Compare And Contrast The Marxist And Functionalist Interpretations Of Education In Society

Carrie-Anne Hall 05007672 Sociology Essay

Compare and contrast the Marxist and functionalist interpretations of education in society.

The role of education is to educate individuals within society and to prepare them for working life in the economy, also to integrate individuals and teach them the norms, values and roles within society. There are many different sociological theories that differ within the role of education within society that attempt to try and explain how society or aspects of society work together. Different theories try and attempt to understand social behaviour at different levels of investigation. There are several perspectives on the sociology of education that are important. The two perspectives which are going to be looked at are Functionalism and Marxism.

Functionalism sees society as a whole. It is often referred to as the consensus theory as it doesn't 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 they all function together as a whole to form a complete system. Functionalism can be summarised to a human body. For the human body to function properly each part needs to operate together for example the heart and lungs. If a biologist was to examine each part in isolation he would not be able to determine how life is maintained. Functionalism works similar to this. Too understand how any part of society, for example education, the functionalist would look at how education in terms of its contribution to the maintenance of the social system as a whole. All the key institutions in society need to be well integrated for society to survive and operate efficiently.

Functionalism works in the same kind of way. Each part of society can be seen to be interrelated and each part taken together to form a complete system. Functionalism also suggests that certain basic needs must me met in order for society to survive and operate efficiently. These are known as functional prerequisites. For example food and water may be seen as basic needs as without these people would not survive. A system of socializing new members may be regarded as a functional prerequisite as without culture social life would not exist. If an institution exists in society functionalists believe there must be some reason for its existence. As regards to education functionalists assume educational institutions serve some societal needs. Education is seen as vital in regards to socialisation. Educational institutions select different types and levels of education and provide general socialisation of the whole population into the dominant culture, values and beliefs of society. If members have the same values they will tend to share a common identity which provides a basis of unity and cooperation in society. By obtaining shared values this will help to keep order and stability in society.

Emile Durkheim, French sociologist saw education as being a positive thing in society as it helps the maintenance of the social system and helps to transmit society's norms and values which help promote social solidarity, to keep society running smoothly. He believed that in order for society to exist there must be a sufficient degree of homogeneity. Societal members must share common beliefs and values. He believed that these are only partially taught at home by the family however the education system continues this process as children get older. Durkheim also saw the teaching of history as being very important. By learning about history the child will feel that they are apart of something bigger than themselves. By learning key values of society in school this would encourage a feeling of commitment, togetherness among young people and help them to see themselves as part of a wider society. He argued that schools provide a function that could not be provided from the friends of their kin. He also suggests that education provides individuals will the skills individuals needs. They must interact with others in terms of fixed rules. School rules should be strictly enforced and punishment taken seriously. This is to ensure solidarity and order is maintained in preparation for the laws that need to be maintained in adulthood. Durkheim also believed that education provides certain skills that would allow them to contribute to the wider world at work. These skills are particularly important in the industrial society with its increasingly complex and specialised division of labour. However Durkheim's views on education are open to a number of criticisms. He assumes that the norms and values provided by the education are for those of society as a whole rather than those of a ruling class. There is little emphasis upon the individual experiences of different social groups within education.

Another explanation of society would be the conflict theory. Functionalism emphasises the importance of value consensus however they do not recognise that conflict can occur in society. They suggest that conflict is only temporary disturbances in the social system. Conflict theory feels that key parts of society such as the major institutions don't work in the way consensus theory believed.

One conflict theory would be Marxism. This theory became increasing influential during the 1970s due to the decline in Functionalism. The Marxism theory takes its name from the founder of Karl Marx, the German-born philosopher, economist and sociologist. He based his ideas on industrial capitalism. Marx believed that a person's class was defined by whether they owned a means of production (factories of land). He believed these were necessary for producing society's goods. There were two types of class in society. The capitalists or bourgeoisie were the ones that owned a means of production and the class of non-owners who he called the working class or proletariat. He believed that the working class were exploited by the bourgeoisie as they had no means of production and had no other option but to work for the capitalists. He believed that poor