Chapter 9 - Diversity and Culture in Education
Educational Foundations of Diversity
Analysis of diversity is a central theme in sociology, focusing on differences among groups and the disparate ways these groups are treated within society.
Sociological belief maintains that all human behavior occurs within a social context. External factors including family, peers, schools, media, and culture shape individual identities, actions, and thoughts.
In South Africa, the transformation of education was outlined in the 1995 white paper entitled 'Education and Training in a Democratic South Africa: First Steps to Develop a New System'.
The then Minister of Education, S.M.E. Bengu, described this policy as a process to create a system serving all people, the new democracy, and the Reconstruction and Development Programme.
The White Paper on Education and Training (WPET) emphasizes providing equal opportunities based on non-discrimination, asserting that discrimination based on race, ethnicity, or gender is dehumanizing.
Defining Diversity and its Implications
Diversity is defined as unlikeness or being of a different kind, encompassing a range of differences.
The study of diversity involves:
Learning about group differences in social opportunities.
Addressing how social factors influence social institutions.
Developing group and individual identity.
Analyzing processes of social change.
Roosevelt-Thomas () posits that managing diversity is not about controlling or containing it, but about enabling every member to perform to their full potential.
Diversity is often perceived as a problem by educators and communities. The arrival of new student groups can lead to racial conflict, bias, and intolerance.
Teachers and learners in receiving schools may view newcomers as threats, reacting with hostility and resentment.
Noguera () suggests that schools serve as the initial meeting place for different cultures. It is vital for educators to ensure these encounters are positive experiences for children, parents, and teachers to reap the benefits of pluralism.
The Process of Socialization and Identity Formation
Socialization is the process through which individuals learn the expectations of society and answer the question, "Who am I?"
Social identities are guided by factors such as gender, race, class, religion, and disabilities. Identity is generally given by others, as individuals come to see themselves as others see them.
The case study of feral children illustrates the consequences of life without a social context:
Genie was a -year-old girl discovered in in Los Angeles.
She weighed only and stood tall.
She had been kept in total isolation, beaten for making sounds, and deprived of toys and social interaction.
Her physical and social stunting proves that while genes provide biological components like a brain and skin, humans only become social beings by learning cultural values, norms, and roles.
Sociological perspectives on identity:
Functionalism: Socialization integrates people into society by internalizing social roles and values to achieve social consensus.
Conflict Theory: Identity emerges within a context of inequality. Group identity is shaped by the different opportunities available to various groups.
Symbolic Interactionism: Identity is socially bestowed and sustained. It is constantly reconstructed as people interact within their environment. Childhood itself is viewed as a socially constructed category.
Understanding Culture in Society
Culture is defined as the way of life of a people, specifically the human-created strategies for adjusting to the environment and other creatures.
Elements of culture include dress, religion, food, sports, and language.
Culture as cultivation involves enhancing skills via effort and discipline. Examples include South African traditional dances which symbolize pride and serve specific purposes:
Zulu culture: ukusina, ukugiya, and indlamu.
Xhosa culture: ukuxhensa.
South Sotho culture: boriba.
Culture as tradition: This perspective emphasizes passing distinguishing traits of ethnic groups and families to new generations. It dictates daily activities (e.g., specific meal times in the West) and rituals.
The Varemba group in Zimbabwe practices initiation ceremonies ( for males and for females) every June, even when it interrupts school studies.
Culture as information bits: Proposed by Erickson (), this refers to "chunks of knowledge" stored in individuals that may not be written down. Individuals may only acquire parts of their culture, and cultures can become diluted or eroded through interaction with outside groups.
Culture as symbol system: Groups function using defined symbols. Languages serve as primary symbols (e.g., isiZulu, IsiXhosa, Xitsonga, and TshiVenda). Dress, songs, and dances also function as symbolic cultural markers.
Culture as motive and emotion: Repeating activities creates emotional attachments. This explains why individuals remain in their home countries despite political or economic instability.
Culture and power: In many societies, power is allocated to elders who act as advisors and dispute solvers. This can lead to conflict with modern education which encourages critical thinking and questioning of traditional practices like dress codes.
Social Stratification and Life Chances
Social stratification is the process of categorizing and ranking people within families and society, which directly affects their life chances.
Life chances, as defined by Gerth and Mills (), include the probability of surviving the first year of life, remaining healthy, viewing fine art, avoiding delinquency, and completing higher education.
Criteria for ranking include physical attractiveness, occupation, age, and test scores.
Ascribed characteristics: Attributes assigned at birth, such as skin color, sex, and royal status (e.g., chieftains or British monarchs). These include inherited religious affiliations and national origins.
Achieved characteristics: Attributes learned or earned through hard work and choice, such as occupation, marital status, income, and education level.
Stratification systems:
Caste (Closed) System: Rigid ranking based on ascribed characteristics (e.g., Indian caste system pre-WWII, Apartheid South Africa where race and identity cards dictated status).
Class (Open) System: Ranking based on merit, talent, ability, or performance.
Sociological Perspectives on Gender
Gender refers to culturally created distinctive qualities of men and women, while sex refers to biological and anatomical differences.
Functionalism: Gender differentiation contributes to social stability. Men typically fulfill instrumental roles (working and supporting the family), while women fulfill expressive/supportive roles as nurturers. Talcott Parsons argues this division ensures societal tasks are fulfilled.
Conflict Theory: Gender differences reflect the suppression of women. Marxist traditions assert that private ownership of the means of production allows men to gain power over women. Wage gaps are seen as the result of devaluing women's work.
Symbolic Interactionism: Gender is an ongoing accomplishment produced and reproduced through social interaction. Acting "like a man" or "like a woman" confirms the existing social order.
Educational implications: Education can be a site of sexual domination. Goduka () provides guidelines for gender-fair teaching:
It must be continuous and integral to daily instruction.
It should address stereotypes affecting both sexes.
It must be concerned with intersections of race, religion, class, and disability.
It requires a partnership between teachers, parents, and the community.
Case study: Tanya, a -year-old mother of three, suffers domestic abuse from her respected husband. Her lack of external employment and isolation from family create barriers to escaping the situation.
Race and Racial Integration in Schools
Biological perspective: Race is a genetically isolated group with distinctive gene frequencies (alleles).
Social construction: Society defines groups as races based on physical, historical, cultural, and economic factors rather than science or logic.
Functionalism and Assimilation: Harmony is achieved when minorities blend into the dominant culture. Research indicates South African schools often follow this assimilationist route, requiring students to adjust to established institutional norms.
Symbolic Interactionism and Contact Theory: Prejudice is reduced through interaction if three conditions are met:
The parties have equal status.
The contact is sustained over time.
Participants agree on social norms favoring equality.
Conflict Theory: Racial conflict is linked to class inequality. Wilson () argues economic structural changes are more vital than addressing race alone, while others like Feagin () believe race must be addressed directly.
Class Structures and the Reproduction of Labor
Class is a large-scale grouping based on shared economic resources. It is typically fluid and achieved.
Karl Marx's View: Class is determined by the relationship to the means of production.
Bourgeoisie (Capitalists): Own and control means of production; gain wealth through capital.
Proletariat (Workers): Work for wages; vulnerable to replacement by machines or cheap labor.
Bowles and Gintis (): The education system in capitalist societies reproduces labor power via a hidden curriculum that:
Produces a passive, subservient workforce.
Encourages acceptance of hierarchy.
Motivates via external rewards.
Fragments knowledge into separate subjects.
Functionalism: Davis and Moore () argue class inequality is necessary to motivate talented people to fill important roles like governance, which deserve higher rewards.
Integration in South Africa: A socio-economic realignment is occurring where middle-class Black parents move children from township schools to former white schools in search of better education, despite exclusionary costs.
Access and Quality in Education
Functionalists see education as a unifying force providing occupational training and moral values.
Conflict theorists focus on the competition for power and how race, class, and gender act as barriers to upward mobility.
The White Paper on Education and Training pursues values of equality, non-sexism, and non-racism.
Aslam Fataar warns that prioritizing access over quality risks reproducing the racial inequalities of the apartheid era. Massification without quality may simply assign marginalized groups to the lower tiers of the educational establishment.
Questions & Discussion
Question 1: What would happen if you were swapped at birth and raised in a different economic or racial context?
Sociology suggests life outcomes would differ significantly. A family's wealth dictates the quality of schools attended, and being born a different sex or race would alter how society treats the individual, fundamentally changing their identity.
Question 2: How much of culture is "caught" versus "taught"?
Culture includes "information bits" that are often unwritten and learned through socialization. However, educational institutions and family traditions explicitly teach rituals (like the Varemba initiation) and languages.
Question 3: What is the tension between educational access and quality?
There is a risk that by broadening access without maintaining high academic standards, students are set up for failure. Conversely, strictly defending standards without addressing historical disadvantages (the legacy of apartheid) can be seen as punitive toward Black students.
Question 4: How do the various sociological perspectives interpret the case of Tanya (the abused wife)?
A functionalist might look at the breakdown of the stable family unit. A conflict theorist would highlight her economic dependence on her husband as a form of power imbalance. A symbolic interactionist would look at how her husband's "important" social status reinforces his dominance in their interactions.