HED4806
Assignment 3
2026
, HED4806: HISTORY OF EDUCATION AND
COMPARATIVE AND INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
ASSIGNMENT 03
─────────────────────────────
University of South Africa (UNISA)
2026
QUESTION 1 [30 Marks]
1.1 Structural Functionalism and Modernisation Theory
a) Society [5 marks]
Structural functionalism, rooted in the sociological tradition of Emile Durkheim and
elaborated by Talcott Parsons, conceptualises society as an integrated system composed of
interdependent institutions the family, the economy, the polity, religion, and education each
performing specialised functions that contribute to the maintenance of social order,
stability, and cohesion. Society is understood as analogous to a biological organism: just as
the organs of the body perform distinct but coordinated functions to sustain life, so social
institutions perform distinct but coordinated functions to sustain the social whole. Central
to this view is the assumption that society tends naturally toward equilibrium, and that
dysfunctions inequalities, conflicts, deviance are temporary disruptions that the self-
correcting system will eventually resolve. Social differentiation the division of labour and
the specialisation of roles is regarded as a functional necessity for complex modern
societies, not as a source of exploitation or injustice (Williamson, 1979).
Modernisation theory, which emerged as a dominant framework in development studies
during the 1950s and 1960s, extends this structural-functionalist logic to the historical
development of societies. Building on the work of scholars such as Walt Rostow and
Talcott Parsons, modernisation theory posits that all societies pass through a universal
sequence of developmental stages from "traditional" to "modern" and that the variables
determining a society's developmental stage are primarily internal: cultural values,
institutional configurations, and human capital endowments. "Traditional" societies are
Assignment 3
2026
, HED4806: HISTORY OF EDUCATION AND
COMPARATIVE AND INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
ASSIGNMENT 03
─────────────────────────────
University of South Africa (UNISA)
2026
QUESTION 1 [30 Marks]
1.1 Structural Functionalism and Modernisation Theory
a) Society [5 marks]
Structural functionalism, rooted in the sociological tradition of Emile Durkheim and
elaborated by Talcott Parsons, conceptualises society as an integrated system composed of
interdependent institutions the family, the economy, the polity, religion, and education each
performing specialised functions that contribute to the maintenance of social order,
stability, and cohesion. Society is understood as analogous to a biological organism: just as
the organs of the body perform distinct but coordinated functions to sustain life, so social
institutions perform distinct but coordinated functions to sustain the social whole. Central
to this view is the assumption that society tends naturally toward equilibrium, and that
dysfunctions inequalities, conflicts, deviance are temporary disruptions that the self-
correcting system will eventually resolve. Social differentiation the division of labour and
the specialisation of roles is regarded as a functional necessity for complex modern
societies, not as a source of exploitation or injustice (Williamson, 1979).
Modernisation theory, which emerged as a dominant framework in development studies
during the 1950s and 1960s, extends this structural-functionalist logic to the historical
development of societies. Building on the work of scholars such as Walt Rostow and
Talcott Parsons, modernisation theory posits that all societies pass through a universal
sequence of developmental stages from "traditional" to "modern" and that the variables
determining a society's developmental stage are primarily internal: cultural values,
institutional configurations, and human capital endowments. "Traditional" societies are
