1. AS Sociology Education- Perspectives 1
PERSPECTIVES ON EDUCATION
FUNCTIONALIST
Emile Durkheim (1961)
Society can only survive if there exists amongst its members
a sufficient degree of homogeneity; education perpetuates
and reinforces this homogeneity by fixing in the child from
the beginning the essential similarities which collective life
demands
 Or to put it another way, the purpose of education is to create solidarity
amongst pupils thus helping to contribute to consensus in society.
 Functionalists feel that society can not exist without norms and values
being shared by everybody. The schools job is to instil these norms and
values; in other words the school is the site of S_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
S_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
How do schools teach norms and values?
Parsons A dominant sociologist in the 60’s added to Durkheims ideas.
 The school acts as a bridge between the family and the rest of society, by
taking over as the focal point of socialisation.
 Parents treat children in terms of their individual needs and expectations
this is known as particularistic standards.
 Wider society treats individuals in terms of everybody’s needs, and
expectations of everybody behaviour; this is know as universalistic
standards.
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2. AS Sociology Education- Perspectives 1
 Schools treat individuals according to universalistic standards, thus
preparing them for life in wider society.
 Within the family status is granted automatically, in schools and wider
society status is achieved through meritocracy. This is the idea that
those who have talent or work hard gain rewards e.g. good grades or
status.
Give examples of how meritocracy is promoted in schools.
 Because of the idea of meritocracy, functionalists see the education
system as essentially fair; those that do not achieve are encouraged to
blame themselves or their lack of effort.
 According to functionalism the education system enables social mobility.
What is social mobility?
How do schools facilitate social mobility?
What are the children in the picture below doing?
What functions does this serve for the individual
and society?
NEW RIGHT
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3. AS Sociology Education- Perspectives 1
 The New Right view the purpose of education as similar to the
functionalists. They to believe that education should socialise pupils into
the norms and values of wider society.
 A meritocratic system is desirable, the system should be open to
competitions in order to serve the needs of society and prepare
individuals for the work place. In what ways is the education system open
to competition?
 Unlike the functionalist writers, the New Right believe that the education
system is not successful at fulfilling its roles. The reason for the systems
failings is that it is run by the state therefore there is little competition,
to this end they believe that private schools would be better.
What would be the pros and cons of a private education system?
Pros Cons
MARXISTS
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4. AS Sociology Education- Perspectives 1
 This theory was proposed by the neo-Marxists Bowles and Gintis as a
backlash to functionalism. This was very influential during the 1970’s
especially in terms of policy.
 According to Bowles and Gintis the most important purpose of the
education system is to create a ‘passive and uncritical yet skilled work
force’.
 Education is as much about the way the school is organised and how we
learn to accept our place in the hierarchy as it is about the work related
skills we learn.
 The informal curriculum i.e. that which is not formerly taught, is a
miniature version of the work place; through this social order is gained
and maintained. Bowles and Gintis call this the hidden curriculum.
Read the statements below; tick the type of education which is being
delivered (formal or informal); give reasons for you choice.
Statement Formal Informal Reason
Wearing school uniform
Doing maths homework.
Calling teachers ‘miss’ or
‘sir’
Staying for school
dinners
Form period/ tutor
group time
Look at this picture. How would Marxists see the daily ritual of ‘pledging’?
FEMINISTS
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5. AS Sociology Education- Perspectives 1
There are different branches of feminism each viewing the role of education
differently. As with Marxism, feminism is a conflict perspective therefore they
can be very critical of the role of education.
 For each of the following fill in the missing words.
Liberal feminism
 In the past education has been about teaching girls to be
housewives and boys that they have power over women.
However, campaigns by liberal feminist have been very
influential in changing ___________ on education.
 During the 1920’s liberal feminist campaigned successfully for the right of
women to be educated at _______ University. The equal opportunities
Act of _____ is another success.
 Liberal feminists believe that changing the legislation on education to a
more fail system will lead to ________ in the rest of society.
Radical feminist
 Spender (1982) the education system today rather than being gender
neutral is gender ______. Education reflects ____ assumptions
about the world for example being objective (impartial) is valued over
being subjective (_________________________).
 The education system sets up teachers as experts, as a consequence of
this girls learn that all great scientists, artists, writers and even
sociologists are ____.
 Lees (1993) suggests that ____________ is reproduced in the
classroom this is shown; firstly in the way that boys dominate the
classroom; secondly by the fact that boys _________ harass girls in
the; thirdly that these things are not challenged by _________.
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6. AS Sociology Education- Perspectives 1
Marxist/ socialist feminist
 Wolpe (1977), Barrett (1980) and Skeggs (1997) all argues that education
reproduces and legitimates ______ and gender inequalities together.
 Education prepares girls for their future of unpaid ________ labour in
the home and secondary work outside the home. Secondary work refers
to lower paid work of lesser importance such as
__________________________________________.
Black feminist
 Schools reproduce the inequalities that exist in wider
society between different genders and _______ groups.
 Paul Connolly (1998) studied how ideas about masculinity and
feminity are constructed by teachers and pupils according to a child’s
_________. The findings showed that teachers saw afro Caribbean
boys as more _________, less academic and more better at sports;
afro Caribbean girls were seen as more passive than the boys but they
were also pushed into physical activities such as sport and dance.
W.I.N.K ~ What I Now Know
Write down at least 5 key things you now know.
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7. AS Sociology Education- Perspectives 1
Perspectives on Education
Across Down
1. The key Marxist thinkers on education 2. Functionalists feel that the school is the
are ... site of secondary....
3. Functionalists believe that agreement 4. A group of feminist who believe that
exists within society thus it is known as a changing the law will create equality are
C... theory! called ...
9. New Right thinkers believe all schools 5. another term for the informal curriculum
should be this... is ...
10. ... standards by which the school treats 6. A group of feminist who believe that
its pupils schools and teachers do nothing to prevent
11. A political view point which agrees with boys sexually harassing the girls are called
functionalism about the purpose of ...
education... 7. This is the idea that those that have
12. Afro-Caribbean girls are pushed talent or work hard gain rewards ...
towards physical activities like this ... 8. Another name for Marxists feminist is ...
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8. AS Sociology Education- Perspectives 1
PRACTICE EXAM QUESTIONS
Name
MTG
% Gained on this piece
Grade gained on this piece
Things you have done well
Targets for next time you
do questions like these.
Reference: http://www.aqa.org.uk
Item A
The education system has two key functions – the reproduction of class inequality
and the legitimating of class inequality. It may do this in various ways. For
example, Stephen Ball argues that in recent years the education systems in many
countries have undergone a process of “marketisation”. In Britain, this has come
about largely as a result of the 1988 Education Reform Act. This Act introduced
policies such as the publication of examination league tables, and funding for
schools based on the number of pupils they could attract. The Act also brought in
what Miriam David describes as “parentocracy”: the idea that parents would be
Able to choose which school their child would attend. In reality, however, not all
parents are equally successful choosers: evidence from both Britain and the USA
shows that middle-class and white parents are more likely to succeed in gaining
places for their children in schools that get better results.
Item B
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9. AS Sociology Education- Perspectives 1
According to functionalists, the education system encourages open competition
while giving everyone an equal chance to succeed. As a result, all pupils can show
what they are capable of achieving and what kind of future work role they are
best suited for. The system is then able to provide each child with an education
appropriate to their talents and to fit each individual with the knowledge, skills
and attitudes they will need in their adult role. Functionalists see this as having
two main advantages. For the individual, it allows social mobility and rewards
people according to their ability, not their social background. For society, it
promotes a successful economy by ensuring each job is filled by someone with
The appropriate talents. This leads to higher living standards for everyone.
(a) Explain briefly what is meant by the “reproduction” of class inequality (Item
A, line 1). (2 marks)
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
(b) Identify one similarity and one difference between the functionalist and New
Right view of education. (4 marks)
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
(c) Suggest three functions that education may perform apart from those
mentioned in Item A. (6 marks)
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
(d) Identify and briefly explain two ways in which the education system
reproduces the patriarchy in wider society. (8 marks)
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Essay Question
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10. AS Sociology Education- Perspectives 1
Use the writing frame to help you respond to the question. The stem sentences
form the start of each paragraph; you should build on this with appropriate
content. Remember you are expected to include:
 Use and explain key concepts.
 Show how arguments relate to each other e.g. X agrees/ disagrees with
Y.
 Be evaluative – What are the strengths and weaknesses of each e.g.
However…
 Proof read- marks can be lost if spelling (especially sociological terms),
grammar and punctuation is poor.
(e) Using information from the items and elsewhere, examine the functionalist
argument that schools serve the interests of both the individual and society
(24 marks)
Functionalist writers such as Durkheim and Parsons believe that the education
system serves a positive function for both society and individuals. Schools are
the site of
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Item B agrees with the functionalist view of education, stating ‘The system is
then able to provide each child with an education appropriate to their talents and
to fit each individual with the knowledge, skills and attitudes they will need in
__________________
their adult role.’ In other words this means that
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
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11. AS Sociology Education- Perspectives 1
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
New Right thinkers agree with functionalist about the role of schools for society
___________________________________
and the individual.
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
On the other hand Item A describes how education serves the needs of society.
This illustrates the view of M_____________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Other conflict theorists such as feminist agree that education reproduces and
excuses inequality. However, there is some disagreement over the nature of this
________________________________________
inequality
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Furthermore there is disagreement between different branches of feminism as
__________________
to the nature and extent of inequality in schools.
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
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12. AS Sociology Education- Perspectives 1
Having looked at in detail how schools meet the needs of the individual and
society, it is clear that there is sometimes a conflict of interests between the
________________________________
individual and society.
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
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