said schools are "socialisation agencies" that teach children how to get along with others and prepare them for adult economic roles.
Social Placement
Education provides a major method for social mobility amongst social class, social placement. Schools help students progress towards the careers they want.
Secondary Functions of Education
Unintended functions. Things students learn outside of formal education but still in school eg liking another student and learning the norms and values of courting.
Allocation Functions
Schools sort and allocate students based on merit and potential. The most capable students are allocated the most challenging jobs. Functionalists argue this is because education is a meritocracy, where everyone has equal opportunity and so merit/effort determines social standing.
CRITICISMS - MARXISM
Durkheim and Parsons claim education promotes the norms and values of society as a whole. Marxists argue education only promotes dominant ideology.
CRITICISM - HARGREAVES
education promotes competition and individualism, not shared values.
CRITICISM - DIVISIONS
Durkheim claims that education encourages social solidarity, but some argue that education is divisive and separates the social classes, races and genders.
CRITICISMS - THE MYTH OF MERITOCRACY
Davis and Moore argue education is meritocratic, but Dunlop Young and others argued factors like class, race and gender also play a role in achievement.
