Chapter 16 Education

Chapter Outline An Overview of Education Sociological Perspectives on Education Problems in Elementary and Secondary Schools School Safety and Violence at All Levels Opportunities and Challenges in Higher Education Future Trends in Education

An Overview of Education Education is the social institution responsible for the systematic transmission of knowledge, skills, and cultural values within a formally organized structure. Informal education is the learning that occurs in a spontaneous, unplanned way. Formal education is learning that takes place within an academic setting such as a school, which has a planned instructional process and teachers who convey specific knowledge, skills, and thinking processes to students. Cultural transmission is the process by which children and recent immigrants become acquainted with the dominant cultural beliefs, values, norms, and accumulated knowledge of a society. Mass education refers to providing free, public schooling for wide segments of a nation’s population.

Sociological Perspectives on Education Functionalist Perspectives Manifest functions of education: socialization transmission of culture multicultural education social control social placement change and innovation Latent functions of education: restricting some activities matchmaking and production of social networks creation of a generation gap Dysfunctions of education

Discussion How does education reproduce the existing class structure?

Conflict Perspectives Cultural capital refers to social assets that include values, beliefs, attitudes, and competencies in language and culture. Tracking refers to the practice of assigning students to specific curriculum groups and courses on the basis of their test scores, previous grades, or other criteria. The hidden curriculum is the transmission of cultural values and attitudes, such as conformity and obedience to authority, through implied demands found in the rules, routines, and regulations of schools. Credentialism refers to a process of social selection in which class advantage and social status are linked to the possession of academic qualifications.

Discussion What are some examples of how the hidden curriculum operates? What are some of the disadvantages of credentialism?

Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives A self-fulfilling prophecy is an unsubstantiated belief or prediction resulting in behavior that makes the originally false belief come true. Postmodernist Perspectives Efficiency

Problems in Elementary and Secondary Schools Unequal funding of public schools School dropouts Racial segregation Students with disabilities School vouchers Charter schools Home schooling

School Safety and Violence at All Levels Efforts to reduce and eliminate violence in schools

Opportunities and Challenges in Higher Education Community Colleges increased enrollment cost of education Four-Year Colleges and Universities high cost of education Racial and Ethnic Differences in Enrollment underrepresentation of racial minority students prejudice and discrimination

Percentage Distribution of Total Public School System Revenue Figure 16.3

The Lack of Faculty Diversity and Equity underrepresentation of racial minority faculty gender inequality Affirmative Action Affirmative action describes policies or procedures that are intended to promote equal opportunity for categories of people deemed to have been previously excluded from equality.

Future Trends in Education Education legislation Expanding innovations Funding “A Blueprint for Reform” Globalization

Quick Quiz

According to the cultural capital model: going to a school where a student will be taught by teachers of one's own culture is highly effective. children with less cultural capital coming into school will have fewer opportunities for succeeding. children with less cultural capital coming into school will catch up with the rest of the nation. going to school provides one with the essential attributes of one's culture. Answer: b According to the cultural capital model children with less cultural capital coming into school will have fewer opportunities for succeeding.

The assignment of students to specific courses and educational programs based on their test scores, previous grades, or both is called: positioning assessment placement tracking Answer: d The assignment of students to specific courses and educational programs based on their test scores, previous grades, or both is called tracking.

According to some analysts, schools teach girls that they are less important than boys. This is an example of: meritocracy the hidden curriculum credentialism affirmative action Answer: b According to some analysts, schools teach girls that they are less important than boys. This is an example of the hidden curriculum.

_____ functions are hidden, unstated, and sometimes unintended consequences of activities within an organization or institution. Manifest Dormant Latent Covert Answer: c Latent functions are hidden, unstated, and sometimes unintended consequences of activities within an organization or institution.

According to the _____ perspective, the hidden curriculum affects working class and poverty level students more than it does students from middle and upper income families. functionalist conflict symbolic-interactionist feminist Answers: b According to the conflict perspective, the hidden curriculum affects working class and poverty level students more than it does students from middle and upper income families.