Parsons was another functionalist who believed in the body analogy which is that education is one institution which helps keep society running smoothly along with the other institutions, Parsons said education teaches us universalistic values that are recognised by the majority, education plays a bridge role between family and society as education develops children’s particularistic values outside the family ready for society.
However, there are many criticisms of functionalist view of the role of education, for example functionalist see individuals as being passive and accepts what the education system gives to them. This may not be the case as we have anti school subcultures that reject discipline and school as a whole, for example Willis and his study of ‘Boys’ showed that there was a problem of discipline amongst them. The functionalist view is overly optimistic of the education system and only looks at the positive side, firstly there is truancy as a problem of schools, if students are not there to learn then how will they be prepared for adult roles, secondly the relationship between education and economy is not as efficient as stated because we have labour shortages in many areas for example teachers, nurses and builders. There may not be a wide agreement in society and school as there may be people who value work than education depending on their interpretation of norms and values.
Functionalist also assumes that there is equality of opportunity but ignores the underachievement of W/C and ethnic minorities such as Pakistani, Bangladeshi and afro Caribbean. Examinations may not be the best way for selection and role allocation as it may not be the best way to measure ability and intelligence.
Marxists such as Althusser argue that the education system is an ideological state apparatus in that it will maintain the same economic relations, reproduce labour power from generation to generation. Althusser argues that ideology is more effective than force as the education system teaches people to accept future exploitation that is done by showing the situation is just and reasonable.
Marxists say that the education system is there to maintain and justify R/C ideology. This is maintained through cultural reproduction, Bordieu argues that there is no such thing as a common culture, a dominant culture exists in the education system which is reproduced in minds of less powerful groups. This also means that people who posses a dominant culture for example M/C pupils use is as a form of capital to turn it into positions of power and wealth. In school situations a culture of individuality and success are promoted which W/C people cannot always achieve but U/C people can as they use their backgrounds as an unfair advantage to achieve goals
Marxists also see education as preparing you for workplace. Bowles and Gintis say that there is a strong link between work and education. Education makes sure that there is a reproduction new generation of workers educated to accept positions in capitalist society. School is based on hierarchy and so is the workplace e.g. headmaster, deputy head, teachers and pupils. In the workplace its manager, assistant manager, supervisor etc. Schools reward pupils with external rewards like qualification
And workplace rewards with wages.Bowles and Gintis say that the correspondence between workplace and education is that it creates labour power from generation to next.
Criticisms of Marxism are that it is simplistic because it sees people as passive and ignores their ability to reject dominant culture. The fact that U/C pupils are taught to aim high from an early age doesn’t mean that W/C people don’t as there are parents who have no education and want their children to do better. The Marxist view is overly theoretical as there is no actual proof of pupils being repressed by R/C ideas. Moreover, capitalism existed prior to compulsory education so was the previous system promoting capitalist values as well?
Both Marxist and functionalist views is structuralist by putting the institution first rather than individual. But they ignore the fact that students have freedom to do whatever they want and learn what they want. They are not brainwashed into believing anything, if they feel that education is not important then it is up to them as they may not value it as much as others. Functionalists are overly deterministic, as they believe education system is a positive aspect of society but not everyone is a model citizen, we have truants and criminals that the education system has failed to provide them a position. Work may be valued more as many parents see money as worthwhile. Marxists argue that the education system isn’t designed to develop human potential but to limit it, if this is the case then why do we have people who want to work but come to education to better their chances of job. They do this for personal satisfaction and are not controlled by capitalist values.
