Year 12- Education Revision booklet

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Key word List

Independent
school
Selective schools
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Comprehensive
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schools
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Hidden
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curriculum
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Streaming and setting
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Labelling
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Ideal pupil

Anti-school
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subculture
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Material
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deprivation
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Cultural
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deprivation
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Parental attitudes
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Correspondence
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principle
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Role allocation
 Marxist View of Education
Marxists view education as having a beneficial role for the powerful people in our society and brainwashing people to
follow capitalist norms and values.
Traditional Marxists see the education system as working in the interests of ruling class elites. According to the
Marxist perspective on education, the system performs three functions for these elites:
•It reproduces class inequality – middle class children are more likely to succeed in school and go onto middle class
jobs than working class children.
•It legitimates class inequality – through the ‘myth of meritocracy’.
•It works in the interests of capitalist employers – by socialising children to accept authority, hierarchy and wage-
labour

Key Sociologist! Bowles and Gintis (1976)

Bowels and Gintis claimed that schools,

1) Cause the reproduction of class inequality
2) Cause the legitimation of class inequality.
3) Teach the skills future capitalist employers need.
1. The reproduction of class inequality
This means that class inequalities are carried from one generation to the next.
Middle class parents use their material and cultural capital to ensure their children get into the best schools and the top
sets. This means that the wealthier pupils tend to get the best education and then go onto to get middle class jobs.
Meanwhile working class children are more likely to get a poorer standard of education and end up in working class
jobs. In this way class inequality is reproduced

2. The Legitimation of class inequality

Marxists argue that in reality money determines how good an education you get, but people do not realise this because
schools spread the ‘myth of meritocracy’ – in school we learn that we all have an equal chance to succeed and that
our grades depend on our effort and ability. Thus if we fail, we believe it is our own fault. This legitimates or justifies
the system because we think it is fair when in reality it is not.
This has the effect of controlling the working classes – if children grow up believing they have had a fair chance then
they are less likely to rebel and try to change society as part of a Marxist revolutionary movement.

3. Teaching the skills future capitalist employers need

Bowles and Gintis suggested that there was a correspondence between values learnt at school and the way in which
the workplace operates. The values, they suggested, are taught through the ‘Hidden Curriculum’. The Hidden
Curriculum consists of those things that pupils learn through the experience of attending school rather than the main
curriculum subjects taught at the school. So pupils learn those values that are necessary for them to tow the line in
menial manual jobs, as outlined below.

Summarise this in 10 words!

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Assessment,
1) Describe one example of how schools correspond to the workplace.
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2) Identify and describe one example of how school may reproduce class inequality in society.
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Sociologists that would disagree with the Marxist view and why mind
map.
 Functionalism and Education ? the following
Summaries
Functionalists focus on the positive functions of education – creating social work in to bullet points.
solidarity, teaching core values and work skills and role allocation/
meritocracy
Functionalists focus on the positive functions performed by the education
system. There are four positive functions that education performs
1. Creating social solidarity
2. Teaching skills necessary for work
3. Teaching us core values
4. Role Allocation and meritocracy

Creating Social Solidarity

We have social solidarity when we feel as if we are part of something bigger.
Emile Durkheim argued that school makes us feel like we are part of
something bigger. This is done through the learning of subjects such as history
and English which give us a shared sense of identity. Also in American
schools, children pledge allegiance to the flag.
Durkheim argued that ‘school is a society in miniature.’ preparing us for life
in wider society. For example, both in school and at work we have to
cooperate with people who are neither friends or family – which gets us ready
for dealing with people at work in later life.

Learning specialist skills for work

Durkheim noted that an advanced industrial economy required a massive and
complex Division of Labour. At school, individuals learn the diverse skills
necessary for this to take place. For example, we may all start off learning the
same subjects, but later on we specialize when we do GCSEs.

Teaching us core values

Talcott Parsons argued that education acts as the ‘focal socializing agency’ in
modern society. School plays the central role in the process of secondary
socialisation, taking over from primary socialisation. He argued this was
necessary because the family and the wider society work in different
principles and children need to adapt if they re to cope In the wider world.
In the family, children are judged according to what he calls particularistic
standards by their parents – that is they are judged by rules that only apply to
that particular child. Individual children are given tasks based on their
different abilities and judged according to their unique characteristics. Parents
often adapt rules to suit the unique abilities of the child.

In contrast in school and in wider society, children and adults are judged
according to the same universalistic standards (i.e they are judged by the same
exams and the same laws). These rules and laws are applied equally to all
people irrespective of the unique character of the individual. School gets us
ready for this.
 Summaries the following
Role Allocation and meritocracy work in to bullet points.
Education allocates people to the most appropriate job for their talents using
examinations and qualifications. This ensures that the most talented are
allocated to the occupations that are most important for society. This is seen to
be fair because there is equality of opportunity – everyone has a chance of
success and it is the most able who succeed through their own efforts – this is
known as meritocracy

Positive evaluations of the Functionalist view on education

School performs positive functions for most pupils most of the time – even
though students might not want to go to school sometimes and not necessarily
enjoy school some of the time, the majority come out after 13 years of formal
schooling as reasonable human beings.
There does seem to be a link between education and economic growth,
suggesting a good education system benefits the wider society and economy.
All countries in Western Europe have very good education systems while
many poorer countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have many more problems with
their education systems, such as low attendance rates.

Exclusion and truancy rates are very low, suggesting there is very little active
resistance to schooling.
Schools do try to foster ‘solidarity’ – through PSHE lessons and teaching
British Values for example.
Education is more ‘work focused’ today – increasing amounts of vocational
courses. If you look at post-16 education especially there is a lot of diverse
courses offered and it it is difficult to see how technologically advanced post-
industrial economies could function without a thriving post-16 and university
sectors.
Schooling is more meritocratic than in the 19th century (fairer)

Criticisms of the Functionalist View of Education

Marxists argue the education system is not meritocratic – e.g. private schools
benefit the wealthy.
Today, school focuses more on developing the individual rather than teaching
duties and responsibilities that individuals should adopt towards society – it’s
more about the individual and less about solidarity
Functionalism ignores the negative sides of school – e.g. bullying and there are a
minority for who it doesn’t work, such as those permanently excluded.
Postmodernists argue that ‘teaching to the test’ since Marketisation kills creativity.
Functionalism reflects the views of the powerful – the education system tends to
work for them and they suggests there is nothing to criticise.
 Why are these two
perspectives different?
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The view I agree with most is… (include some independent research
looking at statistics, news articles or other information!
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Outline and explain two ways that the education system may
correspond to the workplace (10 marks)
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