1 EXAM REVIEW: EDUCATION
Term
Sociological Imagination
Definition
Pitchford: "Ability to see the individual in a social context" Mills: "The individual can understand his own experience and gauge his own fate only by locating himself within his period" and "The sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society." Mills defines "troubles" as problems within an individual and his or her immediate relations, whereas "issues" take on a greater scale, focusing on matters of the larger society. He goes on to describe "issues" as having to do with similar and overlapping milieu, creating a greater, more public matter. Both are forms of conflict, but differ by their levels of focus: "troubles" with the individual and "issues" with the society. Everything is functional, organism example Ex. Functionalist theory on education, functionalist family or religion, neoclassical economy theory Realize that behaviors that look deviant are actually conformist (Refer to "Cult Recruitment: Network ties, the Unchurched") Innovation: Cults are formed from completely new thoughts, AKA, make it up. Ex. Heaven's Gate Importation: Cults are formed in an offshoot of something else, AKA, an idea gets more weird, AKA, take a religion to a new economy where it hasn't been before. Ex. Children of God In order for a cult to succeed, it must fill a niche, like in supply and demand. Could happen during any sort of social upheaval. Ex. Bubonic Plague, Ghost Dancing Network Ties: Ties to people in the new religious movement outweigh ties to people outside of it FF'ing provided strong ties to recruit more people More of an act of conformity than one of personal choice The "Unchurched": People who are already religiously committed are less likely to convert "Unchurched" therefore more likely because they're religiously available So behaviors that look deviant are actually conformist LINK INDIVIDUALS TO THE SOCIAL CONTEXT! Focuses on the competitive struggle among individuals and groups in society Marxist approach Ex. Students with teachers, criminals with police, etc. Functionalist Theory of Stratification and Education 1. Some jobs are more important, & require more skills, than others 2. Not everyone has talents that can be turned into skills. 3. Turning talents into skills involves training & sacrifice 4. People won't do training/sacrifice if there's no reward in store. 5. Rewards include a)material stuff; b)leisure & fun; c) prestige 1
"Troubles" vs. "Issues"
Consensus Paradigm Cults and the Sociological Imagination
Cult Formation: Innovation, Importation
Cult Success: "Niche"
Cult Recruitment: Network ties, the "Unchurched"
Conflict Paradigm
Functionalist Theory: Davis & Moore
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Functionalist Theory: Davis & Moore continued
Marxist Theory: Bowles & Gintis
Stratification Occupational Structure Class Structure Educational Structure Meritocracy
Education as a Free Market
Behavior of Parents: Kohn, Lareau Studies
Cultural Capital
Differences in access to these rewards = "social stratification" or inequality 7. So inequality is both positively functional & inevitable in any society Critique Did everyone have access to get education that'd convert their raw talent to skills? Which talents should be rewarded? Which jobs are most important? Are they the most highly rewarded? Education both reflects and reinforces the existing class structure The educational system is a hierarchy, and it prepares (traps) people for their place in the occupational hierarchy Critique Institutional Arrangements (Financial aid catapults lowlevel people to higher levels) Individual exceptions apply Dictionary.com: The hierarchical or vertical division of society according to rank, caste, or class Davis & Moore: "Unstratified" = Classless Triangle idea for Marxist approach Triangle idea for Marxist approach Triangle idea for Marxist approach Dictionary.com: an elite group of people whose progress is based on ability and talent rather than on class privilege or wealth Murphy: Government based on merit Education is thought to be of equal opportunity by functionalists, but in reality that isn't true Kohn in 1950s So essentially, attitudes and behaviors parents encourage in kids varies by social class as measured by parents' job Blue Collar Parents: Stress obedience, commands, etc. because they are accustomed to taking orders White Collar Parents: Stress communication, creativity, and value autonomy because they are accustomed to giving orders Lareau Studies How middle class and lower class parents differ in their relationships with their kids' teachers (But both still value education) Middle Class Parents About as many educational credentials as teachers, so viewed as social/intellectual equals Could help kids with homework, take time off for conferences, knew other parents and what was going on, so more cultural capital Working Class Parents Educational credentials not beyond high school, so view teachers are "professionals" and therefore reluctant to interfere Hard time getting off work and don't know other parents, so less cultural capital Those aspects of people's lifestyles, including knowledge, 2
Cultural Capital continued
Differences Between Schools: Coleman Report, HS & Beyond Studies, Public vs. Private schools, "Savage Inequalities"
STAR Project Findings on Class Size
Large, Quantative vs. Small, Ethnographic (Participant Observation) Studies Differences Within Schools: Tracking (Curricular Tracking vs. Ability Grouping)
Arguments For & Against Tracking
experience, values, attitudes, language patterns, and consumption preferences. It helps to define class location of people Coleman Report (1966) 570,000 students, 60,000 teachers, schools 4,000 Hypothesis: School quality affects student achievement Conclusion: Schools don't matter family matters Critique Undersampling of lowest SES groups Expecting incremental differences to produce dramatic results Controls for "ability" aren't realistic Large studies: Conclusions apply only to whites (??) High School & Beyond Studies (1980s) 30,030 sophomores & 28,240 seniors; 2 years later, 14,825 sophomores restudied, including 2,000 dropouts, with follow-up of seniors after graduation and through next decade Hypothesis: If $$$/student is what matters, Catholic schools should have the worst outcomes Findings By almost any measure, Catholic/private school kids do better They do more homework and less likely to drop out Private: Better on verbal, reading & math tests, more likely to take college prep, more likely to remain in college Catholic: Good with poor, minority students Private/Catholic: More likely to attend college Private vs. Public Schools (1985 Cookson & Persell) Private schools have way more of an advantage than public schools due to the numerous amounts of resources. Ex. Guidance counselors, legacies, etc. "Savage Inequalities": Book by Kozol 4 year longitudinal study of effects of class size K-3rd Grade, teachers also randomly assigned Findings: Significant and consistent improvement in performance on every achievement measure, without new materials or curricula, and without retraining teachers Follow-up, end 4th grade: Advantages maintained 1 year after small classes ended Just know the difference between really big studies and really small studies, like Coleman v. Kozol Curricular Tracking: Different programs (Vocational, general, college prep) Ability Grouping: Same subjects, different levels (AP) Pro Higher-track kids are able to receive better educations because instruction is taught faster and in a more interesting fashion All kids are supposedly able to learn at their own pace without having to be pressured to learn slower/faster Con Gap between low track students and high track students is widened because material in higher tracks is taught in 3
Arguments For & Against Tracking continued
more stimulating ways. Lower track kids never catch up Students chosen based on nonacademic qualities, like race, class, behavior, etc Baker & Velez: Lower-track students less likely to enter, attend, and graduate from college (The whole negative psychological effect it has on the individual in being in a lower track) An unequal distribution of resources occur, with higher track kids getting more than lower track kids Tracking leads to resegregation, because essentially the lower class minority kids are placed into lower tracks and the higher class white kids are placed into higher tracks Affects peer groups, friendship patterns, etc.
ADDITIONAL TERMS
TERM
Social Capital Religious Economies
DEFINITION
Social networks, etc. The set of competing faiths, and their adherents, within a given society or a geographic area of society The proposition that, in time, successful sects will be turned into churches, thereby creating the conditions for the eruption of new sects Religious bodies in a relatively low state of tension with their environment Religious bodies in a relatively high state of tension with their environment but which remain within the conventional religious traditions of their society Religious movements that represent faiths that are new and unconventional in a society Stark & Bainbridge: "In response to an unmet demand for more efficacious compensators, movements will arise to restore the potency of the conventional religious traditions." Me: Pretty much they are movements toward more traditional religious methods. They occur when people feel that their religious needs are not being met and decide to revert to older, more traditional methods. The study of societies Super religious group Leader gets a revelation and turns the group into a big orgy "Portray love for God in a physical way" Fishin' Fever: "FF'ing" Anti-cult organizations form in response Aesetic group Wanted to fly away in a comet Believed that Star Trek was real Celibacy! Committed a mass suicide wearing Nikes, black sweats, etc. Hallinan & Oakes: Practice of assigning students to instructional groups on the basis of ability
Church-Sect Theory Churches
Sects Cults
Revival
Sociology
Children of God
Heaven's Gate
Tracking
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STUDY QUESTIONS
1. What is the difference between a paradigm and a theory? Paradigm: Overall world view, with two types: Consensus (Funtionalist) and conflict (Marxist). Theory: Specific view So pretty much a paradigm is a more broad view, whereas a theory is more specific. How would theorists in the consensus paradigm describe our society, and the role of education in it? What about the conflict paradigm? Theorists of the consensus paradigm are functionalists, and they would say that society is based on the level of talent of an individual. Education is a mechanism by which to sort individuals of high talent from those of low talent in order to train their talents into skills and from there, place them into jobs of high importance. Theorists of the conflict paradigm are Marxists, and they would say that society is based on the socioeconomic status of the parents of the individual. Education is the mechanism by which individuals are prepared (trapped) for the jobs they'll attain that will be at the same level of their socioeconomic status. According to the different theorists, what factors affect success in education and the workplace? Functionalists: Level of talent Marxists: Socioeconomic status Which theory is best supported by the evidence, and why? The Marxist theory is best supported by evidence because it is more accurate to what really goes on in reality. Such studies that support the Marxist theory include Kohn, Kozol, and Cookson and Persell.
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