Sociology of education - University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh



Sociology of education (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The sociology of education is the study of how social institutions and individual experiences affect educational processes and outcomes. By many in society, education is understood to be a means of overcoming handicaps, achieving greater equality and acquiring wealth and status for all. This promising vision, however, does not unfold into reality. The reality, according to many sociologists, is that education works towards a larger goal than that of the individual and its purpose is to maintain social stability, through the reproduction of inequality. What the goal of this stability is differs depending on which sociological perspective one uses to approach the issue.

[pic]Theoretical Perspectives – Education and Social Reproduction

Functionalism

Functionalists believe that society tends towards equilibrium and social order. They see society like a human body, where key institutions work like the body’s organs to keep the society/body healthy and well. Social health means the same as social order, and is guaranteed when everyone accepts the moral values of their society. Functionalists believe the purpose of key institutions, such as education, is to socialize young members of society as well as sort and rank individuals for placement in the labor market.

Conflict Theory

The perspective of conflict theory, contrary to functionalist perspective, believes that society is full of vying social groups who have different access to life chances and gain different social rewards. In other words power is in the hands of a few who use it to maintain their position by arranging society to their advantage. Relations in society are based on exploitation, oppression, domination and subordination. Although this is a considerably more cynical picture of society, it is also more realistic than the previous idea that most people accept continuing inequality. Conflict theorists believe education is controlled by the state which is controlled by those with the power, and its purpose is to reproduce the inequalities already existing in society as well as legitimize ‘acceptable’ ideas which actually work to reinforce the privileged positions of the dominant group.

Interpretive Theory – Structure and Agency

This perspective is concerned with the dichotomy between the objective and subjective, or to put it another way, between structure and agency. Are humans free to choose how to think and how to behave or are there wider, deeper forces which influence their thoughts and behavior? This is the central question with regard to structure and agency. Agency refers to the capacity of individual humans to act independently and to make their own free choices. Structure refers to those factors such as social class, gender, ethnicity which seem to limit or influence the opportunities that individuals have. For interpretive theorists, objective structures (e.g., social class) play a large role in determining the achievement of individuals at school. Often structures pose obstacles to individual achievements. Yet, such structures allow for the exercise of an individual’s agency to overcome obstacles, although this choice is not without its penalties.

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