Theories of the role of education

Overview

Consensus and conflict views, Durkheim's society in miniature, Parsons on universalistic standards and meritocracy, Bowles and Gintis's correspondence principle, and Becky Francis's feminist study.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   How do consensus and conflict theories disagree about the role of education?

   Model answer

   Consensus theorists, such as functionalists, see education as benefiting everyone by building shared values and selecting by talent. Conflict theorists, such as Marxists and feminists, see education as reproducing class or gender inequality.

2. 2

   Who was Durkheim, and what did he see as the main function of education?

   Model answer

   Émile Durkheim was a French functionalist writing in the early 1900s. Durkheim argued schools pass on society's shared norms and values, creating the social solidarity that holds society together.

3. 3

   Why did Durkheim describe the school as a ‘society in miniature’?

   Model answer

   Durkheim saw school as a small-scale society where children learn impersonal rules and cooperate with people outside their family. Teaching a nation's history can give pupils a shared heritage and a commitment to society.

4. 4

   How does education serve the needs of the economy, according to functionalists?

   Model answer

   Functionalists argue schools teach the specialist knowledge and skills that a complex division of labour needs. Vocational courses and apprenticeships prepare young people for particular jobs.

5. 5

   Give two criticisms of Durkheim's view of education.

   Model answer

   Marxists argue the values schools pass on belong to the ruling class, not to society as a whole. Durkheim assumes a shared value consensus, which is hard to find in a diverse modern Britain.

6. 6

   What did Parsons mean by describing school as a bridge between the family and wider society?

   Model answer

   Parsons said the family judges a child by particularistic standards, as a unique individual. School judges everyone by the same universalistic standards, the kind of rules adult society uses.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.