Asses the Functionalist Role of Education in Society Essay

This enables them to become equipped with the skills, knowledge and understanding to live safe, healthy, positive lives as they grow up.

Although quite different, both Functionalism and Marxism have their similarities. They also have their positive and negative aspects and ways in which each theory dysfunctions. Functionalism is the study of society as a functioning system including interdependent institutions or patterned relations that are steady overtime, and that enact specialized functions for the whole. The main focus is on how direction is kept between parts of society. Any given pattern of relations or structures within society is interpreted by reference to the results or functions that such patterns have for them majority. It is an essential assumption within the functionalist perspective is that participation in social systems is voluntary. When a sociologist uses

Functionalism is based on the view that society is a system of interdependent parts held together by a shared culture or value consensus (agreement) amongst individuals as to what values or norms are important in society. Therefore they take a positive view of the education system. As item A suggests they see it as a form of secondary socialism essential to maintaining society i.e. the values and norms transmitted by social institutions and groups which build upon those learnt in the family (primary socialism).

This essay will compare and contrast and contrast two leading sociological theories: Marxism and Functionalism. Marxists predominantly believe that within society inequality and prejudice are rife, whereas Functionalists live under the impression that society operates in a state of social equilibrium wherein class and social status are necessities which we allow to transpire. This essay will explore the different viewpoints each theories take on subjects such as religion, community, family and education.

Malcolm X once said “education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today”. From adolescence to adulthood almost every person is put through schooling. As one gets older in age, the education they obtain becomes more rigorous in order to stretch their minds far beyond two plus two or what color the sky is. The strategies of critically thinking and being able to analyze/decipher information in front is them is reinforced routinely in the educational system. With this being said, the purpose of education is to aid in enhancing one’s qualification, socialisation, and subjectification skills within the society regardless of how or where one’s education was obtained.

Education theory can either be descriptive like the sciences or normative like in philosophy. Education theory postulates what education processes are supposed to consist of; it sets the standards, norms, and goals in carrying out an education process. The scientific education theory gives a set of hypotheses, which have to be experimented and verified. The two approaches have produced two broad categories of education theories, which are the functionalist’s theory of education

The neo-Marxist Althusser (1971) disagrees that the main function of the education is the transmission of common values. He thinks that education is an ideological state apparatus and its main function is to maintain, Legitimate and reproduce, generation by generation, class inequalities in wealth and power by transmitting capitalist values disguised as common values.

A functionalist named Emile Durkheim believes that the education system introduces the importance of social solidarity in people. He says 'Society can survive only if there exists among its members a sufficient degree of homogeneity; education perpetuates and reinforces this homogeneity by fixing in the child from the beginning the essential similarities which collective life demands.' So he believes that social life would be impossible without social solidarity amongst people. Social solidarity is when a mass of individuals in a society is united as a whole, and when people learn to respect their community and look after one another and their surroundings. Education teaches people this at an early age, by giving history lessons because this provides a link between the individual and the society in which they live in.

The role of education is to educate individuals within society and to prepare and qualify them for work in the economy as well as helping to integrate individuals into society and teach them the norms, values and morals of society. Yet there are three sociological theories that differ greatly between them on the role of education. These are Functionalism, Marxism and Liberalism.

Functionalism is a consensus perspective, whereby society is based on shared values and norms into which members are socialised. For functionalists, society is seen as a system of social institutions such as the economy, religion and the family all of which perform socialisation functions.

The relation between the study of how people act towards each other and education is a subject of debate. One idea says education is meant to overcome where two things are not the same. Whereas other says the most important function of education is helping to increase balance status of good people in the world and to maintain inequality whatever state it comes in. I will focus on three areas that affects the educations of Socialogy. The first area is Structural Functionalism.

Having attended public schools throughout my childhood and adolescence, I never was familiar with the term functionalism and its many elements. After observing and analyzing my field placement classroom I have come to understand the concept of functionalism to some extent. In general, functionalists “see schools as serving to socialize students to adapt to the economic, political, and social institutions of that society” (Feinberg, p.6, 2004). They also theorize that in order for societies to survive, they must carry out vital functions such as, attaining fundamental knowledge and acquiring essential skills and proficiency, acknowledging certain norms and values within their community, and recognizing authority figures. It is also

Education can be defined as a learning process in which a student and a teacher are involved. The work of the teacher is to pass on the message to the student while the student understands and applies what has been taught. It is also considered as a process of developing skills, knowledge and character of an individual. Education, whether formal or informal, has a function both to the individual and the society, these functions are either manifest or latent. There is a distinction between the manifest and latent functions in that the manifest functions are those that are intended whereas the latter are the unintended functions (Douglas, 2003).

Durkheim argued, ‘to become attached to society, they will come to see that they are part of something larger themselves; they will develop a sense of commitment to the social group’. Durkheim also claimed that the school serves a function which cannot be provided by the family the peer group. Individuals must learn to cooperate with those who are neither their family nor their friends. In this way, children learn to respect authority figures, such as teachers, and get along with other members of society they would be forced to interact with in later life such as bosses and colleagues. These social interactions are essential for keeping society harmoniously balanced and functioning. Durkheim claimed that along with teaching us to interact with different social groups, education serves to strictly reinforce school rules and ensure that children realise that these should be followed. Punishments should reflect the seriousness of the damage done to the social group by the offence and teach individuals that it is wrong to act against the interests of the social group as a whole. In Durkheim’s words: ‘it is by respecting the school rules that the child learns to respect rules in general, that he develops the habit of self-control and restraint simply because he should control and restrain

The structural-functional theory also known as functionalism is sociological theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. Functionalists view education as a contribution to the smooth inner working of society. Education is a lifelong process, we are constantly learning new things and deepening our knowledge of things we already know. The education system works to prepare individuals to become fully functioning members of society. It works to teach people certain skills that will help them to be successful in life. However, education not only teaches people the skills they will need to be successful in life, but it also teaches them how to be decent citizens and to work well with others. Many people view education are a service to the overall function of society.