Based on OpenStax Introduction to Sociology 2e For Open Educational Resource Project CSCC College Credit Plus

1. Chapter 16
Education
July 20, 2017

2. 16.1 Introduction to Education

3. Introduction to
Education
• The more necessary a college degree has become, the harder it
has become to achieve it.
• The cost of getting a college degree has risen sharply since the
mid-1980s, while government support in the form of Pell Grants
has barely increased.

4. Introduction to
Education
• The net result is that those who do graduate from college are
likely to begin a career in debt.
• As of 2013, the average of amount of a typical student's loans
amounted to around $29,000.

6. Education around the
World
 is a social institution through which a
society’s children are taught basic
academic knowledge, learning skills, and
cultural norms
Education

7. Education Around the
World
• A country’s wealth has much to do with the amount of money
spent on education.
• Countries that do not have such basic amenities as running
water are unable to support robust education systems or, in
many cases, any formal schooling at all.
• The result of this worldwide educational inequality is a social
concern for many countries, including the United States.
Global Inequality

8. Education Around the
World
 fifth among twenty-seven countries for college
participation
 sixteenth in the number of students who receive college
degrees
(National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education 2006).
As of 2006, the United States ranked:

9. Education Around the
World
 the United States had fallen from fifteenth to twenty-
fifth in the rankings for science and math (National
Public Radio 2010).
 Students at the top of the rankings hailed from
Shanghai, Finland, Hong Kong, and Singapore
Program for International Student Assessment
(PISA), indicates that :

10. Education Around the
World
 Well-established standards for education with
clear goals for all students.
 They also recruited teachers from the top 5 to10
percent of university graduates each year, which
is not the case for most countries
Nations at the top of the rankings had:

11. Education Around the
World
 Attributed 20 percent of performance differences
and the United States’ low rankings to differences
in social background.
 Researchers noted that educational resources,
including money and quality teachers, are not
distributed equitably in the United States.
Social Factors

12. Education Around the
World
 In the top-ranking countries, limited access to resources did
not necessarily predict low performance.
 Analysts also noted what they described as “resilient
students,” or those students who achieve at a higher level
than one might expect given their social background.
Social Factors

13. Education Around the
World
 In Shanghai and Singapore, the proportion of resilient
students is about 70 percent. In the United States, it is
below 30 percent.
 These insights suggest that the United States’
educational system may be on a descending path that
could detrimentally affect the country’s economy and its
social landscape
Social Factors

14. Education Around the
World
 Describes the learning of academic
facts and concepts through a formal
curriculum
Formal Education

15. Education Around the
World
 Describes learning about cultural values, norms,
and expected behaviors by participating in a
society
 This type of learning occurs both through the
formal education system and at home
Informal Education

16. Access to Education
 People’s equal ability to participate in an education system.
 Concerns worldwide include: race, gender and disabilities
 In the US, Universal access is supported through federal,
state and local government budgeting
Universal Access

18. 16.2 Theoretical Perspectives on
Education

19. Functionalism
 Functionalists view education as one of the more
important social institutions in a society.
Central Point

20. Functionalism
 They contend that education contributes two kinds
of functions:
– manifest (or primary) functions, the intended and
visible functions of education
– latent (or secondary) functions, the hidden and
unintended functions.
Manifest & Latent Functions

22. Functionalism
 Another role of schools, according to functionalist theory,
is that of sorting, or classifying students based on
academic merit or potential.
 The most capable students are identified early in schools
through testing and classroom achievements.
 Such students are placed in accelerated programs in
anticipation of successful college attendance.
Sorting

23. Functionalism
 Functionalists also contend that school, particularly in
recent years, is taking over some of the functions that
were traditionally undertaken by family.
 Society relies on schools to teach about human
sexuality as well as basic skills such as budgeting and
job applications—topics that at one time were
addressed by the family.
Serving Functions Previously Performed by the Family

24. Conflict Theory
 They believe that the educational system reinforces and
perpetuates social inequalities that arise from differences in
class, gender, race, and ethnicity.
 They believe that educational systems preserve the status
quo and push people of lower status into obedience.
Central Point

25. Conflict Theory
 To conflict theorists, schools play the role of training
working-class students to accept and retain their position as
lower members of society.
 They argue that this role is fulfilled through the disparity of
resources available to students in richer and poorer
neighborhoods as well as through testing
Central Point

26. Conflict Theory
 cultural knowledge that serves (metaphorically) as
currency that helps us navigate a culture
 Alters the experiences and opportunities available to
students from different social classes.
Cultural Capital

27. Conflict Theory
 Nonacademic knowledge that students learn through
informal learning and cultural transmission.
 This hidden curriculum reinforces the positions of those
with higher cultural capital and serves to bestow status
unequally.
Hidden Curriculum

28. Conflict Theory
 a formalized sorting system that places
students on “tracks” (advanced versus low
achievers) that perpetuate inequalities.
Tracking

29. Feminist Theory
 Feminist theory aims to understand the
mechanisms and roots of gender inequality in
education, as well as their societal
repercussions
Central Point

30. Symbolic Interactionism
 Symbolic interactionism sees education as one way that
labeling theory is seen in action.
 For example, low standardized test scores or poor
performance in a particular class often lead to a student
who is labeled as a low achiever.
 Such labels are difficult to “shake off,” which can create a
self-fulfilling prophecy
Central Point

31. Symbolic Interactionism
 Embodies the emphasis on certificates or degrees to
show that a person has a certain skill, has attained a
certain level of education, or has met certain job
qualifications.
 These certificates or degrees serve as a symbol of
what a person has achieved, and allows the labeling of
that individual.
Credentialism

32. 16.3 Issues in Education

33. Issues in Education
 Equal Education
 Head Start
 Busing
 No Child Left Behind
 Teaching to the Test
 Bilingual Education
 Common Core

34. Issues in Education
 Charter Schools
 Teacher Training
 Affirmative Action
 Rising Student Debt
 Home Schooling