Goal Achievement

Synonyms

Instruction outcome; Knowledge achievements; Political trust and integration; Social integration; Socialization

Description

Education systems serve different and often contradictory goals.

Sociologists distinguish three functions of education in society. These functions can be intended an overt but also unintended and covert:

• 1. Qualification. Education is to provide pupils with knowledge and skills so that they can become productive workers and citizens.

• 2. Differentiation. Education systems also act as “sorting machines,” as they sort and select different pupils in different tracks, levels, and courses. In accordance with the meritocratic ideal, pupils are to be sorted according to merit (achievement rather than ascription). In practice, pupils are also sorted according to race, social class, and gender.

• 3. Integration. Education systems also have a function to socialize new and newborn citizens into a common history and culture. In this respect education has a function in...