Education

A sociological understanding of education

Education is the social institution

responsible for the systematic transmission
of knowledge, skills, and cultural values
within a formally organized structure.
As a social institution
Transmission of values, beliefs knowledge

Cultural Transmission:
The process by which children and
recent immigrants become
acquainted with the dominant
cultural beliefs, values, norms, and
accumulated knowledge of a society.
Questionhow does cultural
transmission take place in our
educational system?

Sociological Perspectives on Education

Functionalists suggest education helps maintain society

and provides opportunity for upward social mobility.

Conflict theorists argue that education perpetuates
social inequality.
Symbolic interactionists focus on classroom dynamics
and the effect of self-concept on grades and aspirations.

Manifest Functions of Education

Socialization
Transmission of culture
Social control
Social placement
Change and innovation

Latent Functions of Education

Restricting some

activities.
Matchmaking and
production of social
networks.
Creating a generation
gap.

Conflict Perspective
Education reproduces existing class relationships.
Unequal funding is a source of inequality in education.
Access to colleges and universities is determined not only

by academic record but also by the ability to pay.

Cultural Capital
Children who are visit museums, libraries, and musical

events may gain cultural capital that other children do not

possess. Why is cultural capital important?

Cultural Capital and Class Reproduction

According to sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, students come

to school with different amounts of cultural capital.

The educational system teaches and reinforces values
that sustain the elites position in society.
Economic capital, cultural capital, social capital

Tracking

Tracking is the practice of assigning students to specific groups based

on their test scores, previous grades, or other criteria.

Conflict theorists believe tracking affects educational performance and
overall academic accomplishments.
The odds of a fourth grader being ability grouped in reading were less
than 50-50 in 1998, but by 2009 had increased to about 9-to-1
Department of education
Racial Distribution in South Orange Maplewood School District's
8th Grade

Racial Distribution in South Orange

Maplewood School District's 8th
Grade and In High School AP
courses

The Hidden Curriculum

A study of five elementary schools in different

communities found:
Schools for working-class students emphasize procedures and rote

memorization.
Schools for middle-class students stress the processes involved in
getting the right answer.

The Hidden Curriculum

continued
Schools for affluent students focus on activities in which

students express their own ideas.

Schools for students from elite families work to develop
critical thinking skills, applying abstract principles to
problem solving.

Credentialism
A process of social selection in which class advantage

and social status are linked to the possession of academic

qualifications.
Credentialism is closely related to meritocracy, a social
system in which status is assumed to be acquired through
individual ability and effort.

Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy- students perform according to

expectations of teachers.
Girls learn to attribute success to effort.
Boys learn to attribute success to intelligence.

Segregation
Although people believe the U.S. is racially

integrated, a look at schools throughout the

country reveals that many remain segregated or
have become largely resegregated in recent
decades.

Dropping Out
About 11% of people between the ages of sixteen

and nineteen leave school before earning a high

school diploma.
Ethnic and class differences are significant in
dropout rates:
Latinos/as - 21.1%
African Americans - 11.7%
Non-Hispanic whites - 6.9%

Functional Illiteracy
The inability to read and/or write at the skill level

necessary for carrying out everyday tasks.

It is estimated that 56% of adult Latinas/os are
functionally illiterate in English, compared with
44% of adult African Americans and 16% of adult
(non-Latino/a) whites.
15 to 20% of people who graduated from high
school cannot read at the
sixth-grade level.

Illiteracy
The National Literacy Act of 1991 defines literacy as an

individuals ability to read, write, and speak English and

compute and solve problems at levels of proficiency
necessary to function on the job and in society, to achieve
ones goals, an to develop ones knowledge and
potential.

Illiteracy
The U.S. Department of Education concluded that nearly

half the adult U.S. population was illiterate when it comes

to tasks such as understanding a bus schedule or filling
out a deposit slip.
Other social analysts note the report didnt consider that
English is not the native language of many respondents or
that some respondents were visually impaired or had
physical or mental disabilities.