Functionalism Flashcards
What two functions did durkheim identify
Social solidarity
Specialist skills
Now does education help social solidarity
Members feel part of a community and are able to cooperate.it transmits culture and history from one generation to the next and gives them commitment to a wider social group.
Now does education provide specialist skills
It teaches pupils specialist skills and knowledge needed to play a part in the social division of labour since most industrial economics require a variety of different specialities
What function did parsons put forward
Education is a bridge to wider society. in the family the child has ascribed status but in education and life their status is achieved. They’re judged by a set of impersonal rules and meritocratic principles
What are meritocratic principles
Where everyone is given equal opportunity to succeed
What function did Davis and Moore identify
Education allocates children to their future work roles by making people compete for the best jobs to ensure they are filled by the most talented people. Inequality is therefore important
What evaluation points can be made about the functionalisms view
The education system doesn’t teach specialist skills well enough
Myth of meritocracy
Marxists argue it transmits the ideology of the ruling class
Interactionalists say pupils aren’t passive
New right say the system fails to prepare them for work
Now do Marxists criticise the functionalist view
It transmits the culture of the ruling class
How do interactionalist criticise the functionalist view
Pupils aren’t passive puppets that accept everything that they are taught. They can rebel
What is sifting sorting and unequal rewards (david and moore)
Not everyone in society is equally as talented so more important jobs have higher rewards forcing people to compete for the most important jobs. Education sifts and sorts pupils as the most able gain qualifications giving them entry to the highest rewarded positions
Criticisms of Durkheim (2)
1)individual competition:education is aimed at pupils competing for qualifications therefore the education favord by Durkheim may not seem the best prep for working life
2) history as ethnocentric: history only focuses on white British history, could alienate non white students which doesn’t help with social solidarity
A Marxist criticism of parsons
Meritocracy is a myth and the upper class inherit wealth and these are many jobs when ascribed statuses such as social class play a bigger role than ability
Two criticisms of davis and moore
1) weak link of qualifications and income as gender, ethnicity and social class have a bigger influence than ability
2)content of education has very little to do with their job as most occupational sobs are learnt on the job or through training schemes
