Problems in Education Flashcards
The University is a critical institution. What does this mean?
We have to ask god questions about the world around us.
Who insisted that the University has to be a critical institution?
Stuart Hall.
Who said that thinking fast and thinking less is becoming normalized?
Zygmunt Bauman.
Who came up with the analogy of skating on thin ice?
Zygmunt Bauman.
What did Zigmunt Bauman say?
We just want to go faster and faster, and don’t slow down to think about things. We just pursue goals, degrees, etc..
What do critics of Canada’s education systems focus on?
- Absolute educational outcomes/global competitiveness.
- Budget cuts/tuition costs/student debt.
- Reform that leave some people out — special education.
- Critical education — colonial history?
What did Henry Giroux say about education?
“At it’s best, education is dangerous.”
What happened to a teacher who played Commencement Day by the Blue Scholars?
- Admit wrongdoing.
- Forfeit 19 days pay.
- Sign a “last chance agreement.”
- Can be fired, for any reason.
- ‘Gag order.’
What are the costs of education?
- Increasing tuition fees.
- Increasing student debt.
- Fewer full-time faculty.
- Increasing student/faculty ratios.
- Deregulated fee programs.
Deregulated Fee Programs
Some programs saw increased fees due to “market modifiers.”
Significant differences between what men and women earn in the workplace with and without university degrees.
.71 ratio.
The discrepancy between immigrant earners and Canadian-born earners is ___.
Increasing.
How does SF look at education?
- Instruction for future roles.
- Socialization.
- Sorting of individuals into various statuses.
- Provision of custodial care.
What is socialization in education?
Respect for authority, norms, values, and traditions of the dominant culture.
How are individuals sorted into various statuses?
- Streaming/tracking.
- Credentials.
What theory looks at issues in education such as teacher-student interactions, self-esteem, and outcomes?
SI.
Why are schools ranked highly?
Because of the backgrounds of the students and their families.
It was found that MC students were…
Easier to teach, and that teachers were better able to relate to them.
It was found that MC parents were…
More able to model/support that education.
Students that were labelled as ‘high achieving’ or ‘intelligent’ were…
More likely to succeed because of that label.
SI perspective looks at Merton’s ___ ___ ___ that occurs when people act in a manner consistent with the expectations of others.
Self-fulfilling prophecy.
How does the conflict perspective view education?
- Solidifies class positions.
- Allows the elite to control the masses.
- Indoctrination into capitalist ideology.
- Cultural imperialism.
Cultural Imperialism
Indoctrination into the dominant culture.
What is the problem with cultural capital according to Pierre Bourdieu?
They are not equally valued.
What do critical theories of education say?
How does society make the individual in its own image?
Who examined how states operate and hold power?
Louis Althusser.
ISA
Ideological State Apparatus. Group of structures serve state-sponsored views or ideologies.
What are the 2 main goals of education under the ISA?
- Learn what is required for future work.
- Observe the rules of their culture.
Under the ISA, who benefits from educational institutions?
The state and the dominant class.
Education
Upward mobility; justifies social inequality.
Schooling
Training to endure boredom; subordination of work.
Hidden Curriculum
- An invisible system (curriculum) teaches students to be obedient and patriotic.
- Promotes values that uphold the status quo in society and turn students into compliant workers.
What is the strongest predictor of success in education?
SES.
Children from middle and upper SES:
- Perform better in school.
- Complete more years of education.
- Enroll in advanced math courses.
- Complete high school.
Children from lower SES:
- Less ready for school.
- More likely to have poor health, hyperactivity, and delayed vocabulary.
- have mothers with low levels of education.
- Live in unsafe neighbourhoods.
Why is there differences between those in lower and higher SES?
- Disposable income.
- Expectations.
- Intellectual capital.
Credentialism
Process of social selection that gives class advantage and social status to people who possess academic advantage.
What is the problem with credentialism?
Valuing credentials over actual knowledge/ability.
Credential Inflation
The process by which labour-market competition encourages people to acquire schooling.
Grade Inflation
Receiving higher academic grades for performing work that would have received lower grades in the past.
Social Promotion
Passing, even if failing. Leads to entitlement.
Functional Illiteracy
Difficulty with basic reading and math skills.
What does reconciliation require in Canada?
Reconciliation requires sustained public education and dialogue, including youth engagement, about the history and legacy of residential schools, Treaties, and Aboriginal rights, as well as the historical and contemporary contributions of Aboriginal peoples to Canadian society.
Where does our knowledge come from?
Social institutions: family, education, religion.
Indian Act (1876) - 1996
Church-run, government-funded industrial schools — boarding schools or “residential schools.”
How many residential schools were there?
80.
How many children were in residential schools?
150 000.
Policy of Aggressive Assimilation
White societal cultures, values, religion, and languages.
What were the conditions like in residential schools?
Subjected to physical, emotional, and sexual abuse.
What was the result of residential schools?
Devastation of families, culture, language.
Children were punished in residential schools for…
Failing a test, not working hard enough, or for speaking Aboriginal language.
Goffman compared residential schools to…
Total Institutions.
Total Institutions
Regulate all aspects of an individual’s life—involuntary resocialization (unlearning and relearning).
People have called residential schools ___ ___.
Cultural genocide.
What is the purpose of the truth and reconciliation commission?
Share and heal.
What social problems were present in Stolen Children by Wab Kinew?
Poverty, poor health, substance abuse, racism, educational failure, family violence.
What are the root causes of poverty, poor health, substance abuse, racism, educational failure, and family violence, as we have learned from residential schools?
Root causes: loss of identity, exclusion, learned helplessness from having values oppressed and rights ignored.
Those who attended residential schools never had proper parenting, so…
They do not know how to be parents themselves.
Those in residential schools sometimes had to relearn how to express ___.
Emotion.
