EDUCATION: TRANSFERRING KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

I. Education in Global Perspective

A. A credential society is one in which employers use diplomas and degrees to determine job eligibility.

1. The sheer size, urbanization, and consequent anonymity of U.S. society are major reasons for the requirement of credentials. Diplomas and degrees often serve as sorting devices for employers; because they don’t know the individual personally, employers depend on schools to weed out the capable from the incapable.

2. As technology and knowledge change, simple on-the-job training will not suffice; specific job skills must be mastered before an individual is able to do certain kinds of work.

B. Education in the Most Industrialized Nations: Japan

1. Japanese education reflects a group-centered ethic. Grade school children work as a group, mastering the same skills and materials; cooperation and respect for elders (and those in positions of authority) are stressed.

2. College admission procedures are based on test scores; only the top scorers are admitted, regardless of social class.

C. Education in the Industrializing Nations: Russia

1. After the Revolution of 1917, the government insisted that socialist values dominate education, seeing education as a means to undergird the new political system. Children were taught that capitalism was evil and communism was the salvation of the world.

2. Education at all levels was free. It was centralized, with all schools following the same curriculum.

3. Today, Russians are in the midst of “reinventing” education. Private, religious, and even foreign-run schools are operating, and students are encouraged to think for themselves.

4. The primary difficulty facing the post-Soviet educational system is the rapid changes in values and world views that are underway in Russia.

D. Education in the Least Industrialized Nations: Egypt

1. Several centuries before the birth of Christ, Egypt was a world-renowned center of learning. Primary areas of study were physics, astronomy, geometry, geography, mathematics, philosophy, and medicine. After defeat in war, education declined, never to rise to its former prominence.

2. Today, education is free at all levels, including college; however, qualified teachers are few, classrooms are crowded, and education is highly limited. Children of the wealthy are still several times as likely to get a college education.

II. The Functionalist Perspective: Providing Social Benefits

A. A central position of functionalism is that when the parts of society are working properly, each contributes to the stability of society. For education, both manifest (intended) and latent (unintended but positive) functions can be identified.

B. The functions of education include (1) teaching knowledge and skills; (2) cultural transmission of values (individualism, competition, and patriotism); (3) social integration (molding students into a more or less cohesive unit); and (4) gatekeeping (determining who will enter what into occupations, through tracking and social placement).

C. Schools have assumed many functions that were previously fulfilled by the family (e.g., child care and sex education).

III. The Conflict Perspective: Perpetuating Social Inequality

A. The educational system is a tool used by those in the controlling sector of society to maintain their dominance. Education reproduces the social class structure, as well as society’s divisions of race-ethnicity.

1. Regardless of ability, children of the wealthy are usually placed in college-bound tracks, and children of the poor are usually placed in vocational tracks. Whites are more likely to complete high school, go to college, and get a degree than are African Americans and Latinos. This shows the funneling effect of education.

2. The education system helps to pass privilege (or lack thereof) across generations.

B. The hidden curriculum is the set of unwritten rules of behavior and attitude (e.g., obedience to authority, conformity to cultural norms) that are taught in school in addition to the formal curriculum

C. Conflict theorists criticize IQ (intelligence quotient) testing because these tests measure not only intelligence, but also culturally acquired knowledge. By focusing on these factors, IQ tests reflect a cultural bias that favors the middle class and discriminates against minority and lower-class students.

D. Because public schools are financed largely by local property taxes, there are rich and poor school districts. Unequal funding stacks the deck against minorities and the poor.

IV. The Symbolic Interaction Perspective: Fulfilling Teacher Expectations

A. Symbolic interactionists study face-to-face interaction inside the classroom. They have found that expectations of teachers are especially significant in determining what students learn.

B. The Rist research (participant observation in an African American grade school with an African American faculty) found that tracking begins with teachers’ perceptions.

1. After eight days—and without testing for ability—teachers divided the class into fast, average, and slow learners; social class was the basis for the assignments.

2. Students from whom more was expected did the best; students in the slow group were ridiculed and disengaged themselves from classroom activities.

3. The labels that were applied in kindergarten tended to follow the child through school.

C. George Farkas found students who score the same on course matter may receive different grades; female get higher grades, as do Asian Americans. Some students signal that they are interested in what the teacher is teaching; teachers pick up these signals.

V. Problems in U.S. Education—and Their Solutions

A. A variety of factors have been identified as the major problems facing the U.S. educational system today. These problems include the rising tide of mediocrity, grade inflation and how it relates to social promotion and functional illiteracy, and violence in schools.

B. A number of solutions have been offered to address these problems, including creating a secure learning environment and establishing higher academic standards and expectations.