Classical Sociological Perspectives of

Education

Sept 18th, 2006

What is Education?

• Education is the social institution responsible for the systematic transmission of knowledge, skills, and cultural vales within a formally organized structure

Cultural Transmission

• The process by which children and recent immigrants become acquainted with the dominant cultural beliefs, values, norms and accumulated knowledge of a society – occurs through informal and formal education.

Informal education

• learning that occurs in a spontaneous, unplanned way.

Formal Education

• Learning that takes place within an academic setting such as a school, which has a planned instructional process and teachers who convey specific knowledge, skills and thinking process to students

Theories of Education

• Functionalist

• Conflict

• Interactionist

Functionalism

• Dewy

• Parsons

• Durkheim

• Education is responsible for developing moral or normative consensus, which is at the centre of social integration and pattern maintenance.

Meritocracy

• A form of social system in which power goes to those with superior intellects - the belief that rulers should be chosen for their superior abilities and not because of their wealth or birth

Functions of School System

– to teach the values of achievement, universalistic standards of judgment, and emotional neutrality appropriate for specialized occupations

– to train in specific skills and knowledge appropriate for occupational roles

– to ensure the appropriate selection and allocation of young adults to occupational roles in accordance with merit, as measured by universal standards of achievements

– to legitimate inequalities in material rewards in democratic society through principles of merit established in the school grading system

– to develop stable social relations with age peers outside the family

– to inculcate appropriate sex-roles identification

Schools Instill

• a) The value of achievement - by rewarding those who achieve through exam success.

• b) The value of equality of opportunity - by offering everyone an equal chance to succeed.

Emile Durkheim

..main function of education is the transmission of society's norms and values in three mains areas:

• 1. SOCIAL SOLIDARITY - For example the teaching of history provides social continuity.

• 2. SOCIAL RULES - At school we learn to co-operate with strangers and to be self-disciplined.

• 3. DIVISION OF LABOUR - Education teaches individual skills necessary for future occupations. This is a most important function in advanced industrial society with its complex division of labour.

Schools transmit

• a) General Values necessary for homogeneity

• b) Specific skills provide necessary diversity for social co-operation as people need to work together to produce goods.

Manifest Functions of Education

– Socialization– Transmission of culture – Social Control– Social placement – Change and innovations

Latent Functions of Education

– Restricting some activities– Matchmaking and production of

social networks– Creation of a Generation Gap

Conflict Perspective on Education

• From a conflict perspective, education is used to perpetuate class, racial-ethnic, and gender inequalities through tracking, ability grouping and a hidden curriculum that teaches subordinate groups conformity and obedience.

Conflict theorists

• argue that access to quality education is closely related to social class.

• education is a vehicle for reproducing existing class relationships.

Pierre Bourdieu

• argues that the educational system uphold patterns of behaviour and attitudes of the dominant class.

• argues that students from diverse backgrounds come to school with different amounts of Cultural Capital – social assets that include values, beliefs, attitudes and competencies in language and culture.

Hidden Curriculum

• is the transmission of cultural values and attitudes, such as conformity and obedience to authority, through implied demands found in rules, routines and regulations in schools.

Marxism

• For Karl Marx, education performs two main functions in capitalist society:

• 1. It reproduces the inequalities and social relations of production of Capitalist Society.

• 2. It serves to legitimate these inequalities under the guise of Meritocracy.

Interactionist Perspective on Education

• Interactionists focus on classroom communication patterns and educational practices such as labeling that affect students’ self-concept and aspirations

Interactionist

• Labeling is the process whereby a person is identified by others as possessing a specific characteristic or exhibiting a certain pattern of behaviour (such as being deviant).

Interactionist

• Self-fulfilling Prophecy – defined as an unsubstantiated belief or prediction resulting in behaviour that makes the originally false beliefs come true.

• Typing refers to how teachers 'type' or categorize pupils as 'bright' or 'troublesome', 'good' or 'bad' etc.

Recap

Theory Nature of Society Education focus Key ideas Functionalists Macrolevel

Society is composed of interrelated parts that work together to maintain stability within society. This stability is threatened by dysfunctional acts and institutions

focus on functions and dysfunctions of education

Schools Transmit: a) General Values necessary for homogeneity b) Specific skills provide necessary diversity for social co-operation as people need to work together to produce goods.

Conflict theorists Macrolevel

Society is characterized by social inequality; social life is a struggle for scarce resources. Social arrangements benefit some groups at the expense of others

focus on the relationship between education inequality

1. It reproduces the inequalities and social relations of production of Capitalist Society. 2. It serves to legitimate these inequalities under the guise of Meritocracy.

Interactionists Microlevel

Society is the sum of interactions of people and groups. Behaviour is learned in interaction with other people; how people define a situation becomes the foundation for how they behave

focus on classroom communication patterns and educational practices such as labeling that affect students’ self-concept and aspirations

Looks at how these interactions may affect the performances of pupils in the education system.

Average Tuition Fees

Average undergraduate tuition fees for full-time students, by discipline, by provinces (Canada)

1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004

dollars Canada

Discipline Agriculture 3,061 3,159 3,216 3,301 3,487

Architecture 3,376 3,510 3,583 3,524 3,586

Arts 3,310 3,411 3,474 3,617 3,810

Commerce 3,171 3,300 3,536 3,743 3,991

Dentistry 7,863 8,424 9,105 9,703 11,733

Education 2,787 2,857 2,911 3,019 3,216

Engineering 3,481 3,624 3,776 3,865 4,371

Household Sciences 3,182 3,285 3,359 3,486 3,669

Law 3,495 4,044 4,366 5,021 5,995

Medicine 5,894 6,494 7,458 8,063 9,406

Music 3,347 3,356 3,454 3,586 3,753

Science 3,334 3,420 3,547 3,728 3,954

Total undergraduate 3,328 3,447 3,577 3,749 4,025

Note: Using the most current enrolment data available, average tuition fees have been weighted by the number of students enrolled by institution and field of study. Fees at both public and private institutions are included in the weighted average calculations. Source: Statistics Canada, Centre for Education Statistics. Last modified: 2004-09-01.

Level of Educational Attainment

Level of Educational Attainment

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Total

Canada 3,698,235 3,898,405 2,097,140 2,917,895 3,676,630 16,288,310 Newfoundland and Labrador 100,470 45,430 61,535 39,450 39,970 286,855

Prince Edward Island 20,460 14,325 11,045 12,945 11,920 70,700

Nova Scotia 131,090 90,010 86,220 88,295 100,045 495,650 New Brunswick 116,545 96,630 55,050 66,670 64,805 399,695 Quebec 979,960 1,018,715 505,650 637,890 866,455 4,008,675 Ontario 1,274,225 1,509,585 677,755 1,194,425 1,528,665 6,184,650 Manitoba 162,600 128,575 74,855 93,215 112,395 571,640 Saskatchewan 134,580 103,880 76,050 74,400 87,010 475,915 Alberta 349,940 363,210 245,885 299,825 343,500 1,602,355 British Columbia 416,245 518,150 295,180 401,755 512,715 2,144,050 Yukon Territory 2,795 3,615 3,045 3,510 3,960 16,925 Northwest Territories 4,970 3,990 3,380 3,600 3,845 19,785

Nunavut 4,355 2,300 1,500 1,915 1,355 11,410

Ed in CanadaEducational Attainment in Canada

Total 23,901,360

Elementary-secondary only 10,844,795

Less than grade 5 524,145

Grades 5-8 1,826,350

Grades 9-10 2,430,300

Grades 11-13 2,696,105

Secondary (high) school graduation only 3,367,900

Trades certificate or diploma 836,250

College education only 6,047,085

Without trade or college certificate or diploma 1,537,615

With trades certificate or diploma 1,601,275

With college certificate or diploma 2,908,200

University 6,173,225

Without degree 2,485,580

Without college education 1,133,685

Without certificate, diploma or degree 806,920

With trades certificate or diploma 8,080

With university certificate or diploma below bachelor level 318,685

With college education 1,351,890

Without certificate, diploma or degree 245,625

With trades certificate or diploma 153,320

With college certificate or diploma 670,205

With university certificate or diploma below bachelor level 282,740

With degree 3,687,650

With bachelor or first professional degree 2,534,010

With university certificate above bachelor level 382,955

With master's degree 642,055

With earned doctorate 128,625

Uni QualificationsUniversity qualifications granted by field of study, by sex

1995-1996 1996-1997 1997-1998 1998-1999 1999-2000

Canada 178,120 173,935 172,075 173,575 175,555

Male 75,110 73,045 71,940 72,200 72,765

Female 103,010 100,890 100,135 101,375 102,790 Social sciences 67,860 66,665 67,020 66,990 67,775

Male 29,030 28,420 27,990 28,300 28,245

Female 38,830 38,245 39,030 38,690 39,530

Education 29,790 27,810 25,955 26,765 27,015

Male 8,695 8,040 7,565 7,740 7,735

Female 21,095 19,770 18,390 19,025 19,280

Humanities 22,355 21,370 20,815 20,445 20,150

Male 8,275 8,035 7,590 7,420 7,315

Female 14,080 13,335 13,225 13,025 12,835

Health professions and occupations

12,900 13,075 12,660 12,705 11,935

Male 3,520 3,460 3,515 3,295 3,210

Female 9,380 9,615 9,145 9,410 8,725

Engineering and applied sciences

13,065 12,765 12,830 12,685 13,235

Male 10,445 10,125 10,120 9,905 10,045

Female 2,620 2,640 2,710 2,780 3,190

Agricultural and biological sciences

11,400 11,775 12,205 12,535 12,435

Male 4,755 4,780 4,775 4,810 4,770

Female 6,645 6,995 7,430 7,725 7,665

Mathematics and physical sciences

9,785 9,740 9,990 10,460 11,250

Male 6,725 6,750 6,875 7,200 7,595

Female 3,060 2,990 3,115 3,260 3,655

Fine and applied arts 5,205 5,205 5,260 5,200 5,335

Male 1,780 1,705 1,735 1,740 1,715

Female 3,425 3,500 3,525 3,460 3,620

Arts and sciences 5,760 5,530 5,340 5,790 6,425

Male 1,885 1,730 1,775 1,790 2,135

Female 3,875 3,800 3,565 4,000 4,290

Note: Includes bachelor's and first professional degrees, undergraduate diplomas and certificates, other undergraduate qualifications, master's degrees, doctoral degrees, and graduate diplomas and certificates. Source: Statistics Canada, Centre for Education Statistics. Last modified: 2005-02-17.