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Credential Societies

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employers use diplomas and degrees as sorting devices to determine who is eligible for a job

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Mandatory Education laws

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laws that require all children to attend school until a specified age or until they complete a minimum grade in school

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Cultural Capital

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privileges accompanying a social location that help someone in life; included are more highly educated parents, from grade school through high school being pushed to bring home high grades, and enjoying cultural experiences that translate into higher test scores, better jobs, and higher earnings

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Functionalist Theory Perspective on Education

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Functionalists analyze the functions, the benefits, that schools provide to society. Not only do the schools teach the knowledge and skills needed by the next generation, but they also stabilize society by forging a national identity. A controversial function is gatekeeping (or social placement) which is sorting students for various levels of jobs. This is accomplished by tracking - the sorting of students into different programs on the basis of real or perceived abilities. Functionalists

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Manifest Functions

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the intended beneficial consequences of people's actions

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Latent Functions

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unintended beneficial consequences of people's actions (i.e., child care in schools as a means to keep students in class)

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Cultural Transmission of Values

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the process of transmitting values from one group to another; often refers to how cultural traits are transmitted across generations; in education, the ways in which schools transmit a society's culture, especially its core values. A manifest function of education.

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Education's most obvious manifest function

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Teaching knowledge and skills

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Inclusion

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helping people to become part of the mainstream of society; also called mainstreaming

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Social placement

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a function of education—funneling people into a society's various positions (Some jobs require few skills and can be performed by people of lesser intelligence)

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Gatekeeping

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the process by which education opens and closes doors of opportunity; another term for the social placement function of education

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Tracking

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the sorting of students into different programs on the basis of real or perceived abilities, (Some U.S. high schools funnel students into one of three tracks: general, college prep, or honors. Students on the lowest track are likely to go to work after high school, or to take vocational courses. Those on the highest track usually attend prestigious colleges. Those in between usually attend a local college or regional state university)

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Conflict Theory Perspective on Education

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conflict theorists examine how the educational system reproduces the social class structure. By this, they mean that schools perpetuate the social divisions of society and help members of the elite maintain their dominance. Conflict theorists also stress that the hidden curriculum helps to perpetuate social inequalities. They also view IQ tests as another weapon in an arsenal designed to maintain the social class structure across the generations.

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Hidden curriculum

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the unwritten goals of schools, such as teaching obedience to authority and conformity to cultural norms

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IQ tests with cultural bias

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IQ (intelligence quotient) tests measure not only intelligence but also acquired knowledge which allows children from some social backgrounds to perform better than others. Also a part of tracking.

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Unequal Funding

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Stacks the deck against the poor. Public schools are supported largely by local property taxes, the richer communities (where property values and incomes are higher) have more to spend on their children's schools, and the poorer communities have less to spend on theirs. The richer communities, then, can offer higher salaries and take their pick of the most highly qualified and motivated teachers. They can also afford to buy the latest textbooks, computers, and software, as well as offer courses in foreign languages, music, and the arts. This, stress conflict theorists, means that in all states the deck is stacked against the poor.

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Symbolic Interactionist Perspective on Education

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study face-to-face interaction in the classroom. They have found that what teachers expect of their students has profound consequences for how students do in school.

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Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

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Robert Merton's term for an originally false assertion that becomes true simply because it was predicted. If a student is told they will fail, they will The Rist Research. Labels can be so powerful that they can set people on courses of action that affect the rest of their lives.

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Problems in U.S. Education

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Mediocrity, cheating, & violence

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Mediocrity

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The state of education using grade inflation, social promotion, and lowering expectations to educate students.

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Grade Inflation

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higher grades given for the same work; a general rise in student grades without a corresponding increase in learning

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Functional Illiterate

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a high school graduate who has difficulty with basic reading and math

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Social Promotion

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passing students on to the next level even though they have not mastered basic materials

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Cheating by Administrators and Teachers

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Means by which administrators and teachers across the nation fake their graduation rates. Has its effects on funding, educators' jobs, looking bad on published reports. Solution? Zero tolerance;

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Violence

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The solution is to be prepared. A teaching-learning environment starts with safety.

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The 3 Elements of Religion

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1. Beliefs that some things are sacred (forbidden, set apart from the profane) 2. Practices (rituals) centering on the things considered sacred 3. A moral community (a church) resulting from a group's beliefs and practices

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Durkheim's Three main findings to religion

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1) Religions are so varied that they have no specific belief or practice in common 2) All religions develop a community centering on their beliefs and practices 3) All religions separate the sacred from the profane

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Sacred, according to Durkheim

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aspects of life having to do with the supernatural that inspire awe, reverence, deep respect, even fear.

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Profane, according to Durkheim

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aspects of life that are not concerned with religion but, instead, are part of ordinary, everyday life.

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Rituals

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ceremonies or repetitive practices; in religion, observances or rites often intended to evoke a sense of awe of the sacred

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Cosmology

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teachings or ideas that provide a unified picture of the world

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Cult

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A new or different religion whose teachings and practices put it at odds with the dominant culture and religion

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Sect

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a religious group larger than a cult that still feels substantial hostility from and toward society

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Ecclesia

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a religious group so integrated into the dominant culture that it is difficult to tell where the one begins and the other leaves off; also called a state religion

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Church

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If a sect grows and becomes more integrated into society, it changes into a church. Heavily bureaucratic; children born into the religion; sedate services with formal sermons.

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The Functionalist Perspective on Religion

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Functionalists believe that religion is universal because it meets some of the most basic human needs. Religion performs certain functions: •Answers questions about the purpose of life •Provides emotional comfort for suffering •Unites a community through shared values •Provides guidelines for decision-making and behavioral choices •Controls behaviors by stating what is or is not acceptable •Helps people adapt to new environments •Provides support for government •Promotes social change

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Symbolic Interactionist Perspective on Religion

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•All religions use symbols and rituals to provide identity and solidarity to the people •Rituals and ceremonies are symbols (a way of communicating) that unite people in an experimental and moral bond •Sometimes people go through a religious experience; they have a sudden awareness of the supernatural and a feeling of coming into God

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Conflict Theory Perspective on Religion

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•Religion supports the status quo by focusing on an afterlife of joy after a life of suffering •Religion promotes social inequalities by teaching that some people are less than others •Oppressed workers escape into religion when they feel they cannot change other elements of their lives. •Religion diverts thoughts to the future and away from the present

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Secularization

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an attempt to harmonize religious beliefs with the changing ideas about culture, where there is a shifting focus from religion to the affairs of the world

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