Role of Education Flashcards
(47 cards)
describe the basic functionalist theory
- society has basic needs eg social order so social solidarity /value consensus needed to achieve needs
- social institutions function to socialise helpful members of society to sustain social solidarity
how do functionalists tend to view schools
positively
who are the 3 main functionalist theorists for the role of education
- Durkheim
- Parsons
- Davis and Moore
what does Durkeik think are the two main roles for education
creating social solidarity
teaching specialist skills
describe Durkheims view in how the role of education is to create social solidarity
- school transmits society’s norms and values into new generation as it is necessary to produce social solidarity
- this is done through overt and hidden curriculum
- school is society in miniature so society learns to interact with the community and follow rules —> initiation into social duty
summarise Durkheims views on social solidarity into 3 main phrases / concepts
- social solidarity
- overt / hidden curriculum
- society in miniature
describe Durkheims theory on the role of education in teaching specialist skills
- pupils must be taught specialist skills to take place in complex division of labour
- production often involves cooperation of many specialists which promotes social solidarity
- to get this social solidarity each person must have a specialist skill and role which is gained via education
give 2 critiques of Durkheims social solidarity theory (using two studies)
- Marxists ; dominant culture transmitted which serves ruling class not society
- Willis and Hargreaves; transmission not always successful eg anti school subcultures actively resisting
give 2 critiques of Durkheims teaching specialist skills theory
- Wolf Review of Vocational Education claims high quality apprenticeships are rare and many vocational courses don’t lead to higher education or good jobs
- many occupational skills learnt on the job or by company courses
what is Parsons analogy /theory for the role of education
-school is a focal socialising agent that acts as a bridge between family and wider society
what are the ways Parsons believes school acts as a bridge
- through socialisation
- through transmitting values
how does Parsons describe socialisation to be the role of education
-with family children are judged by particularistic standards that only apply to them and stays is ascribed
-with wider society individuals judged with universalistic standards and status is achieved based off meritocratic
principles eg hard work in exams
-education helps ease childrens transitions eg meritocratic exams and uniforms promoting equality
describe how Parsons believes transmission of values is a role of education
-school transmits two major values :
value of achievement / meritocracy
value of equality of opportunity
-also argues it is society in miniature
give 2 criticisms of Parsons theory using one study
- Wrong; functionalists have over socialised view of people and assume students passively accept values
- assumes western education systems are meritocratic and existence if private education and inequalities linked to class gender etc challenge this
describe Davis and Moores theory on the role of education
- education system sifts and sorts ppl according to their abilities ; role allocation
- society offers the talented few incentives to stay in education such as higher salaries
give 3 critiques of Davis and Moores theory on role allocation (using 2 studies)
- achievement closely tied to class/gender/ethnicity eg Bordieu argues m/c have more cultural and social capital which advantages them and allows them to gain better qualifications than w/c
- Bowles and Gintis; m/c pupils gain better qualifications regardless of abilities and role allocation legitimises inequality in society
- footballers wages high despite lack of qualifications
give a basic overview of the New Rights ideas
- some are more naturally talented than others
- education should be meritocratic and competitive
- school should socialise studies to share values and provide sense of national identity
what is the KEY new right belief
the state cannot run an efficient education system; there us too much state control which results in inefficiency national economic decline and a culture of welfare dependency
give 2 reasons why the New Right dont believe the state can run an efficient education system
- state run education is one size fits all and doesn’t meet individual /community or employer needs
- state run schools not accountable for those who use them; schools with poor results don’t change as they aren’t answerable to consumers so there are low standards and a less qualified work forces
what do the New Right believe is the solution to state run schools inefficiency
- schools become more responsive to consumers via marketisation
- education market forces schools to respond to demands of consumers
what New Right theorists argue marketisation as the solution to state run schools inefficiency
-Chubb and Moe; introduce market system to state education via a voucher system so each family would get a voucher to spend on buying education from a school of their choice
what is Chubb and Moes study
- compared achievement of 60,000 students from low income families in 1000+ state and private US schools
- suggested education was not meritocratic and state education failed to create equal opportunity as private schools had higher quality education
evaluate the New Rights view in the role of education using 2 theorists (3)
- low quality of education to do with lack of funding not state control
- Gerwitz ; competition benefits m/c who can get children into more restorable schools
- Marxists ; education transmits ruling. class culture not shared national identity
give a basic overview of marxist beliefs
- bourgeoise who own means of production exploit proletariats labour
- social institutions reproduce and legitimise inequality so proletariat don’t revolt
