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?
Summary
Education around the World
Educational systems around the world have many differences, though the same factors - including resources and money - affect every educational system. Educational distribution is a major issue in many nations, including in the United States, where the amount of money spent per student varies greatly by state. Education happens through both formal and informal systems; both foster cultural transmission. Universal access to education is a worldwide concern.
Theoretical Perspectives on Education
The major sociological theories offer insight into how we understand education. Functionalists view education as an important social institution that contributes both manifest and latent functions. Functionalists see education as serving the needs of society by preparing students for later roles, or functions, in society. Conflict theorists see schools as a means for perpetuating class, racial-ethnic, and gender inequalities. In the same vein, feminist theory focuses specifically on the mechanisms and roots of gender inequality in education. The theory of symbolic interactionism focuses on education as a means for labeling individuals.
Issues in Education
As schools continue to fill many roles in the lives of students, challenges arise. Historical issues include the racial desegregation of schools, marked by the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ruling. In today's diverse educational landscape, socioeconomic status and diversity remain at the heart of issues in education, with programs such as the Head Start program attempting to give students equal footing. Other educational issues that impact society include charter schools, teaching to the test, student loan debt, and homeschooling.
One hot topic is the Common Core State Standards, or the Common Core. The primary controversy over the Common Core, from the standpoint of teachers, parents and students, and even administrators, is not so much the standards themselves, but the assessment process and the high stakes involved