Importance Of Conflict Theory In Education

Education hits many hot spots in today’s society: funding, test scores, school choice, gender equality, race division, and economic division. Just looking through Washington Post articles online you see there are constant articles referring to many of the hot topics in education such as: Parents and teachers rally for public education funding at schools across the country, Beyond test scores: The right way to asses students and schools, and finally An urban school serving needy kids posted big test gains. How did they do it? Education is constantly talked about in the media and in day to day living as the “answer” to many things, but is education the necessary functional building block to our society as we see through functionalist thought or is education actually used as a way to keep people divided and unequal as in the conflict theory?
Functional theory highlights how education can serve different needs in society in a positive way. In fact, educational settings are usually the …show more content…
Education is all about preserving our current way of life or making it better, keeping society functioning in an “ideal” way, the way we are comfortable with. Conflict theory honestly shows us what our shortcomings are, not allowing those with different strengths, socioeconomic backgrounds, and ethnic backgrounds to raise above their current status to move into a different realm of possibilities for themselves. The stories found online were more about the inequalities in education and how to make them more equal or at least obtainable. Considering both ideas of thought would be the best way to reform our school system to make it more productive and useful for