Functionalist approach to education

• Functionalism


  -Main purpose of society: to ensure society shares a social consciousness

  -Concerned with the link between the work force and institutions

  -Institutions are expected to act as an agent of socialisation
• Durkheim: Society in Miniature


  -Durkheim viewed school as a miniature society

  -Children learn new norms and values that they can now apply in society

  -Children also learn set rules and how to accept them

  -This is known as value consensus
• Specialist skills

  -The production of most goods in modern industrial economies involves the cooperation of many different specialists

  -Education teaches the necessary specialised skills that each individual needs to play their part in the complex division of labour.
• Social cohesion


  the way people form social bonds, relate to each other, and get along on a day-to-day basis
• Serving the needs of the economy

  Education has an economic role in teaching the knowledge and skills that future workers will need in a competitive global economy.
• Facilitating social mobility


  helping individuals move classes up or down. Helping individuals reach their highest potential in order to change their class
• Social control


  attempts by society to regulate people's thoughts and behaviour
• Secondary socialisation


  Socialisation provided by school, peers, work, media etc
• Meritocracy


  a social system where everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed, rewards and status are achieved, not ascribed.
• Parsons (1961)


  -The role of education is to promote meritocracy

  -This will ensure that children learn the correct skills to adapt to society when they reach adulthood
• Davis and Moore: Role Allocation

  -Children are assessed to work out what they are good at and then matched to a job that they are suited to

  -Inequality is necessary in society as there are lots of different jobs that need to be done, people have different talents and the most talented people need to be doing the most important jobs.
• Pros of Functionalism

  -Education has become more work focused with more vocational qualifications and apprenticeships in comparison to the past.

  -Schools try to create social solidarity through elements such as team sports, assemblies and PSHEC.
• Cons of Functionalism


  -The education system does NOT teach specialised skills adequately. Neoliberals and the New Right argue that the education system fails to prepare young people adequately for work.

  -Wolf Review (2011): High-quality apprenticeships are very rare and up to one third of 16-19 year olds are on courses that do ---NOT lead to higher education or good jobs.
• NEW RIGHT

  -Local authorities fail to prepare students for work.

  -Too concerned with equality

  -There should be a free market with different types of schools

  -Competition makes the market thrive
• Consumer Choice- Chubb and Moe


  -Based on American state schools

  -Chubb and Moe compared 60,000 pupils from low- income families in 1,051 state and private schools with a parent survey on 'failing schools' that had been 'turned around'

  Results:

  -Pupils from low income families do 5% better in private than state schools
• Pros of New Right

  -Having a free market in education, run like private businesses, makes them answerable to the local communities of parents and students.

  -Competition for students and funding, combined a free choice of school for parents/students, will lead to a more efficient education system delivering better value for the taxpayer who funds education.
• Cons of New Right

  -However there is a risk of multi-academy trusts operating like businesses in that the focus is placed on quick expansion and profits as opposed to the students/staff experience.

  -Pressure in competition can result in systems becoming stagnant e.g. pay for staff as they might have their own pay scale.

  -Due to the different types of schools, this could result in students having a completely different type of education.