Education

Question 1

Describe the institution of Education.

Answer 1

– institution in which we train ppl in the acquisition of skills, knowledge, attitudes, norms

  - --> transfer stuff to students for them to be able to enter labor force
  - --> community colleges have flourished --> another major transition, during start of 20th century 
               - - access to universities is opened up more
  - --> growth of public universities --> 3rd major universities 
               - - land grant and state universities
  - --> growing diversity in student population --> 4th major transition 
               - - United States population has become more diverse

Question 2

Describe functionalism and education.

Answer 2

• • key idea of functionalism: everybody has a role to play
• • flaws of functionalism: no deeper analysis as to why people have the specific roles that they do bc it focuses on the benefit
• • there are some functions of education
• • manifest function: what is more overt of explicit of a function
• • latent functions: not primarily intended reason you’re doing a function, more implicit
• • education creates cultural integration and cultural innovation (across generations)
    - - consistency of content being taught
    - - innovation too because younger people are picking up the newer stuff and learning

– child labor laws and moving them to schools was to reduce job competitions (latent content)

Question 3

Describe conflict theorist approach to education.

Answer 3

• • talks about how individuals benefit and it perpetuates inequality
• • talk about how education perpetuates inequality
    
    • • educational gatekeeping
    • • social control

Question 4

Define educational gatekeeping.

Answer 4

• • standardized tests
• • cultural bias standardized tests
• • tests based on not actual things that can gage intelligence but what;s been put in your brain
• • there are a lot of people who are smart who aren’t being picked up on based on the difference in culture
• • tests are ways of gatekeeping that are class based
• • there’s other stuff that gets mixed in that sorts people in a way that makes inequalities more present

Question 5

Define credentialism.

Answer 5

• • degrees, grades, classes you take/have access to
• • it’s shifted overtime –> more and more credentials are required
• • simple high school diploma doesn’t suffice anymore
• • people who move goal post are usually the ones who have access to get more degrees
• • guts the knowledge we’re attaining and it’s more about the piece of paper or the A
• • socialized in middle class schools to not take no for an answer
• • whereas working class schools teach punctionality, obedience, hard work
• • this is where conflict theories say that there is inequality

Question 6

Describe symbolic interactionism and education.

Answer 6

• • labeling or tracking students
• • engagement
• • labelling students which can affect their performance
    
    • –> tracking decisions tend to follow social categorization along lines of inequality

Question 7

Describe the feminist theory approach to education

Answer 7

– many areas of the world girls don’t have the ability to attend school to the point where it becomes dangerous

• • in U.S. women have higher educational attainment than men
    
    • –> men get more bang for their buck, the higher degrees they get
    • –> higher you climb degree ladder –> the higher the income inequality

Question 8

What is the critical race theory approach of education.

Answer 8

– curriculum not reflecting racial disparities

Question 9

What are key change sin education ?

Answer 9

• • control over curricula
• grade inflation
  
  • • a real issue
  • • pressure to not hand out too many

– school vouchers: takes money form public schools as students chose to spend their tax money towards private institutions

• • homeschooling
    
    • • people having religious and cultural beliefs that don’t align w/ what’s being taught at school