Some sociologist argue that the education system performs key functions in society, functionalists such as Talcott parsons and Emile Durkheim believe that certain functions are vital in the educational system in order for it to be successful. In this essay different functions that functionalists believe that are key in the education system will be discussed. One of Durkheim’s main functions was ‘social solidarity.’ social solidarity means ‘social unity’ what’s meant by this is that society should have a sense of solidarity. Individual members must feel themselves to become a part of a community. Durkheim believes that the education system helps to creates social solidarity by transmitting society’s culture.
He believes the education system does this by teaching children about a country’s history, he believes this instils in children a sense of a shared heritage and a commitment to the wider social group. Durkheim believes that social solidarity is good because he believes that it creates a stronger society, knowing about the different norms and values that are considered vital in society. Functionalist Talcott Parsons draws on many of Durkheim’s ideas but also has some of his own ideas about the main functions of the education system. Parsons believes that ‘role allocation’ is a key feature of the education system.
role allocation is the system of allocating people to roles which suit their gifts and skills. Talcott believes that this is a key feature of the education system because he believed it w3as an important mechanism for the selection of individuals for their role in society, he believed by schools testing and evaluating students they could match their talents, skills and capacity to the jobs for which they would be best suited. However not everybody accepted this idea Bowles and Gintis are two functionalist that reject the idea of role allocation because they believe that those who get the top jobs do so because of their social background and work ethic. Another of Parsons key functions he believed in was secondary soicalisation.
The Term Paper on Education in Modern Society
Others see it as being biased towards a certain kind of social or ethnical group, and even gender groups, while another crowd might argue that it is actually fair for everyone. A specific group could say that some forms of education can be meaningless, while others possibly will interpret it in a wrong way, although a group of scholars might find a deeper meaning for it. Ken Kesey, author of “One ...
