Lesson 4 EDUCATION AND REPRODUCTION OF INEQUALITY

Learning Objectives:

 Know what are the social functions of education is in society;

 Appreciate the interaction between education and social system;
 Understand how education helps in reproducing social inequalities;
 Promote primary education as a human right;
 Evaluate how functions of education affect the lives of people in society; and
 Appreciate the transformation of education in the era of globalization.

Essential Questions for Consideration

 Why is education important for social development?

 How does education contribute in maintaining social order?
 How does education contribute in reinforcing social inequalities while also contributing in
creating equal opportunities for the citizens?
 Why is basic education a basic right?

Pre-Lesson Assessment Activities

Which track did you choose under the K-12 program: technical-vocational or college track?
Why? What and who influenced your decision? Why? In your opinion, what is the primary consideration
of students in choosing a track? How about for parents?

EDUCATION AND SOCIAL REPRODUCTION

Education refers to the formal and informal process of transmitting the knowledge, beliefs, and
skills from one generation to the next. However, it is not a simple process of transmission. It includes
equipping the minds of the younger generation with the necessary critical skills to challenge and change
the existing knowledge and practices. Therefore, education has a humanistic goal of freeing the
members of society from ignorance and false beliefs.

Horace Mann – an American educational reformer, proposed that education could cure social ills. He
believed that education is the great equalizer by giving people the knowledge and technical skills to
participate in national development.

Education-based meritocracy – belief that education is the great equalizer and the key to succeed in life.

Functionalist analysis of education – sees education as allocating social roles to the individuals providing
them with skills to become useful members of society.

Randall Collins – a neo-Weberian sociologist argues that education functions as a filter to perpetuate
credentialism
Credentialism – refers to the common practice of reling on earned credentials when hiring staff or
assigning social status rather than on actual skills. Collins further argues that people should be hired by
employers not on the basis of educational qualifications, although this is also necessary, but on the
actual skills of the applicants.

Many radical sociologist challenge the functional analysis of education

Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis – both American economists, published Schooling in Capitalist
America.In this classic textbook they argued that education is a tool for capitalism to equip the workers
with the necessary skills so they can be hired and exploited by the employers.

Pierre Bourdieu and his colleague Jean-Claude Passeron – studying French educational system, showed
empiricall how education is advantageous to middle class children by teaching and rewarding behaviors
that are expected from middle calss families. Middle class children possess cultural capital

Cultural capital – acquired in the family from which one belongs and is further reinforced in the
“academic market” that hones students to have the right styles and decorum – accent, dispositions,
books, qualifications, dictionaries, artistic preferences, etc.

Many sociologists of education argued that the school involvement of middle class parents also help in
augmenting the scholastic achievement of middle class children.

The same analysis was extended by Basil Bernstein in his analysis of the difference between the
linguistic code of the lower class and that of the middle class students. Bernstein arrived at the
conclusion that lower class students follow the restricted linguistic code, while the middle class students
follow the elaborated linguistic code.

Example 1

Teacher: Why do you think people watch horror movies?

Student (using restricted code): Thrill

Example 2

Teacher: Why do you think people watch horror movies?

Student (using elaborated code): Because by watching it, people get the feeling of being horrified and
afraid.

EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

For social scientist, education is seen as an important determinant of national development.

1. Education provides basic knowledge and skills that enhance the productivity of labor.
2. Education contributes to new innovations that lead to inventions, discoveries, and continuous
upgrading of technologies. This is very true for the development of knowledge economy.
 Knowledge economy is made possible through massive promotion of educational technologies
that support the utilization of information.
3. Education is an effective instrument to spread and disseminate knowledge among different
sectors of society. Such diffusion of knowledge can sustain the endless production of new
knowledge

The benefits from education is summarized by Brewer. Hentschke, and Eide (2010)

Economic research has also found nonmonetary benefits, both private and public, associated
with educational attainment. Individuals who have invested in education and job training often have
more job stability, improved health (e.g., exercise regularly, smoke less, and eat better), are more likely
to receive employer-provided health insurance and pension benefits, are more inclined to vote, and
have generally increased social and cultural capital that often enables upward mobility.

WOMEN AND EDUCATION

“Education is a right”

The United Nations Universal Declaration Human Rights Article states:

(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and
fundamental stages. Elementary education shall beb compulsory. Technical and professional education
shall be made generally available andand higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis
of merit.

(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the
strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding,
tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of
the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

Everyone has an opportunity to be educated. Yet women have always been at a disadvantage
when it comes to accessing educational opportunities. These disadvantages include: Gender stereotypes
in school, gender-insensitive pedagogy, sexual harassment, limited opportunities for promotion and
professional development of women teachers, gendered curricula and subject choices, and
underrepresentation of women in senior academic and administrative positions or in high status
disciplines and prestigious institutions.

Women are not only in a position of disadvantage in macroeconomic terms, but also suffer from
discriminatory practices within school culture.

Republic Act no. 9710, An Act Providing for the Magna Carta of Women in 2008. – The Philippine
government promulgated recognizing the biases against women and violence against them.

Sec. 13. Equal Access and Elimination of Discrimination in Education, Scholarship, and Training. (a) The
state shall ensure that gender stereotypes and images in educational materials and curricula are
adequately and appropriately revised. Gender-sensitive language shall be used at all times. Capacity-
building on gender and development (GAD), peace and human rights, education for teachers, and all
those involved in the education sector shall be pursued toward this end. Partnership between and
among players of the education sector, including the private sector, churches, and faith groups shall be
encouraged.

FUNCTIONAL LITERACY RATE

90.00%

85.00%

80.00%
Male
Female
75.00%

70.00%

65.00%
1989 1994 2003 2008

Figure 2. Comparing functional literacy rates between males and females.

Labor and Employment

90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
Men
40.00%
Women
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Cory FVR Erap GMA Pnoy

Figure 3. Comparing women’s and men’s employment rate

Feminization of labor migration – female workers who have been deployed abroad to work for the
welfare of their families

EDUCATION AND GLOBALIZATION

Internationalization of Education

Globalization of education refers to the worldwide discussions, processes, and institutions

affecting local educational practices and policies.

With the shrinking of the world into a village through ICT, various economic trade agreements,
and political integration education is not spared from the currents of globalization.
LESSON 5: ECONOMY, SOCIETY AND CULTURAL CHANGE