Functionalism, in social sciences, is a theory based on the premise that all aspects of a society—institutions, roles, norms, etc. —serve a purpose and that all are indispensable for the long-term survival of the society. Use EdrawMax or EdrawMax Online to create a functionalist perspective education diagram. As the below-elaborated illustration suggests, the functionalist theory of education focuses on how education serves the needs of society through the development of skills, encouraging social cohesion, and sorting of students. According to functionalists, the role of schools is to prepare students for participation in the institutions of society. Both in school and at work, we have to cooperate with people who are neither friends nor family, which prepares us to deal with people at work in later life.
