Functionalist Theory of Education

Functionalism is a social theory that has been applied to education. Within the functionalist paradigm, society is understood as stable and the components [Page 293]of society in balance with one another. At the core of functionalism are two ideas. First, it is possible to study the social world through scientific methods used in the sciences. A functionalist would expect that objective examination of social phenomena would yield an understanding of the laws of social behavior. The second core belief of functionalism is that society is comprised of interrelated parts that can be understood in terms of the function they serve in the total system. This concept is closely related to the biological understanding of how organisms survive. Each organ serves a vital purpose in the ...