Secondary agents of socialization
The secondary agents of socialization and function to build on what has been learned during primary socialization in order to help the child to take their place in wider society.
Functionalists see education systems as essential in that they transmit shared cultural values, thus producing conformity and consensus.
Durkheim believed that some subjects such history, language and religious, education link the individual to society, past and present, by encouraging a sense of pride in the historical and religious achievements of their nation. This reinforces their sense of belonging of society.
Parsons argued that the main function of education was to act as a social bridge between the family unit and wider society. Education socializes children- achievement, competition and individualism, functionalists see the transmission of these values as essential in preparing young people for the world work.
Marxist- Althusser (1971), argue that education as an agency of socialization is dominated by a hidden curriculum- a ruling-class ideology that encourages conformity and an unquestioning acceptance of the organization of the capitalism. Working-class pupils are socialized to see their failure as their own fault and as deserved rather than being caused by capitalism’s need for a relatively uneducated manual labour force.
Many sociologist argue that mass media- newspapers, magazines, television, films, pop music, computer games, the internet- comprise the most significant socialization agency today. As far as influence over values and norms are concerned. Mass media offer a window onto the wider world and provide much of the important required to make sense of events that have bearing on our everyday lives. Also media may have the power to structure how and what we think.

New vocationalism
Until 1970s, vocational training- training for work was seen as the responsibility of employers. They teach new recruit’s the skills needed in the work place. Also in the schools for the young people who lacked the skills required by industry, and the line of argument led to the new vocationalism.
Aims of vocational education have focused on two main areas:
First, to provide the training needed for a high wage/high skill economy, so that the UK can compete successfully in world markets.
Second, to reduce unemployment, particularly for young people.
2 Compare the political views on the role of education
a) Liberals
b) Social Democrat
c) New Right

''Liberal Education is an approach to learning that empowers individuals and prepares them to deal with complexity, diversity, and change. It provides students with broad knowledge of the wider world (e.g. science, culture, and society) as well as in-depth study in a specific area of interest. A liberal education helps students develop a sense of social responsibility, as well as strong and transferable intellectual and practical skills such as communication, analytical and problem-solving skills, and a demonstrated ability to apply knowledge and skills in real-world settings. ''

Social Democratic have had an important influence on government educational policy. Social democratic theorists start the view that everybody should have an equal chance to succeed in the educational system, it also brings practical benefits. A well educated- workforce will lead to economic growth. In democracy everybody has a right to equal opportunity. If people have not opportunity to develop their aptitudes and abilities, then their contribution to society as a whole will be reduced.
New Right policies favour the use of market forces as a method of distributing resources. In a free market, consumers have choice and choose between a range of products. Producers compete to produce the best price. In this way, schools compete to attract pupils and educational standards to improve.
Their first actions, though, involved trying to tackle the growing problem of youth unemployment .