1. From the object of action, educational function can be divided into individual function and social function.
As an independent system, education is an activity to cultivate people. Promoting people's all-round development is the purpose and value pursuit of education. The actual performance of this ideal pursuit in educational practice and the individual function of education are determined by the internal structure of educational activities, such as the level of teachers, curriculum, the modernization level of educational material means and their application, which all constitute important factors affecting the direction and level of individual development.
The operation of education is inseparable from external conditions. The external environment has also become an important factor affecting individual development, such as peace, stability and prosperity of contemporary society, which provides favorable opportunities for individual development, and education can promote individual development.
As a subsystem of social structure, education affects the existence and development of society by cultivating people, which constitutes the social function of education. Strictly speaking, it is not the function of education itself, but the function of educating people to participate in social life. Therefore, the social function of education is the derivative of the ontological function of education in the social structure, which is also called the tool function of education.
2. From the perspective of function, educational function can be divided into positive function and negative function.
This is a dimension of functional analysis put forward by American sociologist Merton in the late 1950s. Merton is an objective functionalist. He pointed out: "Social function refers to visible objective results, not subjective intentions (goals, motives and purposes). If we can't distinguish between objective social consequences and subjective intentions, it will inevitably lead to confusion in functional analysis. "
Since it is an objective result, the role is not necessarily a positive promotion, but may also be a negative obstacle. Therefore, he put forward the classification of positive and negative effects.
The so-called positive functions are the observable results that are helpful to the adaptation or adjustment of a specific system; Negative function is an observable result that is not conducive to system adaptation or adjustment. In other words, the positive function is the "contribution" function and the negative function is the damage function.
3. From the manifestation of function, educational function can be divided into explicit function and implicit function.
Dominance and invisibility are also a dimension of Merton's analytical function. Merton pointed out that the dominant function is the situation that subjective goals are consistent with objective results; Implicit function is the opposite of explicit function, which means that the result is neither planned in advance nor perceptible. It can be seen that the explicit function is a purposeful function, while the implicit function is an unexpected result beyond the subjective desire.
According to Merton's thought, the educational function is also divided into explicit and implicit. Explicit educational function is the consistent result of education in actual operation according to educational purpose.
For example, promoting people's all-round harmonious development and social progress is the expression of explicit educational function. Implicit educational function is an unexpected function accompanied by explicit educational function. For example, education replicates existing social relations, reproduces social inequality, and schools take care of children, all of which are manifestations of hidden functions. The distinction between explicit and implicit is relative, and once the implicit potential function is consciously developed, it becomes an explicit educational function.