The Role of Education

Summary

Functionalists value education in the respect it provides necessary functions for society. The new right determine order to fulfill functions. Marxists criticize both of these arguing the education system merely serves the needs of capitalism. Feminists reject the education system for producing gender inequalities

Evaluation of the hidden curriculum

Good-

• Social integration

• Workplace readiness

• Institutional navigation (advocate for themselves)

• Civic responsibilities (duties to learn for yourself and others)

Bad-

• Inequakity

• Reinforcement or stereotypes

• Uncritical obedience

Functionalism

• Durkheim → two main functions of education: Social Solidarity (transmitting society’s culture from one generation to the next) Specialist Skills (“society in miniature”)

• Parsons → schools are meritocratic, that all pupils have the equal chance to succeed through talent and abilities, school is an agent of socialization

• Davis and Moore → schools perform the function of selecting and allocating pupils to their future work roles by assessing individuals and abilities, schools help to match them to the job they are best suited to

Marxism

• Althusser → 2 main functions for the ideological state apparatus: Reproduction: of class inequality by failing working class pupils. Legitimation: the education system tries to teach failure is inevitable

• Bowles and Gintis → schools make the new generation of workers for the capitalist system, hidden curriculum (learned not taught), myth of meritocracy (success is based on class background)

• Wills (neo-Marxism) → pupils can see through the ruling class ideology and resit attempts to indoctrinate it in school

Feminism

Liberal → steady improvement in girls experience in schools

Radical → primary role of education is to maintain gender inequality, gendered language, gendered roles i.e women as housewives in textbooks, gendered stereotypes i.e girls as caring in textbooks

The New Right

Schools schools be cent r around competition and choice, through marketization

• Chubb and Moore → state education has failed to create equal opportunity Becwuse it does not have to respond to pupils needs, parents can’t do anything as schools are controlled by the state