The Function of the School in Social Homeostasis

L'organisation sur une tres vaste echelle d'un systeme d'education public obli‐gatoire est un phenomene relativement recent; plusieurs societes s'en sont passe. On pent s'interroger alors sur les fonctions de l'ecole dans la societe moderne. La plupart du temps on emet l'idee que l'ecole prepare l'individu a interioriser les niveaux d'abilite et de competence exiges par une societe moderne complexe industrialisee. L'ecole sert egalement a niveler les chances de reussite et de progres des individus. Cet article affirme que les ecoles ne remplissent aucune de ces fonctions pour justifier leur existence. Elles remplissent plutot une fonc‐tion instrumentale reliee a l'insertion des adolescents dans la societe. Les adolescents de classe moyenne et bourgeoise ne peuvent integrer la societe globale tant et aussi longtemps qu'ils n'ont pas appris a respecter les normes de con‐duite de l'homme moyen. A l'inverse, les jeunes de la classe ouvriere sont con‐sentants a. reconnaitre ce respect pour leurs coutumes comme etant une egalite sur le plan des chances economiques. Compulsory public education on a massive scale is a relatively recent phenomenon; many societies have existed without it. This raises the question of what functions are performed by the schools in modern society. It is usually argued that they produce the requisite levels of skill and competence required by a modern, complex, industrialized society and that they serve to equalize opportunity for achievement and advancement on the part of everyone. This paper contends that schools do not perform either of these functions as the primary reasons for their existence. Rather they serve an escrow function in relation to the young in society, the condition being that middle‐to‐upper status youth not be released into society until they have learned to defer to “common‐man” norms of behaviour; while working‐class youth, reciprocally, tacitly agrees to accept this deference to their folkways in lieu of equal economic opportunity

Ethnology · Humanities · Political science · Sociology · Diverse Education Studies and Reforms · Education Systems and Policy · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Philosophy

• Disengaged and disaffected young people

  Open Access•Jacky Lumby•British Educational Research…•2012

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