ROLE OF EDUCATION
Role and Function of Education
+ Teaches key skills.
+ Provides a skilled workforce.
+ Socialisation.
+ Norms and Values = social cohesion.
FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE ON EDUCATION
Key Ideas:
+ Society is like a human body – all parts work together and are interconnected.
+ Everyone in society is socialised into the norms and values.
+ Everything in society has a positive function.
Durkheim:
+ Function of education is to achieve social solidarity.
+ Argues that schools are ‘society in miniature’ – a small version of society that prepares
young people for life in wide society.
+ Function of education is to transmit norms and values, prepare young people for adult life
and to teach the skills needed in the workplace.
Parsons:
+ Sees school as important places of secondary socialisation, increasingly taking over the
family as they grow older.
+ School transmits the idea of meritocracy.
+ Education acts as a bridge between the family and wider society.
+ Education prepares us for being judged by universal standards and to thrive in a
meritocratic society.
★ Evaluation:
- There is not only one set of norms and values as we live in a multicultural society.
- Schools don't teach specialist knowledge, they teach general academic skills.
- Functionalists are too positive and ignore negative aspects, e.g bullying.
Schultz:
+ Society should invest money in education and training = helps develop human capital.
+ High human capital = successful economies.
+ A key function of education is to meet the needs of the economy.
+ A trained and flexible workforce is needed to do the wide range of jobs.
Davis and Moore:
+ Education’s function is to allocate roles for adult life (role allocation).
+ Education sifts and sorts pupils with roles which reflect their talents and abilities.
+ Most talented are rewarded with the most important and well rewarded jobs that have high
status.
+ THEREFORE, the education system is meritocratic.
, ★ Evaluation:
- Not all functionally important jobs are well paid e.g doctor.
- There are functionally unimportant jobs e.g footballers that are paid well.
NEW RIGHT PERSPECTIVE ON THE ROLE OF EDUCATION
Key Functions:
+ Reward those who are hard working and talented (meritocracy).
+ To prepare young people for work.
+ To socialise young people into shared values.
+ To create a sense of national identity.
- New Right believes that these functions ARE NOT BEING ACHIEVED.
- This is because the education system is run by the government and it takes a one size fits
all approach.
- They believe there is no incentive for schools to improve as schools still receive funding
even if students fail.
➔ SOLUTION: MARKETISED EDUCATION (Schools compete for pupils) – This means
schools have an incentive to try and improve to attract the best pupils.
➔ EXAMPLES: Ofsted reports, league tables, websites/
MARXIST PERSPECTIVE ON EDUCATION
Key Ideas:
+ Capitalism creates inequality.
+ The ruling class exploit the proletariat.
+ Teachers may favour students from higher classes.
+ Norms and values that favour higher classes.
Althusser:
+ Function of education is to reproduce class inequality.
+ This is because education is a middle class institution which is why the middle class is
more successful.
+ Second function is to legitimise class inequality.
+ This is through teaching norms and values that ensure the working class accept their
position (education is an example of an ideological state apparatus).
★ Evaluation:
- Some working class people become successful.
- There is no evidence to support his claims.
Illich:
+ Function of education is to promote conformity and to socialise children into accepting
that inequality is normal.
+ Those who do not conform or question teachers are excluded or receive punishments.
+ Education system therefore reinforces the hegemonic control of the ruling class.
, ★ Evaluation:
- Not all subjects teach this e.g Sociology.
Bowles and Gintis:
+ Function of education is to produce workers who can be easily exploited and who will
accept without challenging this.
+ Education teaches the values and beliefs that lead the working class to become easily
exploited and to accept low paid jobs.
+ It does this through the hidden curriculum.
➔ Example: Students are used to hierarchy of head teachers etc which reflects the employee
and employer relationship.
★ Evaluation:
- Subjects like sociology teach pupils to question the system.
- This theory is more relevant to jobs such as factory work.
Willis:
+ He did an experiment on why the 'lads' were socialised the way they were socialised and
the reason they have rejected the mainstream culture to create their own.
+ It was obvious to him that the primary socialisation has affected their way of thinking
and most definitely affected their aims in life.
+ The lads' primary socialisation deprived them of academic goals and the knowledge that
they needed to achieve academic trophies.
Vocational education
Examples:
+ Apprenticeships.
+ BTECs.
+ T-Levels.
Functionalist View Marxist View
+ Teaches specialist skills which creates + Serves the needs of capitalist society.
a skilled workforce (Durkheim). + Does not teach skills but values which
+ Helps prepare people to meet the would lead the w/c to become
needs of the economy. exploited.
+ Helps develop human capital + Apprenticeships provide cheap labour.
(Schultz). + This is a way of keeping NEETS out of
unemployed statistics.
FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE ON EDUCATION
Radical Feminists
Argue that the education system is male dominated and holds the function of reinforcing
patriarchy.
Role and Function of Education
+ Teaches key skills.
+ Provides a skilled workforce.
+ Socialisation.
+ Norms and Values = social cohesion.
FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE ON EDUCATION
Key Ideas:
+ Society is like a human body – all parts work together and are interconnected.
+ Everyone in society is socialised into the norms and values.
+ Everything in society has a positive function.
Durkheim:
+ Function of education is to achieve social solidarity.
+ Argues that schools are ‘society in miniature’ – a small version of society that prepares
young people for life in wide society.
+ Function of education is to transmit norms and values, prepare young people for adult life
and to teach the skills needed in the workplace.
Parsons:
+ Sees school as important places of secondary socialisation, increasingly taking over the
family as they grow older.
+ School transmits the idea of meritocracy.
+ Education acts as a bridge between the family and wider society.
+ Education prepares us for being judged by universal standards and to thrive in a
meritocratic society.
★ Evaluation:
- There is not only one set of norms and values as we live in a multicultural society.
- Schools don't teach specialist knowledge, they teach general academic skills.
- Functionalists are too positive and ignore negative aspects, e.g bullying.
Schultz:
+ Society should invest money in education and training = helps develop human capital.
+ High human capital = successful economies.
+ A key function of education is to meet the needs of the economy.
+ A trained and flexible workforce is needed to do the wide range of jobs.
Davis and Moore:
+ Education’s function is to allocate roles for adult life (role allocation).
+ Education sifts and sorts pupils with roles which reflect their talents and abilities.
+ Most talented are rewarded with the most important and well rewarded jobs that have high
status.
+ THEREFORE, the education system is meritocratic.
, ★ Evaluation:
- Not all functionally important jobs are well paid e.g doctor.
- There are functionally unimportant jobs e.g footballers that are paid well.
NEW RIGHT PERSPECTIVE ON THE ROLE OF EDUCATION
Key Functions:
+ Reward those who are hard working and talented (meritocracy).
+ To prepare young people for work.
+ To socialise young people into shared values.
+ To create a sense of national identity.
- New Right believes that these functions ARE NOT BEING ACHIEVED.
- This is because the education system is run by the government and it takes a one size fits
all approach.
- They believe there is no incentive for schools to improve as schools still receive funding
even if students fail.
➔ SOLUTION: MARKETISED EDUCATION (Schools compete for pupils) – This means
schools have an incentive to try and improve to attract the best pupils.
➔ EXAMPLES: Ofsted reports, league tables, websites/
MARXIST PERSPECTIVE ON EDUCATION
Key Ideas:
+ Capitalism creates inequality.
+ The ruling class exploit the proletariat.
+ Teachers may favour students from higher classes.
+ Norms and values that favour higher classes.
Althusser:
+ Function of education is to reproduce class inequality.
+ This is because education is a middle class institution which is why the middle class is
more successful.
+ Second function is to legitimise class inequality.
+ This is through teaching norms and values that ensure the working class accept their
position (education is an example of an ideological state apparatus).
★ Evaluation:
- Some working class people become successful.
- There is no evidence to support his claims.
Illich:
+ Function of education is to promote conformity and to socialise children into accepting
that inequality is normal.
+ Those who do not conform or question teachers are excluded or receive punishments.
+ Education system therefore reinforces the hegemonic control of the ruling class.
, ★ Evaluation:
- Not all subjects teach this e.g Sociology.
Bowles and Gintis:
+ Function of education is to produce workers who can be easily exploited and who will
accept without challenging this.
+ Education teaches the values and beliefs that lead the working class to become easily
exploited and to accept low paid jobs.
+ It does this through the hidden curriculum.
➔ Example: Students are used to hierarchy of head teachers etc which reflects the employee
and employer relationship.
★ Evaluation:
- Subjects like sociology teach pupils to question the system.
- This theory is more relevant to jobs such as factory work.
Willis:
+ He did an experiment on why the 'lads' were socialised the way they were socialised and
the reason they have rejected the mainstream culture to create their own.
+ It was obvious to him that the primary socialisation has affected their way of thinking
and most definitely affected their aims in life.
+ The lads' primary socialisation deprived them of academic goals and the knowledge that
they needed to achieve academic trophies.
Vocational education
Examples:
+ Apprenticeships.
+ BTECs.
+ T-Levels.
Functionalist View Marxist View
+ Teaches specialist skills which creates + Serves the needs of capitalist society.
a skilled workforce (Durkheim). + Does not teach skills but values which
+ Helps prepare people to meet the would lead the w/c to become
needs of the economy. exploited.
+ Helps develop human capital + Apprenticeships provide cheap labour.
(Schultz). + This is a way of keeping NEETS out of
unemployed statistics.
FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE ON EDUCATION
Radical Feminists
Argue that the education system is male dominated and holds the function of reinforcing
patriarchy.
