The Real World, 4th Edition, Chapter 10 - Education

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2. Chapter 10
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton 2

3. Education is the process by which a society transmits knowledge, values,
and expectations to its members so they can function in society.
There are two forms of education:
– Formal Education: learning that takes place within an academic
setting such as a school, which has a planned instructional process
and teachers who convey specific knowledge, skills, and thinking
processes to students.
– Informal Education: Learning that occurs in a spontaneous,
unplanned way.
Globally, educational systems vary from country to country. With that
being said, some are better than others. Here in the United States, we
have what is called mass education which refers to providing free, public
schooling for wide segments of a nation’s population.

4. Formal, institutionalized secular education in
Western Civilization began in ancient Greece
around the 8th century B.C.E., when students
studied philosophy, mathematics, music, and
gymnastics.
In the Middle Ages, the church was the main
educator, with schools in monasteries and
cathedrals, and until about 1200, the schools
focused mainly on training students to be priests.
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5. During the Middle Ages, universities did exist and
only offered three subjects – law, theology, and
medicine. However, only people of the highest social
classes could attend.
During the Enlightenment (18th and 19th centuries),
the value of education greatly increased. The leading
thinkers of the day believed that the well-being and
future of modern society depended upon
enlightened self-knowledge, which could be achieved
only through learning. The industrial revolution also
contributed to some of these ideas.

6. Education in the United States underwent many changes during this
Enlightenment period as well.
Even though the founding fathers thought it was important, education
was not specifically mentioned in the Constitution. Unfortunately, formal
education was seen as more of a luxury rather than a necessity for many
years. This will change with “common schools.”
The idea of public education in the United States, as we know it today,
began in Massachusetts in 1852. Horace Mann, a state legislator,
proposed the idea of “Common Schools,” or schools that were funded and
maintained by public monies. Also, attendance at these schools would be
mandatory for all children 16 and younger.
The growth of public schools across the US was slow going. Finally, by
1929, every state and territory had elementary, junior high, and high
schools.

7. Since the very beginning, US public education has
traditionally been the responsibilities of the states,
although the federal government is beginning to play
a larger role.
Today, students receive formal education from a
variety of settings; public schools, private
secular/religious schools, and homeschooling.
– 88% of students attend public schools
– 10% attend private schools
– 2% are homeschooled

8. The main function of education is to teach knowledge and skills.
However, functionalists argue there are a number of other manifest
and latent functions.
Schooling serves a number of important manifest functions for
society:
– Socialization (learning the basics of how to function in society)
– Transmission of culture (learning about the contemporary society
in which one lives; this includes language, patriotism, values, etc.)
– Social control (learning what is right and wrong)
– Social placement (depending on the educational attainment of
students, their placement in the social structure of society will
vary)
– Change and innovation (students learn about new technologies
and new and emerging values of their prospective society)

9. Schooling also has a number of latent functions for a society:
– Restricting some activities (because children are at school, it
keeps them busy while parents are at work and, from a
macro-perspective, it keeps them out of the workforce until
the age of 18)
– Matchmaking and production of social networks (school and
college is where most students meet their friends and are
likely to meet future partners – the internet is changing this
trend somewhat)
– Creating a generation gap (because of new trends, new
technologies, and the values that students learn from
friends, schooling creates a gap between students and
parents).

10. Another functionalist idea is that industrialized nations have become
credential societies (Collins, 1979). In The Credential Society, Collins argues
that reproducing society’s existing class structure is the true function of
education.
– A credential society is one in which diplomas and degrees are used to
determine who is eligible for jobs, even though the diploma or degree
may be irrelevant to the actual work. Because employers don’t know
potential workers, they depend on schools to weed out the capable from
the incapable.
– Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, there
are many jobs where you would hope the person has a degree (medicine,
for example). However, on the other hand, there are jobs where on the
job training would be good enough (or, previous experience).
Unfortunately, because you have not met the degree requirement, you
are denied the job. (Conflict theorists argue that credentialism is a mode
of maintaining a system of inequality).

11. Building on credential society, gatekeeping is another function of
education.
– Gatekeeping is the process by which education opens and closes
doors of opportunity; another term for the social placement
function of education.
– One form of gatekeeping is credentialing (the concept behind
credential society on the previous slide) which means using
diplomas and degrees to determine who is eligible for a job.
– Another form is tracking. Tracking is sorting students into
different educational programs on the basis of their perceived
abilities. Formal tracking is actually now illegal for a variety of
reasons (problems with tracking are mentioned under conflict
theory). However, schools still “technically” do it by placing
students in “ability groups” or “advanced/resource classes.”

12. Gatekeeping cont’d:
– Several functionalists have argued that “gatekeeping” sorts
people on the basis of merit. This view is known as the concept
of social placement.
– Social placement is basically how society funnels people into
society’s various positions.
– Here’s how it works: some jobs require few skills and less
intelligence (like while some jobs require high intelligence and a
great deal of education (like medicine). To motivate capable
people to put up with years of education, they are rewarded
with higher incomes and prestige.

13. Conflict Theory Overview: Conflict theorists argue
that educational institutions also help to reproduce
the inequality seen in society. It is clear that while
education does benefit everyone, it unfortunately
does not benefit everyone equally.
– Conflict theorists agree that a function of education is the
transmission of knowledge and skills. However, they also
argue that depending on our social class, schooling can
also create inequality through the rules, regulations, and
values that are imparted. The educational system teaches
and reinforces values that sustain the elite’s position in
society.

14. Conflict Theory Overview:
– While we firmly believe, as a society, that education is the
key to achievement and success, it is also true that
educational institutions can replicate systems of inequality.
– Educational achievements do improve our life chances –
census data shows that higher educational attainment often
means higher incomes. The average earnings are as follows:
• Advanced Degrees - $78,200
• Bachelor’s Degrees - $49,900
• High School Diploma - $30,800
• Non-graduates - $21,600

15. Conflict Theory Overview:
– Stratification within schools often mirrors stratification
systems in the larger society, wherein women and girls,
minority group students, poor or working class students,
or students with disabilities are discriminated against both
by individuals and institutional systems. So, education
benefits everyone, but it does not benefit everyone
equally; and inequality in educational benefits mirrors
inequality in the lager society.
A number of specific ideas will illustrate how this inequality
develops: lack of cultural capital, hidden curriculum, and
tracking.

16. According to the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, students come to
school with different amounts of cultural capital.
– Cultural capital includes, but is not limited to, socially approved
dress and manners, knowledge about books, art, music, travel,
etc.
– Studies have shown that the more that children are exposed to
at earlier ages has a positive impact on academic achievement
later in life.
– Of course, the students who are more likely to be exposed to
quality cultural capital are those who can afford it. This is just
one problem that can be seen with regard to low income
families and their prevalence of low academic achievement.

17. The hidden curriculum is the values and behaviors that students learn
indirectly over the course of their schooling because of the educational
system’s structure and teaching methods.
Bowles and Gintis (1976) argue that schools train a labor force with the
appropriate skills, personalities, and attitudes for an industrial economy.
Although the official curriculum is supposed to promote personal
improvement and social mobility, the hidden curriculum of “rules,
routines, and regulations” actually produces a submissive and obedient
wo0rkforce that is prepared to take orders and perform repetitive tasks.
– According to this analysis, schools look a lot like factories. Students
have no control over their curriculum, must obey instructions, and gain
little intrinsic satisfaction from their schoolwork. Because students
learn these norms and values as students, they are willing to accept
similar conditions when the become workers.

18. The hidden curriculum cont’d:
– The hidden curriculum reinforces and reproduces
conditions of social inequality by presenting and
reinforcing an image of what is considered “normal,”
“right,” or “good.” An example of this might be that
school social studies curricula often makes less mention
of women or minorities. Also, they systematically
excluded any mention of gays or lesbians. This teaches
that they aren’t as important, or in the case of gays or
lesbians don’t exist or shouldn’t exist.

19. Another issue in education from a conflict perspective is tracking.
Tracking is the placement of students in educational “tracks,” or programs of
study (e.g., college prep, remedial) that determine the types of classes
students take.
– The problem with tracking is that students who are placed in a lower
ability or remedial track, for instance, students lose access to courses such
as calculus and advanced placement courses which effectively locks them
out of certain college, certain majors, and even future careers, all by the
time they’re sixteen.
– Sociologists and educational specialists have found that the types of work
that students do in their prospective tracks is different and can lead to
future inequality. For example, students on a higher track do more work
that involves critical thinking (great for future careers such as law,
engineering, or medicine). However, lower track students do work that is
repetitive and simply knowledge based (this prepares them for careers,
like factory labor, where they are likely to be lower paid and supervised).

20. Kozol’s ethnography, Savage Inequalities,
contends that because schools are funded by
local property taxes, children in poor
neighborhoods are trapped in poor schools,
which reinforces inequality.

21. The symbolic interactionist perspective
maintains that the social world is constructed
through the interactions of individuals.
One aspect of the symbolic interactionist
perspective on education is the statuses,
roles, and role expectations that exist within
education and how we interact on the basis of
those roles.
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The Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton

22. An area of focus for symbolic interactionists is with “teacher
expectations” and the effect that it has on students.
The Rist Research (1970) found that, trough participant observation
in a grade school, after only 8 days in school, a kindergarten teacher
had already grouped her students by ability (fast learners, average
learners, and slow learners). The children had not been tested, she
did this based on observable characteristics (Rist concluded that it
was ultimately based on social class). Ultimately, the teacher taught
differently to the three tables.
In the end, Rist determined that each child’s journey through school
was determined on their 8th day of kindergarten. He followed them
and noticed that the labels did indeed follow the students. This
study shows the power of labeling and how it can be problematic.

23. Another famous study shows the power of teacher expectations.
Rosenthal and Jacobson’s symbolic interactionist study of
education suggested that teachers’ attitudes about their students
unintentionally influenced their academic performance.
This was done by administering IQ tests to a group of students. A
random group of students were chosen and the teacher was told
that this group as they would “spurt” or “blossom” in the upcoming
year. However, in reality, these students were really no different;
the intention was to influence the teacher’s expectations.
In the end, the students indeed intended to improve. The IQ test
was given again and the researchers found that the “chosen group”
did much better.

24. Many believe that America’s educational
system is in crisis, though there is little
agreement on how to fix the problem.
Critics list a variety of problems including low
rates of literacy and poor standardized test
scores, lack of sufficient funding and
crumbling infrastructure, low pay for teachers,
overcrowded classrooms, and high rates of
crime on campus.

25. Student Performance
– Many argue that American students are not measuring up to
international students. In a 1998 study, US 12th graders
ranked 16th and 17th in the world in science and math.
– Graduation rates in the United States have improved greatly
over the past 20 years. However, there are some states that
only have a 70% and below graduation rate. This indicates a
high level of drop-outs.
– Also, there seems to be an achievement gap within the US
itself. For example: a 1999 study showed that while 40% of
white students passed a history graduation exam in Virginia,
only 23% of Hispanic students and 13% of African American
students passed it the first time.

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31. Student Performance
– In an attempt to address this performance issue,
Congress passed “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) in 2002.
According to this policy, each state is responsible for
testing every student in its public education system at
specific grade intervals to determine levels of success.
– Low performing schools are identified with “school
report cards” and are required to improve both student
and teacher performance.
– Parents have the option of removing their children from
consistently low-performing schools and placing them in
other schools within the district.

32. Student Performance
– Did it work? Many critics say no.
– One concern is that because NCLB relies on
standardized test scores (which assume that one
level of aptitude is appropriate for all students,
regardless of race, nationality, or intellectual
capabilities), students are being assessed unfairly.
Studies have shown that women and minorities
tend to score lower on standardized tests, even if
they are making higher grades.

33. The Common Core State Standards Initiative is an educational initiative in
the United States that details what K-12 students should know in English
language arts and mathematics at the end of each grade. The initiative is
sponsored by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council
of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and seeks to establish consistent
educational standards across the states as well as ensure that students
graduating from high school are prepared to enter credit-bearing courses
at two- or four-year college programs or to enter the workforce.
Common Core has received a great deal of criticism nationwide from a
variety of stakeholders and groups.

34. Student Performance
– Another concern is that because the test scores are being
used to measure teacher and overall school performance,
teachers will be under pressure to ensure students do well
on the test and may resort to “teaching to the test.”
– As a result, many other valuable learning opportunities will
be dropped – such as art, music, field trips, etc.
– Finally, schools that are in affluent areas will likely do well
and continue to improve where rural and inner-city schools
where there is more poverty will likely start doing poorly and
may miss out on badly needed state funds.

35. Charter schools are public schools run by private entities to give parents
greater control over their children’s education.
The “charter” is a contract detailing the school’s mission, program, goals,
students served, methods of assessment, and ways to measure success.
Charter schools are growing in popularity nation wide.
– Advantages: They can make changes and implement decisions faster than
ordinary public schools and they are more responsive to the needs of
students, parents, and communities.
– Disadvantages: They are difficult to start and expensive to launch and run.
Research has shown that they have only been met with mixed success
with students performing about the same as traditional public school
students. Finally, because they receive some public funding, many are
worried that charter schools will drain funding from other public schools.

37. Early college high schools are institutions that blend high
school and college into a coherent educational program in
which students earn both a high school diploma and two
years of college credit toward a bachelor’s degree.
The goal for many of these programs is to develop new high
schools that engage low-income and underrepresented
students by offering them challenging academic work while
simultaneously providing guidance and support structures.
These schools are having a significant impact on underserved
youth, who are demonstrating high levels of attendance,
improved promotion rates, and success in college-level
courses.

38. Homeschooling involves the education of children by their
parents, at home.
Parents homeschooled children to control not only academic
education but also to limit exposure to the socializing effects
of peer culture in public schools.
It has been growing since the 1980s.
A major study has shown that the academic achievement of
homeschooled students, on average, was significantly above
that of public school students.
Yet questions remain about the possible academic and social
disadvantages to students removed from typical school
environments.

39. School vouchers are payments from the government to parents whose
children attend failing public schools to help parents pay for private
school tuition.
In other words, taxpayers receive a voucher for some of the money
that a public school would have received to educate their child, and
they apply that money to private school tuition.
Proponents argue that they give parents more choice and control over
their children’s education and pressure public schools to improve or
risk the loss o their voucher eligible student body.
Critics argue that it drains funds from vulnerable public schools and
cause them to deteriorate further. Also, critics say that if parents use
vouchers for parochial schools, public moneys are funding religious
education, thus threatening the separation of church and state.

40. Finally, distance learning includes any educational course or
program in which the teacher and students do not meet
together in the classroom, a situation increasingly available
over the Internet.
Advantages are that distance learning provides educational
access to students who might otherwise not be able to pursue
a degree.
Disadvantages are that it sometimes lacks the personal touch
of standard classroom instruction. For this reason, students
may feel that there is something important missing from their
educational experience.

41. Distance Learning in High Schools:
– Alabama is one of the only states in the US that has a comprehensive
distance learning program for high school students. This program is
entitled A.C.C.E.S.S. (Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and
Students Statewide).
– This program is controversial because some argue that it will replace
teacher units with online classes. For example, small high schools
might choose to require students to take foreign language as an
online class so they do not have to hire a Spanish teacher. However,
proponents of ACCESS argue that this is prohibited.
– The major advantage is that it provides students with a wide variety of
course options that they may not have had otherwise. Also, it
prepares them for college in that they are learning about internet
distance learning before graduation.