Conflict theory sees education as perpetuating social inequality by providing greater resources to schools in affluent districts, giving those students advantages. It argues that standardized tests exhibit cultural bias and are used to track students into different levels of education and careers. Critics say conflict theory takes too negative a view and does not acknowledge positive aspects of society. Functionalism sees education as socializing students and imparting skills and knowledge to benefit society. It argues education preserves culture but also changes it. Interactional theory focuses on day-to-day interactions in schools and how teacher expectations influence students, rather than larger social forces.

5. Conflict theory sees the
purpose of education as maintaining
social inequality and preserving the
power of those who dominate
society.
Conflict theorists see the
educational system as perpetuating
the status quo by dulling the lower
classes into being obedient
workers.

6. Conflict
theorists point
to several key
factors in
defending their
position.

7. Property taxes fund most schools;
therefore, schools in affluent districts have
more money. They can afford to pay higher
salaries, attract better teachers, and
purchase newer texts and more technology.
Students who attend these schools gain
substantial advantages in getting into the
best colleges and being tracked into
higher‐paying professions. Students in less
affluent neighborhoods that do not enjoy
these advantages are less likely to go to
college and are more likely to be tracked into
vocational or technical training.

8. Another key point for conflict theorists is
school testing—particularly IQ testing, which schools
can use to sort students. They argue that the tests,
which claim to test intelligence, actually test
cultural knowledge and therefore exhibit a cultural
bias.
For example, a question may ask: “Which one of
these items belongs in an orchestra? A. accordion B.
guitar C. violin D. banjo.” This question assumes
considerable cultural knowledge. The question itself
assumes exposure to a particular kind of music
favored by white upper classes.
Testing experts claim they have rid modern
exams of such culturally biased questioning, but
conflict theorists respond that cultural neutrality is
impossible. All tests contain a knowledge base, and
that knowledge base is always culturally sensitive.

9. Conflict theorists see
education not as a social
benefit or opportunity, but as a
powerful means of maintaining
power structures and creating
a docile work force for

10. Critics of the conflict
perspective point to its overly
negative view of society. The theory
ultimately attributes humanitarian
efforts, altruism, democracy, civil
rights, and other positive aspects of
society to capitalistic designs to
control the masses, not to inherent
interests in preserving society and
social order.

12. FUNCTIONALISM focuses
on the ways that universal
education serves the needs of
society.

13. Functionalists first see education in its
manifest role: conveying basic knowledge
and skills to the next generation.
Durkheim, the founder of functionalist
theory, identified the latent role of education
as one of socializing people into society's
mainstream. This “moral education,” as he
called it, helped form a more‐cohesive social
structure by bringing together people from
diverse backgrounds, which echoes the
historical concern of “Americanizing”
immigrants.

14. (Individualism, Self-esteem, Social esteem,
Competition)

15. Functionalists point to the ironic
dual role of education in both
preserving and changing culture.
A final and controversial
function assumed by education in
the latter half of the twentieth
century is replacement of the
family.

16. Functionalists believe that
society is held together
by social consensus.

17. Mechanical solidarity is a form of
social cohesion that arises when people
in a society maintain similar values and
beliefs and engage in similar types of
work.
Organic solidarity is a form of
social cohesion that arises when the
people in a society are interdependent,
but hold to varying values and beliefs
and engage in varying types of work.

18. Functionalism has received
criticism for neglecting the negative
functions of an event such as divorce.
Critics also claim that the perspective
justifies the status quo and complacency
on the part of society's members.
Functionalism does not encourage
people to take an active role in changing
their social environment, even when
such change may benefit them. Instead,
functionalism sees active social change
as undesirable because the various parts
of society will compensate naturally for
any problems that may arise.

24. MARXISM is a
worldview and a
method of societal
analysis that focuses
on class relations
and societal conflict,
that uses
a materialist
interpretation of
historical
development, and
a dialectical view of
social
transformation.

25. MARXIST methodology
uses economic and sociopolitical inquiry and
applies that to the critique and analysis of
the development of capitalism and the role
of class struggle in systemic economic
change.

26. MARXIST analyses and
methodologies have influenced multiple
political ideologies and social
movements. MARXISM encompasses
an economic theory, a sociological
theory, a philosophical method, and
a revolutionary view of social change.

27. Marxism has developed into different
branches and schools of thought. Different
schools place a greater emphasis on certain
aspects of classical Marxism while rejecting
other aspects of Marxism, sometimes
combining Marxist analysis with non-Marxian
concepts.

28. Marxists understanding of history and of
society have been adopted by academics in
the disciplines of archaeology and
anthropology, media studies, political
science, theatre, history, sociology, art
history and art theory, cultural
studies, education, economics, geography,
literary criticism, aesthetics, critical
psychology and philosophy.

31. INTERACTIONAL THEORY directs
sociologists to consider the symbols and
details of everyday life, what these symbols
mean, and how people interact with each
other.
Although this theory traces its origins to
Max Weber's assertion that individuals act
according to their interpretation of the
meaning of their world, the American
philosopher GEORGE H. MEAD (1863–1931)
introduced this perspective to American
sociology in the 1920s.

32. People attach meanings to symbols,
and then they act according to their
subjective interpretation of these
symbols. Verbal conversations, in which
spoken words serve as the predominant
symbols, make this subjective
interpretation especially evident.
Conversation is an interaction of
symbols between individuals who
constantly interpret the world around
them.
Of course, anything can serve as a
symbol as long as it refers to something
beyond itself. Written music serves as an
example.

33. Interactionists give serious
thought to how people act, and
then seek to determine what
meanings individuals assign to
their own actions and symbols,
as well as to those of others.

34. Critics claim that INTERACTIONAL
THEORY neglects the macro level of social
interpretation—the “BIG PICTURE.” In other
words, interactionists may miss the larger
issues of society by focusing too closely on
the “trees” (the size of the diamond in the
wedding ring) rather than the “forest” (the
quality of the marriage).
The perspective also receives criticism
for slighting the influence of social forces and
institutions on individual interactions.

35. INTERACTIONISTS limit their
analysis of education to what they
directly observe happening in the
classroom. They focus on how
teacher expectations influence
student performance, perceptions,
and attitudes.

36. INTERACTIONISTS differ from
Marxists and Functionalists in crucial
ways. They focus in on the day to day
interactions that occur within school.
Whereas, MARXISTS and
FUNCTIONALISTS tend to focus on the
structural sides to society, they examine
the relationships between the education
system and the individual.

37. INTERACTIONISTS place greater
importance upon the interactions between
individuals, seeing other structural
approaches as deterministic, as they see
human behaviour as directed and determined
by forces beyond the control of the individual.
These theories state that individuals will
react in a predictable way.
A + B = C

38. INTERACTIONISTS argue that all
people are individuals, we are different in
shape and size but also in the way that we
think and interpret situations. We all have
different beliefs and experiences, which in
turn affect the meaning that we attach to
external stimuli. Within education one of
the most important sources of external
stimuli is other people. The words and
actions of teachers and other pupils are
continually being interpreted and given
meanings.

40. Theoretical
Perspectives Major assumptions
Functionalism
Social stability is necessary to have a
strong society, and adequate socialization
and social integration are necessary to
achieve social stability. Society’s social
institutions perform important functions to
help ensure social stability. Slow social
change is desirable, but rapid social change
threatens social order.
Conflict theory
Society is characterized by pervasive
inequality based on social class, gender,
and other factors. Far-reaching social
change is needed to reduce or eliminate
social inequality and to create an
egalitarian society.
Interactional
Theory
People construct their roles as they
interact; they do not merely learn the roles
that society has set out for them. As this
interaction occurs, individuals negotiate
their definitions of the situations in which
they find themselves and socially construct
the reality of these situations. In so doing,
they rely heavily on symbols such as words
and gestures to reach a shared
understanding of their interaction.

43. •Jones, S. M., & Dindia, K. (2004)
•Review of Educational Research, 74, 443–471.
•Battey, D., Kafai, Y., Nixon, A. S., & Kao, L. L. (2007).
•Chetty et al., 2011; Schanzenbach, 2006
•Chetty, R., Friedman, J. N., Hilger, N., Saez, E.,
Schanzenbach, D. W., & Yagan, D. (2011).
•Quarterly Journal of Economics, 126, 1593–1660;
Schanzenbach, D. W. (2006).