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Marxist vs Functionalist View of Ed

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COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE FUNCTIONALIST AND MARXIST VIEWS ON EDUCATION (20 marks) The role of education is to educate individuals within society and to prepare them for working life, also to integrate individuals and teach them the norms, values and roles within society. Functionalism and Marxism are the two main perspectives which will be studied; Marxism is a structural conflict sociological theory whereas functionalism is a structural consensus sociological theory. Functionalism sees society as a whole. It is often referred to as the consensus theory as it does not address the issue of conflict in society. It looks at all the major aspects in society for example the family, the economy, the educational and political system and how …show more content…

surgeons, pilots) are undertaken by the most talented people. Both Marxism and functionalism agree that the education system socialises people into society by informal and formal processes. Primary and secondary socialisations are two forms of socialisation to teach children simple norms and values. Primary is conducted by the family whereas secondary is done within education. A form of secondary education is the hidden curriculum, the aim of the hidden curriculum is to socialise young people into accepting the role assigned to them by the capitalist class. The hidden curriculum teaches obedience and respect for the established organisation of work. The majority of teachers unconsciously deliver the hidden curriculum. In conclusion from a functionalist perspective, society is regarded as a system which is made up of interrelated and interconnected parts. Each part will affect every other part if it changes. There needs to be basic needs in order to survive and a minimum degree of integration between each part. Both perspectives agree that education is a positive thing in society also what occurs through the education socialisation has a great affect in job choices. Functionalism argues that the education system selects certain individuals for appropriate roles whereas Marxist argues that the education system helps to reproduce the capitalism in

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