Functionalist Approach

Functionalism was the first sociological perspective to be developed, starting in the 19th century. The initial work of French sociologists such as August Comte (1798-1857) and Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) was then developed in the 20th century in the USA by Talcott Parsons (1902-79) and others. Using different approaches, they examined:

◦            how societies managed to stick together and work successfully without falling apart

◦            how shared values and beliefs (for example, about right and wrong) helped members of society to work together

◦            how institutions such as the family and the education system worked to create predictable and orderly societies.

Some functionalists, such as Durkheim, recognised that things could go wrong with social order, but they stressed that institutions were generally positive and usually 'functioned' to meet the 'needs' of society. They paid less attention to inequality, conflict and social divisions than most other sociologists.

Functionalists argue that education has three broad functions:

1.        Socialisation - Education helps to maintain society by socialising young people into key cultural values such as achievement, competition, equality of opportunity, social solidarity, democracy, religion and morality. Writing in the late 19th and early 20th century in France, Durkheim was particularly concerned that education should emphasise the moral responsibilities that members of society have towards each other and the wider society. For example, he believed that the teaching of history is crucial in developing a sense of loyalty to your own society. It encourages pride in the achievements of your nation and a sense of shared identity with those who are citizens of the same nation-state. In Durkheim's view, the increasing tendency towards individualism in modern society could lead to too little social solidarity and possibly anomie (a state of normlessness or lack of shared norms). This emphasis can be seen today through the introduction of Citizenship and the maintenance of Religious Education as compulsory subjects.

Socialisation is the process through which individuals learn the norms, values and culture of their society; that is, they learn how to behave to fit in with their society. Primary socialisation - the earliest stage - usually takes place in families. Education is one of the most important agencies of secondary socialisation.

Parsons, discussing the US education system in the mid-20th century, also recognised the social significance of education. He suggested that it forms a bridge between the family and the wider society by socialising children to adapt to a meritocratic view of achievement. In the family, particularistic standards apply - a child's social status is accorded by its parents and other family members. However, in wider society, universalistic standards apply - the individual is judged by criteria that apply to all of society's members. Education helps ease this transition and instil the major value of achievement through merit. According to Parsons, education therefore helps to produce a value consensus - a general agreement about basic values in society. The value consensus helps to produce order and predictability in social life, ensuring that members of society share the same basic goals.

A meritocracy is a society or system in which success or failure is based on merit. Merit is seen as resulting from a combination of ability and effort or hard work. In principle, this could be seen as a fair system but it is difficult to define and measure merit, and the prior existence of inequality makes it very difficult to have a system which genuinely rewards merit.

2.        Skills provision - Education teaches the skills required by a modern industrial society. These may be general skills that everyone needs, such as literacy and numeracy, or the specific skills needed for particular occupations. As the division of labour increases in complexity and occupational roles become more specialised, increasingly longer periods in education become necessary.
Functionalist theory ties in closely with human capital theory, an economic theory which claims that investment in humans through education and training acts very much like investment in new machinery. Just as new machines may be able to produce a higher quantity of better quality products, so better educated and more highly skilled people can create more wealth through their work.

3.        Role allocation - The functionalists Davis and Moore -   (1945) argue that education allocates people to the most appropriate job for their talents, using examinations and qualifications. Their argument is based on the principle of meritocracy. Davis and Moore argue that some jobs are more important to society than others. For example, those taking key decisions such as chief executives of large corporations play a crucial role in society. Education helps to identify the people capable of doing such jobs. The examination system encourages competition, individual achievement and hard work. It is closely linked to a rewards system that ensures those doing the most important jobs are awarded the highest pay. The high rewards for some jobs are justified because the system is based on merit and it benefits society as a whole to have the most capable people in the most important jobs. This is seen to be fair because there is equality of opportunity - everyone has the chance to achieve success in society on the basis of their ability.

Role allocation is the process of deciding who does what within a society or a smaller social setting. The examination system plays a part in this, and the whole process of interviewing or direct recruiting of individuals for jobs is there to vet and select people for particular roles.

Criticisms of the functionalist approach

 In general terms, the functionalist perspective on education has been criticised for emphasising the positive effects of the education system and ignoring the negative aspects. Functionalists tend to ignore aspects of education that may be dysfunctional (harmful to society) and that may benefit some social groups more than others, and to ignore conflict in the education system and wider society.

In terms of socialisation, the functionalist view seems most applicable in societies where there is a single dominant and shared culture. In multicultural societies where, for example, different ethnic groups have different cultures and values, it may be hard to reconcile differences through education.

Furthermore, functionalists tend to assume that education succeeds in socialising individuals in the system. A number of studies suggest that not all pupils conform to the values promoted at school (see, for example, the discussion of Paul Willis in Chapter 2).

In terms of skills provision, there has been a long-running debate in Britain about whether British education teaches pupils the right skills, and how successful it is in getting pupils to learn skills at all. It has often been argued that vocational education has low status in Britain, with the result that the education system does not produce the skills needed for the economy.

Many sociologists argue that globalisation is increasingly significant. In a globalised economy, British companies and workers have to compete with companies and workers around the globe, yet critics argue that Britain lags far behind some other countries in training its workers. For example, 2012 research (Pisa) placed the UK 26th out of 65 countries in terms of maths ability among 15-year-olds, 23rd for reading and 20th for science. Even if societies need the education systen to provide the workforce with skills, that does not always mean that it will succeed in doing this.

Globalisation involves all parts of the world becoming increasingly interconnected, so that national boundaries become less and less important. Information, ideas, goods and people flow more easily around the world. If the economy is becoming more global, then British companies have to compete not just with other British companies but with companies from around the world. The same applies to educational institutions. For example, British private schools and universities compete with countries around the world (including the USA, Europe and China) to attract pupils or students.

The functionalist claim that education successfully allocates individuals to roles in a fair and meritocratic way has been very strongly disputed. This view ignores various ways in which social divisions, such as those based on gender and ethnicity, might affect educational achievement (see Chapters 3 and 4). It assumes that all individuals have the same opportunity to receive high-quality education and ignores the existence of private education, which gives the wealthy more opportunity to select schools for their children. As we will see in Chapter 2 social class has a strong effect on educational opportunity - a point strongly supported by Marxists. They dismiss the view that education or indeed role allocation in general is meritocratic.