perspective → saw religion as source of moral guidance
(based on mechanical solidarity)
○ Now thinks that education now provides moral guidance instead based on organic solidarity
(due to the cultural diversity in modern society and decrease in religion’s influence)
● Saw the education system as an important part of how society reproduces itself (education “is only
the image and reflection of society...it does not create it”)
Education: Pressure to Perform in University (Canada)
● Importance placed on obtaining postsecondary education can cause stress
● Some students deal w/ stress by using illegal prescription drugs (ie; study drugs such as Ritalin,
Adderall, Concerta)
● Study drugs usually used for those w/ ADHD to improve focus and study longer
● Study drugs have health risks (e.g; loss of appetite, dehydration, sleeping problems) & violates
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act)
2. Education & Selection (Weber)
● Education system selects individuals by awarding badges of availability through “sorting,
differentially rewarding, and certifying graduates of elementary, secondary, and postsecondary
schools” (Davies and Guppy 2010)
● Argued that schools are based on bureaucracies work to confer status and prestige
○ Advantages include:
■ Efficient system to produce degrees (clear what classes you need to take)
■ Fair (student numbers)
■ Specialised skills (gain control over entrance to respective fields & monopolise
access to elite positions and status)
○ Disadvantages include:
■ Restrictive (limits choice of classes)
■ Depersonalising (student numbers dehumanises)
■ Specialisation in courses result in complicated set of certifications and degrees
(prevents people from entering a trade/profession)
● Randall Collins called Weber’s observation credentialing
○ Credentialing: the attestation of a qualification or competence issued to an individual by a
party with authority to do so (e.g; university).
○ High status groups maintain their position of power by acquiring more education and
education credentials
C9: EDUCATION
Learning Objectives
1. Understand the concept of the “schooled society” and the growing scope and significance of
education in Canada and around the world.
2. Assess the major functions of education in society, including socialization, selection, and
legitimation and how these functions relate to the classical work of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber.
3. Discuss and assess the role of education in recreating, and potentially alleviating, inequality in
society, with particular attention to the role of social class, gender, and ethnicity.
4. Outline the major changes in educational curriculum over time and assess how these changes
mirror (or inspire) other social change in society.
5. Understand the role of social and cultural capital in the education system.
6. Assess the individual-level consequences of education, such as employment and income
outcomes; and compare the functions of and funding for education around the world.
The “Schooled Society”
“Schooled Society” - Scott Davies and Neil Guppy (2010)
● Outlined 3 major changes that have created the modern “schooled society” we live in:
○ #1 Growth in modern schooling
■ In Canada: large post-secondary enrolment & more than half of graduating high
school seniors attend college or university
○ #2 Schooling has become increasingly integral to modern life
■ Individuals w/ post-secondary degree earn higher incomes & less likely to
experience unemployment
■ Government is more focused on how education improves national productivity
→ focus on development of educated “knowledge workers”
■ Decrease in primary sector (jobs do not require much education) → more
emphasis placed on manual labour and research extraction
○ #3 Forms and functions of education are increasing and diversifying in our modern schooled
society
■ Past: schools focused on reading, writing, and basic math
■ Present: teach above skills & additional subjects (e.g; PE, sex education, etc)
■ Modern schools seen as a way to solve social problems (e.g; French immersion
programs in Canada dealt w/ issues of national integration and supporting new
policies of bilingualism, Mandarin immersion programs in Alberta and BC furthered
national policy of multiculturalism)
Functions of Education
● 2 types of functions of education:
○ Manifest Functions: obvious and intended functions of education (e.g; basic knowledge and
skills).
○ Latent Functions: unintended functions of education (socialisation, selection, legitimation).
● Durkheim, Marx, Weber interested in latent functions of education (integral to society)
● Function of Education in…
○ Socialisation (socialisation of young people)
○ Selection (selection of people into employment)
○ Legitimation (legitimation of certain types of knowledge and divisions in society)
1. Education & Socialisation (Durkheim)
● Interest in education system → fundamental concern w/ the functioning society and what
accounts for its solidarity and cohesion
● Argued that universal education serves the needs of society in a number of ways:
○ Schools teach useful basic knowledge and skills
, C9: EDUCATION
○ Individuals need specialised training for future specific role (argued that education should be
aligned w/ one’s future occupational aspirations e.g; teachers learn to teach, lawyers learn to
practice the law)
● Education socialises children into the mainstream
○ Each society has unique needs & schools provide guidelines that help us fit into that society
○ Education is a social “glue” → helps highly differentiated society remain normatively
coherent
○ Does this by offering a “moral” education (young people learn the norms and values of their
society & importance of following the rules)
■ Moral Education: the means by which society perpetually re-creates the conditions
of its very existence. (Durkheim)
■ Schooling: is about the systematic socialisation of the young generation. (Durkheim)
○ Socialisation occurs when children are rewarded or punished for their behaviours (e.g; gold
stars for following the rules)
○ Socialisation helps unite children from different backgrounds and tying them to one cohesive
society
● Durkheim argued that there are 2 types of societies: mechanical solidarity (everyone is similar) &
organic solidarity (people are dissimilar but interdependent)
○ Structuralist functionalist perspective → saw religion as source of moral guidance
(based on mechanical solidarity)
○ Now thinks that education now provides moral guidance instead based on organic solidarity
(due to the cultural diversity in modern society and decrease in religion’s influence)
● Saw the education system as an important part of how society reproduces itself (education “is only
the image and reflection of society...it does not create it”)
Education: Pressure to Perform in University (Canada)
● Importance placed on obtaining postsecondary education can cause stress
● Some students deal w/ stress by using illegal prescription drugs (ie; study drugs such as Ritalin,
Adderall, Concerta)
● Study drugs usually used for those w/ ADHD to improve focus and study longer
● Study drugs have health risks (e.g; loss of appetite, dehydration, sleeping problems) & violates
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act)
2. Education & Selection (Weber)
● Education system selects individuals by awarding badges of availability through “sorting,
differentially rewarding, and certifying graduates of elementary, secondary, and postsecondary
schools” (Davies and Guppy 2010)
● Argued that schools are based on bureaucracies work to confer status and prestige
○ Advantages include:
■ Efficient system to produce degrees (clear what classes you need to take)
■ Fair (student numbers)
■ Specialised skills (gain control over entrance to respective fields & monopolise
access to elite positions and status)
○ Disadvantages include:
■ Restrictive (limits choice of classes)
■ Depersonalising (student numbers dehumanises)
■ Specialisation in courses result in complicated set of certifications and degrees
(prevents people from entering a trade/profession)
● Randall Collins called Weber’s observation credentialing
○ Credentialing: the attestation of a qualification or competence issued to an individual by a
party with authority to do so (e.g; university).
○ High status groups maintain their position of power by acquiring more education and
education credentials
