Perspectives on Education Sociology Notes PDF

PERSPECTIVES ON EDUCATION: 14/10/24 FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE = The functionalist perspective is concerned with the links between education and other social institutions, such as the family and workplace. They see...

PERSPECTIVES ON EDUCATION: 14/10/24 FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE = The functionalist perspective is concerned with the links between education and other social institutions, such as the family and workplace. They see the education system as an important agency of socialisation which helps to maintain social stability through: - Value consensus - Social harmony - Social cohesion They think education is key to preparing young people for adulthood. DURKHEIM AND PARSONS = identified 4 main functions of the family 1. Passing on culture and social solidarity: education meets a key functional prerequisite by passing on central core values and culture to new generations. This is achieved through the hidden curriculum (Assemblies etc.) and the overt curriculum (subjects like PSHE) which helps build social solidarity by giving people shared values and shared culture. 2. Bridging particularistic and universalistic values / ascribed and achieved status: Durkheim argued that schools are small-scale versions of society. Parsons sees school as an important place of secondary socialisation (helps bridge particularistic values and ascribed status of the family with the universalistic values and achieved status ofr society. 3. Developing human capital: Schultz originally developed the theory of ‘human capital’ which suggests that high levels of spending on education and training are justified as these develop people’s knowledge and skills, so this is an important investment. For example, the expansion of schooling and higher education as necessary to provide a trained, qualified and flexible labour force. They argue through the division of labour, this system makes sure that the best and most qualified people end up in the jobs requiring the greatest skill and responsibility. 4. Role allocation: Davis and Moore believe the education system is a means of ensuring that the more talented and qualified individuals perform the most  important jobs in society. The education system is a method of role allocation by grading people through streaming and setting. Davis and Moore argue that there is equality of educational opportunity in school. CRITICISMS OF THE FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE ON EDUCATION = Marxists = would argue that the functionalist view ignores the inequalities of power in society – the values and culture passed on by school are those of the ruling class. Feminists = argue that the school passes on patriarchal values and disadvantages women. Bowles and Gintis (Marxists) = argue that the education system simply disguises the fact that there is no equality of opportunity in education and that it is social class particularly (but also ethnicity and gender) that are the main influences on educational success. NEW RIGHT PERSPECTIVE OF EDUCATION = The New Right perspective of education reflects many ideas of the functionalist perspective. They argue that education should be concerned not with equality of opportunity, but in training the workforce. They should be making sure the most talented students are recruited into the most important jobs while others are prepared for lower-level development. They also think that education should socialize young people into collective values and responsible citizenship to build social cohesion and social solidarity, ensuring a stable and united society. CHUBB AND MOE (1990,1992) think that there should be a free market in education with a range of different types of independently managed schools which are run like private businesses, tailored to and shaped by the wishes and needs of local communities. - The new right believes that competition between schools for students and funding, combined with a free choice of school for parents/students will lead to a more efficient education system. Marketization of education will provide benefits for society as schools will focus on a higher quality of education and a more skilled and qualified workplace. MARXIST PERSPECTIVES ON EDUCATION = 14/10/24 Marxists view education primarily as a means of social control, encouraging young people to accept their social position so as not to disrupt the current patterns of inequality in power, wealth and income. They argue that the education system teaches people that society is meritocratic – so if they fail it would be due to their own lack of ability and effort. This means that individuals accept the positions they find themselves in after school, even though Marxists argue, it is really inequalities in social class background that affect success through school. Althusser (1971): reproduction of an efficient and obedient labour force Althusser argues that the education system does this in 2 main ways: 1. Reproduction of necessary technical skills 2. Reproduction of ruling class ideology (and the socialization of workers into accepting this ideology – false class consciousness) He says that to prevent the working class from rebelling against their exploitation, the ruling class must persuade them to accept the dominant ideology. This process of persuasion is carried out through ideological state apparatuses e.g. the family, media, law, religion, education. Althusser argues that in western society the main ideological state apparatus is the education system which performs 2 main functions: - Passes on ruling class ideology, justifying the capitalist system - Selects people for different social classes as adults through attitudes and behaviour (e.g. workers are persuaded to submit, managers/administrators rule) Bourdieu (1977): reproduction of class inequalities Bourdieu believes that a key role of the education system in capitalist societies is legitimizing (justifying) class inequalities and reproducing the class structure. He argues that each social class possess its own ‘cultural framework’ (set of ideas) which he calls a “habitus”. A habitus contains ideas about what is good/bad taste, good books, newspapers and tv shows etc. and is passed down through socialization in the family. - Bourdieu argues that what counts as ‘educational knowledge’ is really just the culture of the dominant class which gives an advantage to those who come from middle and upper-class backgrounds (cultural capital) - Since pupils from lower-class backgrounds don’t typically possess cultural capital, their educational failure is inevitable.  Functionalists, however, argue that success and failure is really based on effort and work since society is meritocratic. ILLICH’S WORK: (1995) The idea of the education system reproducing inequality and a conformist, submissive and obedient working class is shown in Illich’s work. He argues that schools are repressive institutions which promote conformity and encourage students into passive acceptance of existing inequalities, instead of encouraging them to be critical and think for themselves. According to Illich, schools do this by rewarding those who accept the school regime with qualifications and access to higher levels of the education system and better jobs. And those who don’t conform and question the authority of teachers are excluded from further progress in education and will end up in lower-level jobs. Illich suggests that we should abolish schooling altogether – what he calls deschooling. FREIRE (1996) sees schools as repressive institutions where learners are conditioned to accept subordination and listen to authority. The work of ALTHUSSER, ILLICH, and FREIRE all suggest that the education system plays an important role in producing the hegemony and hegemonic control of the ruling class – convincing the rest of society to accept the truth and superiority of the ruling class’s set of ideas. BOWLES AND GINTIS: Bowles and Gintis (2011, 1976) argue, like Althusser, that the main role of education in capitalist societies is the reproduction of a hard-working, submissive and disciplined workforce. This is done in TWO WAYS: 1. Hidden curriculum of schooling (‘long shadow of work’) 2. Through legitimizing/justifying inequality and the class structure. B&G argue that work influences the education system and that this is like work casting a long shadow over education e.g. hidden curriculum reflects many values of the workplace. How does education legitimize inequality? 14/10/24  1. Helps to maintain the system of social inequality and the class structure in capitalist society 2. Helps people to come to term with their own position in it 3. Therefore helps to reduce discontent and opposition to inequality They argue that social class, ethnicity and gender are the main factors relating to success or failure in school and the job market. They see both equality of opportunity and meritocracy as myths and believe that in most cases, the education system confirms individuals’ class of origin as their class of destination. (the class they were born into stays the class that they end up in as adults) HIDDEN CURRICULUM FEATURES: Features: What this teaches us: School rules, detentions, exclusions and Conformity to society’s rules and laws Rewards e.g. merits Punctuality to lessons Time- managing at work and being punctual Privileges given to sixth-formers Respect for elders and superiors (e.g. Managers) CRITICISMS OF ALTHUSSER, BOURDIEU, FRIERE AND BOWLES & GINTIS = There is a lack of detailed research into schools (which Althusser and Bowles & Gintis both base their theories on) and most students have little regard for teacher’s authority in real life (not passive) e.g. Willis’ study Ignoring some influences of the formal curriculum: it is not always designed to promote the passive, conformist employee for capitalism e.g. subjects like sociology produce critical thinkers Deterministic as they seem to believe that people don’t have control over their choices, and they don’t explain why some working-class children are successful in education. WILLIS’ LADS STUDY (1977) = Willis adopts a marxist approach but also draws on the interactionist perspective. He recognised that schools do not produce a willing and obedient workforce but still agreed that working-class students were still more likely to go into “dead-end, low-paid" jobs. He studied 12 working class boys who were students in Wolverhampton. He noticed that they had developed an ‘anti-school subculture’ which: - Opposed the main values of the school - Disliked ‘ear ‘oles’ (conformist pupils at the school) - Aimed to leave school and enter the working world as soon as possible They saw school as a waste of time that got in their way of working and earning money. Willis found a similarity between the anti-school subculture and the workplace culture of male lower working-class jobs, such as sexism, lack of respect for authority and an effort to escape the boring/oppressive nature of work/school. Comparing Marxist and Functionalist perspectives on education: SIMILARITIES = - Both are macro studies - Both see schools as legitimizing social inequality - Both see education as serving the needs of industrial/capitalist society CRITICISMS OF MARXIST & FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVES: 1. They both place too much emphasis on the role of education in forming student’s identity (not considering other factors e.g. media) 2. They don’t fully consider the way students react negatively to school (not passively) 3. They both exaggerate the link between education and economy. Vocational education = Vocational education is the emphasis of developing human capital by preparing young people for work. (would usually do instead of college/ a levels) Functionalists and New Right – see vocational education as a beneficial thing that boosts the economy. Marxists – see vocational education as a form of education mostly for working-class pupils and that vocational workers support a profit-making capitalist society whilst middle-class pupils go down a more academic path and gain well-paid and influential positions. MAIN FOCUS OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION: 14/10/24 1. Improving the quality of basic skills for the workforce – especially in young people as in 2014, 16% 16-24yr olds were unemployed.  2. Ending the status division between academic and vocational qualifications (so they have more value in the labour market) Measures taken to try to give young people more skills to open more job opportunities = - Work experience programmes for schools and colleges : smooth transition between school and work, help encourage people to get jobs & create a better understanding - An expansion of post-16 education and training : e.g. GCSE’s and A levels made harder to increase qualifications. - Stronger emphasis on key skills (e.g. literacy, numeracy etc.) All these changes were designed to produce a more flexible and qualified labour force which could easily adapt to globalization and fit the needs of an employer. CRITICISMS OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION = - Work experience and post-school training schemes criticised for little development skills, exploiting people as cheap labour and not leading to jobs at the end of training. - Vocational education and qualifications often seen as inferior to academic courses/subjects and are more likely to lead to low-paid jobs. Also working-class students more likely to follow this path, continuing divisions between social classes. - Birdwell et al (2011) argued that secondary schools in England and Wales routinely neglect pupils with vocational aspirations, focusing on students following a more academic path – this leads to poor vocational careers/training as not received the proper support.