Impact of Sociological Theories on Education
Sociologists and educators argue the function of education in society. Historically speaking, education was very informal; formal education was only for the elite. Whether education serves a political or an economic agenda can be best viewed within three perspectives. These perspectives are the functionalist, conflict and interactionist perspective. We will explore the differences and similarities in functionalist, conflict, and interaction theories of education; as well as their effect on individual views, approach to social change, and views of society within education.
The functionalist theory focuses on the ways that education serves and contributes to the needs of society. “Functionalists first see education in its manifest role: conveying basic knowledge and skills to the next generation (CliffsNotes.com).” From a functionalist perspective, education is an interrelated yet independent element that benefits society as a whole. Functionalist Talcott Parsons says that education prepares and selects individuals for their future roles in society, therefore benefiting the individual as well as society. Looking from the functionalist’s perspective, education is positive in helping society to function because it provides a value consensus and social solidarity.
Functionally speaking, education serves as a venue to transmit culture and skills. “Schools supplement the family by passing on to youngster’s important elements of their culture, (Sullivan, T.J., 2007).” Functionalists see this as equipping the individual with the skills necessary to function in society and to promote success. Not only does it establish a soci...
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I believe that schooling should enable its students to identify the flaws in society and seek to take action to address these flaws. While I do not believe that society, as is, is terrible, I do acknowledge that there are clear flaws in many social and political systems in this country. Thus, I believe that schools should serve as the educational means for identifying these issues. I believe that society and schooling depend heavily on each other. Schooling should not serve as a mechanism to maintain the current social order – in fact, it should do the opposite. Society should look to schooling to fix its flaws, and schooling should view society as a permanent work in progress. Schooling cannot act as a politically neutral entity, meaning that school should act to advance the political views of its students. Schooling can interrupt social reproduction by being politically explicit and enabling its students to think about these social systems which may oppress certain groups. As Bourdieu
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This essay will explore the relationship between education and society from a sociological perspective, the topics I have chosen to explore is Marxism, functionalism, education and class, feminism and the last topic is a very general topic which enhances our understanding of sociology and the world we live in. I chose the topics above as they offer an interesting viewpoint of education and sociology; also the topics above interlink this makes it easier to understand the contributions from a sociological perspective. Furthermore, to enhance my understanding of the topics I have found readings from other modules which offer a different perspective of education and society this will enable me to answer the question much more concisely as other viewpoints can challenge the topics I have stated above.
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The functionalist perspective argues for education as a means of development from simple, traditional social structures to more complex, modern ones. Drawing heavily from biological theories, functionalism equates society with a living organism composed of various internal systems, asserting that an understanding of these systems, in our case social practices and institutions, requires an examination of the means by which they serve the ‘body’, society (Feinberg and Solitis, ). In assessing the relationship between education and development, it is imperative to note that functionalists associate the advent of formal, compulsory education with the requirements of modern society, with modernity seen as synonymous with industrialization. That
Our subjectivity is heavily influenced by the amount of education that we receive. The effort that people contribute to enhancing academic excellence today is what makes learning possible and effective. Through the proper use of our academic knowledge we can construct society together. Schooling is an evident pathway toward generating social change and it is important that education is properly enforced and easily accessed by all people. Because education enables a person to grasp an understanding of his or her society, we as educated people have a crucial responsibility for contributing to social advancement.
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Education is a vital part of society. It serves the beneficial purpose of educating our children and getting them ready to be productive adults in today's society. But, the social institution of education is not without its problems. Continual efforts to modify and improve the system need to be made, if we are to reap the highest benefits that education has to offer to our children and our society as a whole.