Furthermore, item A also says, "sociologists see the education system as performing a vital role in modern societies." One functionalist called Durkheim holds this view; he believes in social solidarity and specialist skills. Durkheim argues that society needs a sense of solidarity so that it's individual members feel themselves to be part of a single community. He argues that without social solidarity, social life and cooperation would be impossible because each individual would pursue their own selfish desires. The education system helps to create social solidarity by transmitting society's culture from one generation to the next.
For example, achievement is greatly influenced by class background rather than ability. Furthermore, interactionist Dennis Wrong(1961) argues that functionalists have an ‘over-socialised view’ of people as mere puppets of society. Functionalists wrongly imply that pupils passively accept all they are taught and never reject the school’s values. Marxists, on the other hand, argues that education is mainly there to serve the needs of capitalism. Althusser, sees education as an ideological state apparatus that reproduces and legitimates class inequality, ensuring working-class pupils end up in working-class jobs, and that they accept their exploited role.
Parson's stated that education acts as a bridge between family and wider society. Meaning that education prepares young people to be independent, and develop so that they are able to deal with society beyond their families. To some extent, Parsons draws on many of Durkheim's ideas. Parsons see's the school as the focal socialising agency. Parson's said that both the school and wider society judge everybody by the same universalistic and impersonal standards, for example; the same laws apply for everybody.
The study showed that parental mediation is important for children to learn pro-social behaviour because they help the children to understand the moral message behind the pro-social programmes which allow and made the children more pro-social in their actions and behaviours. On the other hand, there are
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.
It interprets each part of society in terms of how it contributes to the stability of the whole society” (Crossman, A, 2011). Functionalism focuses on the maintenance of stability and order within a society, viewing society as a system of integrated parts, with needs that must be fulfilled so that social order is maintained (Germov, 2009).It recognizes but does not challenge inequalities within society. The perspective of functionalism is one of social order, structure and conformity. A key concept of symbolic interactionism is the “self
Functionalists also believe that society is based on consensus (agreement) and socialised (brought up) to agree on how to behave (norms) and what is right and wrong (values). They look at society on a macro scale (large) and they want to generalize their ideas to the whole of society. For example they look at what education does for society as a whole rather than certain people in society. Functionalists believe that all parts of society has a function (job or role to do) to ensure that society runs smoothly and everything is harmonious. For example education’s function is to ensure that people are educated to be good at the job they will do after leaving school.
In essence, the function of education is to create social harmony. Durkheim believed that the most important subject within the formal education system was History as it gives individuals a sense of shared belonging, it gives pupils a sense that they are part of a community and creates social solidarity. He also believed that schools act as a social microcosm as in education we learn to socialise with others, this is a key aspect in the functionalist view of school as a ‘bridge’ between family roles and adult roles as through school we learn to socialise beyond our families. David Hargreaves criticized Durkheim’s view of education. He argues that if pupils don’t achieve success individually within competitive exams, they tend to rebel and fail to develop a sense of belonging within their school causing the pupil to reject the values of the school and therefore of wider society.
An account is given of the application of the theory and how the various structures within society functions for the good and benefit of the whole as well as a reflection on the relevance of the theory in modern society. 1. Definition of structural functionalism Structural functionalism can be defined as, "…an idea of society being likened to a holistic, integrated system, but with a much stronger emphasis on the self perpetuation of the system which implies that the social institutions, which collectively form a social structure, function to maintain the harmony of the social whole."
The difference between ideology and science, "false and truth’ is highlighted and therefore crucial to his usage of the term. Karl treated ideology as a fleeting actuality. Ideology is also related to the class scheme, a scheme that Marx believed to reflect the interests of the ruling class in society. Liberalism is considered the standard example of ideology because it depicts the rights exclusive to the privileged as universal rights. Ideology is a demonstration of power.