The American sociologist Talcott Parsons 1961 outlined what is commonly accepted as the Functionalist view of education as it relates to modern societies in the late 1950s. Parsons argued that, after primary socialisation within the family, the school takes over as the focal socializing-agency: school acts as a bridge between family and. Talcott Parson on Education: Drawing on Durkheim’s ideas, the American sociologist Talcott Parsons outlined what has become the accepted functionalist view of education.writing in the late 1950s Parsons argues that after primary socialization within the family, the.