1. The Sociology of Education
14.1

2. Introduction
Society’s future largely depends on the successful socialization of new members
Young members must be taught norms and values and skills necessary to continue the work of the older generation
Education- consists of the roles and norms that ensure the transmission of knowledge, values, and patterns of behavior to one generation to the next

3. Introduction
Preindustrial societies: education is informal and occurs through process of socialization within the family; cooking, pottery making, food gathering, hunting, and fishing
More complex societies: the family shares the process of educating the young with formal established organizations
Schooling: formal education, which involves instruction by specially trained teachers who follow officially recognized policies

4. Functionalist Perspective
Believe that the functions performed by education work to maintain the stability and smooth operation of society
Teaching Knowledge and Skills
Basic function of education is to teach children the knowledge and skills they will need in the adult world
Use language, literature, history, geography, mathematics, science and foreign languages
Education serves to generate new knowledge

5. Functionalist Perspective
Transmission of Culture: To survive, societies must pass on the core values of their culture to following generations
Teach patriotism, loyalty, and socially acceptable forms of behavior
American Culture: salute the flag, recite the Pledge of Alliance, stand for National Anthem, free- enterprise system, individualism and democracy
Schools teach socially acceptable behavior by teaching children to be punctual, to obey rules, and to respect authority

6. Functionalist Perspective
Social Integration: Education serves to produce a society of individuals who share a common national identity
“melting pot”- immigrants identities were melted down to form a new, American identity
Today: view American society as mosaic- a picture formed by putting together small pieces of tile. Tiles represent separate and distinct people and cultures

7. Functionalist Perspective
Occupational Placement: Education often serves to screen and select the members of society for the work they will do as adults
Societies assign adult positions on the basis of ascribed status or on the basis of achieved statuses
United States: Identify and students who show special talents and abilities at an early age
Tested and evaluated
Steered toward college-prep courses while others are steered toward vocational courses or other non-college programs
Japanese: only admitted to college if they pass entrance exams
Very demanding and require large amounts of studying
“cram schools”- prepare for the tests
“examination war”- national event and have media coverage
Future employment depends on the university and scores

8. Conflict Perspective
Believe that educational system serves to limit the potential of certain individuals and groups to gain power and social rewards
Social Control: serves to produce unquestioning citizens who accept the basic inequalities of the social system
Hidden curriculum: school’s transmission of cultural goals that are not openly acknowledged
Teaching conservative set of values that center on obedience to authority
Goal: to produce cooperative adult workers who will willingly accept the demands of the those in power

9. Conflict Perspective
Tracking: the assignment of students to different types of educational programs, such as general studies, vocational training, and college-preparatory studies
View tracking as a means by which the wealthy and powerful maintain their position in society
Assigned tracks on the basis of intelligence and aptitude test scores, classroom grades, and teacher evaluations
Minorities and lower social classes are typically assigned lower tracks
Higher tracks: assigned college-track courses geared for college prep and higher paying jobs
Lower Tracks: blue-collar vocational jobs with low salaries and prestige
Jeanne Oaks: higher –track classes encourage the development of skills related to critical thinking, problem-solving, and creative writing; lower-track: memorization and class room drills

10. Conflict Perspective Educational and Socioeconomic Status
Believe that education is the key to social mobility
Functionalist: view education as a system that gives all people the chance to succeed according to their own abilities and talents
Conflict Sociologists: argue that the opportunities for educational success and social mobility are distributed unequally
Education achievement appears to be tied strongly to socioeconomic status
Higher status families: assume that their children will succeed at school and therefore tend to motivate them toward the end
Lower Status families: hope their children will be successful, but do not necessarily believe education is the key to success

11. Conflict Perspective
Higher-status families are better able to provide a home environment well-suited to enrich learning
Homes contain books, and toys that stimulate creativity and thought
Higher-status families are better able to pay the expenses of putting their children through college

12. Interactionist Perspective
Seek to explain social phenomena in terms of the interaction among the individuals involved
Rist’s Study: student-teacher interaction in grade school; students put into three groups based on social class– fast, average, and slow learners; fast learners receive more attention and praise than the other learners; at end of year fast learners were performing at a higher level

13. Interactionist Perspective
Pederson and Annette Study: power of teacher expectations
Teacher encouraged all students, worked with slow learners as much or more then fast learners, stressed the value of education and the importance of hard work
Rosenthal and Jacobsen’s Study: tested grade school students; picked at random not the best scorers and showed them more attention and care and they proved to do better than those not selected
All three studies provide examples of the self-fulfilling prophecy- a prediction that leads to behavior that the prediction come true---”teachers, through words and actions, let students know what is expected of them, and the students perform according to these expectations