Funnctionalism and Marxist Evaluation of Education

Outline and critically evaluate two sociological perspectives accounts of one social institution

The educational systems role in society is to educate individuals, prepare them for working life, integrate individuals into the norms, values and roles within society. There are various sociological theories that attempt to explain how society or aspects of it work together and try to understand social behaviour. 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.

The functionalist perspective is a structuralist consensus theory, which initially appeared in the 19th century, after drawing its inspiration from the works of August Comte (1798 – 1857) and Emile Durkheim (1858-1917), who recognised turmoil frequently occurred within society and thus, concerned themselves with how societies maintain stability and internal social cohesion necessary to ensure their continued existence and overall social equilibrium (how individuals manage to live together and relate to one another in a way that society does not descend into chaos). Notable functionalists include Herbert Spencer, Talcott Parsons, and Robert K. Merton.

Functionalists see society as a structured system; a set of interconnected parts which work together to ensure a “certain degree of stability, order and cooperation essential for societies survival”. (Haralambos and Holborn, 2013 pg. 10). They claim society is primarily harmonious, and that social order is maintained through a widespread underlying value consensus (internalised agreement by members of society integrating common values into shared goals), whereby individuals share goals, values (general guidelines) and norms (informal rules).

Functionalists argue there’s a natural relationship between societies institutions or “agents of socialisation” (Holborn, M, pg. 17), in that they positively contribute and function collectively to maintain what Parsons (1951) called functional prerequisites (basic needs) of society. Durkheim placed great importance on the role of social institutions in socialising people into what he called the value consensus or collective conscience. (Widespread agreement on values, norms and moral beliefs, which binds people together, and regulates individual’s behaviour).

Spencer described society in parallel to the human body. He argued just as an organism is made up of various organs which are indispensable and interdependent to maintain a healthy system, societies various institutions perform specific functions to satisfy functional prerequisites vital for its preservation. (Bown, D. 2015, pg. 3) For instance, the heart exists to pump blood around the body, the family exists to provide and socialise a new generation of children to society. Spencer points out each institution is indispensable in society, for instance, if education fails, the best students wouldn’t get the best jobs leading to a weak functioning system. Similarly, each organ is vital for a healthy body. Further, Spencer states institutions are interdependent on each other for the creation of predictable and orderly societies, for example, Chapman (2015) states the family reproduces children for education, and education provides families with children capable of joining the workforce. (pg. 4) Correspondingly, pain in the body may be unpleasant, but serves a valuable function in alerting us to something wrong.

Marxists disagree with functionalism, arguing it places excessive emphasis on consensus whilst ignoring conflict, social change and inequality inherent in capitalist society. Postmodernists contest that functionalism is a metanarrative or grand theory that tries to explain everything from one single perspective. They argue such metanarratives can’t explain contemporary societies where life is chaotic and values diverse.

Functionalists see education as the main organ in society and an important agency of secondary socialisation, helping to maintain stability through the development of the value consensus. (Brown, K pg. 340) They argue it has four main functions; passing on society’s culture and building solidarity; providing a bridge between the particularistic values of the family and the universalistic values of contemporary societies; developing human capital; and allocating people for roles in meritocratic society, and legitimising social inequality.

Functionalists such as Durkheim believe education meets a key functional prerequisite by socialising young people (Chapman, pg. 5) and transmitting society’s norms and values to the next generation. He argues children learn to accept authority, how to socialise with other people and understand societies norms and values. This Giddens (2013) suggests, contributes to a stable society as it helps maintain the value consensus and collective conscious (moral values that are core to any society, serving also to bind people together) (pg. 10) by teaching shared values and culture, making children feel more involved in society, creating more of a sense of belonging, and building “social solidarity” (Haralambos & Holborn, 2008) (social ties which bind society together).

Durkheim also states schools are a “small-scale version of society“ that prepares children for the world of work. (Brown, K. Pg. 340). Parsons (1961) agreed and recognised the social significance of education; preparing young people for adult life. He argued it acts as a bridge between the particularistic standards and ascribed status of the family, whereby parents tend to treat their children as most important, without focus on their individual skills, and the universalistic values and achieved status of contemporary societies, in which students are treated equally based on their skills.

According to O’Leary (2015) Parsons also argued schools are meritocratic and based on equality of opportunity, a system in which people earn their status position based on their individual achievements and effort. (pg. 7).  An example is getting into University, people require a certain level of qualifications to even get into University. This prepares students for the individualistic and competitive nature of the economy in wider society.

Schultz (1971) first developed the theory of human capital (knowledge and skills possessed by workforce that increases usefulness to employer), in which he argued increased spending on education is justified as an important investment in a successful economy, (Sutton. P. 2013. Pg. 867) as functionalists see human capital as important to the specialised division of labour (division of labour into a number of specialised tasks carried out by one or more workers) (Brown, K. Pg. 340) in modern society, as it ensures the best and most qualified people receive occupations requiring the greatest skills and responsibility.