1. Education
Chapter 14

2. 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.
Education has become vast and complex social institution; prepares citizens for roles demanded by other social institutions, such as the family, government, and economy
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.

3. SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON EDUCATION

4. Functionalist Perspective
Transmitting Culture
Exposing young people to existing beliefs, norms, and values of their culture
Sometimes nations reassess the ways in which they transmit culture to students
Promoting Social and Political Integration
Common identity and social integration fostered by education contributes to societal stability and consensus
Maintaining Social Control
Schools teach students punctuality, discipline, scheduling, responsible work habits, and how to negotiate a bureaucratic organization
Serving as an Agent of Change
Education can stimulate social change

5. Conflict Perspective Education is instrument of elite domination
Educational system socializes students into values dictated by the powerful and stifle individualism and creativity to promote relatively insignificant change
The Hidden Curriculum
Hidden curriculum: is the transmission of cultural values and attitudes, such as conformity and obedience to authority, through implied demands found in rules, routines, and regulations of schools.
Credentialism
Credentialism: belief in or reliance on academic or other formal qualifications as the best measure of a person's intelligence or ability to do a particular job
Number of occupations viewed as professions has risen
May reinforce social inequality

6. Conflict Perspective Bestowal of Status
Education can distribute members among a variety of social positions by sorting people into appropriate levels and courses of study
Tracking: practice of placing students in specific curriculum groups on basis of test scores and other criteria
In elementary schools, tracking is often referred to as ability grouping.
Class-based factors also affect which children are more likely to be placed in high, medium, or low groups (which are usually given innocuous names).
Students grouped together as less academically talented are labeled underachievers or slow learners.
Correspondence principle: promotes values expected of individuals in each social class, perpetuating social class divisions

7. Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives
Labeling and the self‑fulfilling prophecy
According to symbolic interactionists, the process of labeling is directly related to power and status of those who do the labeling and those being labeled.
Labeling is the process whereby others identify a person as possessing a specific characteristic or exhibiting a certain pattern of behavior.
For some students, labeling amounts to a self-fulfilling prophecy.
A self-fulfilling prophecy is an unsubstantiated belief or prediction that results in behavior that makes the originally false belief come true.
Teacher expectations influences their treatment of students.

8. Schools as Formal Organizations
U.S. has about 15 million high school students today
Schools are similar to factories, hospitals, and business firms
Do not operate autonomously

9. Bureaucratization of Schools
Weber’s characteristics of bureaucracy:
Division of labor
Hierarchy of authority
Written rules and regulations
Impersonality
Employment based on technical qualifications

10. Teachers: Employees and Instructors
Teachers undergo many perplexing stresses
Between a quarter and a third of new teachers quit within their first three years
Fewer students choose teaching as career due to perceived low income
In 2012, 3.2% of male and 8.2% of female first-year college students were interested in elementary or high school education

11. Figure 44-1: Average Salary for Teachers

12. Student Subcultures Student subculture complex and diverse
High school cliques and social groups form according to race, social class, physical attractiveness, placement in courses, athletic ability, and leadership roles in school and community
Gay and lesbian students particularly vulnerable
Peer group pressure to conform is intense
Four distinctive subcultures among college students:
Collegiate subculture
Academic subculture
Vocational subculture
Nonconformist subculture
Each student is exposed to competing subcultures and must determine which seems most in line with his or her feelings and interests

13. Home Schooling
It is estimated that about 1.5 million children are home-schooled in grades K through 12.
Critics counter that homeschooled children isolated from larger community
Proponents claim it is a good alternative for children with ADHD and learning disabilities
Quality control is an issue

14. Social Policy and Education: Charter Schools
Discontent with public schools
Charter schools: experimental schools that are developed and managed by individuals, groups of parents, or an educational management organization
Considered public schools, but administered outside official public school system

15. Social Policy and Education: Charter Schools
Looking at the Issue
2.6 million children enrolled in charter schools
Advocates claim they offer parents accountability for children’s education
Compete with public schools
Offer alternative that was once only available to the wealthy

16. Social Policy and Education: Charter Schools
Applying Sociology
Functionalists argue charter schools meet society’s need while serving a diverse student body
Conflict theorists believe charter schools do not represent teachers well and will contribute to decline of labor unions
Not much research on long-term impact because charter school movement is relatively new

17. Social Policy and Education: Charter Schools
Initiating Policy
In U.S., school policy is driven at local level
Many school choice programs in addition to charter school movement
Homeschooling, vouchers, etc.
Jury still out on effectiveness
Quality cannot be assumed based on a certain structure, size, affiliation, or funding source