Flashcards on the Role of Education in Society (2.5)

According to functionalist, society is a system of interdependent parts. What are these parts held together by?

Functionalists believe that each part of society performs functions that help to maintain society as a whole. Emile Durkheim identifies the two main functions of education. What are they?

The first function of the education system is the creation of social solidarity. Durkheim argues that this is a necessary function. Why?

How does the education system help to create social solidarity?

School also acts as a 'society in miniature', preparing children for life in wider society. How?

The second function of the education system is the teaching of specialist skills. Again, Durkheim regards this as a necessary for social harmony. Why?

Which American functionalist draws on Durkheim's ideas, seeing the school as the 'focal socialising agency' in modern society?

Parsons states that the school acts as a bridge between the family and wider society. Why is this bridge needed?

Within the family, a child is judged by particularistic standards and their status is ascribed. How does this differ both in school and in wider society?

According to Parsons, the school prepares children to move from the family into wider society because it teaches us meritocratic principles. What is meritocracy?

Functionalists argue that schools also perform the function of selecting and allocating pupils to their future work roles. How are they able to do this?

Which sociologists argue that education is a device for selection and role allocation?

Davis and Moore focus on the relationship between education and social inequality. What do they argue inequality is necessary for?

Education plays a key part in the process of role allocation. Why?

The functionalist perspective has been criticised. Some critics argue that the education system doesn't teach specialised skills, as Durkheim claims. For example, what does the Wolf review of vocational education claim?

Which sociologist criticises Davis and Moore for creating a circular argument?

How do marxists criticise the functionalist theory of education?

Finally, what does interactionist Dennis Wong argue about the functionalist theory of education?

Neoliberalism is based on the idea that the government should not try to regulate a free-market economy and should instead encourage competition, privatise state-run businesses and deregulate markets. According to neoliberals, where does the value of education lie?

Neoliberals believe that the country will only be successful in the global marketplace if schools do what?

The new right is a conservative political view that incorporates neoliberal economic ideas. Why do the new right favour the marketisation of education?

There are a handful of similarities between the new right and functionalist views. Give examples:

However, what is the key difference between functionalism and the new right?

According to the new right, what sort of an approach does the state education system take?

The new right argue that consumers who use schools (pupils, parents, etc.) have no say, meaning schools are unresponsive and inefficient. Unsuccessful schools are not held accountable for their students' failure, who are less qualified and less prosperous as a result of their lack of success. What is the new right's solution?

Which two American sociologists provide a good example of the new right perspective on education?

Chubb and Moe argue that state-run education in the United States has failed for three main reasons. What are they?

Chubb and Moe call for the introduction of a market system in state education. They argue that this would allow consumers to shape schools to meet their needs, thus improving quality. To introduce this market into state education, what sort of system do Chubb and Moe propose?

While the new right stress the importance of market forces in education, this doesn't mean they see no role at all for the state. They believe that the state has two important roles in relation to education. What are they?

According to the new right, what should education affirm?

How can education affirm the national identity?

Because of their desire for all students to be socialised into a single set of traditions and cultural values, what do they oppose?

The new right have been heavily criticised for their belief that state control is to blame for low educational standards. What do critics argue is the true cause of most educational failure?

How do marxists respond to the new right theory of education?

Additionally, the new right have been criticised for contradicting themselves. How have they arguably done so?

What do marxist believe society and education are based on?

Karl Marx states that capitalism consists of two classes. What are they?

The power inequality between the two classes means that there is a potential for class conflict. However, despite this potential, capitalism is able to continue. Why?

Which sociologist argues that the state consists of two 'apparatuses', both of which serve ruling-class interests?

What are the two apparatuses identified by Althusser?

How does the repressive state apparatus maintain the rule of the bourgeoisie?

How does the ideological state apparatus maintain the rule of the bourgeoisie?

Althusser stated that the education system is an ideological state apparatus because it performs two functions. What are the two functions?

Which American marxists develop Althusser's ideas further?

According to Bowles and Gintis, what kind of workforce does capitalism require?

How does the need for this passive workforce relate to the education system?

As such, what sort of personality traits are rewarded by the education system?

Bowles and Gintis conclude that schooling helps to produce obedient workers and thus does not encourage personal development. Rather, what do Bowles and Gintis believe it does?

Bowles and Gintis argue that there are close parallels between schooling and work in capitalist societies. Give some examples:

Where does schooling take place, according to Bowles and Gintis?

Bowles and Gintis state that these parallels between school and the workplace are examples the 'correspondence principle'. What do they mean by this?

What does this correspondence principle operate through?

Through the hidden curriculum, schooling prepares working-class pupils for their future role as exploited workers, reproducing the workforce capitalism needs and perpetuating class inequality. Which sociologist provides an example of this in the form of youth training schemes?

Because it is based on inequality, capitalism is always at risk of an uprising. The education system helps to prevent this uprising by legitimating class inequality. How do Bowles and Gintis describe the education system?

What is a key myth promoted by the education system?

What do Bowles and Gintis think of the concept of meritocracy?

Evidence shows that the main factor determining whether someone has a high income or not is their family and class background. Why does the myth of meritocracy exist, then?

The education system also arguably justifies poverty. How?

All marxists believe that capitalism can't function without a willing workforce to exploit, and all see education as reproducing and legitimating class inequality. However, while Bowles and Gintis see education as a straightforward process of indoctrination, what does Paul Willis' show?

As a marxist, Willis was interested in the way schooling serves capitalism. However, what approach does he also use in his study?

Using qualitative research methods, Willis studied the anti-school culture of 'the lads'. The 12 boys who participated in his study defied school rules and values as a way of resisting the 'con' of education. What did Willis see a similarity between?

However, the lads' culture of resistance helps to condition them for the very jobs that capitalists want them to perform. How?

Marxist approaches are useful in exposing the 'myth of meritocracy', showing that education is an ideological state apparatus that serves the interests of capitalists. However, postmodernists criticise Bowles and Gintis' correspondence theory. Why?

Marxist theories of education have also faced internal criticism. How?

However, Willis has also faced criticism for his study. Why?

Critical modernists like Raymond Morrow and Carlos Torres criticise marxists for taking a 'class first' approach. What do they mean by this?

Feminists make a similar point. Which feminist points out that females are largely excluded from Willis' study?

However, what has Willis' study stimulated?