What do functionalists believe about the role of education
They believe that the institutions work together to create a functional society (organic analogy). They see the family as performing the very important role of primary socialisation and schools as a crucial part of secondary socialisation. Whilst at school children are prepared for the world of work so they can contribute to society when they are adults.
What does Durkheim argue about the role of education and what theory does he support
He supports functionalism
Moral education - Argue that all societies needed to create a sense of social solidarity. A feeling of unity and belonging based on shared beliefs and values
Division of labour - Not only about instilling shared values but also about preparing young people for the world of work in industrial societies.
-Individuals can choose from a wide range of specialised jobs and will not necessarily follow in their parents, school therefore provides the knowledge some parents may not have in industrial workforce.
What does Parsons argue about education and what theory does he support
He supports functionalism
Bridge - Education has taken over the responsibility for secondary socialisation and acts as a bridge between family and the world of work
Individual achievement - Competing with others and rewarded with praise from teachers. This prepares young people for the world of work where they will have to compete to achieve.
Equality of opportunity - Schools reflect the equal opportunities and chance of success by encouraging them to succeed. This is reflected by the equal opportunities policy, emphasising that all children should be treated equally.
Role allocation - Important function of education is selecting and grading pupils for their future roles within society. Rewarding the most talented and hard-working so employers can identify the most able
What are some of the AO3 points against functionalism
- Values based on religious ideas, education has moved on from preaching christianity
- Fails to acknowledge that education is benefitting students in terms of a career/job
- Ignores the fact that women are at even more disadvantage
- Fails to acknowledge that students can still do well even if they do come from a disadvantaged social background
+Helps explain importance of education
+Identifies the importance of equal opportunities within education
What do marxists argue about education
Marxists believe that the education system is a means for transmitting capitalist ideology to the future workforce.
What does Althusser believe about education and what theory do they support
He supports marxism -He believed that education socialises working class children into accepting their subordinate status to the middle class. Education conveys the ideology of the ruling class. Education prepares individuals for the world of work, in order to accept their position in a capitalist society.
- Education is a central institution which forms part of the ideological state apparatus. Education transmits capitalist ideology is 2 ways:
- It teaches young people that capitalism is normal and fair, despite its inherent inequalities and injustices. Schools do little to encourage young people to question or criticise the existing society
- By selecting and grading pupils for unequal positions in society, schools makes inequality appear natural and legitimate. Pupils who fail or leave with few qualifications are seen as doing so due to their own lack of ability or motivation rather than the fault of a society where some pupils have much better educational opportunities.
What do Bowles and Gintis argue about education and what theory do they support
Bowles and Gintis support marxism
Hidden curriculum = They talk about the hidden curriculum and argue that the curriculum benefit some students and disadvantage others
Correspondence Principle = Education corresponds with work, education is modelled to prepare you for the workplace and rules within that, this can be seen in schools by:
- Discipline = Schools encourage punctuality, hard-work and obedience and discourage creativity, independent thinking and critical awareness
- Motivation by external rewards = Many workers are not motivated by the job itself but stuff like pay - the same way education rewards with qualifications not satisfaction from learning
- Hierarchy = Preparing pupils where they have to accept authority above them
What does Illich argue about education and what theory does he support
Illich is not a marxist but supoprts marxist views
- Illich believes that schools kill creativity, insist on conformity into a capitalist society
- Children learn to accept authority in an unthinking fashion and this leads to them accepting government ideas in the same way
What does Willis believe about education and what theory does he support
Willis supports neo-marxsim -Willis claims that working class children choose to fail in school as a rejection of capitalism
- Counter-school culture = Oppose the values of the school and their teachers e.g. The ‘lads’ attached no value to academic success or qualifications and looked down on the other boys that wanted to be successful
- resistance and social reproduction = If marxists believe that education is brainwashing pupils, they are unsuccessful because ‘the lads’ are in the process of resistance on not just education but capitalism
What do the social democratic believe about education
Social democratic theories have heavily influenced government educational policy between 1944 and 1979. There are some similarities between functionalism and social democratic approaches but they are more focused on shaping educational policies rather than explaining the role of education in society. Their main aim is for everyone to have an equal chance to succeed in education.
What did A.H.Halsey say about education and what theory does he support
- Supports the Social Democratic theory
- Halsey was one of the leading social democratic thinkers who fought for equality of opportunity in education. The 1944 Education Act was meant to provide equal opportunity for all yet education inequality persisted, with the middle-class children achieving better qualifications and being more likely to go to university than working-class children. He argues that there is a massive wastage of ability because many working-class children ‘s talents are not recognized or harnessed by the education system
What do the New Right argue about education
The New Right argued that the nanny state was controlling peoples lives too much and called for individuals to use their own initiative and enterprise
- The New Right also argued that a lot of government expenditure was wasteful and called for a reduction in spending and taxation
- Believe that goods and services are best delivered through a competitive market
- Argue that there is too much emphasis on academic education some of which has little relevance to the world of work so introduced vocational education
What do feminists believe about education
Feminists have campaigned for gender equality in education for 200 years. Even in 1970 men were twice as likely as women to gain university place. The education of girls and boys still varies in terms of subjects
What did Dale Spender argue and what theory did he support
- Supported feminism
- Described women as invisible in education, arguing that the curriculum was male biased with limited attention being paid to the role of women in history, sciences or the arts and also found that boys received more encouragement from teachers
What is the Liberal approach
They see education as simply fulfilling the role of educating children into becoming well-rounded individuals who have a wide knowledge of various disciplines
What do Smith and Noble argue
(material factors) Smith and Noble mention the barriers to learning suggesting that:
- Low income = insufficient funds to pay for resources like uniform, books, school trips and transport
- Children from low income are more likely to suffer from ill health and therefore have low attendance
- Low income = no private tuition or tutoring
- Low income = less technology and resources to do homework
- Class divide in the basis of how established the school is
What do Reay et al argue
(material factors)
- Most of the students who attend the two fee paying private schools in the study came from upper classes
- Private education coverted economic capital into cultural capital
- Working class students worked longer hours to gain money and therefore were gaining lower grades
- Private schools = professional/ higher classes
What do Callendar and Jackson argue
(material factors)
Callendar and Jackson mention Debt Aversion:
-Students who were afraid of debt were 4x less likely to go on to higher education than those with a ‘more relaxed attitude’
-The fear of debt was greatest among those of poor backgrounds
-debt prevented some students from participating in higher education (low income)
What does Sugarman argue
(cultural factors) Sugarman argued that the working class formed a different subculture and were characterized by certain characteristics: Fatalism = An acceptance of the situation rather than improving it. It will not encourage high achievement in class
Immediate Gratifications = Tend to encourage early school leavers for the more immediate rewards of a wage packet, adult status and freedom from school
Present-time Orientation = May further reduce the motivation for academic achievement and more emphasis on long term goals and future planning to encourage long term education
Collectivism = Loyalty to the group, rather than individual achievement that the school system demands
What does Douglas argue
(cultural factors) Douglas carried out a survey and found that a variety of factors affected attainment such as the students health, size of family, the school etc. He argued that the most significant factor was the degree of parents interest in their education. Middle class people were more likely to encourage attainment and progression, this they believed was indicated by more frequent visits to the school to discuss their children's progress
What does Feinstein argue
(cultural factors) Argued that parental interest was a significant factor in educational attainment and that class differences existed in terms of support. He measured parents interest by asking for teachers assessment of how much interest they showed in their children's education
What does Bernstein argue
(cultural factors) Argued that the middle class are able to use both codes but the working class only have access to the restricted code: Restricted code = Limited vocabulary, incomplete and disjointed sentence structure and lack of explanation. It relies on the listener already knowing what is being spoken about
Elaborate code = Varied vocabulary and grammatically structured. Sufficient details and explanations are given for anyone listening to understand
What does Gillborn argue
(ethnic inequality)
- Argues that selective pupil grouping does not bring about improvement in overall achievement
- Black pupils were underrepresented in higher tier and over represented in foundation tier
- Black boys are less likely to be high achievers and more likely to be troublemakers
- Black boys are capped in education
What does Jasper argue
(ethnic inequality)
- 80% of Afro-Caribbean boys will leave school with grades lower than C grades
- Self fulfilling prophecy of stereotypes at school
- Black children should have a curriculum to meet their needs
