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Sociology of. David Tushin SOCI – 101 Williams- Paez. How Educational Institutions Divide us into Hierarchies & Classes . A Sociological Perspective. History of Education Sociological Perspectives Functionalist Conflict Theory Social Reproduction Meritocracy Pierre Bourdieu Capital - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Sociology of
David TushinSOCI – 101
Williams-Paez
How Educational Institutions Divide us into Hierarchies & Classes
A Sociological Perspective
• History of Education• Sociological Perspectives– Functionalist– Conflict Theory– Social Reproduction
• Meritocracy• Pierre Bourdieu Capital• Modern Cases of Social Mobility & Education
Hx of Education• Relationship between education and
social mobility• How schools influence social inequalities• Studies concentrated on the relationship
between class and educational opportunity. There was great optimism concerning the power of education to transform society. What needed transforming was the wastefulness of the existing school system. The search was on for ways in which schools could maximize their pupils' talents.
• Deprivation was traced to the failure of the working class family, faulty socialization, restricted language and low expectations
Émile Durkheim• Functionalism is a theory of
social transmission• Functionalists draw on
Evolution in the natural sciences– Societies fulfill basic functions
to survive– They develop specialized
structures to carry out those functions
– The overall health of the society depends upon the health of each structure
Émile Durkheim on Education
“Education is the influence exercised by adult generations on those that are not yet ready for social life. Its object is to arouse and to develop
in the child a certain number of physical, intellectual, and moral states which are
demanded by him by both the political society as a whole and special milieu for which he is
specifacaly destines…” (Ballantine)
Functionalism
Social Structures (Institutions)
• Family• Government• Religion• Economic Systems• Education
Functions or Purposes• Reproduction• Distribute goods or services• Allocate Power• Transmit Rules, Customs,
and Appropriate Behaviors
Functionalist claim that if one socializing institution is not full filling its function another will take over that role to
retain equilibrium.
Functionalism & Education
Intellectual Purposes• Acquisition of cognitive
skills• Acquisition of knowledge• Acquisition of inquiry skills
Political Purposes• Educate future citizens• Promote patriotism• Promote assimilation of
immigrants• Insure law and order
Economic Purposes• Prepare students for later
work roles• Select and train the labor
force needed by society
Social Purposes• Promote a sense of social
and moral responsibility• Serve as a site for the
solution or resolution of social problems
Karl Marx• Conflict Theory accepts
inequalities (social / economic / political) as normal
• Social systems are dynamic – NOT equilibrium
• There are tensions between interest groups
• Four concepts: competition, structural inequality, revolution, and war
• Powerful groups who control economic and political systems
Conflict View- Social Reproduction• Powerful elites manipulate public opinion to preserve their
entrenched position• Elites have superior resources they can control the means of
communication, they can maintain social inequalities• Rather than promoting democracy, social mobility and
equality, schools reproduce the ideology of the dominant groups in society
• Schools are structured like factories and are organized like bureaucracies
• Through tracking and testing, students are sorted into class / gender / based work roles
Meritocracy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-KvkngqTYc ~1Min
• The idea of ‘meritocracy’ originates in sociological fantasy: that is, in Michael Young’s remarkable piece of social science fiction, The Rise of the Meritocracy
• Promotes social efficiency, social mobility and social justice
• Merit = IQ + Effort
Pierre Bourdieu• Habitus
– Each individual occupies a position in a social space or “Habitus” characterized by habits, beliefs, mannerisms, linguistic styles
• Cultural Capital– These habits, beliefs,
mannerisms, languages have value know as “cultural capital” in some cultural settings
Privileged Families
Have more Economic Capital $$$$
Leads to.. Social Capital
Cultural Capital
Academic Success
Privilege
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xdfVAPvv9A
Family incomes have declined for a third of American children over the past few decades.
Countries with high income inequality have low social mobility
Upward social mobility is limited in the United States
The children of high- and low-income families are born with similar abilities but different opportunities
There is a widening gap between the investments that high- and low-income families make in their children
The achievement gap between high- and low-income students has increased
College graduation rates have increased sharply for wealthy students but stagnated for low-income students
High-income families dominate enrollment at America’s selective colleges
A college degree can be a ticket out of poverty
The sticker price of college has increased significantly in the past decade, but the actual price for many lower- and
middle-income students has not
Few investments yield as high a return as a college degree