Case Studies

Social Solidarity

• Durkheim argues that society needs a sense of social solidarity - a sense of belonging within a community
• The education system helps to create social solidarity by transmitting societies culture
• This is done through shared beliefs and values
• For example, children are taught British history giving them a sense of shared heritage and culture
• As people will feel like they belong to a counmtry they are more likely to play an active role in society e.g vote during elections
• School also acts a 'society in miniture' preparing pupils for life e.g. are taught to accept and repect a hierarchy headteacher/boss

Secondary Socialisation

• Parson argues that school acts as an agency of socialisation as it bridges the gap between the families particularistic standards and societies universalistic standards
• This is needed as the family and society run on different standards to the family and children must learn the standaards that society expects of them
• Also in the family childrens status is ascribed and fixed from birth however in society people's statuses are largly achived and not ascribed
• For example at work, if a person doesn't do well they would get fired and at school people pass and fail on their own achievements
• Schools do this by rewarding good behavious with merits and punishing bad behaviour with santions and detentions

Role Allocation

• Davis and Moore argue that schools perform the function of selecting and allocating pupils to their future work roles
• This is done by assesing pupils abilty to match them to a job that they are best suited to
• They argue that inequality is necessary to ensure the most important roles in society are filled by the most talented people
• For examples doctors should be the people with the best science A-levels and Degrees

Educucation is apart of the Ideological State Aparatus - the idea that the working class areruled by the bourgeoisie by controlling their ideas, values and beliefs

Education has two funtions:

• To justify the inequalities through the illusion of meritocracy providing ideologies that disguise educations role
• Reproduce class inequality - pupils are taught to accept their future exploitation as pupils in lower sets accept not having good jobs which prepares them for their role as a part of societies workforce. Also the education system is seen to fail generation after generation of working class puils so there is no room for social mobility

• Bowles & Gintis argue that Capitlaism requires a workforce with the attitudes suited to their roles as exploited and indoctrinated workers who are willing to accept hard work
• The role of education is to reproduce an obiedient workforce that will accept inequality as inevitable
• They do not believe that education fosters personal development,rather it stunts and distorts pupils development
• For example it can be seen that students with hard work and discipline tend to gain high grades
• B & G argue that there are major parralles between schools and th capitalist sociey known as the correspondance principle e.g the relationships and and structures found in education mirror that of those of work
• This operates the hidden curriculum - that lessons are learnt in school without being directly taught
• For example a school timetable teaches pupils to be on time   

Willis:Learning to Labour

• Willis was a Neo-Marxist
• Willis' study shows that working class pupils can resist educations process of indoctrination into the myth of meritocracy
• Using qualitative research methods Willis studied the counter-school subculture of 'the lads' a group of 12 working class boys
• The lads formed a counter culture opposed tot the school and were sconful to anyone who conformed to teachers
• They thought school was meaningless and boring and went against the rules
• The lads identify stongly with male manual work and they see themselves as superiorer to girls and those that do non manual jobs
• This explains why 'the lads' slot into jobs with inferior skills, pay and conditions - the lads counter culture ensures they are destined for the unskilled work that Capitalism needs someone to do 

Consumer Choice

They argues that state run eductaion in the US failed because:

• It hasn't created equal opportunity and failed the needs of disadvantaged groups
• Fails to produce pupils with the skills needed by the economy
• Private schools do well because the answer to the parents

• They called for the indroduction of a market system in state education that put control in the hands of consumers (parents)
• They argued this would allow consumer to shape schools to meet their own needs
• This would be done by giving parents vouchers to spend on buying education from a school of their choice
• Schools would compete to attract customers and improve to get the money

• Marketisation benefits the Middle Class & disadvantages the Working Class
• The New Right ignore wider social inequalities within education & place all blame on the schools themselves
• The New Right want parents to have choice & freedom but at the same time want a strict curriculum in place to contol the content of education - the idea of this is contradictory as its not really giving people the choice
• Marxists argue that schools do not transmit a shared culture, only the culture of the Ruling Class  - the dominant culture seen in the society