chapter 7

Question 1

education

Answer 1

• is a key, secondary socialization agent
• occurs in formal or informal contexts

Question 2

informal context of education

Answer 2

learning informally through experience or when coming into contact with situations and contexts

Question 3

formal context of education

Answer 3

• organized
• institutions: schools, colleges, universities
• provisions of courses, learning activities or credentials

Question 4

formal education in canada

Answer 4

• 3 interrelated factors are salient in the growth of education:
  1. overall expansions of educational requirements and opportunities
  2. increasing levels of educational attainment
  3. recent emphasis on the selection of highly-educated immigrants

Question 5

social reproduction of class and inequalities

Answer 5

• hidden school costs affect classes differently
• hidden curriculum transmits subtle norms
• streaming benefits students who occupy positions of privilege
• credentialism is linked to social class privilege
• cultural capital of students is stratified
• educational segregation

Question 6

streaming in Ontario schools Follwell & Andrey

Answer 6

• students streamed into non-academic courses experience depressed achievement, delayed graduation, and increased rates of drop-out
• children being told they are not strong enough academically to achieve a higher level of education are stigmatized and internalize that stigma

Question 7

women in education

Answer 7

• women were often denied education because it was believed women were not fit, capable of attending school, and were not encouraged to pursue education
• it is also believed that it’s taxing for women to be educated and if women are educated all their energy will go to their brains which will compromise their reproductive functions
• women were teachers as cost-saving measures in the 19th century

Question 8

structural functionalism

Answer 8

• we are more governable when we are better educated
• structural functionalists argue that education reinforces various norms including:
  1. independence
  2. achievement
  3. universalism
  4. specificity

Question 9

independence - structural functionalism

Answer 9

• acting without supervision
• teaching independence in children so they can be the adults we need

Question 10

achievement - structural functionalism

Answer 10

• desire/drive for excellence
• create achievement-oriented children

Question 11

universalism - structural functionalism

Answer 11

• impartial treatment
• everybody gets the same tests, homework and overall equal treatment

Question 12

specificity - structural functionalism

Answer 12

• focus on personal characteristics
• e.g. a good teacher will recognize the gifts/strengths/uniqueness of their students

Question 13

structural functionalism examines the positive aspects of education

Answer 13

1. functionalism proposes that education is a meritocratic ideal
2. education enables people to gain economic success regardless of their social backgrounds
3. assumed consensus regarding what should be taught

Question 14

functionalism proposes that education is a meritocratic ideal

Answer 14

in reality that is untrue because there are external factors such as money that impact someone’s ability to pursue an education

Question 15

education enables people to gain economic success regardless of their social backgrounds

Answer 15

belief in education as a grand equalizer no matter the class or economic background is also untrue in current society because the higher the class the more privilege

Question 16

assumes consensus regarding what should be taught

Answer 16

e.g. opting in or out of sex ed.

Question 17

human capital theory

Answer 17

education is a tool for developing human capacities to advance economic productivity

Question 18

symbolic interactionism

Answer 18

• focus on interpersonal dynamics and how people make sense of their social interactions
• not focused on educational structures
• examine the importance of how meanings and symbols affect human behaviour and interactions
• e.g. how schooling contributes to the development of personality and identity
• e.g. The Pygmalion Effect

Question 19

pygmalion effect

Answer 19

• went into a classroom and told the teacher she had 3 students coming into her class next year that have very high IQ and suggested they will do very well and perform well academically
• set up this expectation for her to have in these students
• by the end of June the 3 students did better than their peers
• however those 3 students were picked out of a hat, it was randomized and they were never actually determined to have a high IQ before entering the classroom
• found four mediating factors that contributed to those 3 students doing well throughout the year
• this study has never been able to be duplicated

Question 20

four mediating factors - pygmalion effect

Answer 20

1. climate factor
2. input factor
3. response-opportunity factor
4. feedback factor

Question 21

climate factor - pygmalion effect

Answer 21

teacher was warmer and more engaging to these 3 students

Question 22

input factor - pygmalion effect

Answer 22

• she put more into the students
• e.g. every student got 3 pages of math, but these students she gave them 5

Question 23

response-opportunity factor - pygmalion effect

Answer 23

called on those 3 students more frequently and gave them more opportunities to correct mistakes when speaking in class that she didn’t give to others

Question 24

feedback factor - pygmalion effect

Answer 24

gave more feedback to those 3 students on how to improve

Question 25

conflict theory of education

Answer 25

- focuses on the power relations among people and inequality - education stratifies people economically, politically, and socially - structures of domination and subordinate create barriers to educational access for some social groups - decreased government funding reduce access to secondary education institutions

Question 26

education as warehouses for students

Answer 26

- education is about warehouses for students seeking access to the workforce - universities were all about getting students into one place to prevent them from going out onto the street and causing problems

Question 27

decreased government funding reduce access to secondary education institutions

Answer 27

- if the government doesn't provide funding they must turn to students to pay higher tuition or to corporate sponsorships - e.g. coca cola sponsoring a university means only Coca-Cola products can be sold on campus - the ise of corporate donations/sponsorships promote inequality through commercialization and marketization - e.g. pressuring universities to use specific literature or resources in return for funding them