Theory

Functionalism

Some useful background reading for use as a flipped resource for the lesson can be found here:

Discover More The Functionalist Perspective

At the start of the lesson, students can be asked to write down as many Sociological terms from the reading as they can (regardless of whether they understand the concepts at this point). Then, working in pairs, students can compare lists and attempt to describe the terms to each other, before fact-checking definitions using available resources.

The teacher can then draw out a human body as representative of the ‘organic analogy’ to which the students add the names of various social institutions. Working in groups, students can discuss what would, or has happened, when one institution is not performing as it should.



More Resources from Discovering Sociology


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Marxists take a conflict view of education and argue that it operates as an ideological tool. ...

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Class and Education

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Gender and Schooling

Sue Sharpe’s classic study ‘Just Like A Girl’ can be used to introduce the n...

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Ethnicity & Education

The DfES, amongst others, have conducted surveys into the attainment of different ethnic groups i...

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Current Party Positions on Education

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Education Introduction

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In this RSA video (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce), Si...

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Race and Education

This collection of documents (see link below) presents a sample of the British Library’s archi...

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