education - sociological perspective

education

general term, norms, values, and knowledge

Education occurs first...

Informally through family and community

formal education

education that occurs within academic institutions

mass education

the extension of formal schooling to wide segments of the populations

Facts of educations

- first schools created by the Puritans
- Education is a birth right of all citizens
- principal of means of training workers and citizens

Middle --> upperclass traditionally attend

private schools

lower class traditionally attend

public schools

public education

- universal public education system provided by the government and funded by tax revenues rather than student fees
- born out of labor union activism and African American efforts during reconstruction
- often segregated by gender and race

literacy

the ability to read and write at a basic level

transition to a post industrial economy

education becomes increasingly important for all jobs and social status depends on a certificate and diploma for proof of formal education
- degree serves filter, determining jobs and promotions
- shape opportunities for social and economic mobility
- still puts people into existing class and social hierarchy

Functionalist Perspective: Durkheim-

educational institutions socialize members and promote social solidarity

manifest function

transmission of general knowledge and specific skills, workplace habit (recognized)

latent function

propagation of societal norm and values ; child care; peer socialization reinforcement of gender norms (unrecognized)

moral education

be attentive, share, behave

critique

functions to reproduce inequality and may promote critical approach to dominate ideas may produce equality
- the way schools are funded promotes inequality

Conflict perspective - agrees with functionalist perspective:

education trains people in dominate norms and values of society
- reproduces rather than reduces social stratification
- ensures limited discovery of talent
- low income and minority children lack equal access to educational opportunities

hidden curriculum

latent function that socializes working class to accept their position

symbolic interacionalist perspective

-microlevel perspective
-observers how certain students preform in class being labeled as "exceptional"
-students find teachers treat students they believe to be gifted or exceptional differently

self fulfilling prophecy

students come to see themselves through teachers eyes and perform better/worse accordingly

word poverty and illiteracy is linked to

-economic disadvantage
-an impoverished language environment
-less books at home
-children hear 32 million less words spoken to them
-lower vocabulary
-translates into lower literacy

functional literacy

ability to read and write at level to fulfill everyday practical needs

School segregation

education of radical minorities in schools that are geographically, economically, socially separated from those attended by whites

southern states school segregation

Jim Crow laws legalized segregation

northern states school segregation

segregated due to residential patterns

Plessey V. Ferguson (1896)

Supreme Court decision upheld states rights to segregated on the basis of "separate but equal" principal

Brown V. The Board of Education (1954)

Supreme Court reversed Plessey V. Ferguson ruled segregation is unconstitutional

School Busing

ordered program that transports public school students to schools outside their neighborhood
-segregation persisted and even worsened radical conflict in south Boston

De Facto school segregation persists due to various factors

-school funding formulas based on property taxes
- "white flight" to the suburbs-->residential segregation
-income inequality

Latino and Black Students

-Chicago has highly segregated schools

Native Americans

-most segregated of all

Asian American Students

-most integrated into predominantly white schools

School Day and Academic Calendar