It focuses on class conflict. A key founder of conflict theory was Karl Marx. He believed that there is/or was a bitter conflict between the bourgeoisie (those who own the capital) and the proletariat (the workers who toil for low pay). He believed this conflict could only end when the proletariat repelled aging the bourgeoisie. Functionalist division of labor Education provides society with a ‘division of labor’ this means schools help identify who will be the bin man and who will
Durkheim argued that society has to feel a sense of social solidarity , he believes that without this form of social cohesion , society would be impossible because each person would pursue their own ‘ selfish’ desires. Durkheim transmits the thoughts that education transmits social solidarity by enforcing ones country heritage and history. This shared heritage acts as start of social solidarity for later life. He also believes school acts as a microcosm of society , expressing co-operation and interactions with colleagues. Talcott Parsons believes that school is a focal socialising agency, acting as a bridge between family and wider society, this is enforced because families and society act on different levels.
Sociologists carry out their research from a number of theoretical perspectives, and depending on the views they adopt they will have different ideas about the nature of social problems and know how to solve them. Early positivist and functionalist sociologists, such as Comte and Durkheim, would argue that sociology was a science and would discover both the cause of social problems and scientifically based solutions to them. Both positivist and functionalists see social policies beneficial to society as a whole, and contribute to it running smoothly. For example, educational policies help to promote equal opportunity and reduce class boundaries. However Marxists would argue that social problems such as underachievement are simply aspects of a wider structure of class inequality, and unlike functionalists, they do not see the state and its policies beneficial to all members of society.
Education according to Althusser reproduces inequality by preparing pupils for work in the wider society. School contribute to training pupils so they learn the rules and procedures of the workplace, and it helps to prepare us to accept the bourgeoisie’s ideologies. The process in which we learn to accept inequality is made up of two elements: the repressive state apparatuses which maintain the rules of the bourgeoisie through fear and force. The police, courts and the army are good examples of services within society that help keep them in power and separate them from the proletariats. Another service is called the ideological state apparatuses which maintain the same role, only they are responsible for controlling individual’s ideologies which include religion, media and the education system.
The reason why they believe this is because the look at the society in terms of 2 groups (powerful and less powerful groups). They argue that the powerful groups (rich people) in society use the education system enforce their own beliefs and values on the rest of society. 5) Choose one role of education and describe how Marxist would explain this role of education?
This is because Durkheim is primarily concerned with solidarity: what holds individuals together in social institutions? Durkheim believed that solidarity was the normal condition of society, and even though he recognized the turmoil may sometimes arise. These conflicts are abnormal rather than normal. Durkheim identified two major types of social integration, mechanical and organic. The former refers to integration that is based on shared beliefs and sentiments, while the latter refers to integration that results from specialization and interdependence.
Durkheim is a firm supporter of this theory and believes that social order is held together by attitudes of solidarity which play the role of ensuring the survival of a well integrated society in which everything and everybody is a piece of a jigsaw that fits together to create a bigger picture. A different explanation of culture has been offered by Marxists who criticize culture to evoke social conflict where the bourgeoisie exploit the proletariat as is explained in Marx’s base/superstructure model. The model reveals the relationship between the bourgeoisie who own the means of production and “defenceless” proletariat who are forced to work for an undervalued wage yet still accept their situation due to exploitation and corruption. In support of Durkheim’s view is the fact that the majority of students attend college and further still to university because of a shared belief that education is the key to the better earning jobs in life however this could be reversed to support the Marxists as we pay nine thousand pounds for education in order to gain jobs under the ruling class which ultimately benefit and profit the bourgeoisie so both points are relevant even still in recent times. Further support of Durkheim’s theory of value consensus is Kidd’s view of culture,
For us, school is a miniature version of society as it provides us with skills that we need once we enter work or when starting a family also, the experience prepares us for interacting with members of society and the rules that society has. He believed that school rules should be strictly reinforced, punishments should reflect the seriousness of the damage done to the social group and it should be made clear to those who have done wrong why they are being punished. This way, pupils would come to learn that it is wrong to act against the social group, it would also teach them to exercise self-discipline but more importantly that misbehaviour would damage society as a whole. Durkheim argued that education teaches individuals specific skills necessary for their future occupations. This is particularly important in industrial society with its increasingly complex and specialised division of labour.
Emile Durkheim (1858 - 1917) was a French sociologist and is known as one of the Founding Fathers of the discipline. He believed that education had a number of functions for society. the first being that society needs a sense of solidarity; that is, its individual members must feel to be part of a single 'body' or community. He argued that without this, life and cooperation would be impossible because everyone would pursue their own selfish desires. He believed that schools acted as a mini-society, people need to cooperate with other people who are neither family nor friends - teachers and pupils at school, colleagues and customers at work.
Institutions like the family, education and religion lead individuals into accepting the inequalities or capitalism. In other words, Marxists think that people are socialised into a culture based on their social class. They think people’s identity depends on their class position in the capitalist system. Criticism Not everyone agrees with the Marx’s views. The other 3 theories have different opinions on what culture