3ed

• Meritocracy


  People fill their positions in society based on achievement and ability.
• Achieved status

  Status achieved via hard work.
• Ascribed status

  Status which one is born in to.
• Criticisms - meritocracy


  Ascribed status is often more important than achieved status.
• Durkheim


  Transmits societies norms and values.

  Education (history) links individuals and society.

  Teach children to cooperate.

  Teaches children skills for future roles.
• Parsons


  Bridges the family and society - secondary socialisation.

  Prepares children for the transition between particularistic norms and ascribed status of family to the universalistic norms and achieved status of society.

  Creates meritocracy.

  Provides highly motivated, achievement-orientated workers.

  Match children to occupations.
• Davis and Moore


  Ensures that the most able rise to positions which are functionally most important for society.

  Allocated people to roles based on abilities - role allocation.
• Good points


  Links education to the wider needs of society.

  Helps us understand the socialisation process beyond the family.
• Criticisms


  Assumes that education is a meritocracy.

  Armchair theorising - Durkheim and Parsons.

  Too much emphasis on the power of school to shape attitudes - over-socialisation.

  Does not investigate how people of different characteristics achieve differently in education.