Education

Read this chapter for a review of education. As you read each section, consider the following topics:

  • Take note of the expectations and norms taught in American schools outside of the mandated curriculum. Can you identify any norms you've been taught through your schooling and education? How do they affect your actions and world view?
  • Identify the differences in educational resources around the world. On a separate piece of paper, take note of the concept of universal access to education.
  • Take note of the manifest and latent functions of education. Focus on how functionalism, conflict theory, feminism, and interactionism view issues of education.
  • Take note of historical and contemporary issues in education. How do sociologists typically view "No Child Left Behind", and why?

Key Terms

credentialism
the emphasis on certificates or degrees to show that a person has a certain skill, has attained a certain level of education, or has met certain job qualifications

cultural capital
cultural knowledge that serves (metaphorically) as currency to help one navigate a culture

cultural transmission
the way people come to learn the values, beliefs, and social norms of their culture

education
a social institution through which a society's children are taught basic academic knowledge, learning skills, and cultural norms

formal education
the learning of academic facts and concepts

grade inflation
the idea that the achievement level associated with an A today is notably lower than the achievement level associated with A-level work a few decades ago

Head Start program
a federal program that provides academically focused preschool to students of low socioeconomic status

hidden curriculum
the type of nonacademic knowledge that people learn through informal learning and cultural transmission

informal education
education that involves learning about cultural values, norms, and expected behaviors through participation in a society

No Child Left Behind Act
an act that requires states to test students in prescribed grades, with the results of those tests determining eligibility to receive federal funding

social placement
the use of education to improve one's social standing

sorting
classifying students based on academic merit or potential

tracking
a formalized sorting system that places students on "tracks" (advanced, low achievers) that perpetuate inequalities

universal access
the equal ability of all people to participate in an education system