Critically consider the manifest and latent functions of schooling.

Schooling has many functions in society and by looking at these functions from a sociological view point there are two main kinds of functions to consider - “manifest functions” and “latent functions”. The “manifest functions” of schooling is what people believe are the obvious purpose of school and education. The “latent functions” of schooling are the things that people are not so aware or about or perhaps don’t come to mind straight away when they consider what and schooling is for. These ideas will be considered and critiqued as some will be more beneficial than others but need to be looked at in greater detail and how it affects children’s lives at school. The qualification-award function of schooling is now looking as something that is overshadowing the main educational function of schooling and is considered detrimental by some as there seems to be more emphasis on getting qualifications that might not necessarily be needed for occupations which children will encounter later in life. Finally, disaffection and alienation from school will be considered as to what function this is playing in schooling as some children did not fit in to the expectations of the school.

The first “manifest function” of schooling would be to provide children with knowledge, skills and ways of thinking that are valuable and of practical use. These are attributes which are vital for work in adulthood. These purposes are obvious to all societies and don’t bring much controversy to the function of schooling though as it is generally accepted that this is what a school is for. Less obvious functions be them “manifest” or “latent” can be questioned a bit more.

Culture and identity is given recognition within schools and the schools help children to embrace cultures and foster identities. Unfortunately, this is not a straight forward function however as it could be “a more complex and morally ambiguous process” (Mackinnon, 2003, p. 144) than people would think. Criticism is apparent in schools when they seem to disengage children from their culture, community or language as it differs to the country’s majority. This is shown in examples given from the 1950’s on the Scottish island of Lewis and also in the 1990’s in Bangalore (Mackinnon, 2003, p. 144) where teaching began with getting the children to learn the English language because that wasn’t the pupils’ first language. The children were moulded from the beginning of their education to believe that English was important for educational and occupational success. This emphasis on the English language was a negative thing as children with this educational success would inevitably move from their community not just on a cultural level but on a geographical level which would mean leaving their close friends and family for better prospects. On a financial and developmental level this would be regarded as a positive function but to alienate children from the history of their culture is not fair and inevitable will assist in the extinction of some cultures and languages. Some people may view these issues as an advantage but to another they may be a drawback. The issues in places such as Northern Ireland and southern Scotland where Protestant children and Roman Catholic children attend separate school could be seen as racist to some people as it creates and maintains hostility between the two groups. To the families that are involved in this wilful segregation however, see it as creating an identity within the community and helps to preserve their faith. (Mackinnon, 2003, p. 145)

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The final “manifest function” of schooling is the claim that it prepares children to participate as fully-fledged citizens of society. This is something that will happen in the future when the children are grown up. However, this does question whether schooling is preventing children from being a fully-fledged citizen during their childhood and that schooling is actually restraining them from doing so i.e. children are “infantilized” because of schooling. (Mackinnon, 2003, p. 145) Children in their mid-to-late teens are made to live in these institutions during school hours under conditions of close supervision and instruction dominated by the teachers. They are refrained from making their own decision and take responsibility for their lives unless they are told otherwise by the teachers. The majority of schools even have a dress code consisting of a specific school uniform which must be worn by all pupils, therefore the daily task and independent decision of what they can wear is taken off them. However, perhaps children that are having to undertake schooling should consider themselves lucky as there are children in other societies and cultures that are working to earn a living for themselves, playing an active role in raising or supporting their family and some are even fighting and risking their lives at war. It may be perhaps worth considering then that this “infantilization” is a positive thing for children as delaying their participation in society as fully-fledged citizens will benefit them in the way that they will be able to participate more efficiently when they are older.

A “latent function” of schooling that needs to be considered is that it “may serve to differentiate pupils and legitimize the differentiation”. (Mackinnon, 2003, p. 146) People in almost every society are occupying positions that aren’t equal for a number of reasons, such as earnings, working conditions, security, prospects etc. People tend to accept these differentiations as they accept that the allocation of employment is based on “merit” and that without certain qualifications or skills that they are limited to which occupations they can undertake. Schools have also adopted this “meritocracy” as children are made to take tests and exams from a young age at school. By the time their education finishes, if they do not have a certain qualification or certificate they themselves openly accept that the lack of these will close off some future education and occupation prospects for the future. Bowles and Gintis (1976) believe that factors such as social class, education or wealth of parents are not important in influencing the success of children in education. Legitimization of inequalities by schools shows that “rightly or wrongly, success and failure are generally believed to be based on merit”. (Mackinnon, 2003, p. 146) Advocates of mass education in Britain and America in the nineteenth and early twentieth century believed that just enough education would help create a better workforce when the children were older. In some occupations such as computer programming or surgeons, the selection of children based on “merit” to further education and employment is accepted as these are occupations which require much more detailed skill and knowledge and the information and skills taught in these establishments are catered specifically for them. The inequalities however that are seen in more “general” qualifications and the occupations to which these qualifications can be an asset is harder to approve of as there is a wider scale of things to consider.

Children’s schooling could be a “latent function” for adults’ work and the economy in general. School is an institution which cares for and looks after children a set amount of time on a daily basis which then frees the parents to work and contribute to the economy and household. Schooling also has a function of providing employment for many as teachers, caretakers and inspectors for example which also contribute to the economy. Reducing the competition for work and possibilities of child labour is also a school function which people may not consider as an important purpose for school. By keeping children in school and out of the labour market it ensures that adult unemployment figures are kept low and also improve the adults’ bargaining power, potential earnings and work conditions in the workplace. These are all functions which are beneficial to adults and may not be thought of as important but they do have important consequences. The importance of these functions varies from place to place and it probably applies to the North more than the South. Children in the South are workers and make valuable contributions to the household alongside their parents. Here, school does not free parents for work by looking after the children. In the South, school can end up being an economic burden to the household as there are fees that may need to be paid or stationery that need to be bought.

Schooling as children’s economically productive work is a “latent function” which is very controversial as people tend to think of work and school as two different things. People don’t tend to think that children are “working” in school as they are not providing any economical contribution. There is work however that does provide this being done in schools –work by the teachers and other adult employees. Jens Qvortrup, a sociologist reasoned that in the North, “children’s ‘work’ in school not only is economically productive work, but is children’s most productive work.” (Mackinnon, 2003, p. 148) The product that children are hoping to achieve in school is the future educated workforce which will provide economically to society. Therefore, children should not be viewed as a burden on the adult world for economic reasons. For a short time they may be a financial burden for parents but is a greater goal that they are achieving which is going to produce economic benefits for society as a whole.

Ronald Dore, a sociologist believes that the need for higher qualifications is making education “ritualistic, tedious, suffused with anxiety and boredom, destructive of curiosity and imagination; in short, anti-educational” (Dore, 1976, p. ix). In society today there is more emphasis on getting that certain grade or qualification or certificate to further career prospects. However, there are not enough jobs for the people that are obtaining all these qualifications and the level of qualifications that are needed are just getting higher and higher which means that countries are spending money on education that is not going to be neither fulfilling nor productive for the economy. This is seen quite vividly in Japan where the “diploma disease” (Mackinnon, 2003, p. 150) is very dominant and there is pressure on children to perform from an early age to ensure the best education is received. Parents and professionals in Japan are ambivalent towards this system as they believe it stifles creativity and independence of thought. They do believe however that this system motivates the children to work hard at obtaining the good grades needed.

Disaffection and alienation within schools is evident as some children fail to live up to what schools expect from them as pupils. This is perhaps best illustrated after World War II where children attended “grammar” schools if they had high academic ability while others were made to attend “secondary modern” schools as they were less able on an academic level. You also have examples from Viv Furlong in the mid 1970’s when she conducted a study to observe the function of school. There were girls misbehaving and cheeking the teachers-on the one hand teachers thought them to be a “difficult class” whereas the pupils believed that the teachers should be disciplining them and that their behaviour was a “response to boredom in the classroom” (Mackinnon, 2003, p. 156). The reasons leading to this type of behaviour is perhaps that the girls thought of themselves as rejects of the educational system due to being in a “secondary modern school” and therefore have less educational ability.

In conclusion, the “manifest functions” of schooling is not giving the full picture of its purpose and it might not do what it is supposed to do. Schooling can be dysfunctional for the society at times with pressure on pupils to perform to a certain level or to a capability which they may not have and consequently are punished for this. The “manifest functions” may not be the most important functions for us as a society either which is why the “latent functions” need to be acknowledged by society as sometimes they can be the most important functions of them all in a world where a lot of emphasis is placed on economical productivity.

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References

Mackinnon, D. (2003) ‘Children and school’ in Maybin, J. and Woodhead, M. (eds) (2003) Childhoods in context, Chichester, John Wiley and Sons Ltd/The Open University.

Bowles and Gintis (1976), cited in Mackinnon, (2003), p. 146

Dore (1976) p. ix, cited in Mackinnon, (2003), p. 150