education

• functionalism - Durkheim 1903 


  individual members of society need to feel sense of social solidarity or belonging. the education system creates this through transmitting society's shared culture e.g. learning beliefs, values, history - compulsory for schools to teach 'British values' and implement 'prevent' strategy.

  school is a mini society where we learn to live and work together, we learn the impersonal rules which govern our behaviour

  education teaches the complex specialist skills we need to play part in complicated labour market - specialised division of labour
• Durkheim - in contemporary societies status is achieved and not ascribed and the education system is an important part of making this happen
• functionalism - parsons 1950-60s

  school acts as a bridge between family and wider society, where children can learn the universalistic and impersonal standards that apply to everyone. in the family the Childs role is ascribed (youngest daughter) but in school and wider society status is achieved by how hard you work. school and society are meritocratic and we achieve according to out own individual efforts
• functionalism - Davis and Moore - role allocation

  school selects and allocates students to their future work roles. match their skills and aptitudes to job they are most suited to. inequality is needed to allocate people to most appropriate role e.g. brain surgeon. the most able gain highest qualifications and most important jobs - essential for effective meritocracy
• davis and Moore evaluation

  • relationship between academic credentials and occupational rewards is not close - income is only weakly linked
  • doubt as to whether education system does grade people in terms of ability. it has been argued that intelligence has little effect upon educational attainment
• evaluation of durkheim

  • he assumes societies have shared culture that can be passed on by education system - britain can now be seen as multi-cultural so there is not one single culture to be passed on.
  • marxists argue education system serves interests of ruling class rather than society as whole
  • researches claim schools emphasise individual competition though exam system , rather than working together, cooperation and social solidarity
• new right

  people are best placed to meet their own needs so state interference should be minimised.

  like functionalists: some people are naturally more talented than other, education should be meritocratic, encourage competition and prepare pupils for work. pupils should be socialised into shared values such as competitiveness and independence and have sense of national identity.

  unlike functionalists: current system is failing bc it is run by state - bc the state has a uniform on size fits all approach it is not answerable to its consumes - the answer is to create education market
• new right

  marketisation: according to Neo-liberalism, this is the key to raising standards in education. educational institutions should compete for customers in a free market. this will incentivise them to raise standards so that they attract more 'customers'. successful insitutions will expand and failing ones will close. testing regimes e.g. SATS and OFSTED put in place to help gov monitor schools and raise standards.
• new right

  privatisation: private sector participation in education market. this raises standards and improves efficiency e.g. gov employing private companies to provide catch up tuition to schools after covid - rather than teachers
• new right

  globalisation: global organisations are increasingly involved in disseminating education policy and education is seen as key to success in global market. global companies can be involved in education, for instance exam boards and producers of educational resources like Pearson
• new right - Chubbs and moe 1990 america 


  system fails bc there is not equal opportunity, pupils don't have skills needed. private schools are better as they are answerable to consumers.

  findings - low income children do 5% better in private schools.
• new right evaluation

  gerwitz - competition in schools has only benefitted middle class who use their economic and cultural capital to get into 'best' schools. she says 'parentocracy' is a myth.

  'skilled choosers' - parents who have money, skills, motivation to make informed choices about schools they send children to - could involve moving house or paying private education. m/c

  'semi-skilled choosers' - high level of concern but do not have same abilities or resources as skilled choosers

  'disconnected choosers' - less concerned with academic reputation of schools, more w happiness w/c
• new right evaluation

  Stephen ball - marketisation policies such as publishing exam league tables and formula funding (schools funded per pupil) creates inequalities between schools. this is bc of 'cream skimming' and 'silt shifting' where schools who are higher in league tables attract more pupils and so gain more funding. This allows them to invest in resources and at times strategies to be more selective (cream skimming. over time more m/c students attend these schools
• new right evaluation

  Stephen ball - on the other hand, the schools who are perceived as poorer end up with less students and less money (silt shifting) - can become vicious cycle. they tend to attract more w/c students (less skilled choosers). therefore, parental choice actually creates further divisions between schools and greater inequality
• new right gov policies

  1988 education reform act - introduced formula funding, replacing LEA grants. schools would be given funding based on how many students they had - this led to many schools to compete with one another to attract students from both their catchment area and other local areas
• new right gov policies

  creation of OFSTED - gov organisation to inspect, monitor and grade schools and educational establishments and available for parents to read

  academies and free schools - local councils no longer oversee schools but they are freed from local authority control and have more freedom and autonomy
• new right gov policies

  league tables - gov rank schools according to exam results to allow parents to make informed decisions and compare schools

  standardised testing - gov tests to ensure schools are reaching targets and age-related expectations - allow parents to assess success of school and make informed choice
• marxism

  according to Marx, education is part of the infrastructure, and is therefore shaped to meet/serve the needs of capitalism. capitalism required the reproduction of the labour force in order to survive. two elements to this - passing on knowledge and skills required for effective and efficient workforce + passing on ruling class ideology (capitalist norms and values). the result is a skilled, submissive and obedient workforce
• marxism - Althusser 


  capitalism is maintained through repressive and ideological state apparatus. he argues that education is part of the ideological - encourages conformity by transmitting ruling class ideology. its job is to:

  • reproduce ruling class ideology justifying capitalist system
  • socialise workers into accepting dominant ideology (norms/values serving ruling class)
  • create efficient labour force
  • education system legitimises inequality by promoting pretence that it offers equality of opportunity and creates myth of meritocracy
  • passive, unquestioning, disciplined workforce
• marxism - Bowles and gintis - correspondence principle 


  close similarity between social relationships at school and work. school prepares young people for work in capitalist society teaching the majority to be passive unquestioning workers for the future. does this through 'hidden curriculum', which socialises us into rules, expectation and norms such as punctuality, obeying authority.
• marxism- Bowles and gintis


  • school encourages certain personality traits like consistency and dependability and discourages other like creativity and individualism
  • students are taught to submit to authority and punished for not doing so
  • students have little control over their time and work and get little satisfaction from it. this prepares them for alienating and unfulfilling work in capitliasr system. they are motivated by external rewards of qualifications in school, and in work by money
  • school teach meritocracy- leads us to believe that capitalist system is fair + rewards hard work
• marxism - Paul willis - 'learning to labour'


  in w/c culture, masculinity=tough+manual work. school work is inferior and effeminate.

  the boys created counter school subculture - feel superior to teacher and conformist students + see no value in academic work

  resented school for trying to control them - kept entertained by having laugh and disobeying school rules.

  in factory work - had same lack of respect for authority and entertained one another like in school.

  counter school culture + factory floor culture = cope with oppression of system. they recognise that meritocracy is myth.