Some think it as promoting value consensus and some see otherwise. Functionalists believe that education transmits society's norms and values and therefore promotes value consensus, with the educational and economic system working hand in hand to develop the skills required for the world of work. Emile Durkheim provides the basic framework of the functionalists view on the education system, agreeing with its function of transmitting norms and values. He believed that for society to operate effectively they have to develop a sense of belonging to something, becoming 'social beings' with a loyalty and commitment to society as a whole. The education system creates this effectively by teaching subjects such as history, which enables children to see the link between themselves and wider society.
Functionalists view society based on consensus. They believe that education helps to bridge the gap between family and society. They also believe in the theory of meritocracy. Other theories such as Marxism often challenges their theory. Functionalists believe education is a key component in the construction of society, they also believe that it is one of the most important institutions and plays a major role during secondary socialisation.
However functionalist still believe that sociology and social policy now have a strong relationship. Bolwby is in agreement with this view as he argues that sociological ideas have a lot of influence on social policy that they usually become main stream. An example of this is the mother and child relationship which is an accepted reason for youth problems and policies have accepted that. From the social democratic perspective, sociology and social policy can work closely together but the political impact is determined by the political stance of the government. They argue that sociology can bring about effective policies and sociologists should
Throughout the life long process of developing a sense of self the there are two factors that shape an individual. Who we are internally and who we present ours self to others and have conformed to social norms through the context of socialization. Within the process of socialisation, social structure and social interaction are both essential ingredients in an individual’s day-to-day life. This is because humans have the need to interact with each other for survival needs and furthermore maintain existence. According to the Macionis and Plummer, socialisation is defined as; “The lifelong social experiences by which individuals develop their human potential and learn patterns of their culture (Cited in Macionis & Plummer, 2012, p. 695).” Socialisation establishes the importance of an individual’s social identity through both aspects of social structure and social interaction.
Many sociologists have given alternate views about the main function of education. Functionalists argue that the main function of education is to maintain a value consensus – agreed social values – whereas Marxists argue that education transmits values that benefit the ruling class. Durkheim (1903), a functionalist, argues that society needs a sense of social solidarity because without it, social life and cooperation would be impossible as individuals would pursue their own selfish desires. The education system helps create social solidarity by transmitting society’s culture from one generation to the next so the main function of education is to maintain a value consensus in society. However, Marxists criticise this and argue that education in capitalist society only transmits the ideology of the ruling class and not the shared values of society.
Education is also one of the main influences on role allocation within society; allocating people to the most appropriate jobs for their talent, using examinations and their results from these. Durkheim views the education system as an institution that can create social solidarity. This is done by teaching students about the common norms and values of the British culture through the national and hidden curriculum, this enables people to establish a common view on society as a whole, therefore, in theory, creating a more harmonic society. In addition to this, schools create a miniature society, teaching students to cooperate, follow rules and respect their seniors. Parson views the education system as being meritocratic, enabling everyone to have equal opportunities, and success being down to individual desire to succeed and ability.
Outline some of the functions that the education system may perform. (12 marks) Education system performs various functions and sociologists hold different and conflicting views. This however depends on their sociological perspective and the way they see the society. According to functionalists, education performs three important functions- creating social solidarity, teaching specialist skills and transmission of values. Durkheim argues that education system helps to create social solidarity by transmitting society’s culture- its shared belief and culture from one generation to next.
the ways in which we are different or similar to others. Functionalists view the education system as a bridge from ascribed status (within the family) to achieved status (within the workplace). Functionalist Durkheim argues that the education system must ensure that everyone has similar norms and values; he described this as ‘cultural homogeneity’. Societies depend on shared values and norms for their survival. In essence, the function of education is to create social harmony.
Abstract In the discipline of Sociology, Structural Functionalism, often referred to as functionalism, centres on the structure and functioning of society. Functionalist theorists view society as constructed of interdependent structures that work together for the benefit of society as a whole. The structural functionalist approach has its detractors, but it still remains the most effective framework for characterising the art of living together in a community. Introduction Structural functionalism has its origins in history with many theorists making significant and often controversial contributions. In this article an attempt is made to define the theory focusing on the structure of society as it has originally been equated to the human body.
1. INTRODUCTION Learning encourages innovation and creative thoughts. It also enhances the traditional approaches by acquiring the continuous learning for attaining the desired goals. This essay will focus on the work of three vital researchers such as Barry Zimmerman (2000), Etienne Wenger (2000) and Yrjo Engestrom (2001) who presented theories on Self-efficacy, Social Learning System and Expansive learning respectively. This essay compares these three theories and analyze how the perspectives of these learning theories influence human resource development practices in an organization and concludes by finalizing the theory out of these three that is most important at the workplace and benefits the employees.