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John F. Kennedy once said, "Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education." Indeed, education is the cornerstone of any modern society. It is the vehicle we use to pass along our knowledge and culture to future generations. To better understand our system of education, it is best to examine it from multiple perspectives. This paper will use two distinct social theories to explore the roles of education in society. First, we will look at education through the sociological lens of functionalism. Then, we will view the institution of education as a conflict theorist sees it. Before we apply our two social theories to the topic of education, it would be helpful to review the meaning and background of those theories.

Functionalism is a social paradigm that views society as a system of interdependent parts, or subsystems. For society to work, all parts of the whole must have a general consensus. For example, they must have shared values to provide societal expectations of individuals. Another aspect of a functional society is the existence of common symbols. These symbols give the individuals and collectives in the society common ground to base communication on. When a general consensus does exist within a society, that society can be said to be in a state of equilibrium.

The aspiration of equilibrium is the precursor for the emergence of functionalism. In 19th century Europe, the industrial revolution and the French revolution were changing the social climate. These changes were leading to what was perceived as a social crisis. Functionalism was sociology's attempt to reestablish social order and stability (Sociology at Hewett, 2007).

The French sociologist mile Durkheim is credited with being the first to link functionalism with sociology. His work was influenced by the concept of functionalism within other sciences such as anthropology and biology. Functionalism was the key concept in most of Durkheim's work (Sociology at Hewett, 2007). His writings on the division of labor, religion, and crime have been very influential on later functionalists like Talcott Parsons and Robert Merton (Wikipedia, 2007).

Like functionalism, conflict theory also views society as a system of social structures. However, conflict theorists have a different opinion on the purpose of those structures. While functionalism views the sub-systems within the system of a society as entities that work together for the benefit of all, conflict theory holds that the sub-systems

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