Education Consensus theories surrounding education

Question 1

What are Durkheim’s views on the function of education?

Answer 1

• Education should emphasise moral responsibilities and national solidarity.
• Social solidarity should be achieved through the establishing of common values.

Question 2

What are Parson’s views on the functions of education?

Answer 2

• Education forms a bridge between family and wider society.
• Children get used to the meritocratic culture of society. In society universalistic standards apply and the individual will be judged by everyone’s standards. School is preparation for this.

Question 3

What are Davis and Moore’s views on the functions of education?

Answer 3

• Education allocates people for the best job to match their talents using exams and assessments - meritocracy.
• Education helps identify the few people needed for the most highly skilled jobs. It’s ok that these people end up making more money, because ultimately everyone benefits from the best people being in the best job they’re suited for.

Question 4

What was the New Right (neo-liberal) view of the education system that developed in the 1970s and influenced the policies of Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s?

Answer 4

• Education is important for a healthy economy but needs to be run in a way so that schools are not a drain on the state’s resources.
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Question 5

What is the assertion of the New Right thinkers, Chubb and Moe (1988)?

Answer 5

• Education needs to be treated like a business. Customers need to be pleased and as a result, schools need competition in order to remain dynamic and likely to improve.

Question 6

What are criticisms of the Functionalist view?

Answer 6

• Ignorant of the aspects of education that might be dysfunctional and benefit some groups in societies more than others.
• Too much is assumed - a number of studies suggest not all pupils are socialised into the system.
• Acceptance of an institution that is not fit for all. Does education prepare children with the skills that benefit all or just the few and then everyone else is left behind?

Question 7

What are criticisms of the New Right view?

Answer 7

• Competition creates undue stress on children, by treating them as adults.
• The stress of school improvement and constantly needing to evidence progress has adversely affected schools (E.g. false data / teachers leaving the profession).
• The wider marketisation of schools (schools having more direct control over their funds) has led to some financial bad practice)

Question 8

Using a Functionalist perspective, why is education meritocratic?

Answer 8

• The assessment and the exam system is the same for everyone at the point of taking the exam. Any student can study to pass if they are willing to work hard and overcome any perceived barriers.

Question 9

Criticising the Functionalist perspective, why is education not meritocratic?

Answer 9

• The view that education is meritocratic ignores how social divisions (class / race / gender) might affect achievement.
• The existence of Private Schools is seemingly ignored. Social class impacts educational opportunity.
• Whitty, Power and Sims (2013) found that students from Private Schools are more likely to get accepted to top universities with lower grades. Earlier research from the Sutton Trust (2010) found that students were 55 times more likely to get into Oxford or Cambridge.
• Britland (2013) private tutors are increasingly used by middle class parents and not just for exam preparation.