This slide will provide an entire overview of structuralism and functionalist perspective and how they both are linked with education

1. STRUCTURALISM AND
FUNCTIONALISM IN EDUCATION

2. • Structuralism is a theory of consciousness that
seeks to analyze the elements of mental
experiences, such as sensations, mental images,
and feelings, and how these elements combine
to form more complex experiences.

3. • Structuralism was founded by
Wilhelm Wundt, who used
controlled methods, such as
introspection, to break down
consciousness to its basic
elements without sacrificing any
of the properties of the whole.
• Structuralism was further
developed by Wundt’s student,
Edward B. Titchener.

4. • Wundt’s theory was developed and promoted
by his one-time student, Edward Titchener
(1898), who described his system as
Structuralism, or the analysis of the basic
elements that constitute the mind.

5. • Introspection: Structuralism’s Main Technique
Wundt’s introspection was not a casual affair, but a highly practiced
form of self-examination. He trained psychology students to make
observations that were biased by personal interpretation or previous
experience and used the results to develop a theory of conscious
thought.

6. • Titchener trained his students to become skilled at trained
introspection, and to report only the sensations as they were
experienced without reliance on “meaning words”, which he called a
stimulus error.
• Using this approach, Titchener’s students reported various visual,
auditory, tactile, etc experiences: In An Outline of Psychology (1899),
he reported over 44,000 elements of sensation, including 32,820
Visual, 11,600 Auditory, and 4 Taste.

7. Titchener’s Structuralism
Elements of the Mind
Titchener (1908) concluded that
three kinds of mental components
could be considered to constitute
conscious experience

8. • Sensations (components of discernments),
• Images (components of thoughts),
• Affections (expressions of warmth which are components of
emotions).

9. • He suggested these components could be dissected into their unique
properties, which he identified as quality, intensity, duration, clearness,
and extensity.
• Quality – “cold” or “red”: distinguishes each element from the others.
• Intensity – how strong, loud, bright etc. the sensation is.
• Duration – course of a sensation over time; how long it lasts.
• Clearness (intensity) – role of attention in consciousness – clearer if
attention is directed toward it.

10. Physical and Mental Relationship
When Titchener distinguished the elements of the mind and the specific interactions
they make with each other, his theory was concerned with figuring out why the
components cooperate in the manner they do.
Specifically, Titchener was keen on the connection between the physical process
and the conscious experience – he wanted to discover specifically what was
responsible for most of the interactions between them.
Titchener accepted that physiological cycles give a nonstop foundation that gives
mental cycles a coherence they in any case would not have. As a result, the sensory
system doesn’t cause any form of conscious experience, yet can be utilized to
clarify a few attributes of mental occasions.

11. Implications
for Teaching
• Emphasis on Structure:
Educators should emphasize the underlying structures and
relationships within the subject matter being taught.
• Active Learning:
Students should be encouraged to actively explore and
analyze these structures, rather than passively receiving
information.
• Developing Cognitive Abilities:
Education should focus on developing students' cognitive
abilities and helping them build mental models of the
world.
In essence, structuralism in education is about helping
students understand the underlying systems and structures
that govern knowledge and learning, rather than just
memorizing facts and figures.

12. Language
and
Linguistics
• Analyzing Language Structures:
Structuralism helps students understand the building
blocks of language, such as phonemes, morphemes,
and syntax.
• Contextual Learning:
It encourages learning through the context of
language, emphasizing the relationships between
different elements within a sentence or text.
• Developing Methodologies:
The structuralist approach to language teaching can
help teachers develop effective methodologies and
apply them to various language learning problems.

13. Mathematics
and Logic
• Breaking down Concepts:
Structuralism can be used to break down
complex mathematical problems into their
fundamental components, allowing students to
understand the underlying logic.
• Identifying Relationships:
It helps students see the relationships between
different mathematical concepts and how they
build upon each other.

14. Social
Sciences
• Understanding Social Structures:
Structuralism can be used to analyze social structures and
systems, helping students understand how societies
function and how individuals are connected within those
systems.
• Historical Analysis:
It can be applied to historical analysis by examining the
underlying structures and relationships that shaped
historical events.
• Cognitive Structures:
Structuralism emphasizes the development of cognitive
structures and how they influence learning. It suggests that
learning involves building mental models and schemas
based on existing knowledge.

15. Constructivism
It aligns with constructivist theories of
learning, which propose that learners
actively construct their own understanding
of the world through experience and
interaction with their environment.

16. Functionalist perspective
• The functionalism perspective is a paradigm influenced by American
sociology from roughly the 1930s to the 1960s, although its origins
lay in the work of the French sociologist Emile Durkheim, writing at
the end of the 19th century.
• Functionalism is a structural theory and posits that the social
institutions and organization of society influence the running of
society and individuals’ behaviors.
• Talcott Parsons expanded upon Durkheim”s idea of the society as a
moral regulator to create a “grand” theory of sociology intended to
explain all of human behavior in relation to institutions.

17. • Functionalism examines how the
social institutions that make up
society, such as the economy,
education, family, religion, and
media, all perform a useful
purpose, and also influence
members of society.

18. The main ideas of the Functionalist perspective are
that:
• There is a social structure that exists independently of individuals.
This social structure consists of norms and values passed on through
institutions that shape the individual.
• Sociologists should study society scientifically in a way that looks for
the general laws explaining human action on a macro level.
• Socialization is important because individuals need to be regulated for
everyone’s benefit. Thus, the integration and regulation of individuals
are good.

19. • Sociologists should analyze society as a system by looking at each social
phenomenon and the contribution it makes to the whole of society. Talcott Parsons
believed that society acts in a similar way to the human body, as social institutions
interact in the same way as human organs. Both are interconnected and
interdependent parts that function for the good of the whole.
• Social institutions usually perform positive functions — such as creating value
consensus, social integration, social regulation, preventing anomie, etc.
Functionalism is a consensus theory that assumes that the institutions of society
are working together to maintain social cohesion and stability.

20. Examples of Functionalism
• The Family
An example of functionalism would be the family.
According to functionalism, the family is a societal structure that provides for the
reproduction and protection of children.
Families serve as a primary agent of socialization, fostering an understanding of expected
behaviors, norms, and values.
By meeting the emotional needs of its members, stable families underpin social order and
economic stability.
Social Problems Mid-twentieth-century sociologists were often concerned with policy and,
correspondingly, social problems (Tumin, 1965).

21. • Crime and Deviance
Crime serves a function in society to reinforce what is acceptable
behavior, as the public nature of the punishments shows people what
will happen for breaking the rules. Very serious crimes can also lead to
society coming together to condemn the perpetrators.
Deviance refers to actions that go against the norms and values of a
society. These may not be against the law but are frowned upon by most
in society.

22. • The Education System
An example of functionalism would be the education system. Durkheim and Parsons
argued that schools are a ‘society in miniature’ that teach universalistic values.
For functionalists, education is central in passing on the mainstream norms and
values that keep society together, through the process of secondary socialization.
This is achieved hidden curriculum and PSHE (Personal, Social, Health, and
Economic education )lessons
The education system also allows young people to
specialize and train for specific jobs based on their abilities. This allows students to
move from the ascribed status and particularistic values of the home to an
achieved status within society.

23. Disengagement Theory
• Functionalism underlines perhaps the oldest theory of aging —
disengagement theory.
• Disengagement theory suggests that withdrawal from society and
social relationships is a natural part of becoming old. The theory,
developed by Elaine Cumming and Warren Earl Henry in their 1961
book, “Growing Old,” has largely been disproven.
• Nonetheless, disengagement theory has several key postulates, each of
which suggests that the process of losing social ties as one ages is
normal and even beneficial to society.

24. • Durkheim and Functionalism
Emile Durkheim is widely considered to be the father of sociology.
Durkheim believed that individuals are inherently selfish and social
structure and social order are important in that they constrain their
selfishness.

25. • The Organic Analogy
Talcott Parsons believed that society acts in a similar
way to the human body, as social institutions interact
in the same way as human organs.
Both are interconnected and interdependent parts that
function for the good of the whole. This is called the
organic analogy.

26. The Body Social Institutions
Each Organ has a unique
function
Institutions have a unique
function
All the bits essentially work
together harmoniously
All institutions work together
harmoniously
Organs are interdependent Institutions are interdependent
The sum is greater than its parts The sum is greater than its parts

27. FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE ON
EDUCATION
https://www.simplypsychology.org/functionalist-perspective-education.
html
Read the slide and extract the functionalist application in education

28. REFRENCES
• https://www.simplypsychology.org/structuralism.html
• https://www.britannica.com/science/structuralism-psychology
• https://www.verywellmind.com/who-founded-structuralism-2795809
• https://thedecisionlab.com/reference-guide/philosophy/functionalism
• https://www.verywellmind.com/structuralism-and-functionalism-2795
248
• https://www.centreofexcellence.com/what-is-functionalism-in-psychol
ogy/