Download The Nature - Nurture Debate

The purpose and challenges of
Education 8.2 and 8.3
Essential Questions:
• How do functionalists
view the purpose of
education
• What differences are
there between traditional
and progressive
philosophies of
education?
Functionalism
• What is it?
• School of thought, analyzes how
parts of society work together to
achieve stability
• Functionalists see school as...
• 4 function: teaching knowledge and
skills, facilitating the cultural
transmission of values, facilitating
social integration, replacing
functions no longer provided by
family
Knowledge& Skills AND cultural
values
• Reading, writing, arithmetic and computer
skills.
Cultural:
• Passing on society’s core values
• Functionalists say that the latent function of
education is to further dominance of western
culture......individualism, patriotism and
competition(examples?)
Social Integration
• Helping students socialize into mainstream
culture
• When kids first come to school they bring
own speech patterns, style, behaviour from
family BUT exposure to peers and school
changes them into a more cohesive group
• According to functionalists, if people believe
their society’s institutions are the basis of
welfare, they will have little reason to rebel.
Replacing Family Functions
• Families have two-wage earners, child care is a
manifest function of school
• Sex education
• Role of confidant and advisor
Conflict Perspective
• Society is composed of groups
fiercely competing for scarce
resources
• Say that education system is a tool
used by those in power to control
society and maintain dominance
• These sociologists say school has a
hidden curriculum of...
• Teach students work habits and
values to work for the elite
Maintaining Class Structure
• Conflict theorists believe that forces behind the classroom
promote the interest of society’s elite and perpetuate
social-class divisions
• Regardless of ability, children from wealthier families are
university bound, less wealthy-vocational programs
• Sociologists Henslin&Nelson(1996) stated that people
with higher educations earn more money and patterns of
inequality reproduce
Activity: Worksheet
• Complete the Worksheet, it should be
used as a study tool!
• Always remember to add terms to your
vocabulary sheet.