Monday 12 September

th
 Glossary test
1. Internal Factors that impact on education:

2. External Factors that impact on education:

3. 3. Hidden Curriculum:

4. Cultural Capital:

5. Marketisation:

6. Human Capital Theory:

7. Policy:

8. Parentocracy:
Functionalism: the role of education
 Socialisation
 Social solidarity
 Meritocracy and Role allocation
 Teaching specialist skills
Assessment Objectives
Assessment Objectives
Functionalism – role of education: role
allocation (evaluation AO3)
How do we
• Blau and Duncan (1978) support Davis and Moore by saying that a
modern economy depends for its prosperity on using human
know that a
capital (its workers’ skills). They argue that a meritocratic job is
education system will make most effective use of the talents and important?
maximise their productivity. It is highly
rewarded.
• Tumin (1953) criticises Davis and Moore for putting forward a They are
more
circular argument (to the right). important.

Evaluation of functionalism (generic)

Why are
• Interactionist Wrong (1961) argues that functionalists have an
‘over-socialised view’ of people as puppets of society.
some jobs
Functionalists wrongly imply that pupils passively accept all they more highly
are taught and never reject the school’s values. rewarded?
OR
P: According to functionalists, one function of education is role allocation.
E: This process allows to determine pupils’ aptitudes and abilities and to assign them to
a job that they are best suited to. Simply put the most talented people get the best jobs.
E: The prosperity of the modern economy depends on how human capital – workers’
skills - is used, as argued by Blau and Duncun (1978). Therefore, allocating the correct
job to the best person is essential for the smooth running of society.
E: Date shows that 8% of the total population are privately educated compared to 57%
of the people who currently make up the English government. This suggests that being
privately educated significantly increases your chances of securing the most important
jobs, rather than as Davis and Moore suggest the most talented getting the most
important jobs.
L: Despite this, Davis and Moore contribute to our understanding of society by providing
an explanation of how different people end up in different job roles.
Functionalism – role of education:
socialisation (evaluation AO3)
•Durkheim’s research was purely based on his functionalist beliefs and lacked empirical data to
support his argument.
•Durkheim assumes the norms and values transmitted by the education system are those of
society as a whole, where Marxists would argue that they are those of a ruling elite or ruling
class who are trying to reproduce capitalism.
•Durkheim assumes the norms and values transmitted by the education system are those of
society as a whole, where feminists would argue that they are those of men who are trying to
reproduce patriarchy.
•The functionalist view seems most applicable in societies with a single dominant and shared
culture. In multicultural societies with different ethnic groups, it may be hard to reconcile
differences through education.
Functionalism – role of education:
socialisation (evaluation AO3)
•Postmodernists would argue that the diversity in norms and values should be celebrated and
not condemned.
•Functionalists tend to assume that education succeeds in socialising individuals in the system.
Studies such as Willis (with the lads), Jackson (with the ladettes), Fuller (Black girls) and Sewell
(Black boys) suggest that not all pupils conform to the values promoted at school.
•Equal opportunity and meritocracy can be evaluated by Marxists Bowles and Gintis who see
differences in achievement between working class and middle students (myth of meritocracy).
•Equal opportunity and meritocracy can be evaluated by feminists who see differences in access
and school experiences between boys and girls.
PEEEL paragraph
P: point (what are you going to discuss in the paragraph)
E: explain (explain with example, sociological concepts)
E: evidence (support with a sociologist or sociological perspective)
E: evaluate (criticise your point with opposing/supporting evidence, perspective)
L: link (link back to the question by summarising point/evaluation made)

Your turn!
Read p.207-208 in the Eduqas textbook
Compare and contrast the functionalist and Marxist perspectives on the functions of education.
Functionalism – role of education (evaluation AO3)
https://create.kahoot.it/my-library/kahoots/9750aa82-6f1e-
4560-a928-ae300decba47
Practice question Eduqas – AS 2019
Evaluate functionalist explanations of education. [25]

Possible paragraphs:
1. Creating social solidarity
2. Teaching skills necessary for work
3. Teaching us core values
4. Role Allocation and meritocracy
Practice question
Eduqas – AS 2019
Practice question Eduqas – AS 2016
Assess functionalist explanations of education. [25]

Possible paragraphs:
1. Creating social solidarity
2. Teaching skills necessary for work
3. Teaching us core values
4. Role Allocation and meritocracy
Practice question
Eduqas – AS 2016
Practice question Eduqas – A2 2018
Evaluate functionalist views of the role of education in society. [35]

Possible paragraphs
Socialisation
 Social solidarity
 Meritocracy and Role allocation
 Teaching specialist skills
Practice question
Eduqas – A2 2018
Last paragraph
New Right
Further readings: https://revisesociology.com/2016/01/01/new-right-education/
Which school would you send your child? Write your name on a post-it and a stick it on your first choice of school.

School A School B

New facilities Building built in 1980

School provides latest resource
(textbooks, technology…)
Pool and gym open after school
Voted Outstanding by Ofsted
School provides good resource for each subject
No pool or gym on site
Voted Requirement Improvement by Ofsted
26
 Entry requirement (not shared to the Entry requirement (not shared to the
public) public)

• At least 60% of the students are
girls (fit the Becker’s ideal pupil)
• Asian nationality is favoured
• Pupils with at least one parent who
went to university favoured
• At least 60% of the students are
girls (fit the Becker’s ideal pupil)
• Asian nationality is favoured If you are not in
• Pupils with at least one parent who A or B, you are
in School C
went to university favoured

Limit of 8 students maximum Building built in

Limit of 5 students maximum
1980
Voted Special
Measures by
Ofsted
School A School B
New facilities Building built in 1980
School provides latest resource School provides good resource for each
(textbooks, technology, …) subject
Pool and gym open after school No pool or gym on site
Voted Outstanding by Ofsted Voted RI by Ofsted
New Right – role of education
Neoliberals and New Right argue that the state should not provide services such as education,
health and welfare.
Neoliberalism is based on the idea that the state must not dictate to individuals how to dispose
their own property; it should not try to regulate the free-market economy.
The government should encourage competition between schools where the pupils and their
parents are consumers (parentocracy).
The value of education lies in how well it enables the country to complete in the global
marketplace.
New Right is a conservative political view that incorporates neoliberal economic ideas. New
Right favour the marketisation of education (Educational policies and inequalities topic).
New Right and Functionalists –
similarities and differences
SIMILARITIES
• Both believe that some people are naturally
more talented than others.
• Both favour an education system run on
meritocratic principles of open competition,
and one that serves the needs of the economy
preparing young people for work.
• Both believe that education should socialise
pupils into shared values, such as competition,
and instil a sense of national identity.
DIFFERENCE
Where functionalists believe that the current state
education system is effective in achieving these
goals, New Right argue that the reason for its failure
is that education is run by the state.
New Right argue that state education systems take a
‘one size fits all’ approach imposing uniformity and
disregarding local needs where local consumers
(pupils, parents and employers) have no say.
Schools that waste money or get poor results are
not answerable to their consumers. This means
lower standards of achievement for pupils, a less
qualified workforce and a less prosperous economy.
The New Right & the Role of Education
Date Social Policy Impact
1944 – 1965
The 1944 Introduction of compulsory Opened up secondary education to all social classes
Education Act education up to the age 14.

Introduction of Tripartite Grammar schools

system Technical schools
Secondary modern schools
1965 Comprehensive schools Tripartite system was highly divisive
Comprehensive schools were set up to achieve
meritocratic ideals
1988 Education Reform Act Emphasis on marketisation of education
New Right – role of education
•Summarise Trobe p.69 Chubb and Moe: consumer choice in your notes.
•Read Trobe p.78-80 and briefly explain the following concepts:
• Marketisation
• 1988 Education Reform Act
• Parentocracy
• League tables
• Cream-skimming
• Silt-shifting
• Funding formula
• Gewirtz’s parental choice
New Right – the role of the state in
education
The state imposes a framework on schools
within which they have to compete. For
instance, by publishing Ofsted inspection
reports and league tables of schools’ exam
results, the state gives parents information
with which to make a more informed choice
between schools.
The state ensures that schools transmits a
shared culture. By imposing a single National
Curriculum, it seeks to guarantee that schools
socialise pupils into a single cultural heritage.
For instance, education affirm the national
identity by presenting a curriculum that
emphasises Britain’s positive role in world
history, by teaching British literature, and
there should be a Christian act of worship in
school each day (Christianity being Britain’s
main religion). The aim is to integrate pupils
into a single set of traditions and cultural
values.
New Right – role of education
(evaluation AO3)
•Gewirtz (1995) and Ball (1994) both argue that competition between schools benefits the
middle class, who can use their cultural and economic capital to gain access to more desirable
schools.
•Critics argue that the real cause of low educational standards is not state control but social
inequality and inadequate funding of state schools.
•There is a contradiction between parental choice and the state imposing a compulsory national
curriculum.
•Marxists argue that the shared national culture that New Right claim is really the ruling class
culture, which consider inferior the working class culture.
Quick check questions (Trobe pg 85)
1. 1) In what ways did the tripartite system reproduce class inequality
2. 3) Explain the idea that there is a ‘parentocracy’ that legitimates inequality.
3. 4) Explain why an education market might raise educational standards.
To sum up:
The New Right believe that the state should not over-regulate schools rather than a ‘free-
market’ economy should be encouraged.
This involves competing for consumers to drive up standards
The government should encourage competition between schools where the pupils and their
parents are consumers (parentocracy).
The value of education lies in how well it enables the country to complete in the global
marketplace.
The state imposes a framework on schools within which they have to compete, (by publishing
Ofsted inspection reports and league tables of schools’ exam results).
The state ensures that schools transmits a shared culture. By imposing a single National
Curriculum, it seeks to guarantee that schools socialise pupils into a single cultural heritage
Practice question Eduqas – AS 2019
Using sociological evidence and examples, explain the meaning of the term role allocation. [10]
Practice question Eduqas – AS 2019
Practice question Eduqas – AS 2017
Using sociological evidence and examples, explain the meaning of the term meritocracy. [10]
Practice question Eduqas – AS 2017