Applying material from Item B and your knowledge, evaluate sociological explanations of the role of education in transmitting ideas and values

Most sociologists believe that education transmits ideas and values to students in order for them to operate properly in society. However, there is some debate, especially in contemporary society, as to whether there is one cohesive idea education aims to communicate, or if the nature of the education system leads to a verity of ideas from various sources.

Modern implementation of policy has lead to a more diverse school system, which could be seen as leading to a larger range of ideas being transmitted. For example, the introduction of academies under the 1997 Blair government has lead to a variety in education as they don't need to follow the national curriculum, something that has been sustained and even amplified by the Academy Act (2010) under the Coalition government. Having schools not follow the set national curriculum and teaching their own lessons (also common in private and free schools) stops one message being communicated, as the curriculum would vary depending on the views of the institution. This is also evident in school ethos, for example in special schools (also brought under Blair 1997). If a school promotes one subject area, they're promoting it over other ones, which communicates an idea of what's valuable to society to the students. So while education does communicate ideas and values, this can vary massively depending on the nature of the specific institution. 

However, some theorists believe that the very core nature of education is to pass on the ideas of one group, which they view as a form of indoctrination. Marxists believe that education is used to make the masses bow to the whim of the powerful, making them to conform to the values of the state (Illich). 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Media 10 Markers

Outline and explain two ways in which media owners might influence the content of the media The ideology held by the news owners may directly affect the content of the news, as they often have political ties and an agenda of their own due to the power they have. For example, all of Rupert Murdoch's newspapers were pro-invasion for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Murdoch himself openly held this position and consorted with politicians who also did, showing clearly the power owners have over their content. This is supported by the Marxist instumentalist approach to ownership, which states that owners have direct control over the content, and media professionals have little choice in the matter as they are under the influence, or threat of expulsion, from owners. In this model, owners not only control content for political gain, but for monetary gain as well. The priorities of the owner are usually one of these two, and regardless of which the content of their media is changed to suit it...
Read more

How have changes in society weakened the nuclear family?

The decreasing number of nuclear families in modern Britain is due to changing social opinions and an introduction of government laws in recent decades which has lead to a rise in 'atypical' families, ie ones different to nuclear. Since the end of WW2 there has been a decrease in societal expectations regarding marriage. More specifically, there is now less pressure, and it has become less of a norm, for couples to marry because they are having a child, and it is now more acceptable to have a divorce. This means that there are more single-parent families, because couples are less likely to stay together after having a child (as societal expectation doesn't point in that direction) and are more likely to divorce. As a result, this weakens the nuclear family as there are less of them, instead there is a rise in single-parent families. Also, laws such as the Equal Pay Act 1970 mean there is now less of a gap between women and men earnings (although the gap still exists...
Read more