Assess The Functionalism

Functionalism is a predominant perspective in which to analyse the British educational system. The functionalist sees education as a miniature society, where the individual develops a sense of commitment to the social group; it is a place to learn rules where the individual learns to conform to societies cultural norms and values. The functionalist perspectives of Emile Durkheim are particularly relevant to the British educational system. He believed that the major function of education was the transmission of societies norms and values. This would allow an advanced division of labour, thus contributing to economy. He believed in the process known as socialisation, where cultural norms transpose a conditioned individual, allowing entry to modern society. The economy greatly relies on educational conditioning, and it is essential that educational achievement is well balanced in the meritoractic society, for role allocation to occur. The individual must be suitably-fitted for his or her post. From a functionalist perspective schools sieve individuals in accordance to their ability for example by tiered examinations. This process in which educational failure is seen positively, aids role allocation. Parsons backed Durkheim s theory. He believed that education fulfils the function of secondary socialisation, thus allowing role allocation to occur. He firmly believed that role allocation was necessary for the functioning of society and the economy. His perspectives encouraged meritocracy, where the individual is rewarded on the basis of merit or ability. There are various conflict theories, which give different view regarding the role of education on modern Britain. For example the Marxist perspectives of education argue that the education system imposes values of a higher class origin. In addition, achievement is based merely on social background and therefore makes failure inevitable. Bowles and Gintis believed that the hidden curriculum benefits only the employer in a capitalist society, whereas a functionalist perspective would argue that without socialisation in education, the individual would not recognise the norms and values of modern society. They believed that there is a strong relationship between capitalism and the educational system. The correspondence theory of Bowles and Gents illustrates school as entry into a world of exploitive work, where the individual learns to believe in meritocracy. In contrast to a functionalist perspective, Giroux believed that the educational system is a site of ideological struggle, where the enforcement of class differences by aiding the middle class and neglecting the working class from achieving are obvious. Marxists believed that functionalism was to blame for the failure of the educational system, and because individuals are made to conform, they mostly oppose values espoused by schools. The enforcement of complacency therefore encouraged a counter school culture, the consequence of unappealing and monotonous tasks. Illch supported this view and felt that education should be an enjoyable and inspiriting institution where group work is encouraged to prevent bad behaviour and rebellion to authority. A functionalist would argue that bad behaviour, is exactly why individuals need to reform to the cultural norms of a modern day society if they are to succeed at all. Marxist and Functionalist perspectives of the role of education in modern Britain are evidently very different. Functionalism seems to be the main consensus perspective. Analysis of Functionalist views conveys the positive contribution made by education to the social system. Whereas the Marxist theories argue that the education system imposes dominant values of the middle class and neglects the working class. Marxists perspectives also believe that a disproportional amount of lower class individuals will continue to higher education as a result of ideological factors such as class and race (suggested by literature in sociology in focus ). Marxists believed that the myth of meritocracy ( Haralambos ) made the individual feel responsible for his or her own failure in education as opposed to the functionalist factors such as role allocation and the hidden curriculum which are clearly to blame for the inevitable failure of the individual. A Marxists perspective is probably more relevant to my own experience. I have experienced pressure from pier groups from higher social backgrounds of my own, and feel that without dress sense, posture, accent and money we are all able to achieve to similar standards, despite allowances sometimes made for richer more fortunate individuals. Assess The Functionalism Functionalism is a predominant perspective in which to analyse the British educational system. The functionalist sees education as a miniature society, where the individual develops a sense of commitment to the social group; it is a place to learn rules where the individual learns to conform to societies cultural norms and values. The functionalist perspectives of Emile Durkheim are particularly relevant to the British educational system. He believed that the major function of education was the transmission of societies norms and values. This would allow an advanced division of labour, thus contributing to economy. He believed in the process known as socialisation, where cultural norms transpose a conditioned individual, allowing entry to modern society. The economy greatly relies on educational conditioning, and it is essential that educational achievement is well balanced in the meritoractic society, for role allocation to occur. The individual must be suitably-fitted for his or her post. From a functionalist perspective schools sieve individuals in accordance to their ability for example by tiered examinations. This process in which educational failure is seen positively, aids role allocation. Parsons backed Durkheim s theory. He believed that education fulfils the function of secondary socialisation, thus allowing role allocation to occur. He firmly believed that role allocation was necessary for the functioning of society and the economy. His perspectives encouraged meritocracy, where the individual is rewarded on the basis of merit or ability. There are various conflict theories, which give different view regarding the role of education on modern Britain. For example the Marxist perspectives of education argue that the education system imposes values of a higher class origin. In addition, achievement is based merely on social background and therefore makes failure inevitable. Bowles and Gintis believed that the hidden curriculum benefits only the employer in a capitalist society, whereas a functionalist perspective would argue that without socialisation in education, the individual would not recognise the norms and values of modern society. They believed that there is a strong relationship between capitalism and the educational system. The correspondence theory of Bowles and Gents illustrates school as entry into a world of exploitive work, where the individual learns to believe in meritocracy. In contrast to a functionalist perspective, Giroux believed that the educational system is a site of ideological struggle, where the enforcement of class differences by aiding the middle class and neglecting the working class from achieving are obvious. Marxists believed that functionalism was to blame for the failure of the educational system, and because individuals are made to conform, they mostly oppose values espoused by schools. The enforcement of complacency therefore encouraged a counter school culture, the consequence of unappealing and monotonous tasks. Illch supported this view and felt that education should be an enjoyable and inspiriting institution where group work is encouraged to prevent bad behaviour and rebellion to authority. A functionalist would argue that bad behaviour, is exactly why individuals need to reform to the cultural norms of a modern day society if they are to succeed at all. Marxist and Functionalist perspectives of the role of education in modern Britain are evidently very different. Functionalism seems to be the main consensus perspective. Analysis of Functionalist views conveys the positive contribution made by education to the social system. Whereas the Marxist theories argue that the education system imposes dominant values of the middle class and neglects the working class. Marxists perspectives also believe that a disproportional amount of lower class individuals will continue to higher education as a result of ideological factors such as class and race (suggested by literature in sociology in focus ). Marxists believed that the myth of meritocracy ( Haralambos ) made the individual feel responsible for his or her own failure in education as opposed to the functionalist factors such as role allocation and the hidden curriculum which are clearly to blame for the inevitable failure of the individual. A Marxists perspective is probably more relevant to my own experience. I have experienced pressure from pier groups from higher social backgrounds of my own, and feel that without dress sense, posture, accent and money we are all able to achieve to similar standards, despite allowances sometimes made for richer more fortunate individuals.

High school hazing Essay

Hazing by way of definition refers to use of harassment, humiliation or abuse as away of initiating an individual into a particular gang or group. Hazing can involve either physical process which usually are violent in nature or can involve mental processes which usually are degrading in nature. The person undergoing hazing is expected to endure the ritualistic tests that he is subjected to and this is seen as a way of promoting group loyalty and bondage as it involves shared suffering with other members of the group or participants. Hazing may occur in a number of contexts including the armed forces, workplace, high schools, sororities and fraternities (Davis, 1998). Rookies let hazing to take place due to a number of reasons. They may want to be associated and belong to the in-group and hence letting themselves to be subjected to hazing. This is due to the fact that the in-group has its own beliefs, identity, norms and values. Cognitive dissonance as explained by Leon Festinger may lead to hazing. (Monarch, 1998) Despite the fact that hazing has been prevalent mover the years, it has been difficult for researchers to study it in terms of its causative underlying mechanisms because of its secretive nature. This has contributed to poor understanding of hazing. Although the many cases of hazing are never reported, various incidents have occurred where by victims have suffered severe injuries and even death. An example is an incident that occurred in Clarkson University on 10th February 1997 where a 1st year student along with his colleagues was forced to drink a large quantity of alcohol from a bucket. The poor 17 year old student was found the following day dead after allegedly choking on his own vomit (Swe et, 1999). This is just one of the many hazing stories of which the majority is not as severe. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate hazing in United States of America High Schools. The study was carried out by Alfred University, USA in April 2000. Methodology Out of approximately 15 million high school students in United States, a population sample of 20, 000 was selected which included both seniors and juniors. A survey instrument was prepared and mailed to the selected 20,000 students using their home addresses. On follow up it was discovered that only 5.46% did not reach their destination hence it was assumed that approximately 18,600 of the survey instruments were delivered. However the responses that were received totaled 1,541 which reflected an 8.28 % rate of response. The cover letter of the survey instrument consisted of enough information about the survey to solicit informed consent from the respondent and also deadline of the return of the instrument. The survey instrument consisted of the background of the respondents including their school grade, sex, resident state, type of school, and any membership in a group, race and location. The instrument also consisted of the respondents experience with hazing and its definition wher eby they were asked to state whether for each type of a group they joined because of hazing, didn’t join because they were afraid to haze, or were forced to leave the group because of hazing. Students were asked during what age they were introduced to hazing, if ever, if they reported it, and what they felt were the most appropriate ways of preventing it. The survey finally asked the students what activities they were expected to do in order to join a group or a team in high school. Initiation behavior that was used was grouped into 4 categories and was from the previous year’s study of athletes of NCAA. The grouping included community building, endangering, abuse of substance and humiliation. Open ended questions regarding the student’s suggestions about suggestions of other preventive strategies, motive for participation, experiences and consequences, afterward feelings and activities that were required of them were asked. (High School hazing, 2008) Statistica l analysis Statistical tables were used to analyze each respondent group of students. Across-tab involving gender and area of residence was employed to come up with sample weights. The six groups of females and males by region were separately weighted by frequency of sample and divided by the population to come up with estimations of prevalence and lead to production of percentages expected for whole population based to the current limited knowledge. Cross-tabular analysis employing chi-square statistics were conducted to study significant differences among groups. Activities were used to cross demographic groups in order to identify hot spots and at risk groups. Results The study found out that the students were of the view that hazing is condoned by adults. They felt that hazing was acceptable socially and they would significantly engage in the activity especially if they knew of a hazed adult. The students usually do not think hazing is a big problem. Half of the students that were involved in abuse of substance and other illegal acts as a way of being accepted into a group believed their activities as hazing. However, 98% of the students believed that dangerous hazing was not good while 86% believed that hazing that is humiliating was not good. The study also found out that student saw hazing as a way of having fun and as exciting. It was also found out that hazing begins at a young age and can progress throughout life. (Eisenber, 1986)

The Impact of the Bridge between Vancouver and Vancouver Island Essay

The Impact of the Bridge between Vancouver and Vancouver Island - Essay Example There is current debate about whether or not to build a bridge to Vancouver Island, British Columbia (BC) and the mainland. Many arguments for, and against, exist. Some believe that a bridge to Vancouver Island with provide an economic boost to the surrounding area. Others believe that a bridge to the island will lead to destruction of the pristine nature of the island. The proposed bridge is compared to the bridge built connecting Prince Edward Island and the eastern mainland of Canada (New Brunswick). Feasibility studies give a grim picture of the work required, and funds needed, to construct a bridge over the Georgia Strait. Many believe that the cost of the project would outweigh any economic gain to the Island and the mainland. Vancouver Island is serviced by an airport at Nanaimo where customers can fly to and from the mainland airports located at Victoria (southern tip of Vancouver Island) and Vancouver BC. Ferry service to the island consists of four routes: Ferry service to the island can take more than 1 hours to cross the 26 Kilometer wide Georgia Strait and cost up to $60 per car. A proposed bridge would run from Vancouver Island to the Vancouver area on the Mainland. Studies conducted in the 1980's examined the feasibility of building a fixed link (bridge) connecting Vancouver Island with Vancouver on the Mainland. ... These studies didn't end debate but did show that any type of bridge building would encounter major obstacles. Any bridge built would have to stand up to earthquakes and other engineering challenges (Ministry of Transportation). The Georgia Strait is a seismically active area. Other potential problems include (Ministry of Transportation): length of a crossing could be up to 26 kilometres water depths are up to 365 metres deep, soft sediments of up to 450 metres on the ocean bed potential marine slope instabilities along the eastern side of the Strait could result in future underwater landslides extreme wave conditions (4 to 7 metre waves, with 6 metre tides and 2 knot current) design wind speed of 115 kmh with gusts up to 180 kmh passage of major ships through the area; and the need to protect a crossing structure against ship impact (a floating bridge could not withstand the impact of a tanker vessel). Several bridge types were proposed for study. They include a bored tunnel, submerged floating tunnel, floating pontoon bridge, and a series of cable style bridges (Ministry of Transportation). The bridge proposal is often compared to the bridge that was built between Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, Canada. There are many similarities. Residents argued that a new bridge would destroy the environment on Prince Edward Island. Others argued that the convenience and fees would be lower for a fixed link than the ferry system that was in place. Both bridge locations have severe weather considerations. Theoretical Analysis Economic growth in a specified area can be accomplished in many ways. Economic growth theory is used to explain how different factors

GUIDED READING ACTIVITIES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

GUIDED READING ACTIVITIES - Essay Example They explain their stand and arguments by giving specific examples and referring to the relevant theories. In this regard, the claimed contribution to the current knowledge is the use of the dominant story in furthering ethical business conducts especially by the stakeholders of particular concerned companies. The authors of the article mainly use the dominant theory to discuss the essence of ethics in doing business in the contemporary world. They specifically state that the dominant theory is not consistent with the law in that the dominant theory puts the interests of the stakeholders first before considering the interest of the community, customers, suppliers, and the employers. In addition, the dominant theory is according to the authors resistant to change in that because of the priority given to the shareholders’ interests, the system becomes reluctant to accept change as it firmly believes in a hierarchical system of classifying various interests. Perhaps the most important feature of the dominant theory in this regard is that the dominant theory is inconsistent with the basic ethical rules. In many business environments, business ethics is a fundamental tool for ensuring that corporates operate in accordance with the international best practice. In this regard, it is appropriate to infer that the integration thesis applies to all business decisions and environments. The integration thesis states that nearly all decisions that are of business nature normally contain some element of ethics in them and the opposite is true. This means that ethical decisions also have some business implications. There is also the responsible principle that insists t hat almost everybody either want to or should take individual responsibility for the consequences of their actions. In the conclusion part, the authors offer some arguments for managing the shareholders especially if their interests seam to

139 DB wk8 ED Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

139 DB wk8 ED - Essay Example Moreover, the duties of the financial manager include preparation of financial statements, overseeing financial services, monitoring cash flows, predicting future trends in business, monitoring the financial system and offering advisory services to the top management on the best strategies of improving financial performance to ensure the growth and success of the organization. These differ from the accountants whose role is to collect financial records, prepare tax returns along side other financial records, monitor and ensure they are up to date and in a compliance to the company policies and legal standards. Nevertheless, while discharging their duties, accountants and financial manager should comply with the codes of ethics governing the preparation of financial records. As the law demands, everything should be done in a transparent manner without defrauding the organization and its stakeholders. In my opinion, people became conscious about transparency after the mega infamous accounting scandal at Enron Inc was unmasked in 2001. It was not until the senior management, accountants and auditors were jailed for engaging in fraudulent accounting activities when accountants started becoming

Managing health services for quality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Managing health services for quality - Essay Example Nonetheless, a mere increase in the budget without the corresponding increase in the number of personnel does not result in a more efficient and competent service. Efficiency will only be enhanced by a small percentage due to the heightened motivation brought about by the increase in salary. It is emphasized that while the workforce has exhibited noticeable enthusiasm in its performance, this is not reflective of true efficiency since this will plateau after a period of time when effect of the budget or wage increase has lost its appeal or when fatigue sets in. Efficiency should not therefore be measured by the amount of money poured into the NHS as the amount of money does not create more time for the same number of personnel to perform their functions with efficiency and fervour. Efficiency therefore should be computed base on the number of patients handled per NHS personnel. Please note that NHS is not composed solely of medical personnel who actually interact with patients but ra ther it is also complemented by administrative personnel and other non-essential or semi-essential staff to run efficiently. Efficiency should similarly be equated on the number of essential personnel whose responsibility involves face to face interaction with patients. Focusing on Jo Webber’s letter regarding ambulance response time, Jo was in the opinion that essential to meeting response time for ambulance is also satisfying the actual need of the patient in such time of medical distress. It would not make any sense he averred that the ambulance is at the scene simply to meet the time limit but is inutile in responding to the medical needs of the patient. It cannot be ignored however that measuring response time is the only visible aspect of emergency response that can be considered to quantify efficiency. Other factors such as effectiveness of the team will always rely on the present situation since at most every ambulance is only equipped to respond to certain emergencie s but definitely not on all emergencies. Otherwise every ambulance will be considered a moving field hospital travelling in excess of 100kph on the average. Chris Week’s letter regarding patient empowerment elucidated the need for patient to choose the kind of medical care a person would like to have and from whom. Although NHS and some HMO guarantee the best kind of service available to residents, the extent of a patient’s empowerment should not go beyond what is required to fulfil the mandate of medical practitioners to provide medical care. To illustrate: There are patients who cannot decide rationally because of their fear as to the severity of their medical condition. Imposing patient empowerment on the situation would run counter to the interest of the patient and if it remains unabated notwithstanding benign illnesses, patients would demand the performance of unnecessary tests simply to convince them of a non-existent syndrome in the first place to the detriment of those patients who are in dire need treatment. b. Cause: Regarding Richard Barnes comment: NAO’s concern although fiscal competence should also take into consideration the fiscal cost of efficiency. Fiscal cost of efficiency refers to the amount of capital needed to achieve a certain level of efficiency. In this case, it would seem that there is confusion with regards to the efficiency criteria NAO is trying to project to the public. Measuring efficiency based on the

What does the bible mean to me Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

What does the bible mean to me - Essay Example w the bible differently but I believe it to be a sacred collection of books that Christians use as a reference to God’s command during their worship as well as in their lifestyles. It provides the means of communication with God the creator who Christians believe is supernatural and whom they revere. The bible directs man on the kind of life that he should live. It is God’s way of instructing, encouraging and correcting Christians, as well as making his plan known to them. Moreover, it explains the destiny of man in the life after death, consistent with the life that one lived. The bible connects the reader with God at a deeper level so that the communication is one on one with the help of the Holy Spirit who is described in the bible as Christians’ intercessor before God. In order for the fellowship of man with God to manifest fully, it is essential to have the Holy Spirit’s intervention since the sinful nature of man separates him from God who in His nature is Holy. This is well outlined in the scripture in Isaiah 59:1-12. I consider the bible to be a very vital holy book in the life of a Christian since it gives him/her reference for their lives and enables them to connect to God and this way, they are able to know His will and purpose for their lives. As mentioned earlier, the bible clearly states the kind of life that man should live while on earth and his ultimate fate after death consistent with the life that he chose to live. Everyone should therefore seek to know the bible and obey the commands