Chapter 13 Education

True Blue Sociology CrewFlat Tires on the Bus Group

Trisha Koch: Medical FieldTavia Loberg: Medical FieldJordan Cromwell: Human

Services

• Education: the social institution by which a society transmits knowledge—including basic facts and job skills, as well as cultural norms and values—to its members.

• Consequences of education problems:• Illiteracy• More inequality (racial & gender)• Low rankings nationally in basic test scores• School violence

Education

• The United States ranks below about 30 nations in terms of basic literacy in reading, mathematics, and science.

• Race affects the performance of students through language barriers, cultural attitudes, and other racial differences.

• For all categories of people, the higher risk of poverty, the lower the educational achievement.• Children from low-income families face a double burden of

fewer educational opportunities at school and home.• Certain segments of the U.S. population are more likely than others

to drop out.• As much as 15% of the U.S. adult population is functionally

illiterate.

Problems with U.S. Education

• Racial segregation occurs because communities are usually predominantly one race.

• Schools are typically funded by taxes from a community,; therefore, schools in low-income areas will have less resources than those in wealthier areas.

• Tracking provides unfair opportunities, and students usually end up following the path of a self-fulfilling prophecy: a situation in which people who are defined in a certain way eventually think and act as if the definition were true.

• Gender tends to shape the quality of education.• There is a teacher shortage throughout the country.

Problems with U.S. Education

• Social inequality in the U.S. society allows some students to perform better than others.

• School funding varies from school to school by large amounts.• This leads to some schools having new

supplies, being cleaner, and employing highly trained staff, while other schools have the exact opposite.

• Hidden curriculum: explicit and subtle presentations of political or cultural ideas in the classroom that support the status quo• Examples of hidden curriculum include:

• Teaching students that • Social problems are individualistic• The existing economic and political

systems are natural• The United States is the superior nation

• Schools are teaching students to follow directions, respect authority figures, and to fit into the system instead of to think creatively and critically.

Social Conflict Theory

Structural Functional Theory• The smooth operation of modern societies

depends on schooling according to the structural functional theory.

• Schooling is an important system of social placement. Society looks to schools to help people develop their talents and abilities so they can find an appropriate job.

• Schooling has been a major avenue of upward social mobility for people in search of a better life.

• Because of the cultural diversity of the U.S. population, schools also have the function of teaching widely shared cultural beliefs and values.

• U.S. society relies on schools to prepare people to participate in this country’s political and economic systems.

• Schools help integrate individuals from many different cultural traditions into a single national community.

• Schools also provide childcare for working parents, occupy young people who might otherwise have trouble finding jobs or might turn to crime.

Symbolic Interaction Theory• This theory provides a micro-level look at how individuals

experience the school system.• Students are labeled by there schools as “gifted”, “average”,

or “deficient.”• These labels reflect the work students have done, social class,

and race.• This theory suggests that tracking and other forms of labeling

can create a self-fulfilling prophecy.• If kids get told they are slow learners they are more likely to

perform poorly.

Concept Map for EducationCorrelates:Social class, gender, ethnicity, race, culture

Causes:Structural Functional-

• Cultural diversity• Integration in

schoolsSymbolic Interaction-

• Labeling• Tracking

Social Conflict-• Social inequality• Unequal funding

Consequences:• Positive:

• Upward social mobility

• High-income jobs• Less functional

illiteracy• Negative:

• Labeling• Bullying• Inequality• Low-income jobs• Low world ranking

Nature of the Problem:Dropouts, high cost of education, illiteracy, unequal funding, poor teaching, violence, racial segregation, gender inequality, teacher shortage

Solutions:Conservatives-increase competition in schools: school voucher programs, charter schools, more accountability for students and teachers, magnet schoolsLiberals-increase special programs: expand Head Start, increase bilingual programs, increase government funding for schools and other programsRadicals-fix structural inequality: make funding equal for all schools, restructure the economy and political systems to create a more equal society

Tavia’s ConclusionWhat are the “real” questions?

• How does inequality actually affect schools?

• Does integration truly affect people’s performance in school?

• Does tracking really provide students with schooling consistent with their interests and abilities?

Trisha’s ConclusionWhat are the “real” questions?

• What is really the cause of all of the educational problems?

• Do the people at a disadvantage in school truly believe it is their fault?• How does the structure of the educational system

do this?• Are there any “real” solutions for the problems of

education?

Jordan’s ConclusionWhat are the “real” questions?

• Why are dropout rates still increasing among certain groups?

• Why do some schools spend more money on their students than other schools in certain states? Is this causing problems?

• Why are more schools not incorporating the school voucher program or other programs to provide more options?