functionalist perspective on education

Question 1

what is functionalism?

Answer 1

• believe all our social institutions provide functions for the good of the individual and society
• think all our institutions work together like a human body
• think institutions shape our identity and control our behaviour
• they give us our shared norms, values and beliefs

Question 2

PARSONS - meritocracy

Answer 2

• system where rewards go to those who have talent, ability and hard work
• schools work on meritocratic principles
• everybody has an equal opportunity, and individuals achieve rewards through their own effort and ability

Question 3

DURKHEIM - education system functions

Answer 3

1. creating social solidarity (a commitment to society)
   FOR EXAMPLE:
   - pledge of allegiance (USA)
   - citizenship and british values in the uk
   - teaching of british history
   - wearing uniforms
   - assemblies
2. teaching specialised skills
   - complex industrial societies need specialised skills for the economy

Question 4

DAVIS & MOORE - role allocation

Answer 4

• the most able and talented must be filtered into the most functionally important positions in society
• those with lower grades end up in lower skilled jobs
• the education system sifts, sorts and grades us all

Question 5

PARSONS - focal socialising agency

Answer 5

• education is a bridge between family and society
• in the family a child has an ascribed status - status assigned at birth or assumed involuntarily later in life
• in wider society we have an achieved status - earned based on merit/choices
• all individuals have to change from the particularistic standards of the family to the universalistic standards pf society

Question 6

BLAU & DUNCAN - human capital

Answer 6

• the skills, knowledge and experiences possessed by an individual
• BLAU & DUNCAN - the modern economy requires human capital for prosperity
• a meritocratic education system allocates people to their most suitable roles
• this makes the most effective use of their talents and maximises productivity

Question 7

criticisms of the functionalist views on education

Answer 7

• MELVIN TUMIN criticises DAVID & MOORE for putting forward a circular argument. why is a job important? - because it is rewarded. / why is a job rewarded? - because it is important.
• functionalists see education as a process that instils the shared values of society as a whole, but MARXISTS argue education in a capitalist society only transmits the ideology of a minority - the ruling class
• INTERACTIONIST DENNIS WRONG argues functionalists have an ‘over-socialised’ view of people as mere puppets of society. functionalists wrongly imply that pupils passively accept all that they are taught and never reject school values.
• NEOLIBERALS AND THE NEW RIGHT argue that the state education system fails to prepare young people for work adequately.