OER Chapter 16 - Education

Chapter 16

Education

July 20, 2017

16.1 Introduction to Education

Introduction to Education

• The more necessary a college degree has become, the harder it has become to achieve it.

• The cost of getting a college degree has risen sharply since the mid-1980s, while government support in the form of Pell Grants has barely increased.

Introduction to Education

• The net result is that those who do graduate from college are likely to begin a career in debt.

• As of 2013, the average of amount of a typical student's loans amounted to around $29,000.

Education around the World

is a social institution through which a

society’s children are taught basic

academic knowledge, learning skills, and

cultural norms

Education

Education Around the World

• A country’s wealth has much to do with the amount of money spent on education.

• Countries that do not have such basic amenities as running water are unable to support robust education systems or, in many cases, any formal schooling at all.

• The result of this worldwide educational inequality is a social concern for many countries, including the United States.

Global Inequality


fifth among twenty-seven countries for college

participation

sixteenth in the number of students who receive college

degrees

(National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education 2006).

As of 2006, the United States ranked:


the United States had fallen from fifteenth to twenty-

fifth in the rankings for science and math (National

Public Radio 2010).

Students at the top of the rankings hailed from

Shanghai, Finland, Hong Kong, and Singapore

Program for International Student Assessment

(PISA), indicates that :


Well-established standards for education with

clear goals for all students.

They also recruited teachers from the top 5 to10

percent of university graduates each year, which

is not the case for most countries

Nations at the top of the rankings had:


Attributed 20 percent of performance differences

and the United States’ low rankings to differences

in social background.

Researchers noted that educational resources,

including money and quality teachers, are not

distributed equitably in the United States.

Social Factors


In the top-ranking countries, limited access to resources did

not necessarily predict low performance.

Analysts also noted what they described as “resilient

students,” or those students who achieve at a higher level

than one might expect given their social background.

Social Factors


In Shanghai and Singapore, the proportion of resilient

students is about 70 percent. In the United States, it is

below 30 percent.

These insights suggest that the United States’

educational system may be on a descending path that

could detrimentally affect the country’s economy and its

social landscape

Social Factors


Describes the learning of academic

facts and concepts through a formal

curriculum

Formal Education


Describes learning about cultural values, norms,

and expected behaviors by participating in a

society

This type of learning occurs both through the

formal education system and at home

Informal Education

Access to Education

People’s equal ability to participate in an education system.

Concerns worldwide include: race, gender and disabilities

In the US, Universal access is supported through federal,

state and local government budgeting

Universal Access

16.2 Theoretical Perspectives on

Education

Functionalism

Functionalists view education as one of the more

important social institutions in a society.

Central Point

Functionalism

They contend that education contributes two kinds

of functions:

– manifest (or primary) functions, the intended and

visible functions of education

– latent (or secondary) functions, the hidden and

unintended functions.

Manifest & Latent Functions

Functionalism

Another role of schools, according to functionalist theory,

is that of sorting, or classifying students based on

academic merit or potential.

The most capable students are identified early in schools

through testing and classroom achievements.

Such students are placed in accelerated programs in

anticipation of successful college attendance.

Sorting

Functionalism

Functionalists also contend that school, particularly in

recent years, is taking over some of the functions that

were traditionally undertaken by family.

Society relies on schools to teach about human

sexuality as well as basic skills such as budgeting and

job applications—topics that at one time were

addressed by the family.

Serving Functions Previously Performed by the Family

Conflict Theory

They believe that the educational system reinforces and

perpetuates social inequalities that arise from differences in

class, gender, race, and ethnicity.

They believe that educational systems preserve the status

quo and push people of lower status into obedience.

Central Point

Conflict Theory

To conflict theorists, schools play the role of training

working-class students to accept and retain their position as

lower members of society.

They argue that this role is fulfilled through the disparity of

resources available to students in richer and poorer

neighborhoods as well as through testing

Central Point

Conflict Theory

cultural knowledge that serves (metaphorically) as

currency that helps us navigate a culture

Alters the experiences and opportunities available to

students from different social classes.

Cultural Capital

Conflict Theory

Nonacademic knowledge that students learn through

informal learning and cultural transmission.

This hidden curriculum reinforces the positions of those

with higher cultural capital and serves to bestow status

unequally.

Hidden Curriculum

Conflict Theory

a formalized sorting system that places

students on “tracks” (advanced versus low

achievers) that perpetuate inequalities.

Tracking

Feminist Theory

Feminist theory aims to understand the

mechanisms and roots of gender inequality in

education, as well as their societal

repercussions

Central Point

Symbolic Interactionism

Symbolic interactionism sees education as one way that

labeling theory is seen in action.

For example, low standardized test scores or poor

performance in a particular class often lead to a student

who is labeled as a low achiever.

Such labels are difficult to “shake off,” which can create a

self-fulfilling prophecy

Central Point

Symbolic Interactionism

Embodies 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.

These certificates or degrees serve as a symbol of

what a person has achieved, and allows the labeling of

that individual.

Credentialism

16.3 Issues in Education

Issues in Education

Equal Education

Head Start

Busing

No Child Left Behind

Teaching to the Test

Bilingual Education

Common Core

Issues in Education

Charter Schools

Teacher Training

Affirmative Action

Rising Student Debt

Home Schooling

OER Chapter 16 - Education

Education

Transcript of OER Chapter 16 - Education