Functionalism

• Functionalism


  Sociological theory that focuses on the functions that social institutions perform to maintain the stability of the whole society
• Social solidarity


  A sense of unity and togetherness within a group or society
• Durkheim's view on social solidarity


  • Society needs a sense of solidarity where individual members feel part of a single body or community
  • Without social solidarity, social life and cooperation would be impossible because everyone would pursue their own selfish desires
• How the education system creates social solidarity


  1. Transmits society's culture, shared beliefs, and values from one generation to the next

  2. Teaching the country's history instils in children a sense of shared heritage and commitment to the wider social group
• School as a miniature society


  • Prepares us for life in wider society
  • We must cooperate with people who are neither friend nor family, both in school and the workplace
  • We must interact according to impersonal rules that apply to everyone, both in school and work
• Specialist skills


  Knowledge and abilities required to perform a specific role or task in a complex, industrialised economy
• Durkheim's view on the role of education in teaching specialist skills


  • Modern industrialised economies have a complex division of labour
  • The reproduction of even a single item involves the cooperation of many different specialists
  • The education system teaches these specialist skills
• Meritocracy


  A system in which advancement is based on individual merit, talent, and effort rather than on social status or wealth
• Parsons' view on the role of education in a meritocracy


  • In the family, a child's status is ascribed (fixed at birth)
  • In school and wider society, a person's status is largely achieved through their work
  • School prepares us to move from the family to wider society because both are based on meritocratic principles
  • In a meritocracy, we all receive the same opportunities, and it is up to individuals to achieve rewards through hard work and effort
• Davis and Moore's view on the role of education in allocating people to future work roles


  • Schools perform the function of allocating pupils to their future work roles
  • This is necessary to ensure that the most important roles in society are filled by the most talented people
  • Education plays a key role in this as it shifts and sorts us according to our abilities, with the most able gaining the highest qualifications
• Human capital


  The skills, knowledge, and abilities of workers that contribute to their productivity and economic value
• Blau and Duncan's view on the role of a meritocratic education system


  • A modern economy depends on its workers' skills
  • A meritocratic education system allocates people to the jobs they suit best in terms of their ability, maximising their productivity
• Criticisms of functionalism


  • The education system does not teach specialised skills adequately
  • Equal opportunity does not truly exist
  • Circular argument in Davis and Moore's theory of role allocation
  • Education in a capitalist society only transmits the ideology of the ruling class
  • Over-socialised view of people as passive puppets of society
  • Failure to prepare young people for work