Education - Functionalism
- Created by: chlopayne
- Created on: 19-04-19 10:40
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- Functionalism and education
- Assumptions
- Inequality in education is necessary
- Children are socialised by schools
- Education is essential to create a workforce
- Only the best achieve
- Those who fail are least able
- Education is a form of socialisation
- Role allocation isn't the only function.
- Durkheim = education is essential to society.
- Durkeim = the role of education was socialisation.
- It links people with their culture.
- Education acts as a bridge between home and society
- Talcott Parsons = education acts as a bridge between child's experiences of life in family and their experiences of the wider world.
- Families socialise us into their views. Schools operate according to the values of wider society.
- These values can clash, parents may offer advice that goes against the school.
- A value taught in school is 'achievement',children achieve status through hard work and talent. They are encouraged to work hard.
- Education is meritocratic
- Davis and Moore (1967) = education helps to allocate people to appropriate job + career roles.
- Education sifts and sorts children to take on roles, by identifying most talented.
- Role allocation requires inequalities in educational outcome for children. Best qualifications = better jobs.
- However, link between qualifications and earning isn't consistent.
- Ability isn't an easily measurable characteristic,so proving a link between intelligence and earning levels is difficult.
- Evaluation
- Strengths
- Role out of poverty for those who do well.
- Source of socialisation.
- Explanation of the importance of education to wider society.
- Bridges the gap between home and school, people gain status on their own.
- Provides a highly trained workforce.
- Davis and Moore said education sorts most able for the best jobs.
- Weaknesses
- Too accepting of inequalities of education.
- Functionalists assume that there is a set of shared values to be transmitted.
- Marxists and feminists suggest that there is an ideological element in education - class and inequality.
- Schools teach obedience, not skills.
- Most powerful people come from wealthy and privileged background, had access to opportunities that most people can't.
- Feminists say that functionalism ignores the structural inequalities.
- Marxists say it passes on values that makes inequality acceptable.
- Strengths
- Assumptions
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