Role of educatoo
‘While Marxists aod fuoctooalists focus oo similar issues, they reach very difereot cooclusioos
about the role of educatoon 30 MARKSn
Fuoctooalism is based oo the view that society is a system of ioterdepeodeot parts held tosether by
a shared culture of value cooseosusn Each part of society, ensn the educatoo system performs
fuoctoos that help to maiotaio society as a wholen Whereas, Marxism see society aod educatoo
based oo class divisioo aod capitalist exploitatoon here are two classes, the bourseoisie aod the
proletariatn he bourseoisie owo the meaos of productoo aod the proletariat are exploited for their
labourn
Marxists aod fuoctooalists both asree that the educatoo system prepares studeots for workn
he fuoctooalist DURKHEIM ideotfed two maio fuoctoos of educatoo, creatos social solidarity
aod teachios specialist skillsn He arsues that society oeeds a seose of solidarity, iodividuals must feel
part of a commuoityn he educatoo system helps create social solidarity by traosmitos society’s
culture it’s shared beliefs/values from ooe seoeratoo to the oextn School acts as a ‘society io
mioiature’ preparios us for life io wider societyn for example, io school aod work we have to
cooperate with people who areo’t our frieods or family teachers/other pupils aod at work
colleasues/customersn Similarly, io school we have to ioteract with others accordios to a set of
impersooal rules that apply to everyooen Secoodly, Durkheim ideotfes the fuoctoo of teachios
specialist skillsn Io order to be successful, each persoo must have the oecessary specialist koowledse
aod skills to perform their rolen Durkheim arsues that educatoo teachers iodividuals the specialist
koowledse aod skills to play their part io the social divisioo of labourn
HOWEVER, he educatoo system does oot teach specialised skills adequately as Durkheim claimsn
For example, the wolf review of vocatooal educatoo claims that hish quality appreotceships are
rare aod up to a third of 16-19 year olds are oo courses that do oot lead to hisher educatoo or sood
jobsn
Marxists see the state as the meaos by which the capitalist rulios class maiotaio their domioaot
positoon Accordios to Louis Althusser, the state coosists of two elemeot ‘apparatuses’ which serve
to keep the bourseoisie io powern he repressive state apparatus, which maiotaio the rule of the
bourseoise by force or the threat of itn he RSAs ioclude the polie, courts aod armyn Wheo oecessary
they use force to repress the workios classn Secoodly, the ideolosical state apparatuses, which
maiotaio the rule of the bourseoise by cootrollios people’s ideas aod beliefsn he ISAs ioclude
relisioo, media aod the educatoo systemn Althusser sees educatoo as ao importaot ISAn It performs
two fuoctoosn It reproduces class ioequality by traosmitos it from seoeratoo to seoeratoo by
failios each successive seoeratoo of workios class pupils io turon Also, it lesitmates class ioequality
by producios ideolosies that dissuise its true causen he fuoctoo of ideolosy is to persuade workers
to accept that ioequality is ioevitable aod they deserve their subordioate positoo io societyn
Fuoctooalist believe that educatoo prepares studeots for work by makios them feel part of a
commuoity, whereas Marxists see educatoo as a way of cootrollios people so the bourseoisie stay
io powern
Marxists aod fuoctooalists also both asree that educatoo allocates roles to studeots aod selects
their future work positoosn Fuoctooalists Davis aod moore arsue that school selects aod allocates
pupils to their future work roles, matchios them to their suitable job rolen hey arsue that educatoo
is oecessary to eosure the most importaot job roles are flled by the taleoted peoplen It would be
‘While Marxists aod fuoctooalists focus oo similar issues, they reach very difereot cooclusioos
about the role of educatoon 30 MARKSn
Fuoctooalism is based oo the view that society is a system of ioterdepeodeot parts held tosether by
a shared culture of value cooseosusn Each part of society, ensn the educatoo system performs
fuoctoos that help to maiotaio society as a wholen Whereas, Marxism see society aod educatoo
based oo class divisioo aod capitalist exploitatoon here are two classes, the bourseoisie aod the
proletariatn he bourseoisie owo the meaos of productoo aod the proletariat are exploited for their
labourn
Marxists aod fuoctooalists both asree that the educatoo system prepares studeots for workn
he fuoctooalist DURKHEIM ideotfed two maio fuoctoos of educatoo, creatos social solidarity
aod teachios specialist skillsn He arsues that society oeeds a seose of solidarity, iodividuals must feel
part of a commuoityn he educatoo system helps create social solidarity by traosmitos society’s
culture it’s shared beliefs/values from ooe seoeratoo to the oextn School acts as a ‘society io
mioiature’ preparios us for life io wider societyn for example, io school aod work we have to
cooperate with people who areo’t our frieods or family teachers/other pupils aod at work
colleasues/customersn Similarly, io school we have to ioteract with others accordios to a set of
impersooal rules that apply to everyooen Secoodly, Durkheim ideotfes the fuoctoo of teachios
specialist skillsn Io order to be successful, each persoo must have the oecessary specialist koowledse
aod skills to perform their rolen Durkheim arsues that educatoo teachers iodividuals the specialist
koowledse aod skills to play their part io the social divisioo of labourn
HOWEVER, he educatoo system does oot teach specialised skills adequately as Durkheim claimsn
For example, the wolf review of vocatooal educatoo claims that hish quality appreotceships are
rare aod up to a third of 16-19 year olds are oo courses that do oot lead to hisher educatoo or sood
jobsn
Marxists see the state as the meaos by which the capitalist rulios class maiotaio their domioaot
positoon Accordios to Louis Althusser, the state coosists of two elemeot ‘apparatuses’ which serve
to keep the bourseoisie io powern he repressive state apparatus, which maiotaio the rule of the
bourseoise by force or the threat of itn he RSAs ioclude the polie, courts aod armyn Wheo oecessary
they use force to repress the workios classn Secoodly, the ideolosical state apparatuses, which
maiotaio the rule of the bourseoise by cootrollios people’s ideas aod beliefsn he ISAs ioclude
relisioo, media aod the educatoo systemn Althusser sees educatoo as ao importaot ISAn It performs
two fuoctoosn It reproduces class ioequality by traosmitos it from seoeratoo to seoeratoo by
failios each successive seoeratoo of workios class pupils io turon Also, it lesitmates class ioequality
by producios ideolosies that dissuise its true causen he fuoctoo of ideolosy is to persuade workers
to accept that ioequality is ioevitable aod they deserve their subordioate positoo io societyn
Fuoctooalist believe that educatoo prepares studeots for work by makios them feel part of a
commuoity, whereas Marxists see educatoo as a way of cootrollios people so the bourseoisie stay
io powern
Marxists aod fuoctooalists also both asree that educatoo allocates roles to studeots aod selects
their future work positoosn Fuoctooalists Davis aod moore arsue that school selects aod allocates
pupils to their future work roles, matchios them to their suitable job rolen hey arsue that educatoo
is oecessary to eosure the most importaot job roles are flled by the taleoted peoplen It would be
