1. WESTERN THEORETICAL
PERSPECTIVE ON EDUCATION
Fatin Munirah Abd Latif
Nurul Jannah Abd Razak
Rabeatuladelah Mohd Ridzuan
Siti Halimatun Saadiah Adnan
2. The Marxist, Neo-Marxist and
Conflict Theorist view of society
The Interactionist and
postmodernist view of society
• Functional and Conflict Theories of
Educational Stratification
3. THE CONFLICT PARADIGM
Focus on the elites
demand
Stress the connection
between schooling and
learning of docility and
compliance
Serving the interest of
elites
4. Conflict Theorist Argument
Group
compete to
control
education
system
Struggle
between
group is
unequal
Employers
are more
concern with
the attitudes
and value of
their future
employees.
5. Marxism
• The core concept of Marxism is materialism
and social class.
• Marxism emphasizes the idea that social life is
based upon "conflicts of interest“
• The basis of this conflict lies in the fact that
although wealth is created by the Proletariat
(the working class), it is taken away privately by the Bourgeoisie - in the form of profits.
6. NEO-MARXIST
Theories of Bowles and Gintis
• Marxist interpretation of schooling in
modern society
• Schools serve the interests of the
capitalist order in modern society
7. • Schools reproduce the values and
personality characteristics necessary in a
capitalist society
– Values and qualities required by :
efficient manual worker vs. executive of a
large corporation
– The social organization of schools reflects
the demands of the particular occupations
8. Schools
Schools and universities
(for low status
occupations)
(for elite positions)
• Minimal choice of tasks
• Teach obedience toward
authority
• To follow instructions
• Encourage independent work
• To make intelligent choices
• To internalize norms rather
than to follow external
behavior
10. Reinforcing Inequality
• Different social classes attend different
neighborhood school
• school serving:
working class students vs. higher-status
students
11. Reinterpreting Educational History
• The direction of educational change is
predominantly shaped by the changing demands
of capitalist elites for new values and skills
• Compulsory schooling was an agency of control
– The spread of factory system created demand for a
loyal, obedient, and docile labor force
– Schools encouraged habits of punctuality, hard work,
and respect for authority
12. Reject Meritocratic Idea
• According to meritocratic idea:
– ability and effort count for more than social status
– schools are efficient ways to select talented
people
• BUT, proposed that:
– Success in later life is strongly related to social
class
13. The Limits of School Reform
• Schools are repressive because it must
serve the interest of corporate capitalism
• A systematic reflections of economic
reality
• The transformation of schooling must
await a transformation in the nature of
work in capitalist society
14. Stratification in Education
Functional theory VS Conflict theory
•Concerning in
technical skills
requirement in
industrial society.
•Education is necessary
for the survival of the
society.
•Interdependent
•Theory derived from
approach of Max Weber,
stating of various
outcomes in the struggles
among status group.
•Power is important to
control over education
( eg; who is smarter can
easily get job)
15. Technical-Function Theory of Education
• The skill requirements of jobs in industrial
society constantly increase because of
technological change.
•The proportion of jobs requiring low skill
decrease and high skill increase.
•Therefore, educational requirements for
employment constantly rise and increasingly
larger proportion of the population are required
to spend longer and longer time in school.
16. Cont.
• This will lead to two major questions :
a) Are better educated employees more
productive ?
-relationship between aggregate levels of
education in a society and its overall economic
productivity.
a) Are vocational skills learned in school or
elsewhere ?
-most skilled manual workers acquire their skills
on the job or casually.
17. Functional and Conflict Perspective
• Functional : - demand for skills of various types, at any given
time, is basic determinant of who will be selected
for the position.
-It is the need of the society that seen as
determining the behavior and the rewards of each
individuals within it.
• Conflict : - individuals want jobs primarily for the reward to
themselves in material goods, power, and prestige
to maintain the position of power between workers
and employers.
-On all levels, wherever informal organization exists,
it appears that standards of reflect the power of the
groups involved.
18. Conflict Theory of Stratification
~Weber (1968)
Status group
Struggle for
advantage
Education as
status culture
19. Status Group
• Share a sense of status equality based on
participation in a common cultures
• Derived from 3 sources:
i. Different lifestyle based on economic situation
ii. Differences in life situation based on power
position
iii. Differences in life situation deriving directlyfrom
cultural conditions or insitutions.
20. Struggle for Advantage
• Continual struggle in society various “goods”wealth, power or prestige.
• Carried out through organizations
Education as Status Culture
• Main activity in school is to teach particular
status culture.
21. Education as Mechanism of
Occupational Placement
a) Schools provide either training for elite
culture or respect for it.
b) Employers use education as a mean of
selection for cultural attributes.
22. Variations in the Linkage between
Education and Occupation
1. The type of education most closely reflects
membership in a particular status group
2. That group controls employment in particular
organizational contexts
23. Historical Change
1. Education , high economic, status position from the
colonial period on through the twentieth century.
2. Political decentralization
3. Technical changes:
a) mass literacy
b) reduction of unskill job
c) skill requirement
~ Education has become a legitimate standard.
