functionalism & the Education System

Question 1

What does functionalism say about the role of education?

Answer 1

Education is Meritocratic (students are rewarded due to talent and effort rather than because of the position they were born in).

Question 2

What are the Three functions of education according to Functionalism?

Answer 2

• Secondary Socialisation(passing on core values).
• Role Allocation(sifting and sorting).
• Providing skills needed in work and by the economy.

Question 3

Durkheims perspective.

Answer 3

• Education passes on norms and values.
• Education helps to create social order based on cohesion and value consensus.
• Education strengthens social solidarity.

Question 4

Parsons perspective.

Answer 4

• School is the bridge between family and adult roles in society.
• Meritocracy sees appropriate roles given to children.
• Universal value of achievement is passed on.

Question 5

Davis and Moore’s(1945) perspective.

Answer 5

• To motivate people to train for top positions there has to be a system of unequal rewards.
• every society sorts its members into different positions, the rules for how education does this are called “principles of stratification”.

Question 6

The four Principles of stratification.

Answer 6

• Social stratification is a trait of society not a reflection of individual differences.
• Carries from generation to generation.
• universal but variable.
• involves not just inequality but beliefs as well.

Question 7

3 Criticisms of the functionalist view.

Answer 7

• Differential achievement in terms of class, gender and ethnicity show the education system to not be meritocratic.
• who you know can still be considered more important than what you know, exposing role allocation to not be working effectively.
• pupils aren’t being prepared properly.

Question 8

An example of pupils not being prepared adequately.

Answer 8

The lack of engineers indicates that the education system is failing to produce what employers and the economy needs.