the role of education in society

• role of education in society

  • functionalist perspective

  social solidarity

  special skills

  meritocracy

  role allocation

  • neoliberalism and new right perspective on education

  consumer choice

  two roles for the state

  • marxist perspective

  ideological state apparatus

  schooling in capitalist america

  correspondence principle and hidden curriculum

  legitimation of class inequality

  learning to labour

  lads' counter culture
• functionalist: Durkheim, 2 main functions of education

  • social solidarity

  individuals must feel apart of a community, without this social life would be impossible because individuals would pursue their own selfish desires

  school transmit society culture from one generation to the next

  school prepares pupils for life in wider society

  • teaching special skills

  education teaches individuals the specialist knowledge and skills to play their part in the social division labour
• functionalist - parsons: meritocracy 


  school is the 'focal socialising agency' in modern society, bridge is needed so family and society operate on different principles

  child status is ascribed however in school, wider society judge by the same universalistic and impersonal standards

  school and family are based on meritocratic principle
• functionalist- Davis and Moor: role allocation 


  select and allocate pupils to their future work roles by their aptitudes and abilities

  inequality is necessary so the most important roles in society are filled by the most talented people
• evaluation of functionalist perspective (criticism)


  • education system doesn't teach specialised skills adequately
  • achievement is influenced by class background not ability
  • marxist - education in capitalist society only transmit the ideology of a minority - the ruling class
  • functionalist has a over-socialised view , wrongly imply that pupils passively accept all they are taught and never reject the school values
  • Neoliberals and new right - state education system fail to prepare young people for work
• Neoliberalism perspective on education 


  the state should not provide services such as education, health and welfare

  state must not dictate to individuals how to dispose of their own property, should not try to regulate a free market economy,privatise state run business and deregulate markets

  education lies on how well it enables the country to compete in the global marketplace
• similarities with neoliberal and functionalist perspective 


  • believe some people are naturally more talented than others
  • favours meritocratic principles of open competition, serving needs of economy
  • education should socialise pupil into shared values, competition and national identity
• new right perspective on education 


  • don't believe the current education system is achieving these goals as it is run by the state
  • state education take a 'one size fits all' approach
  • meaning lower standards of achievement for pupils, less qualified workforces and less prosperous economy
  • solution - marketisation
• Chubb and Moe : consumer choice (new right ) - state run education failed because:


  • not created equal opportunity and failed the needs of disadvantaged groups
  • inefficient, fails to produce pupil with the skill needed by the economy
  • private school deliver higher quality education because they are answerable to paying consumers
• Chubb and Moe: consumer Choice 


  • parents, local communities and teachers being in control allow them to shape schools to meet their own needs and improve quality and efficiency parents, allow them to shape schools to meet their own needs and improve quality and efficiency
  • they propose a system to give each family a voucher to spend on buying education from a school of their choice, forcing school to become more responsible to parents wishes and becomes school main source income
  • education standards would be greatly improved by introducing same market forces into the state sector
• two roles for the state 


  • state impose a framework on schools within which they have to complete
  • state ensures that school transmit a shared culture national curriculum

  new right - education should affirm national identity ( britain positive role in world history, teach british literature, christian act of worship)
• Evaluation of the new right perspective (criticism)


  • Gewirtz and Ball - competition between school benefit m/c who can use their capitals to gain access to more desirable schools
  • real cause of low education standards is social inequality ad inadequate funding of state school not state control
  • marx - doesn't impose shared national culture but culture of a dominant minority ruling class and devalues w/c and minority ethnic groups
• marxist perspective on education 


  • based on class division and capitalist exploitation, capitalism 2 class system i s: the capitalist and working class
  • capitalist = bourgeoisie
  • creates class conflict as the working class would unite to overthrow the capitalist system and create equal society
  • however the capitalist control the state , marxist functions to prevent revolution and maintain capitalism
• Marxist - Althusser :ideological state apparatus 


  • the repressive state apparatuses -(RSAs) maintain rule of bourgeoisie by force or the threat of it. police, courts and army
  • the ideological state apparatuses - (ISAs) maintain rule of bourgeoisie by controlling people ideas and beliefs. religion, the media and education system
• what 2 function does the ideological state apparatuses (ISAs) perform


  • education reproduce class inequality by transmitting from generation to generation, failing each successive generation of w/c pupil in turn
  • education legitimates class inequality by producing ideologies that disguise its true case. to persuade workers to accept that inequality is inevitable
• Bowles and Gintis: schooling in capitalist america 


  capitalist requires a workforce with the kind of behaviour suited to their role as alienated and exploited workers willing to accept hard work , low pay and orders from above

  • study - school reward the personality trait for a complaint worker
• the correspondence principle and the hidden curriculum 


  • close parallels between school and work in capitalist society
  • correspondence principle operates through hidden curriculum
  • accepting hierarchy and competition, working for extrinsic rewards and do on
• the myth of meritocracy: the legitimation of class inequality 


  • the poor will always feel inequality is unfair and will rebel against the system
  • education help prevent this by producing ideologies to justify why inequality is fair, natural and inevitable
  • argues meritocracy doesn't exist and it doesn't depend whether they have the ability but if their income is high, by disguising this makes it seem they gain them through succeeding in fair competition at school persuading w/c to accept inequality
  • also justify poverty as 'poor are dumb' theory , blaming poverty rather than capitalism
• willis:learning to labour

  marxist- capitalist can't function without a workforce that's willing to accept exploitation , reproduces and legitimates class inequality.

  that is ensures w/c pupils learn to accept jobs that are poorly paid and alienating

  however - w/c pupils can resist such attempts to indoctrinate them

  • Wills is interested in the way schools serves capitalism, however he combines this with an interactionist approach that focus on the meaning pupils give to their situation and how these enable them to resist indoctrination
• the lads' counter-culture 


  'ear'oles' ( they listen to what the teachers tell them).

  lads have intimidatory humour- taking the piss out of ear'oles and girls.

  • find school boring and meaningless and flout its rules and values
  • reject school meritocratic ideology that w/c pupil can achieve m/c jobs through hard work

  similarities between lads anti-school counter culture and shop floor culture of manual workers - see manual work as superior, intellectual work as inferior and effeminate. see themself as superior to girls and 'effeminate' ear'oles who aspire to non-manual work
• why do lads counter culture of resistance to school helps them slot into jobs that capitalist needs someone to perform?


  • accustomed to boredom and finding ways to amuse themselves in schools, don't expect satisfaction from work and are good at finding diversion to cope with redium of unskilled labour
  • acts of rebellion guarantee they will end up in unskilled jobs, by ensuring their failure to gain worthwhile qualifications
• evaluation of marxist approaches (criticism)


  • postmodernist -education now reproduces diversity not inequality
  • marxists - fails to explain why many pupils reject the schools values
  • wills account of the lads romanticises them as w/c heroes despite anti-social behaviour and sexist attitudes
  • takes a 'class first' approach sees class as the key inequality and ignores all other kinds
  • society is more diverse, see non class inequalities, they must explain how education reproduces and legitimates all forms of inequality
  • ignore that schools reproduce not only capitalism but patriarchy too