Education as an Institution
What are the latent (unintended) functions of education?
1. The Hidden Curriculum 2. Making Contacts
What is a problem with the relationship between education and the economy?
Changes in economy are driven by technology, which revolutionized how people do business. People now need new skills that will help companies benefit in such an economy. Yet, school systems are still based on a manufacturing or industrial model.
Why is Education an institution?
Education is an institution because organizations within Education can be elementary schools, universities, high schools, and it includes secondary groups such as classes.
Who is James Coleman?
He found out that the most important factor found that makes a student successful is the presence of books, magazines, tvs, and radios in the home life. He then created the idea of "cultural capital."
The disconnect between education and economy has consequences from the HS graduate's standpoint. What are they?
High school students do not have the skills required to get a job and earn enough money to have decent and comfortable lifestyle.
What kind of relationship is the one between education and the economy?
It is a reciprocal relationship (two-way relationship), but the economy has a greater impact on the educational system than the reverse.
Regarding making contacts, what are local networks and cosmopolitan networks?
Local - people who are restricted graphically, all have access to the same information Cosmopolitan - Chain reaction: two people talk to two people who talk to two people, and then you find your job opportunity. You are much more likely to find a job in a cosmopolitan network
What was the manifest (intended) function of education?
Mechanism for upward mobility. It provides people with the knowledge and skills needed in order to function in society, along with allowing one to move upward in the social structure - The American Dream
The disconnect between education and economy has consequences from the employer's standpoint. What are they?
Students graduate HS without the necessary skills, good jobs either go unfilled or are outsourced. And if possible, the good jobs are given to foreigners that meet the requirements and can be paid less. Along with this, international workers are brought in on temporary work visas to fill these jobs
What is tracking?
The assignment of students to different ability groups based on their perceived intellectual ability, and then giving different curriculum to these groups based on perceived intellectual ability. This reinforces stratification and inequality.
Elaborate on the disconnect between education and the economy
The economy is evolving more rapidly than school systems. There is a disconnect between the needs of high end employers in the new economy and what is being taught to the majority of HS students in the US.
What makes it so hard to be an elementary teacher?
The teachers not only have to teach academic material, but they also have to teach children how to behave as students because they have not yet internalized the hidden curriculum at a young age.
As the economy gets more evolved and the education system lags behind, there is more of a disconnect. T or F?
True.
What is the relationship between education and the economy?
When the economy changes, the educational system changes as well to bring the education more in synch with the economical needs at that time.
What is cultural capital
the advantages that well-to-do parents usually provide their children; the intangible knowledge and experiences that parents or caregivers provide children
Define hidden curriculum
traits of behavior or attitudes that are learned at school but are not included within the formal curriculum
