Answering 5 mark questions

MARKS 2 marks for description 3 marks for explanation

MARKS Different to 4 marks: A definition with some development, an example with some further development

2 marks for description 3 marks for explanation Describe one function that education may perform for society and explain how this may benefit society. (5 marks) 2 marks for description One function that both Marxists and functionalists identify is role allocation. The processes of education such as setting, streaming, GCSE and A Level subject choice, and examinations all help sift and sort students into a specific role. For example, a student who is interested in engineering and is successful at sciences is likely to pursue these subjects both at school and university. 3 marks for explanation However, Marxists and functionalists have contrasting views about whether or not role allocation is a good thing or not. On the one hand functionalists think that it is a good thing because education sifts and sorts the most appropriate people for specific jobs. They argue that the meritocratic system means that people are selected according to their merits and effort. On the other, Marxists think that role allocation is purely based on social class – middle class students are largely allocated to professional roles whereas working class students are allocated to manual lower status jobs. They argue that the education system is biased and geared to reproduce class inequalities. Private schools for example are only attended by 10% of students and those who attend are much more likely to succeed.

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