Education notes
UK - timeline
1870 - Foster education act (state became fully responsible for free compulsory education
1880 - school attendance made compulsory until 10
1918 - fisher education act (state became responsible for secondary education, made compulsory
until 14)
1944 - Butler education act - creation of the tripartite system which was entry based on IQ (11+).
1947 - school attendance compulsory until 15
166-1979 - majority of secondary schools became comprehensive
1972 - school attendance compulsory until 16
1986 - GCSEs introduced - first exam 1988)
1988 - education reform act - compulsory testing at 7, 11, 14, 16. National curriculum introduced.
Parental choice increased. Grant maintained schools. Local management of schools.
1993 - education act - school given rights to specialise in a particular part of the curriculum
1999 - grant maintained schools return to local authority control
2000 - curriculum introduces AS levels
2010 onwards - school leaving age raised to 18 (education or trining). Free schools introduced,
changes to GCSE and A-levels made.
Functionalist theory of education
Durkheim 1900
Education teaches children specific skills for future occupations
Schools are responsible for the transmission of societies norms and values (secondary
socialisation)
Parsons 1964
Agreed but took further to say that education is a bridge between ascribed status and
achieved status
Viewed education as a meritocracy (what you achieve is based on hard work and ability not
what your born with - a fair system.
Performs the function of role allocation - prepares people for different jobs based on their
suitability and interest
, Education performs 2 types of function in society
Economic function
Socialising function
Education systems do this by:
Integrating young people as their roles as workers through the formal and informal / hidden
curriculum
Promoting a sense of national identity
Transmitting the Norms and values of society
Meet the economic needs of society by creating a literate, skilled, hardworking work force
Select and allocate roles based on ability within the classroom
Marxist view of education
Like functionalists they believe that what you become in the future is based on your performance /
achievement at school (deterministic).
Critical of the role education plays s they argue the education system automatically works against
the working class
Bowles and Gintis (1966)
‘myth of education’
Meritocracy is a myth and people don’t have an equal chance to achieve
Depends upon what class you are
Correspondence theory
There are similarities b tween school and work, e.g. speaking in turn, turning up on time,
hierarchy of authority, speaking in turn, formal speaking, uniform, disciplinary procedures
Learnt through the hidden curriculum
Louis Althusser - ideology and the state apparatuses 1971
Believed education socialised working class children into accepting their subordinate
position at the bottom
Does thus in two ways:
1. By convincing people the system we live in is fair
2. Prepares young people for later exploitation in the workplace
This happens through the hidden curriculum, alienation and the dominant ideology within
textbooks
Bourdieu - the forms of capital 1986
Cultural reproduction is a function of the capitalist system.
Because of a lack of cultural capital, children don’t succeed.
Feminists & education
All feminists say the eduction helps enforce the patriarchy (society is structured to meet the
needs of men)
Agree education is an important agent of secondary socialisation
UK - timeline
1870 - Foster education act (state became fully responsible for free compulsory education
1880 - school attendance made compulsory until 10
1918 - fisher education act (state became responsible for secondary education, made compulsory
until 14)
1944 - Butler education act - creation of the tripartite system which was entry based on IQ (11+).
1947 - school attendance compulsory until 15
166-1979 - majority of secondary schools became comprehensive
1972 - school attendance compulsory until 16
1986 - GCSEs introduced - first exam 1988)
1988 - education reform act - compulsory testing at 7, 11, 14, 16. National curriculum introduced.
Parental choice increased. Grant maintained schools. Local management of schools.
1993 - education act - school given rights to specialise in a particular part of the curriculum
1999 - grant maintained schools return to local authority control
2000 - curriculum introduces AS levels
2010 onwards - school leaving age raised to 18 (education or trining). Free schools introduced,
changes to GCSE and A-levels made.
Functionalist theory of education
Durkheim 1900
Education teaches children specific skills for future occupations
Schools are responsible for the transmission of societies norms and values (secondary
socialisation)
Parsons 1964
Agreed but took further to say that education is a bridge between ascribed status and
achieved status
Viewed education as a meritocracy (what you achieve is based on hard work and ability not
what your born with - a fair system.
Performs the function of role allocation - prepares people for different jobs based on their
suitability and interest
, Education performs 2 types of function in society
Economic function
Socialising function
Education systems do this by:
Integrating young people as their roles as workers through the formal and informal / hidden
curriculum
Promoting a sense of national identity
Transmitting the Norms and values of society
Meet the economic needs of society by creating a literate, skilled, hardworking work force
Select and allocate roles based on ability within the classroom
Marxist view of education
Like functionalists they believe that what you become in the future is based on your performance /
achievement at school (deterministic).
Critical of the role education plays s they argue the education system automatically works against
the working class
Bowles and Gintis (1966)
‘myth of education’
Meritocracy is a myth and people don’t have an equal chance to achieve
Depends upon what class you are
Correspondence theory
There are similarities b tween school and work, e.g. speaking in turn, turning up on time,
hierarchy of authority, speaking in turn, formal speaking, uniform, disciplinary procedures
Learnt through the hidden curriculum
Louis Althusser - ideology and the state apparatuses 1971
Believed education socialised working class children into accepting their subordinate
position at the bottom
Does thus in two ways:
1. By convincing people the system we live in is fair
2. Prepares young people for later exploitation in the workplace
This happens through the hidden curriculum, alienation and the dominant ideology within
textbooks
Bourdieu - the forms of capital 1986
Cultural reproduction is a function of the capitalist system.
Because of a lack of cultural capital, children don’t succeed.
Feminists & education
All feminists say the eduction helps enforce the patriarchy (society is structured to meet the
needs of men)
Agree education is an important agent of secondary socialisation
