The Functions of Schooling

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Children across the world have varied experiences of schooling. This essay examines the functions of schooling and the effects that schooling can have on children’s lives. The two functions, manifest and latent are discussed, plus dysfunctions, disaffection and alienation, along with considering whether the qualification-award function of schooling has come to replace the educational function. Using the resources from the U212 materials, these functions will be critically considered, deliberating the views of sociologists and psychologists such as Roger Merton, Jens Qvortrup, Ronald Dore and Paul Willis.

Firstly, looking at the manifest functions of schooling, which is best described as, we have a social construction of what school life and education should be, and the latent functions concentrate on the less obvious functions of schooling, and consequently have a knock on effect to these functions. Hidden effects are important but not intended and may not be recognised. Sometimes latent functions act against manifest ones, and can result in higher importance and significance (Mackinnon, 2003). The discourses that decide our understanding of the world, in this case the social constructionist approach depend on our back ground, culture, religion and beliefs. Discourses are a set of ideas we hold by the way we view the world, researched by Lawrence Kohlberg (Stainton Rogers, 2003).

To describe this in more detail, Donald Mackinnon (2003) researched the significance of schooling to children. He found that for some children schooling was like an institution, dominating their lives, whereas for other children, school had very little magnitude for them. Robert Merton (1957) a sociologist introduced the manifest and latent fun...

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...rtant than the manifest functions. Schooling can be dysfunctional for some of the society that it reaches, and children or pupils can become disaffected and alienated, however, sometimes the latent functions are very positive and occur without sometimes being recognised, as it was not the intention, just a very good knock on effect to the manifest function.

Works Cited

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Mackinnon, D. (2003) ‘Children and School’. In Maybin, J. Woodhead, M. (eds.) Childhoods in Context, Chichester: John Wiley and Sons Ltd. in association with the Open University, pp 129- 172

Stainton Rogers, W. (2003) ‘What is a child?’ in Woodhead, M. and Montgomery, H. (eds) (2003) Understanding Childhood: John Wiley and Sons Ltd in association with the Open University, p21.

The Open University (2003) U212, Childhood, Video 2, Band 3,’Testing children’ Milton Keynes: The Open University.

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