2675983
Description
Mind Map by Phoebe Fletcher, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by Phoebe Fletcher
over 9 years ago
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The Functionalist
perspective on
education
- The functionalist see education
as a important agency of
socialisation
- Helping to maintain
social stability, through
the development of social
harmony, consensus, and
social cohension
- Plays a key role in preparing
young people for adulthood,
citizenship, and working life
- Education meets the key
prerequisite of passing on
to new generations, the
central or core values and
culture of society.
- Key prerequisite - the basic needs that
must be meet if society is to survive
- This is achieved through the hidden
curriculum, and the actual subjects
learnt
- Key prerequisite - the basic needs that
must be meet if society is to survive
- Helping to maintain
social stability, through
the development of social
harmony, consensus, and
social cohension
- Durkheim (1903)
- Identified two main functions of education
- Creating
social
solidarity
- Teaching
specialist
skills
- Creating
social
solidarity
- Social solidarity
- Individual members,
must feel themselves to
be apart of a single
'body' or community
- He argues that without
solidarity, social life and
cooperation would be
impossible as each
individual would persue
their own desires
- He argues that without
solidarity, social life and
cooperation would be
impossible as each
individual would persue
their own desires
- The education system, helps
create social solidarity, by
transmitting societies culture
from one generation to the next
- School acts as a 'society in
miniature' preparing us for adult
life.
- Individual members,
must feel themselves to
be apart of a single
'body' or community
- Specialist skills
- Modern industries have
complex divisions of labour,
where the production of
one product involves many
specialists
- This cooperation promotes
social solidarity. But for it to
work, each person must have
the knowledge and skills
needed to perform their role
- This cooperation promotes
social solidarity. But for it to
work, each person must have
the knowledge and skills
needed to perform their role
- Durkhiem argues that
education teaches individuals,
the skills needed to play their
part in industry
- Modern industries have
complex divisions of labour,
where the production of
one product involves many
specialists
- Identified two main functions of education
- Parsons (1961)
- Draws on many of
Durkheim's ideas
- Sees schools as a place of
secondary socialisation.
Increasingly taking over, as the
child grows
- Parsons argues that within the family children are
judged on particularistic standards, where the rules
only apply to that child. Whereas at school, and the
wider society, we are judged by the same
universalistic and impersonal standards.
- In the family a role is ascribed from birth
(the eldest son and youngest daughter are
given different 'rights' due to gender and age)
whereas at school and in the wider society
personal status is achieved not ascribed
- Parsons sees the school as a
way to prepare people to move
from the family into the wider
society, as both school and
society re based on
meritocratic principles, where
everyone is given equal
oppertunity
- Draws on many of
Durkheim's ideas
- Davis and Moore
(1967 [1945])
- Argue that the education system is a
means of selecting people for different
levels of jobs (role allocation), ensuring
that the most talented and qualified
individuals are allocated the most
important jobs
- By grading people
through streaming,
testing and examinations,
the education system role
allocates people
- Education plays the part of
providing ground for ability
to grow, creating
competition
- Moore suggests that in the educational race,
there is a equality of educational
opportunity,, and everyone who has the
ability and talent as well as putting in
enough effort, has an equal chance of
coming ahead
- Argue that the education system is a
means of selecting people for different
levels of jobs (role allocation), ensuring
that the most talented and qualified
individuals are allocated the most
important jobs
- Schultz (1971)
- Originally
developed the idea
of human capital
- suggests that high levels of
spending on education and training
are justified as these develops
peoples knowledge and skills
- suggests that investment is an important
factor in a successful economy
- suggests that high levels of
spending on education and training
are justified as these develops
peoples knowledge and skills
- Functionalsits see this development of
human capital through the expansion
of schooling.
- Originally
developed the idea
of human capital
- Criticisms
- Hargreaves agreed with Durkiem, that social
cohesion was a desirable aim, but felt that it was
neglected as schools encouraged individualism
and competition for qualifications, and left little
time for cooperative activities
- UK governments echoed Durkhiem,
introducing the Citizenship to
encourage values of responsibility and
cooperation, and by inspecting schools
for 'community cohesion'
- Left-wingers reject the functionalist view that some
students must expect to be academically unsuccessful,
they believe that this view relates more to social class
origin than to ability and effort
- The link between
educational qualifications
and job status is weak,
most employers have to
train people once hired
- Bowles and Gintis argue
that the education
sustem simply disguises
the fact that there is no
inequality of opportunity
in education, and that
social class along with
ethnicity and gender are
the main influences
- The education system does not act as a
neutral sieve, simply grading and selecting
according to ability. But Social class in
particular, as well as ethnicity and gender
seem to be the major factors effect success
and failure
- Hargreaves agreed with Durkiem, that social
cohesion was a desirable aim, but felt that it was
neglected as schools encouraged individualism
and competition for qualifications, and left little
time for cooperative activities
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