The 1944 Butler Education Act saw the introduction of a three stage structure that is still in place today and gave all pupils an equal chance to develop through education. It introduced primary education, up to the age of 11, Secondary education, from 11 to 15, and further education which was non- compulsory after the school leaving age.
One of the ground-breaking results of the Act was to educate and mobilise women and the working class. It opened secondary school to girls, and the working class, and as a result, a far higher percentage attended higher education after secondary school. This newly found education increased working class awareness of their disadvantaged social position and created a bitter class division between the working and middle class.
The most present act of education is the New Labour . The Labour government famous with its motto, “Education, Education, Education” focused their campaign on a better education system but kept many old policies such as consumer choice league tables and competition. They mainly focus on market choice and value for money in today’s education.
Education has , since is formal exsistence , has always seen a class divide in the acheveiment of young people and their are many studies that link class to education.
The main theorist in the functionalist ( structural theory) view of education was Emile Durkheim. Functionalists suggest that for a healthy society, individuals must learn society’s norms and values. The norms and values contribute to social solidarity and value consensus and education plays a vital role in this.this is crucial to keep anomie (normlessness) to a minimum.
Funtionalists believe education should serve the needs of society and should be an interdependent part of the institions. Durhiem claimed that education has three main functions. For socialisation, selective function and economic function.
Durkhiem claimed that education should serve as an agency of secondary socialisation , with the family being the first. He seen education as a means to which children can broaden the social world and prepare them for adulthood.
He seen the education system as like a sieve, placing children in occupational roles according to their individual talents and abilities. This metritocaracy seen those who were most able rewarded higher in terms of pay and social status.
The economic function is to train children in the field they will be persuing in the future. Those who were more accedemic would train in literacy and numeracy and others would train in more vocational subjects to prepare them for the role they will play in society as adults. Doing this kept order and the collectively shared norms and values of society.
Functionalists saw that there was a hidden ciricullum with education which involved learning rule, routine and regulations were students lear without realising they have learned. Functionalist call this way of learning informal learning.
There are many studies that support Durkhiems view. One study would be Douglas (1970)