The sociology of education studies formal schooling as a social institution that does far more than transmit academic knowledge: structural functionalists, following Émile Durkheim, describe schools as socialization agencies that teach children how to get along with others and prepare them for adult economic roles, partly through an explicit curriculum and partly through a 'hidden curriculum' of norms and values. A second core function is credentialing and role placement, sorting students for the labor market. Conflict theorists, drawing on Pierre Bourdieu, argue this sorting reproduces existing social inequality, because schools treat the dominant group's 'cultural capital' as the natural and only proper kind, giving already-advantaged students a built-in edge.
Facts
Institution TypeSourced to the subject's own accountSocialization/credentialing institution (also functions as a stratification mechanism per conflict theory) 1 Emergence PeriodSourced to the subject's own accountFormal, institutionalized mass schooling is a comparatively late development tied to industrialization and the modern nation-state, though narrower formal educational institutions (such as the Chinese imperial examination system) go back centuries earlier; systematic sociological analysis of education as an institution began around the turn of the 20th century with Durkheim and Max Weber. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Informed By
Durkheim's structural-functionalist account describes schools as socialization agencies preparing children for adult social and economic roles.
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