|
|---|
SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON EDUCATION (Macro View)
A. Functionalists:Education is one of the most important components of society (Durkheim).
1. five manifest functions:
a. socialization
b. transmission of culture
c. social control
d. social placement
e. change and innovation
2. three latent functions
a. restricting some activities
b. matchmaking and production of social networks
c. creation of a generation gap
*Education has certain dysfunctions
B. Conflict theorists: Schools perpetuate class and gender inequalities:
1. reproduction of class:
a. cultural capital (Pierre Bourdieu)
b. class reproduction also occurs through ability grouping and tracking
*Ability grouping and tracking affect students' academic achievements and career choices
2. hidden curriculum
a. lower-class students and credentialism
b. meritocracy
Gender bias found in both formal and hidden curricula
3. unequal funding is a source of inequality in
education.
4. segregated and resegregated schools
a. Racially segregated schools have issues
b. Racial segregation is increasing in some U.S. schools, and efforts to bring about desegregation or integration have failed in many school districts.
d. African American and white achievement differences increase with every year of schooling; thus, schools may reinforce, rather than eliminate, the disadvantages of race and class.
5. class, race, and social reproduction in higher education
a. Access to colleges and universities is determined not only by a person's prior academic record but also by the ability to pay.
b. Enrollment of low-income students in higher education has dropped since the 1980s as a result of declining scholarship funds and of many students having to hold a full- or part-time job to finance their education.
Date Last Changed: November 16, 2015
Contact Kathleen French