Role of Education - Functionalist vs Marxist Views

GCSE Sociology · Education

The Role of Education in Society — Functionalist vs Marxist Views

Education is one of the most debated institutions in sociology. The key question is: does education benefit everyone equally, or does it reproduce inequality?

The Functionalist View — Education Benefits Society

Functionalists see education as performing essential positive functions for society as a whole. It is a meritocratic system where success is based on ability and effort.

Durkheim (1903) — Social Solidarity and Specialist Skills

Émile Durkheim identified two main functions of education:

1. Creating social solidarity — education transmits society's shared culture, norms and values. It binds individuals together and creates a sense of belonging. Subjects like history and citizenship teach a shared national identity. School is a "society in miniature" where children learn to cooperate and follow rules.

2. Teaching specialist skills — industrial economies need a skilled, specialised workforce. Education provides the knowledge and skills that the economy requires. The division of labour depends on people being trained for specific roles.

Parsons (1961) — The Bridge Between Family and Society

Talcott Parsons argued that school acts as a bridge between the particularistic values of the family (where the child is judged as special and unique) and the universalistic values of wider society (where everyone is judged by the same standards).

In the family, status is ascribed (given at birth)
In school and work, status is achieved (earned through effort and ability)
Education socialises children into the value of meritocracy — the belief that rewards are based on merit
School is the first place children are judged by the same standards as everyone else

Davis and Moore (1945) — Role Allocation

Davis and Moore argued that education performs role allocation — it sorts and sifts individuals into the occupations best suited to their abilities:

The most talented and hardworking are identified through exams and channelled into the most important and highly rewarded positions
This ensures the right people end up in the right jobs — maximising efficiency
Unequal rewards (pay differences) are necessary to motivate people to train for demanding roles (e.g. surgeons, engineers)

Summary of Functionalist Functions

Function	Explanation
Social solidarity	Shared values bind society together
Specialist skills	Prepares workers for the economy
Meritocracy	Rewards ability and effort fairly
Role allocation	Sorts people into appropriate jobs
Secondary socialisation	Transmits norms and values beyond the family

Evaluation of Functionalism

Strengths:

Education does teach skills and knowledge needed for work
Most people accept the principle of meritocracy
Schools do promote shared values (e.g. British Values policy)

Weaknesses:

Marxists argue education is NOT meritocratic — middle-class children consistently outperform working-class children
Ignores the hidden curriculum and the way schools reproduce class inequality
Feminists argue education historically served patriarchy — only recently have girls overtaken boys
Assumes value consensus — ignores that norms taught in school may reflect ruling-class ideology
Interactionists argue it ignores what actually happens inside classrooms (labelling, teacher expectations)

The Marxist View — Education Reproduces Inequality

Marxists see education as an ideological tool that serves the interests of the ruling class (bourgeoisie). It does not promote meritocracy — it disguises and legitimises class inequality.

Bowles and Gintis (1976) — The Correspondence Principle

Bowles and Gintis argued that there is a direct correspondence (parallel) between school and the workplace:

School	Workplace
Obey teachers	Obey managers
Follow the timetable	Follow the work schedule
Work for grades (extrinsic rewards)	Work for wages (extrinsic rewards)
Accept the hierarchy	Accept the hierarchy
Compete against classmates	Compete against colleagues
Little control over subjects studied	Little control over tasks assigned

Education produces a docile, obedient workforce that accepts capitalist exploitation without question.

The Hidden Curriculum

The hidden curriculum consists of lessons taught informally through the way school is organised, rather than through the formal curriculum:

Hierarchy — students learn to accept authority (head teacher > teacher > student)
Punctuality and discipline — prepares workers for factory/office timekeeping
Competition — league tables, exams and grades normalise inequality
Passive learning — students sit quietly, listen and follow instructions — ideal preparation for repetitive work

The Myth of Meritocracy

Bowles and Gintis argued that meritocracy is a myth — a piece of ideology that:

Makes inequality appear fair and natural ("if you failed, you just didn't try hard enough")
Prevents the working class from recognising their exploitation
Legitimises inequality by making it seem based on merit rather than class advantage
In reality, class background is a far stronger predictor of educational success than ability or effort

Althusser (1971) — Ideological State Apparatus

Louis Althusser argued that education is the most important Ideological State Apparatus (ISA):

It transmits ruling-class ideology — making capitalism seem fair, natural and inevitable
Alongside the media, religion and the family, it keeps the working class in a state of false consciousness
The Repressive State Apparatus (police, army, courts) uses force; the ISA uses ideas

Willis (1977) — Learning to Labour

Paul Willis conducted a participant observation study of 12 working-class boys ("the lads") in a Midlands school:

The lads rejected the school's values — they saw academic work as pointless
They developed an anti-school subculture — having a "laff", disrupting lessons, resisting authority
Their rebellion ironically prepared them for manual, working-class jobs — they learned to "have a laff" in boring conditions and to resist authority informally
Willis showed that cultural resistance can still lead to class reproduction

Evaluation of Willis:

Small sample of 12 white boys — not representative
Not all working-class pupils reject school — many are conformist
But it shows pupils are not just passive victims of the system

Evaluation of Marxism