1. Social Institutions: Education
Chapter 10

2. Development of Education
Education – the process/formal system by which a society transmits knowledge, values, skills, and expectations to its members so they can function in society.
Early emphasis in American schools was on “civilizing” the young
Acculturation – transmission of culture from one generation to the next
Principle means for creating a uniform national culture
Horace Mann – proposed “common schools”
Mandatory education laws – 1918

3. What Is Education?
Schooling serves a number of important functions for society.
Manifest functions:
The transmission of knowledge (reading, writing, arithmetic)
Learning to follow society’s rules and to respect authority
Being socialized to develop other qualities that will eventually make people efficient and obedient workers
The transmission of knowledge is a manifest function—that means it is an obvious function of education. Obviously, you learn to read, write, do math, and so on. Other functions are not so obvious, and those are called latent functions. Examples of latent functions include learning to follow society’s rules and to respect authority, and being socialized to develop other qualities that will eventually make us efficient and obedient workers. These goals aren’t on the class syllabus, but students learn them through interactions with teachers and others within the system.

4. What Is Education? (cont'd)
Latent functions – Educational institutions also help to reproduce the inequality seen in society.
The hidden curriculum describes the values and behaviors that students learn indirectly over the course of their schooling because of the educational system’s structure and teaching methods (competition, love of capitalism, nationalism, patriotism)
Corridor curriculum
It is clear that while education does benefit everyone, it unfortunately does not benefit everyone equally. Sociologists have long been interested in the hidden curriculum, which is related to the latent functions of education we just discussed. This includes things such as obedience to authority and strict adherence to norms. Many argue that the hidden curriculum reinforces and reproduces conditions of social inequality in society.
In The Credential Society, Randall Collins argues that reproducing society’s existing class structure is the true function of education.

5. Development of Education
Industrialization and universal education occurred at the same time.
Need for an educated workforce
Influx of “foreign values” – Americanize immigrants
After the turn of the 20th century, the emphasis shifted to education for jobs.
Industrialized Nations developed into credential societies
Degrees

6. Bureaucracy in Education
Large-scale school systems are formal organizations, like factories, hospitals, and business firms.
5 characteristics of bureaucracy evident in majority of schools:
1) division of labor
2) hierarchy of authority
3) written rules and regulations
4) impersonality
5) employment based on technical qualifications
According to the bureaucratic model, education for large numbers of students is more efficient when students are homogeneous in development and ability.

7. Bureaucracy in Education
According to critics of formal schooling, the school’s bureaucratic nature is unable to respond to the expressive, creative, and emotional needs of individual children.
Conflict theorists argue that the trend toward more centralized education has harmful consequences for disadvantaged persons.

8. Functionalist Perspective
Manifest Functions of Education
Teach knowledge and skills
Schools disseminate knowledge not only in the classroom.
Innovation – the creation or discovery of new knowledge through research or creative thinking.
Cultural transmission of Values
basic norms, attitudes, beliefs, and values of the society.
Individualism, competition, and patriotism.
Social integration
Schools remain a major agent of socialization. Schools offer a diverse population a common identity.
Mold into more cohesive unit and socialize into mainstream culture.
National identity that stabilizes political system
Certification – credentialized societies

9. Functionalist Perspective
Latent Functions of Education:
Family functions
child care, sex education, birth control advice.
Other functions:
Matchmaking
Social Networking
Reducing the unemployment rate
Stabilize society
- Hidden Curriculum and Corridor Curriculum

10. Conflict Perspective
Many believe that America’s educational system is in crisis, though there is little agreement on how to fix the problem.
Many believe that the U.S. is a meritocratic society, however there are recurring problems that indicate the model does not always work the way we think it does.
Meritocracy – social status is based on ability and achievement rather than social class or parental status.
all individuals have an equal chance to succeed and develop their abilities.
elite have structured public schools to reinforce the shared culture of their group.

11. Conflict Perspective Perpetuates Social Inequality
The Hidden Curriculum – refers to the unwritten rules of behavior and attitude taught in school in addition to formal curriculum
Discrimination by IQ – not only measure intelligence but also culturally acquired knowledge; reflect a cultural bias that favors middle class and discriminates against minority and lower-class students.
Different types of knowledge
White/Ethno-centric emphasis at all levels of curriculum development/class material/books
Unequal Funding – stacks the decks against minorities and the poor

12. What Is Education? (cont'd)
Kozol’s ethnography, Savage Inequalities, contends that because schools are funded by local property taxes, children in poor neighborhoods are trapped in poor schools, which reinforces inequality.
Documents the significant differences among America’s schools:
“the highest spending districts have twice as many art, music, and foreign language teachers percent more physical education teachers percent more nurses, school librarians, guidance counselors, and psychologists and 60 percent more personnel in school administration than the low-spending districts.”
Kozol documents the significant differences among America’s schools: “the highest spending districts have twice as many art, music, and foreign language teachers percent more physical education teachers percent more nurses, school librarians, guidance counselors, and psychologists and 60 percent more personnel in school administration than the low-spending districts.”

13. The Unequal Funding of Education

14. Feminist Perspective Treatment of Women in Education
Oberlin College was first to admit women in 1833
Many female students were encouraged to serve men and become wives and mothers
Educational discrimination is evident in university professorship and administrative positions, which are predominantly held by men.
In 21st century, sexism in:
Stereotypes in textbooks
Pressure to study traditional women’s subjects
Unequal funding for athletics
Women have made strides in continuing education

15. Symbolic Interaction
Study face to face interaction inside the classroom.
Self-fulfilling prophecy – Rist research
In a coeducational setting:
Girls learn to talk softly, avoid certain subjects, defer to the alleged intellectual superiority of boys, and to emphasize appearance over intelligence.
Boys are more talkative in class, raise their hands more often, move around more, argue with teachers more, and get more of the teachers’ attention than do girls.

16. Problems in US Education
Rising Tide of Mediocrity
Cheating on SATs
Grade Inflation
Functional Illiteracy
Social Promotion
Cheating by Administrators
Violence

17. Solutions in US Education
Higher Standards
Raising them for Teachers
Raising them for Students
Warning About Higher Standards
School Choice
Sitebased Management

18. Higher Education College Enrollment
Several trends account for the continued increase in college enrollment.
despite a decline in the number of year-olds, a substantially larger proportion of this age category is attending college
the number of students over age 24 attending college, particularly women, continues to grow
the number of students remaining in college after their first year has increased.

19. Four Factors account for these trends:
fearful of declining enrollments, colleges and universities have mounted strong student recruitment campaigns.
low-paying service jobs increasingly replace high-paying manufacturing jobs, resulting in fewer attractive non-educational options for those with only high school diplomas
the increase in the number of community and branch colleges offers an opportunity for many who could not otherwise have enrolled to continue their education
the recession that began in 2008, with its persistently high unemployment, is fueling the increase as well.

20. State Budgets and the Cost of College
At the same time that college enrollments are accelerating, state revenue shortfalls across the nation are spawning deep cuts in higher education budgets.
State colleges and universities have responded to reduced state funding by increasing both private funding and tuition charges.

21. Economic Benefits of College
Is college worth the investment?
A college degree is a ticket to better jobs and higher incomes.
How strong is the relationship between occupational status and education?
The benefits of college are even more apparent occupationally.

22. Community Colleges College enrollment is at an all-time high.
The enrollment surge in American’s 12,000 community colleges contributes heavily to this continued growth of college enrollment.
In 2011, two-year schools accounted for over 43 % of the total number of students in public institutions of higher education.

23. Distance Learning
What are the advantages of distance learning to colleges and universities?
Online instructional technology allows faculty to deliver pretty much the same content that they present in class, but for less money.

24. Questions for Consideration
Can you think of specific examples from your educational experience that demonstrate a hidden curriculum?
What do you think are future impacts to higher education? How does this impact you?