INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY EDUCATION

What is Education? Education is the social institution through which society provides its members with important knowledge, including basic facts, job skills and cultural norms and values

education In many high-income nations, education is largely a matter of schooling (formal instruction under the direction of specially trained teachers)

Functions of Schooling

socialization In many societies families transmit a way of life from generation to generation but as societies gain more complex technology, they develop a trained workforce to pass on specialized knowledge

Cultural Innovation Schools create new technologies and new ideas. Particularly in higher education, scholars conduct research that leads to new discoveries that can change our way of living

Social Integration Schools mold a diverse population into one society sharing norms and values. This is one of the reasons why states enacted mandatory education when immigration was high

Social Placement Schools identify talent and match instruction to ability Schooling can suggest the existence of a meritocracy by rewarding talent and hard work regardless of background and providing a path to upward mobility

Latent functions Schooling can also provide a form of child care Schooling occupies thousands of young people in their twenties who would otherwise compete for a limited number of jobs

Schooling and Inequality Conflict theory challenges the functionalist view of schooling Conflict theory emphasizes how schooling can cause and perpetuate inequality

Social control The demand for public education arose just as capitalists needed an obedient and disciplined workforce; once in school immigrants learned English and how to follow orders within this economic system

testing Aptitude tests used by schools reflect our society’s dominant culture placing minority populations at a disadvantage By defining majority students as smarter, standardized tests transform priviledge into personal merit

tracking Tracking supposedly helps teachers meet a student’s needs and interests but our system typically places students from priviledged(I like the English spelling damnit) backgrounds into higher tracks where they receive more of what an educational structure has to offer