Education
Chapter 12
Development of Education
• The purpose of education is the transmission of
knowledge.
• Education – formal system of teaching, knowledge,
values, and skills.
• Early emphasis in American schools was on
“civilizing” the young
– Acculturation – transmission of culture from one
generation to the next
– Principle means for creating a uniform national culture
– Horace Mann – proposed “common schools”
– Mandatory education laws – 1918
Development of Education
• Industrialization and universal education occurred at
the same time.
– Need for an educated workforce
– Influx of “foreign values” – Americanize immigrants
• After the turn of the 20th century, the emphasis
shifted to education for jobs.
– Industrialized Nations developed into credential societies
• Degrees
Bureaucracy in Education
• Large-scale school systems are formal organizations,
like factories, hospitals, and business firms.
– 5 characteristics of bureaucracy evident in majority of
schools:
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1) division of labor
2) hierarchy of authority
3) written rules and regulations
4) impersonality
5) employment based on technical qualifications
• According to the bureaucratic model, education for large
numbers of students is more efficient when students are
homogeneous in development and ability.
Bureaucracy in Education
• According to critics of
formal schooling, the
school’s bureaucratic
nature is unable to respond
to the expressive, creative,
and emotional needs of
individual children.
• Conflict theorists argue that
the trend toward more
centralized education has
harmful consequences for
disadvantaged persons.
Functionalist Perspective
• Manifest Functions of Education
– Teach knowledge and skills
• Schools disseminate knowledge not only in
the classroom.
• Innovation – the creation or discovery of
new knowledge through research or
creative thinking.
• Certification
Functionalist Perspective
• Manifest Functions of Education
– Cultural transmission of Values
• basic norms, attitudes, beliefs, and values of
the society.
– Individualism, competition, and patriotism.
– Social integration
• Schools remain a major agent of socialization.
Schools offer a diverse population a common
identity.
– Mold into more cohesive unit and socialize into mainstream
culture.
– National identity that stabilizes political system
Functionalist Perspective
• Manifest Functions of Education
– Gatekeeping – selection and screening of talent
• Tracking – placing students in curricula
consistent with the school’s expectations for
students’ eventual occupations.
– Promotion of personal growth and development
• Schools expose students to a wide variety of
perspectives and experiences.
Functionalist Perspective
• Latent Functions of Education:
– Family functions
• child care, sex education, birth control advice.
– Other functions:
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Matchmaking
Social Networking
Reducing the unemployment rate
Stabilize society
Conflict Perspective
• Many believe that the U.S. is a meritocratic society,
however there are recurring problems that indicate
the model does not always work the way we think it
does.
– Meritocracy – social status is based on ability and
achievement rather than social class or parental status.
• all individuals have an equal chance to succeed and develop
their abilities.
• elite have structured public schools to reinforce the shared
culture of their group.
Conflict Perspective
• Perpetuates Social Inequality
– The Hidden Curriculum – refers to the unwritten rules of
behavior and attitude taught in school in addition to formal
curriculum
– Discrimination by IQ – not only measure intelligence but
also culturally acquired knowledge; reflect a cultural bias
that favors middle class and discriminates against minority
and lower-class students.
• Different types of knowledge
– Unequal Funding – stacks the decks against minorities
and the poor
– The Correspondence Principle – how schools correspond
the social structure of society
The Unequal Funding of Education
The Correspondence Principle
Feminist Perspective
• Treatment of Women in Education
– Oberlin College was first to admit women in 1833
– Many female students were encouraged to serve men and
become wives and mothers
– Educational discrimination is evident in university
professorship and administrative positions, which are
predominantly held by men.
• In 21st century, sexism in:
– Stereotypes in textbooks
– Pressure to study traditional women’s subjects
– Unequal funding for athletics
• Women have made strides in continuing education
Symbolic Interaction
• Study face to face interaction inside the classroom.
– Self-fulfilling prophecy – Rist research
– In a coeducational setting:
• Girls learn to talk softly, avoid certain subjects, defer to
the alleged intellectual superiority of boys, and to
emphasize appearance over intelligence.
• Boys are more talkative in class, raise their hands
more often, move around more, argue with teachers
more, and get more of the teachers’ attention than do
girls.
Problems in US Education
• Rising Tide of Mediocrity
– Cheating on SATs
– Grade Inflation
– Functional Illiteracy
– Social Promotion
– Cheating by Administrators
– Violence
Solutions in US Education
• Higher Standards
– Raising them for Teachers
– Raising them for Students
• Warning About Higher Standards
• School Choice
• Sitebased Management
Higher Education
College Enrollment
Several trends account for the continued increase in college
enrollment.
1. despite a decline in the number of 18-24 year-olds, a
substantially larger proportion of this age category is
attending college
2. the number of students over age 24 attending college,
particularly women, continues to grow
3. the number of students remaining in college after their first
year has increased.
Four Factors account for these trends:
1.
fearful of declining enrollments, colleges and universities have
mounted strong student recruitment campaigns.
2.
low-paying service jobs increasingly replace high-paying
manufacturing jobs, resulting in fewer attractive non-educational
options for those with only high school diplomas
3.
the increase in the number of community and branch colleges
offers an opportunity for many who could not otherwise have
enrolled to continue their education
4.
the recession that began in 2008, with its persistently high
unemployment, is fueling the increase as well.
State Budgets and the Cost of College
• At the same time that
college enrollments are
accelerating, state revenue
shortfalls across the nation
are spawning deep cuts in
higher education budgets.
• State colleges and
universities have
responded to reduced state
funding by increasing both
private funding and tuition
charges.
Economic Benefits of College
• Is college worth the investment?
– A college degree is a ticket to better jobs and
higher incomes.
• How strong is the relationship between
occupational status and education?
– The benefits of college are even more
apparent occupationally.
Community Colleges
• College enrollment is at an all-time high.
– The enrollment surge in American’s 12,000
community colleges contributes heavily to this
continued growth of college enrollment.
– In 2011, two-year schools accounted for over 43
% of the total number of students in public
institutions of higher education.
Distance Learning
• What are the advantages of distance learning to
colleges and universities?
– Online instructional technology allows faculty
to deliver pretty much the same content that
they present in class, but for less money.
For-Profit Colleges and Universities
• How prevalent are for-profit colleges and
universities?
– In recent years strictly for-profit colleges and
universities have arrived on the scene.
– For-profit colleges and universities have about
3 million students annually.
For-Profit Colleges and Universities
• Compared to the total college student
population of some 18 million, this is not
particularly large.
• Currently, they award a relatively small
proportion of all degrees in higher
education, only 15 percent of associate
degrees and 4 percent of bachelor’s
degree.
Critiques of for-profit colleges and
universities?
• Most educators believe that for-profit colleges and
universities undermine the intellectual integrity of higher
education.
• They charge that underqualified instructors are
teaching underdeveloped courses.
• Educators also lament the loss of personal interaction
between teachers and students and between students
and other students.
• Moreover, there is the problem of accreditation and
transfer of credits.
Questions for Consideration
• Can you think of specific examples from
your educational experience that
demonstrate a hidden curriculum?
• What do you think are future impacts to
higher education? How does this impact
you?