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FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE ON EDUCATION - Coggle Diagram
FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE ON EDUCATION
[DURKHEIM] SOLITARITY & SKILLS
Identited 2 main functions of education:
SOCIAL SOLIDARITY:
He argues that society needs a sense of solidarity, its members must feel themselves as being part of a single 'body' (community}
without solidarity, social life and cooperation would be impossible because each individual would pursue their own selfish desires
The education system helps create solidarity by transmitting society culture (shared beliefs and values), from one generation to the next
E.G he argues the teaching of a country history instils in children a sense of shared heritage and commitment to a wider social group
School also acts as a 'society in miniature' preparing us for life in wider society
e.g both in school and at work we have to cooperate with non-family or friends- teachers and pupils at school, and colleagues and customers at work
similarly in both school and ar work we interact with others according to a set of impersonal rules that apply to everyone
SPECIALIST SKILLS
Modern industrial companies have a complex division of labour where the production of a single item involves the cooperation of many different specialists
this cooperation promotes solidarity but for it to be successful each person must have the necessary specialist knowledge and skills to perform their role
Education teaches individuals specialist knowledge and skills they need to play heir part in the social division of labour
[PARSONS] MERITOCRACY
Parsons sees schools as the 'focal socialising agency' in modern society acting as a bridge between the family and wider society
this bridge is needed as families and society operate on different principles so children need to learn a new way of living in order to cope in the wider world
Within the family the child is judged by particularistic standards - they only apply to that particular child
similarly in the family the Childs status is fixed from birth
e.g the younger daughter and elder son have different duties to due different age & sex
By contrast schools and wider society judge is by the same universal and impersonal standards
e.g the same laws in society apply to everyone
in schools, each pupil is also judged against the same standards e.g same exams, same pass mark
likewise in both school and wider society a persons status is largely achieved, not ascribed
e.g at work we gain promotions or get fired depending on how good we are at our jobs, while at school we pass or fail through our won individual efforts
Parsons sees school as preparing us to move from the family to wider society because school and society are both based on meritocratic principles
in a meritocracy, everyone is given equal opportunity and individuals achieve rewards through their own effort and ability
[DAVIS & MOORE] ROLE ALLECATION
Functionalists argue that schools also perform the functions of sleeting and allocating pupils to their future work roles
By assessing pupils aptitudes and abilities schools help to match them to the job they are best suited to
DAVIS & MOORE see education as a device for selection and role allecation
they focus on the relationship between education and social inequality
They argue that inequality is necessary to ensure that the most important roles in society are filled bythemost talented people
not everyone is equal talented, so society has to offer higher rewards for these jobs
this will encourage everyone to compete for them and society can select the most talented individuals to fill these positions
Education plays a key part in this process since it acts as a proving ground for ability
education is where individuals can show what they do
it sifts and sorts us according t our ability
the most able gain the highest qualifications, which gives them entry into the most important, highly rewarded positions
HUMAN CAPITAL: BLAU & DUNCAN argue that a model company depends for its prosperity on using 'human capital'- its workers' skills
they argue a meritocratic education system does this best since it enables people to be allocated to the job best suited to their abilities
this will make most effective use of their talents and maximise their productivity
EVALUATION
Education doesnt teach specialised skills adequately as durkheim claims
e.g high quality apprentaships are rare and up to 1/3 of 16-19 year olds are on courses that dont lead to higher education of good jobs
There is ample evidence that equal opportunity in education doesnt exists
e.g class background is a big influence
Functionalists see education as a process that instils the shared norms and values of society but Marxists argue that education om capitalist society only transmits the ideology of the minority- the ruling class
WONG, an interactionlist argues that functionalists have an over-socialised view of peoples as mere puppets of society
functionalists wrongly imply pupils passively accept all they're taught and never reject school values
Neo liberals and new right argue that the state education system fails to prepare young people adequately for work