functionalism

• What are 3 basic view points on Education?

  • Society has basic needs. In order to survive you need SOCIAL SOLIDARITY through everyone sharing the same norms and values. Society would fall apart otherwise.
  • Education performs positive functions for both society and for individuals, through socializing new members of society.
  • Functionalists tend to focus on the positive contribution education makes to society
• Who is a theorist for functionalism?

  Durkheim
• What two main functions does Durkheim identify?

  1. Creating social solidarity
  2. Teaching specialist skills
• What is meant by social solidarity?

  This is where the individual members of society feel themselves to be part of a single body or community and work together towards shared goals.
• In what way is a school a society?

  During school the child learns to interact with other members of the school community and tend to follow a fixed set of rules. This experience prepares the child for interacting with members of society as an adult accepting social rules.
• What does Durkheim see social solidarity as?

  He sees the major function of education as the transmission of society's norms and values from one generation to the next.
• What does Durkheim argue about teaching specialist skills?

  He argues that individuals must be taught specialist skills so that they can take their place within a highly complex division of labour in which people have to co-operate to produce items.
• What is a criticism of Durkheim?

  • Marxists argue that educational institutions tend to transmit a dominant culture which serves the interest of the ruling class rather than those of society as a whole.
• What did the study by Willis and Hargreaves suggest?

  It showed that the transmission of norms and values is not always successful. It showed that some students openly reject the values of the school and form anti-school subcultures.

  In Learning to Labour. The Willis lads openly embraced values which were the opposite to those of the school and conformist students.
• Who is the functionalist who suggested educational and universalistic values?

  Parsons
• What are the two major functions that schools perform for society?

  • The process of socialization.
  • Teaching the basic values of society.
• What is meant by the process of socialization?

  It acts as a bridge between the family and wider society.
• How does this bridge help ease transitions?

  In the education system,. the exam system judges all pupils on merit and school rules such as wearing uniform are applied to all pupils equally.
• What are to major values the school transmits to help young people learn the basic values of society?

  • The value of achievement.
  • The value of equality of opportunity for every student to achieve their full potential.
• What is meant by the value of achievement?

  Everyone achieves their own status through their own effort.
• Why does Dennis Wrong criticise Parsons?

  • He argues that Parsons has an over socialised view of people as mere puppets of society.
  • He suggests that functionalists wrongly imply that pupils passively accept all that hey are taught and never reject the schools values.
• Why does Dennis Wrong see the Western Education system as meritocratic?

  He suggests that they reward students primarily on the basis of objective criteria such as achievement, ability, and intelligence.
• What do Davis and Moore believe?

  They believe schools perform the function of selecting and allocating pupils to their future work roles by assessing individuals aptitudes and abilities, schools help to match them to the job they are best suited to. 
• What are some criticisms of Davis and Moore?

  • Bowles and Gintis reject the functionalist view that capitalists societies are meritocratic. The children of wealthy gain higher qualifications, compared to lower class children.
  • The range of class differences in educational achievement suggests that not everyone has the same chance in education.