The role and functions of education

• The children’s act

  In 1972 the compulsory age of education was raised to 16 it was then raised again in 2015 to 18
• Human capital definition:

  meaning the stock of knowledge, skills, values, habits and creativity that make someone an economic asset to society
• Hidden curriculum definition

  The informal learning process that happens in school, teaches students the norms and values of society
• Particularistic values

  values and rules which only apply to that certain person in that certain situation
• Universalistic values

  Values and rules which apply to all members of society equally
• Functionalists perspective on education: Durkheim

  • Education passes on the culture and values of society, this is achieved through the hidden curriculum and PSHE lessons
  • This builds social solidarity as it teaches students the core values of society
• Functionalist perspective on education: Parsons

  • schools link children between family and wider society
  • Allowing children to move from their ascribed status and particularistic values of the home, to the meritocratic and universalistic values of wider society
• Functionalist perspective on education: Davis and Moore

  • The education system allows for people to be selected and sifted into the social hierarchy
  • argue society is meritocratic (we’re all given the same oppurtunities to succeed and hard work pays off)
• Evaluation of the functionalist perspective:

  • Ignores aspects of education that are dysfunctional e.g bullying
  • Myth of meritocracy (private education)
  • Marxists argue that the hidden curriculum reinforces social inequality and maintains the ruling class ideology
  • Feminists argue the hidden curriculum maintains and reinforces the patriarchy not meritocracy
• New right perspective on education:

  • The state takes too much of a role in education and marketisation would improve standards
  • Schools should compete and parents/ students should be seen as consumers
  • Chubb and moe: believed in education vouchers that would allow children/ parents to choose a school and have all expenses paid for, and parentocracy the idea that the parents should have a choice on where their children go to school
• Ideological state apparatus

  A social institution whose main role is to pass in the dominant ideology of the ruling class
• Repressive state apparatus 


  A social institution whose role is to enforce the dominant ideology by force or threat e.g police
• Correspondence principle

  The ways in which the education system mirrors the world of work
• Marxist perspective on education Althusser:

  • Education reproduces social inequality- education deliberately tries to fail W/C to reproduce a factory workforce, private education prepares for elite positions of power, hidden curriculum is shaped to assist M/C and deter W/C
  • Legitimisation of social inequality- M/C have more access to cultural capital putting them at an advantage, education encourages students to accept capitalistic values (through hidden curriculum)
• Marxist perspective on education- Bowles and Gintis:

  • Correspondance principle- school processes mirror the world of work in order to prepare pupils for manual labour (lack of control, obedience, boredom, discipline and consequences)
  • Myth of meritocracy- schools discriminate in favour of the working class e.g speech codes, the hidden curriculum lowers the ambition of W/C
• New right Evaluation on Marxist

  Chubb and moe argue Marxist don't recognise education has failed all social classes, it has failed to equip children with skills needed to be successful in the global marketplace
• Postmodernism Evaluation on Marxist

  Argue education reproduces diversity not inequality. Marrow and Torres Calum students create own and make their own choices about their identities rather than being constrained to social class
• Neo Marxism evaluation on marxist

  Giroux- Rejects that W/C passively accept their position to be complaint workers e.g. anti school subculture, truancy. This suggests that the hidden curriculum and correspondence principal has failed. Also suggest failure could be due to a combination of gender, ethnicity and class