Functionalist Theories of Education
Emile Durkheim: The Role of Education and Social Solidarity
Conceptual Foundation: Emile Durkheim laid the essential groundwork for functionalist theories regarding education. He viewed schools as a primary mechanism for developing social solidarity.
Social Solidarity and Shared Identity:
Durkheim argued that education helps provide a common language, shared values, and a national identity.
An illustrated example is the Pledge of Allegiance taken by schoolchildren in the USA. Given that the USA is home to individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds, this ritual serves to unite them under a shared national framework.
Education and Social Rules:
Durkheim defined the school as "society in miniature," serving as a model of the broader social system.
Within the school environment, a child is required to interact with other members of the school community based on a fixed set of rules.
This experience is transformative: it prepares children to interact with members of the wider society according to society's overarching rules and norms.
Education and the Division of Labour:
Durkheim argued that education is responsible for teaching the specific skills required for future occupations.
Industrial society is characterized by a specialized division of labour, where different roles require distinct knowledge and skills.
Specific Occupational Examples: The skills and knowledge required by plumbers, electricians, teachers, and doctors are significantly different from one another.
Industrial societies rely increasingly on the education system to supply the workforce with these specialized sets of skills.
Evaluation of Durkheim’s Functionalist Theory
Criticism of the Shared Culture Assumption:
Durkheim assumed that a society possesses a single, shared culture that the education system can pass on.
Modern commentators point out that countries such as Australia, Canada, Mexico, and Singapore are multicultural, possessing a variety of cultures rather than a solitary one.
As a result, critics argue there is no single culture for schools to transmit. However, proponents argue that even in multicultural societies, some shared norms (e.g., common language, tolerance, and freedom of speech) are essential for social cohesion.
Marxist Perspective: Marxists argue that the education system serves the interests of the ruling class specifically, rather than the interests of society as a whole.
Radical Feminist Perspective: Radical feminists view education as a system that serves the interests of patriarchy or male dominance.
Focus on Competition vs. Cooperation: Researchers such as Hargreaves (1982) argue that schools often emphasize individual competition through the examination system, which may actually discourage cooperation and the very social solidarity Durkheim championed.
Talcott Parsons: Education and Universalistic Values
The Main Functionalist View (1951): The American sociologist Talcott Parsons outlined what is now considered the primary functionalist perspective on education.
Secondary Socialisation:
Parsons argued that the school takes over as the main socializing agency following primary socialization within the family.
The school acts as a "bridge" between the family and wider society, preparing children for their eventual adult roles.
Particularistic vs. Universalistic Standards:
Within the Family: Children are treated and judged based on particularistic standards. Parents treat their child as their own specific individual rather than applying standards that apply to everyone.
In Wider Society: Individuals are treated and judged based on universalistic standards. These are rules and criteria applied to all members of society, regardless of their kinship ties or personal relationships.
Ascribed vs. Achieved Status:
Ascribed Status: Within the family, status is fixed at birth (e.g., being a daughter or a sister).
Achieved Status: In advanced industrial society, adult status (such as occupational status) is largely achieved through individual effort.
The school facilitates the transition from the ascribed status and particularistic standards of the family to the achieved status and universalistic standards of the adult world.
Meritocratic Principles:
Schools operate on the basis of meritocracy: status is achieved based on merit, defined as:
All students are assessed against the same criteria (school rules and examinations), regardless of ascribed characteristics like gender or ethnicity.
Education and Value Consensus (Parsons)
Value Consensus: Parsons believed that an agreement on main values is essential for society to function effectively. Schools in American society introduce two major values:
The Value of Achievement: Students are encouraged to strive for high academic attainment, and those who succeed are rewarded.
The Value of Equality of Opportunity: By placing individuals in identical classroom situations and allowing them to compete on equal terms during exams, schools instill the belief that the system is fair.
Social Function of These Values: Advanced industrial society requires a highly motivated, achievement-oriented workforce. This necessitates "differential rewards for differential achievements."
Perception of Fairness: Both high achievers ("winners") and low achievers ("losers") see the system as just because their position was achieved in a situation where everyone had an equal chance.
Education and Selection (Role Allocation)
Mechanism for Selection: Parsons viewed the education system as a critical mechanism for selecting individuals for their future roles in society.
Role Allocation: By testing and evaluating students, schools match the talents, skills, and capacities of individuals to the specific jobs for which they are best suited.
Evaluation of Talcott Parsons
Neglect of Minority Interests: Similar to Durkheim, Parsons is criticized for failing to consider that values transmitted by schools might benefit a ruling minority rather than the whole of society.
Questioning Meritocracy: The idea that schools operate on truly meritocratic principles is a point of significant debate and questioning in later sociological units.
Support for Parsons: Green (1997) provides support by arguing that because today's societies are increasingly culturally diverse, the transmission of shared norms and values through schools is more important than ever.
Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore: Education and Role Allocation
Connection to Social Stratification: Davis and Moore (1967, first published 1945) expanded on the concept of role allocation by linking the education system directly to the system of social stratification (the class system in Western societies).
The Stratification Mechanism: They viewed social stratification as a necessary mechanism to ensure that the most talented and able members of society are identified and allocated to the most important roles.
Questions & Discussion
Activity 1: Social Solidarity: How does the picture of schoolchildren taking the Pledge of Allegiance illustrate Durkheim's view that schools develop social solidarity?
Activity 2: Respecting Rules: In your view, to what extent do children learn to respect society's rules by first learning to respect school rules?
Activity 3: Illustrations of Parsonian Values: Looking at a picture of students taking exams, how does it illustrate:
Individual achievement?
Judgement by universalistic standards?
Emile Durkheim was a thinker who studied how education helps bring people together in society. He believed that schools play a big role in teaching us shared values and a common identity. - For example, when children in the USA say the Pledge of Allegiance, it's a way to feel united, no matter their different backgrounds. - He also thought that schools prepare kids to follow rules and interact with others in society. In school, children learn to work with others based on certain rules, which helps them fit into the bigger world. - Moreover, schools teach students the skills they need for different jobs. Each job requires specific knowledge, and schools help students gain that knowledge. - However, some critics argue that Durkheim's view is too simple. They believe societies are more complex with many cultures, not just one. They say schools can't teach one single culture because there are many different ones. Others also argue that schools can help the rich and powerful more than everyone else, or that they focus too much on competition rather than teamwork.