A LEVEL
SOCIOLOGY
A-Level Paper 1: Education with Theory & Methods
Topic:
EDUCATION
Booklet 1:
The Role of the Education System
FUNCTIONALISM The Role of the Education System
Functionalism is based on the view that society is a system of different parts held together by a shared culture or value consensus - an agreement among society's members about what values are important. The education system, along with other institutions like the family & religion, performs particular functions that help to maintain this value consensus.
When studying education therefore, functionalists seek to discover what functions it performs – how does it benefit society?
Functionalists argue there are THREE central roles of functions of the education system:
1) Socialisation
2) Skills
3) Social Selection
1) SOCIALISATION
The first role of the education system according to functionalists is the role of socialisation.
Definition: The term ‘socialisation’ refers to the way the education system is an institution that teaches pupils the norms and values of society. This can be done explicitly, through the formal curriculum or implicitly through the informal or ‘hidden’ curriculum.
A) Durkheim: Social Solidarity
The French sociologist Emile Durkheim (1903), argued that society needs a sense of solidarity, or togetherness. Its individual members must feel themselves to be part of a single 'body' or community. He argues that without social solidarity, social life and cooperation would be impossible because each individual would pursue their own selfish desires, with little regard for wider society.
The education system helps to create social solidarity by socialising students into society's culture – its shared beliefs and values - from one generation to the next. This done in two ways:
· Through the FORMAL CURRICULUM
This refers to the lessons that are explicitly taught. For example, the teaching of a country's history, such as Britain’s role in both the First and Second World Wars, instils in children a sense of a shared heritage and a commitment to the wider social group. Similar claims can be made about RE and English Literature, even sport.
· Through the INFORMAL CURRICULUM
This refers to the lessons we learn through the day-to-day experiences of being at school. For example, the social skills of punctuality, respect for authority, manners, co-operation with others, etc. School therefore acts as a 'society in miniature', preparing us for life in wider society.
B) Parsons: ‘Focal Socialising Agency’
The American functionalist Talcott Parsons (1961) draws on many of Durkheim's ideas. Parsons sees the school as the 'focal socialising agency' in modern society, acting as a bridge between the family and wider society.
Along the bridge children learn the social skills of punctuality and friendship and learn that success in education – and in life – comes from applying one’s talents. Such norms and values are taught through what he calls the ‘hidden curriculum’ (Durkheim calls this the informal curriculum).
Definition: The ‘hidden curriculum’ refers to the norms, values and ideas a student is taught indirectly. For example, students do not take have a timetabled lesson or an exam in punctuality or cooperation, but they are taught these lessons throughout their time in the education system.Activity:
Social Norm/Value / How is this taught through the hidden curriculum?Competition
Co-operation
Punctuality
Sharing
Where as in the family, a person’s status is ascribed, by contrast, in both school and wider society, a person's status is largely achieved. For example, at work we gain promotion or get the sack on the strength of how good we are at our job, while at school we pass or fail through our own individual efforts. It is crucial that members of society are socialised into this idea if society is to function properly.
2. SKILLS
For functionalists, the second function of the education system is to teach the specific skills that are needed for the workplace.
A) Durkheim: Teaching specialist skills
According to Durkheim modern industrial economies have a complex division of labour, where the production of even a single item usually involves the cooperation of many different specialists. This cooperation promotes social solidarity but for it to be successful, each person must have the necessary specialist knowledge and skills to perform their role. Durkheim argues that through the formal curriculum education teaches individuals the specialist knowledge and skills they need to play their part in the social division of labour.
B) Parsons: Academic Skills
For Parsons, as well as the education system teaching social skills, a second crucial function is the teaching of academic skills that allow for the selection and allocation of pupils to their future work roles. By assessing individuals' aptitudes and abilities, through tests, schools help to match them to the job they are best suited to.
3. SOCIAL SELECTION
The third crucial function of the education system according to functionalists is social selection.
Definition: The term ‘social selection’ refers to the way a person is chosen to perform a particular social role or job in society, through their performance in the education system. A person’s capability to perform a particular role is indicated through their qualifications.A) Parsons: The ‘flat bridge’ and Meritocracy
Definition: The term ‘meritocracy’ refers to the idea that success is based on a person’s merit alone, rather than other social factors. Achievement is therefore a result of the individual’s talent, hard work and effort.According to Parsons, the education system is a meritocracy or a ‘flat bridge’, meaning everyone is able to make to crossing from family to wider society, regardless of social class, ethnicity, gender, etc.
As the education system is based on meritocratic principles, it means those that possess the most talent, or put in the most amount of effort and hard work, will be rewarded with the best and highest qualifications. They are then selected by universities or employers to perform a particular job in society. It is important to recognize that not all students will succeed; however they all have the opportunity to do so.
Crucially, the meritocratic values demonstrated by the education system are accepted as fair by most people in society. Those that are successful are seen as deserving, and those who aren’t are themselves to blame for not trying hard enough.
Something to ponder – all British children are entitled to a free state education. All sit the same exams at the end of Year 11. The system must surely be fair. Correct?B) Davis & Moore: Role Allocation and The ‘Neutral Filter’ (Sifts, Sorts and Selects)
Like Parsons, Davis and Moore (1945) also see education as a device for social selection and role allocation.
Through tests and qualifications, individuals are able to demonstrate what they can and cannot do. The education system acts as a ‘giant filter’ which ‘sifts, sorts, then selects' pupils according to their ability. The most able gain the highest qualifications, which then gives them entry to the most important and highly rewarded positions in society. Conversely, those that gain low or no qualifications have demonstrated that they do not have the necessary skills for higher status occupations and consequently are only able to enter less important and unrewarded positions. For Davis and Moore, this is an important function of the education system, as it ensures all the jobs are filled with the most appropriate people.
Inevitably, this process leads to social inequality, with the most qualified having more money & status than the least qualified. For Davis & Moore this inequality is necessary as by offering higher rewards the more talented a person is, or the more effort they put in, leads to competition for those jobs and results in the best people being selected for them. Think of it as ‘survival of the fittest’!
Crucially, the ‘filter’ is neutral, meaning that social selection is solely dependent on talent and hard work, rather than any other social factors. Davis and Moore’s argument therefore is that social selection is meritocratic.
After all, everyone in Britain has access to a free education, from the same age, is the law to attend and are taught the same curriculum. Therefore, there is no other reason why some should achieve higher qualifications than others.
Is there? What factors other than talent and hard work might impact the job a person is able to get?EVALUATION OF THE FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE:
· Marxists are very critical on the functionalist view of the education system:
i) Firstly, there is evidence that equal opportunity in education does not exist. For example, achievement is greatly influenced by characteristics such as class background and wealth.ii) Secondly, Functionalists see education as a process that instils the shared values of society as a whole, but Marxists argue that education in capitalist society only transmits the ideology of a minority - the ruling class.
iii) Thirdly, Melvin Tumin (1953) criticises Davis and Moore for justifying inequality as being deserved. The status of nurses provides a great example that may be seen to disprove the theory of Davis and Moore’s ‘role allocation’. Most people would agree that nursing is one of the most important professions in our society, however this is not reflected in their salary.
· Interactionists criticise functionalists for having an 'over-socialised view' of people as mere puppets of the education system and wrongly imply that pupils passively accept all they are taught and never reject the school's values.
· The New Right also criticise the functionalist view for being outdated, and argue that in today’s society, the state education system fails to prepare young people with the skills necessary for the workplace. This is because state control of education discourages efficiency, competition and choice.
Quick recap:
Role / Relevant authors and their argumentsS
S
S
THE NEW RIGHT & the Role of the Education System
The New Right is a conservative political view, closely associated with the functionalist perspective. Since the 1980s, supporters of the New Right have been influential in the way the education system is run in British society, when Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister (1979-1990).
The New Right are similar in many ways to functionalists:
A) SocialisationThey believe that education should socialise pupils into shared values, such as competition and cooperation, and instil a sense of national identity, ideas outlined by Durkheim over a century earlier. By imposing a single National Curriculum, it seeks to guarantee that schools socialise pupils into a single cultural heritage.
B) Skills
They agree that the education system should serve the needs of the economy by preparing young people for their future, appropriate work roles.
C) Social Selection
Like functionalists, the New Right believe that some people are naturally more talented than others, hence the differences in grades within every school. They agree that the education system is run on meritocratic principles of open completion and the brightest and most able should be selected for the most appropriate job.
However, a key difference with functionalism is that the New Right do not believe schools in today’s society are achieving these goals.
One obvious reason for this is that Parsons was writing in the 1960s, Davis & Moore in the 1940s and Durkheim over a hundred years ago! Are their views outdated? “Yes” says the New Right. The main reason they differ however is that they argue the education system should not be run by the state.
MARKETISATION OF EDUCATION
The New Right argue the state education systems take a one size fits all approach, imposing uniformity and disregarding local needs. The local consumers who use the schools – pupils, parents and employers – have no say. Schools that waste money or get poor results are not answerable to their consumers. This means lower standards of achievement for pupils, a less qualified workforce and a less prosperous economy.
The New Right’s solution to these problems is the marketisation of education – creating an education market, where parents can ‘shop around’ for the best school.
Definition: The term ‘marketisation of education’ refers to the process of introducing market forces of consumer choice and competition between suppliers into areas run by the state, such as education.Chub & Moe: Consumer Choice in America
A good example of the New Right perspective on education comes from the work of Chubb & Moe (1990). They argue that the state-run education in the United States has failed because:
· It has not created equal opportunity and has failed the needs of disadvantaged groups.
· It is inefficient because it fails to produce pupils with the skills needed by the economy.
· Private schools deliver higher quality education because, unlike state schools, they are answerable to paying consumers – the parents.
Chubb & Moe base their arguments on a comparison of the achievements of 60,000 pupils from low-income families in 1,015 state and private schools, together with the findings of parent survey and case studies of ‘failing’ schools apparently being ‘turned around’. Their evidence shows that pupils from low-income families consistently do about 5% better in private than in state schools.
Based on these findings, Chubb and Moe call for the introduction of a market system. A state education that would put control in the hands of the consumers (parents and local communities). They argue that this would allow consumers to shape schools to meet their own needs and would raise standards.