Sociology and Education

Education is the process by which knowledge is imparted, skills developed and abilities trained. It is used to prepare citizens for various roles demanded by social institutions, such as family, government and economy ( Schaeffer, 2001). A society’s survival depends on the ability of its members to maintain and pass on the culture to succeeding generations (Preston & Smith, ) Education is an ongoing process that takes place in all locations, such as while watching television, attending religious services or visiting places of interest. Education happens everywhere and is a lifelong process ( Arends, 1998) In agrarian societies, children were educated by imitating adults. While imitative learning and informal training fit the needs of small societies, they are ineffective for larger technological societies where there are advanced economic and culturally diversed population. Highly specialized occupations have arisen and new forms of technology have been created which demand a higher level of human judgement and knowledge ( Giddens, 1990). As a result, skills needed in today’s society cannot be left to chance, thus the process of education has become informal and learning is now organized into a curriculum and taught for a specified number of years in institutions such as schools and colleges. Formal education is provided by teachers, lectures and professors. This essay examined and critiqued Durkheim’s functionalist perspective and the Marxian’s perspective to education. The views of a random sample of primary school teachers to Durkheim’s functionalist perspective were examined to determine the implications of their views to educational reform in Barbados. were analysed. The functionalist view was selected because their educational reform created structures, plans and curriculum that were technically advanced , rationale and promoted social unity ( Balantine & Spade, ) To adequately accomplish this task, a few terms were defined.