Theories

Education performs key functions: 

• Promotes Social Solidarity - Teaching specialist skills - Meets the needs of the economy. 
• School prepares us for the wider world - 'society in minitaure' 

• School is a focal socialising agency.
• Schoold bridges gaps between home and wider society.
• School teaches Universalistic Standards 
• School teaches the principle of Meritocracy.

• Education system performs the function of Role Allocation. (Matching people to their future job)
• Schools teaches the idea of society being based upon fair inequality 

• School is part of the ideaological state apparatus. - Justifies and legitmises Class inequality. 

• Education system rewards compliant and obediant behaviour - Makes it easier to exploit as workers.
• Correspondance Principle - Schools reflect the workplace
• School is a giant myth making machine - Meritocracy doesn't really exsist. 

• Working Class students see through the myth of meritocracy - They rebel against the school. This ensures that they still end up in working class jobs as they fail academically. 
• Studied working class boys - the lads, the rebelled against school and ended up in working class jobs.

• Studied American Schools. Found that working class children did 5% better in private schools compared to state schools 
• We need to adopt a Voucher system - Parents can take this to the school of their choice . This would make schools compete more and improve their education provision.