Assess the Claim That ‘the Main Function of Education Is to Maintain a Value Consensus’ in Society

Structural functionalism is a macro analysis view defined as “The way each part of society functions together to contribute to the whole.” In education, it focuses on how it serves the needs of society. Functionalists view education as a way to pass on knowledge and skills. While functionalists believe that schools sort students based upon their academic knowledge, Conflict theorists believe that students are sorted based on their social/financial class. Conflict theory is “The way inequalities contribute to social differences and perpetual differences in power.” Conflict theorists believe that students of lower status won’t have the same opportunities in school as students of a higher class. A student of a family with a

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).

Education prepares children for the world of work and helps them to develop their personal talents, discover who they are, and where they would best fit into society’s workforce as viewed by the Functionalist. They see three main function of education; role allocation, providing skills, and socialization. Education can be seen to provide pupils/ students with the curriculum and hidden curriculum; teaching skills that will prepare them physically, mentally and socially for the world of work in later life (Szarowicz, 2004).

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.

Comparing the Marxist and Functionalist Views on the Role of Education in Industrial Society The functionalists and the Marxists both believe that the education system benefits everyone, but both have different views on society. The Marxist views of the education system are that there are conflicts because there is an inequality between the working class and the higher classes. They believe that there are two different classes which education produces, and that is the working class and the ruling class.

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.

Modern society emphasizes the importance of extended education in order to achieve monetary goals and attain a role in the professional field that will benefit the economy in the country as a whole. Self-direction, therefore, " requires opportunities and experiences that are much more available to people who are more favorably situated in a higher coal order of society; conformity is a natural consequences in adequate opportunity be self-directed." Those in the lower class therefore attain conformist now use as a result of their limited education ultimately influences prestigious job opportunities. Education is important with respect to an idea of self-direction as it provides a proper analytical tools(that would be difficult to attain with proper schooling needed to tolerate and understand not conformity. One's profession either hinders or defenses went ability to achieve self-direction for example, a person in a higher class position has opportunity, to their job position, to be self-directed and their work which leads to self-direction and other aspects of life. However, a lower class person is denied this opportunity to be self-directed and their job because their education does not allow them to achieve a high status occupation. "The lower class then comes to regard it as a matter of

Marxists see the capitalist society as being ruled by the economy. The bourgeoisie rule the majority of the country’s wealth and the power to rule. The proletariat are exploited because they payed fairly. This is the foundation of class inequality. One of the most published conflict models is the model proposed by Bowles and Gintis in Schooling in Capitalist America (1976). Bowles and Gintis, like functionalists, see education has a vital link to the economy. But, unlike the functionalists, it is the requirements of industrial capitalism. Bowles and Gintis argue that education operates within the ‘long shadow of work’, which is the education system regulates the organisation of workers for the ideal workforce of a capitalist society (Giddens,

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.

Inequalities exist an all aspects of life. The nature and result of such inequalities shapes our social as well as economic lives. As people progress through their educational life certain inequalities will result in different outcomes of schooling for different sets of people. “In post war Britain pupils from a working class background are constantly found to gain fewer academic qualifications, to be under represented in institutions of higher education and to end up in jobs offering little opportunity for social advancement'; (Brown 1987 p11). It is inequalities such as these that are present both in and out of school that will determine life chances of individuals. It is commonly accepted that education is the main

Moreover In many countries the connection between family wealth, family background and education opportunities is still very powerful. Because people from high class in society tend to receive advantage to support them self in term of long period educational career and qualification better than low class societies, Due to the power of wealth. (Shavit and Blossfeld, 1993). For some reason when the education people enter the labour market. Because education qualification that a person acquiring seem to be advantage for that person if the qualification of education is high. In addition education qualifications seem to be relating to the social background of each person and their later social class background. Therefore the education qualification might be one the reason that support social inequalities and decrease social mobility.

Functionalist theory is one of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology. It can be argued that the functionalist theory has made a significant contribution to the study of society. It originates from the work of Emile Durkheim who suggests that social order is possible and society remains stable due to the functioning of several institutions. Everything has a specific function in society and society will always function in harmony. The main institutions studied by functionalism are the family, the education system, religion and crime and deviance.

The main point the functionalist perspective on education is that society comprised of parts which encourage the framework in general and that adjustment in one a player in the public As a result, Functionalist theory on education shows that it assumes an indispensable part of people 's lives and society. For examples, when the society has a lot of educated people it will became more prosperous. On the other hand the society that has less educated people it will became illiterate.

     According to Bowles and Gintis, results have concluded that socioeconomic status determines greater education attainment