Sociology

641 Words2 Pages

Sociology

Miss Rowbotham

Education

Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the contribution of

functionalist sociology to an understanding of the role of education

in society

A) Explain what is meant by ‘streaming’. (2 marks)

Streaming is when you organise children into different classes in

school depending on their ability.

B) Give two examples of ways in which the school curriculum may

be seen as ethnocentric. (4 marks)

The school curriculum may be seen as ethnocentric as they only teach

main culture/religion subjects and they do not give children a broad

education.

C) Suggest three ways in which schools act as agencies of

socialisation. (6 marks)

Schools act as agencies of socialisation as they teach children

manors, the difference between right and wrong – i.e. deviance, and

they give children the chance to interact with other children and

other members of society.

D) Identify and briefly explain two reasons why females in

general are now achieving better GCSE grades than males. (8 marks)

One reason that I think females are achieving better GCSE grades than

males is that more pressure is being put on females nowadays due to

women being more determined to be treated equally to men in areas such

as jobs. Another reason, is that I think women are becoming more

independent are striving harder to reach their targets and goals.

E) Explain how the hidden curriculum and processes within

schools help to produce inequalities between children of different

social classes. (20 marks)

There are processes within the hidden curriculum which could help to...

... middle of paper ...

...ent of

socialisation, and that we are judged in terms of achieved status

which is produced though education, and then work. Whereas, he

believes that family is the primary agent of socialisation and we gain

ascribed status i.e. brother, sister, mother, etc. Parsons says that

education is a meritocracy and that everyone has a fair chance,

because if you have the ability and you put in effort, then you will

achieve merit and status to go with it.

Davis and Moore believe that social stratification is a means of

ensuring that the most talented people fill the positions that are

most functionally important for society.

Overall, functionalists believe that education is good for society, as

it prepares us for work in later on. It teaches us how to interact

with people as well as academic knowledge.

He oH

More about Sociology

Open Document