Marxism, Functionalism and Postmodernism in Education

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  • Created by: sashamain
  • Created on: 21-12-16 16:11

Functionalism Overview

Consensus Approach - it is possible for everyone to get along.

Structuralist Theory - institutions influence individual's behaviour.

Functionalists believe that education should provide socialisation, teach skills needed for work and perform role allocation

Criticisms:

Only focuses on positives education and ignores the negatives like the amount of stress caused by exams.

Difficult to get a value consenus in a multicultural society.

Deterministic

Rich, white and female students still have an advantage.

Many argue that schools do not provide the skills needed for work.

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Functionalism - Durkheim

History is one of the most important subjects because it teaches the value consensus and social solidarity.

School is like a miniature society because it teaches values such as sharing, punctuality and independence.

School must teach the division of labour and if it doesn't, then there will be anomie.

Criticisms:

Deterministic

Can't teach the value consenus because not everyone has the same values

Inequal

Armchair Theorist

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Functionalism - Parsons

Bridge Theory - education is a bridge between home and work.

AGIL system:
Adaption - Can societies change to meet the needs of the people?
Goal Attainment - Can you meet your goals?
Integration - How well does your society work together?
Latency - Can we keep improving?

Meritocracy - Hard work is rewarded and can lead to achieved status

Criticisms:

Meritocracy is a lie

Deterministic

Bridge Theory - not everyone will lose family's norms and values

Merton: Society is too complex and so it's impossible to teach the value consensus

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Functionalism - Davis & Moore

The key purpose of education is role allocation

The most talented people get higher qualifications which leads to a good job with high pay.

Inequality is necessary.

Criticisms:

The education system doesn't always sort us well. 

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Functionalism - Schultz

Believes that we should spend money on improving education. We would then have more qualified people who could contribute more to the economy.

We need to compete globally.

Criticisms:

Schools cannot single-handedly teach values - family and media are important in this. 

Britain is 26th on PISA scale despite all of the money invested in eduaction.

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Marxism Overview

Conflct Theory - there is a problem in society that needs to be addressed.

Structuralist Theory - institutions control our behaviour.

The education system reproduces and legitimises class inequality. 

Criticisms:

Reductionist - focuses on class and ignores everything else.

Not every school operates in the same way

Some courses require critical thinking

Most of the studies are outdated

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Marxism - Althusser

Ideological State Apparatus (ISA) - control of ideas, values and beliefs (media, religion and education)

Repressive State Apparatus (RSA) - physical force to keep society the way you want it to be (police, army, courts)

Schools promote education - if you work hard, you'll get a good job.

Prepares students to accept future exploitations.

Hidden curriculum promotes hegemony.

Criticisms:

Armchair theorist

Not everything in the hidden curriculum promotes hegemony - learning to share.

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Marxism - Bowles & Gintis

Studied 227 schools in New York and found:

Schools reward obedience, not creativity or independence.

Correspondence Principle - school is like work: attendence, punctuality, rules to follow, the teacher is like the boss.

Schools are competitive.

Myth of Meritocracy - hard work isn't always rewarded. 

Criticisms:

Some schools reward creativity and some school staff care about you more as a person.

Schools give chances and work doesn't

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Marxism - Bourdieu

Education reproduces capitalism.

Cultural deprivantion - the rich have cultural capital.

The poor are materially deprived.

The education system values hegemony.

Habitus - the certain habits of the poor and the rich.

Criticisms:

Deterministic - assumes the rich will stay rich and the poor will stay poor.

Functionalists argue that it's a meritocracy.

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Marxism - Willis

Lads Study 1977 - 12 lads in their last 18 months of school and first few months of work. Findings:

'They chose to fail'.

Refused to conform to the education system.

Shop floor culture - the ability to mess around at work.

Criticisms:

Loss of manufacturing jobs in the UK means that these lads would now not be able to find work as they would need qualifications or better qualifications. 

Less shop floor culture because workplace practices have changed. 

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Postmodernism

Can't use one theory to explain everything.

Technology and internet has changed the way that we operate.

Focuses on the individual.

In an ever-changing society, it is impossible to predict what jobs will be available in the future.

Criticisms:

Might be impractical - it over exaggerates the amount of choice there is in society.

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