Chapter 13 Education

Goals of Education 1.) Fulfilling a social role as a good citizen. 2.) Fulfilling a social role as a consumer 3.) Fulfilling a social role as a taxpayer.

Democratic Equality and Value Climate Democratic Equality: A goal of education that refers to the function of education to prepare good citizens. Value Climate: The atmosphere in a school. Value climate is influenced not only by the individuals in the student body but also by factors such as principal leadership, student behavior, and teacher morale.

Education: Past and Present Emile Durkheim believed, as many early sociologists did, that education served as a morally unifying force that could counteract social divisions in modern society. In today’s society, educational institutions serve more as a product, whereby students and their parents have become the consumers.

Education vs. Schooling Education: Refers broadly to the processes by which individuals develop their capacities by acquiring knowledge and receiving training in life skills. Schooling: Refers to the time spent in formal educational institutions.

Democratic Equality and Citizenship Education has been shown to be positive and directly related to voter participation in the U.S. The initial goals of training children and young people for citizenship grew out of the process of nation-building.

Citizenship Due to large-scale immigration, the new American republic feared individualistic economic striving and cultural fragmentation in the mid-nineteenth century. As an effort of prevention, people believed that future citizens should be educated into a common sense of citizenship and devotion to the public good.

Social Efficiency Social efficiency: A goal of education suggesting that the purpose of education is to train workers. Vocationalism: The shift in educational curriculum away from academic learning toward providing training for skills necessary to carry out job roles.

Functional Illiteracy Functional Illiteracy: The inability to read or write at a level sufficient for everyday living.

Social Mobility Social mobility: A goal of education pertaining to the ability of individuals or groups to change their social position or status within a social hierarchy. The negative influence of social mobility is that it can limit the other two goals of education: democratic equality and social efficiency.

Overcredentialing vs. Credential Inflation Overcredentialing: The overproduction of academic qualifications relative to the occupational need for advanced skills. Credential Inflation: The rising level of educational attainment required for jobs whose skill requirements remain largely unchanged.

Historical Summary of Education and Goals 1.) Mid-nineteenth century: In the era of the common school, democratic equality was the dominant goal. 2.) Late-nineteenth century and early twentieth century: Social efficiency and social mobility goals became more prominent.

Historical Summary (cont.) 3.) 1960s and 1970s: Goals began to turn toward democratic equality (although it was still linked to social mobility). 4.) 1980s and 1990s: Goals shifted politically to issues of social efficiency, such as maintaining or raising educational standards.

Historical Summary (cont.) 5.) End of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century: Education has increasingly been treated as a consumer good.

Different Perspectives on Education Functionalism: This perspective focuses on the contribution of the parts of a structure to the maintenance of the whole. It rests on the assumption that there is no fundamental conflict between the demands of the parts.

Different Perspectives… (cont.) Conflict perspective: The view that education contributes to maintaining the status quo by revealing how education molds individuals to fill the needs of an unequal society. It rests on the assumption that there are conflicting groups and interests in society, and that education reflects these conflicts.

Macrosocial vs. Microsocial Macrosocial: A term describing an approach that looks at the “big picture”—that is, at social structures and their role in the maintenance of a whole social system. Microsocial: A term describing an approach that focuses on individuals, such as students and teachers in the classroom. Microsocial perspectives tend to be interactionist, as they address social relationships and everyday interactions.

Interactionist Perspective The interactionist perspective became popular in the second half of the twentieth century. Labeling Theory: A microsocial attempt to explain differences in educational attainment. It maintains that students who are given the impression that they are dumb and not expected to succeed may incorporate this label as part of their identity and behave accordingly.

Cultural Capital A concept introduced by French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. Cultural capital: Refers to cultural qualities that are prized in the educational system as well as by society overall. These qualities include the “right” language, access to books, and exposure to cultural forms such as art, music, and theater.

Multiculturalism “Western culture does not try to understand the diversity of experiences of different people…If you think American culture is centered on the Constitution and the Founding Fathers, then you’re going to exclude a major part of what this country is” (pg. 441).

Cultural Relativism Cultural Relativism: In contract to ethnocentrism, a perspective whose advocates see all cultures as equally valuable and reject any ranking of cultures and their products in terms of quality.

Magnet vs. Charter Schools Magnet Schools: Schools whose aim is to distribute students and desegregate schools on the basis of special interests or talents. Charter Schools: Schools that focus on a particular method, theme, or curriculum.

Voucher System Voucher system: A market-oriented approach to education in which families with school- aged children are given money vouchers that are valid for a year of education at the school of their choice.

Figure 13.1 Adult Literacy Rates by Gender,

Study Questions Which of the three examples related in the first paragraph of this chapter is most consistent with the concerns of the functionalist perspective? Which of these examples corresponds most closely to the Weberian conflict perspective?

Study Questions (cont.) Which example offers evidence supporting the Marxist conflict perspective? Define cultural relativism and explain how it applies to the field of education. Explain Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital using concrete examples.

Study Questions (cont.) Discuss the role of class, gender, and race/ethnicity in education. Explain the role of education in achieving democratic equality. To what extent do you think this goal is currently being realized? Explain the role of education in social mobility. To what extent do you think this goal is currently being realized?